Operation: Long Haul [2026 Team Challenge] > Likes and Comments
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Serenity
Passenger Manifest:
1. Netanella
2. Lindsey
3. Whitney
4.
5.
Point Tally:
Normandy SR-2Passenger Manifest:
1. Eryn
2. Janelle
3. Mattie
4.
5.
Point Tally:
RocinantePassenger Manifest:
1. Greg
2. Steve
3. Jennifer
4.
5.
Point Tally:
Operation: Long Haul is readying for launch! If you're interested in reading with us, post a comment with the preference order of which team you would like to be on.
We will try to accommodate the request but the priority is to keep the teams balanced.
Also, be sure to claim your tracker thread (using spoilers if you can) to track your progress!
Queralt✨ wrote: "🌌 MISSION BRIEFINGMISSION DESIGNATION: Operation: Long Haul
OBJECTIVE: Read. Survive. Outscore rival crews.
Command has authorized a multi-ship expedition into uncharted literary space. Crews wil..."
I would love to join Serenity!!!
Queralt✨ wrote: "🌌 MISSION BRIEFINGMISSION DESIGNATION: Operation: Long Haul
OBJECTIVE: Read. Survive. Outscore rival crews.
Command has authorized a multi-ship expedition into uncharted literary space. Crews wil..."
Queralt ty ty ty for making and sharing again this year! I'm sorry things were so stressful in 2025 at your work. Happy New Year's Eve and may you have a less stressful 2026
New to the group but would love to join this challenge. Ideally I could join Rocinante as my first choice, but they all sound great.Here is my preferred order.
1. Rocinante
2. Normandy
3. Serenity
Steve wrote: "New to the group but would love to join this challenge. Ideally I could join Rocinante as my first choice, but they all sound great.Here is my preferred order.
1. Rocinante
2. Normandy
3. Serenity"
Welcome Steve! I added you to Rocinante.
I know Serenity, but excuse my ignorance , where are the other two from?Looking at the prompts my order is
1. Normandy
2. Serenity
3. Rocinante
Great challenge again Queralt!❤️❤️❤️
Rociante is from the Expanse series (starting with Leviathan Wakes), that also has an excellent 6 season television adaption on Amazon Prime. Both the books and the TV adaption are a lot of fun in my opinion and brilliantly done.The ship is named by the characters off Don Quixote's horse. Lots of literary references throughout, including an extended and sophisticated play-off of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock at the end of the first book that mixes some tongue-in-cheek humor at T.S. Eliot himself while piggybacking on the power of his words for great poignancy. You can easily enjoy the books without catching these sorts of references, but there's a whole lot to catch for a literary reader while still having a rip-roaring story and some nice world building in terms of sociology and politics.
I love the books and the TV show too!
@Steve, welcome to the group!@Janelle, welcome aboard!!
And Normandy SR-2 is from the video game "Mass Effect."Welcome to Serenity, Lindsey!
Yay! By my pretty floral bonnet, my first choice is Serenity. I expect there to be terrifying space monkeys, and sudden but inevitable betrayals.
Next choice is Rocinante, taki.
Third choice Normandy (not a gamer, I got nothing for this one.)
Thanks for another great challenge!
Netanella wrote: "And Normandy SR-2 is from the video game "Mass Effect.""Ah, thanks for the explanation on this one Neta. I had no idea about this one!
Netanella wrote: "Yay Whitney! Welcome to Serenity!"Shiny!
Excellent challenge, as usual Q. I hope your work becomes less soul destroying in the new year. And thanks Greg and Neta for stepping in.
Ooh ooh! I LOVE Mass Effect. I feel like the Rocinante prompts might suit my reading habits better but I can't not put Normandy as #1...1. Normandy
2. Rocinante
3. Serenity
Mattie | TBDRegular Missions: 0/32
Team missions: 0/5
Mod reads: 0/?
Buddy reads: 0/∞
Theme reads: 0/12
(view spoiler)
Steve | Rocinante Mission Summary:
Deep Space Exploration (1pt): 0/5
Ship Maintenance & Engineering (1pt): 0/5
Space Combat & Hostile Encounters (1pt): 0/5
Command Decisions & Crew Politics (1pt): 0/5
Shore Leave & Off-Duty Hours (1pt): 0/5
Cosmic Horrors & Existential Threats (1pt): 0/5
Command Directives (1pt): 0/5
Team Rocinante (2pt): 0/5
(view spoiler)
Lindsey/SerenityMission Summary:
Deep Space Exploration (1pt): 0/5
Ship Maintenance & Engineering (1pt): 0/5
Space Combat & Hostile Encounters (1pt): 0/5
Command Decisions & Crew Politics (1pt): 0/5
Shore Leave & Off-Duty Hours (1pt): 0/5
Cosmic Horrors & Existential Threats (1pt): 0/5
Command Directives (1pt): 0/5
Team Serenity (2pt): 0/5
(view spoiler)
Mattie wrote: "Ooh ooh! I LOVE Mass Effect. I feel like the Rocinante prompts might suit my reading habits better but I can't not put Normandy as #1...1. Normandy
2. Rocinante
3. Serenity"
Got you down for Normandy!
Q, I hope work eases up this year.Thank you for putting this together. I would love to be on a team!
1. Rocinante
2. Normandy
3. Serenity
Fantastic Jennifer! Adding you to Rocinante.
Serenity +1Space Combat & Hostile Encounters
Last Stand: Read a book where the stakes are explicitly life-or-death
The War by Garth Ennis - 01.01.2026
And Neta’s on the board already!I haven’t even claimed my spot yet 😂
Janelle wrote: "And Neta’s on the board already!I haven’t even claimed my spot yet 😂"
I've got two more books in the works as well, and I'm still on vacation this week!
Whoop whoop! Serenity's left the space port!
You guys still looking to gas up using fossil fuels? 🤣
Netanella wrote: "Janelle wrote: "And Neta’s on the board already! ....Whoop whoop! Serenity's ..."
No power in the verse can stop us!
MISSION DESIGNATION: Operation: Long Haul
OBJECTIVE: Read. Survive. Outscore rival crews.
Command has authorized a multi-ship expedition into uncharted literary space. Crews will face unknown worlds, hostile encounters, system failures, and the occasional existential crisis disguised as a paperback. Success will be measured in completed objectives, accumulated points, and crew morale (complaints are expected).
Each ship operates independently. Cooperation is optional. Rivalry is inevitable.
🚀SHIP DOSSIERS (aka: the teams)
1) Normandy SR-2
Class: Stealth Recon / Advanced Systems
Commanding Officer: Commander Shepard
Specialization: Precision, adaptability, impossible odds
The Normandy SR-2 is equipped with state-of-the-art tech, elite specialists, and a commander known for making the “right” call, usually at the last possible second. This crew excels at high-risk missions, moral dilemmas, and punching well above their weight class. Expect efficiency, intensity, and at least one emotionally devastating choice.
2) Rocinante
Class: Martian Corvette (Illegally Modified, Allegedly)
Captain: James Holden
Specialization: Survival, improvisation, doing the right thing loudly
The Rocinante isn’t the biggest ship in the fleet, but she’s stubborn, heavily armed, and crewed by people who refuse to walk away from a problem. Known for chaotic heroism, questionable decision-making, and unshakable loyalty, this crew thrives under pressure and tends to stumble into galaxy-shaking consequences.
3) Serenity
Class: Firefly-Class Transport
Captain: Malcolm Reynolds
Specialization: Smuggling, survival, and refusing to quit
Serenity flies under the radar, held together by stubbornness, duct tape, and pure spite. Her crew operates outside official channels, relying on wit, grit, and found family bonds. They may not play by the rules... but they do get the job done. Usually with style. Occasionally on fire.
Rules & Guidelines:
How to join
- Post a comment with the preference order of which team you would like to be on. We will try to accommodate the request but the priority is to keep the teams balanced.
- PLEASE make your own huge post (under spoiler tags if you can) to keep track of how you’re doing.
- The challenge starts Jan 1 2026 (your time zone). You can join any time as long as 2026 isn't over.
How to participate
- Players score points for their team by completing prompts from the common pool or the team’s prompts.
- Prompts can be completed any number of times by different teams and different individuals, but only one time per person. (Except for buddy reads + Shine & Shadow theme/mod prompts).
- You do not need to select the book before reading it. Maybe you read something this year and you realize it fits the prompt? Then you can scratch it! We’re keeping it no-stress.
- One book can only count toward one prompt. You cannot read one book to complete five prompts even if it fits.
- Rearranging is not allowed. Once you say X book is used to cross off one prompt, you cannot then change it! It needs to stay as it is :)
- There is NO category completion reward this year.
- NEW! Adding DNFs is allowed as long as you've read at least 80% of the book and it's got book-length (at least 110 pages. Short novellas/children's books/comics cannot be counted as DNFs for this challenge).
How to score points
- Regular prompt: 1 point per prompt.
- Your team's prompts: 2 points per prompt.
Mission Log:(view spoiler)[
Deep Space Exploration
1) First Contact: Read a book by an author you’ve never read before.
2) Uncharted System: Read a book whose cover shows constellations, a place, a landscape, or architecture that you’re unfamiliar with.
3) Strange New Lifeforms: Read a book featuring a non-human or very non-standard protagonist.
4) Anomaly Detected: Read a book that blends genres (e.g. sci-fi romance, horror fantasy, lit fic thriller).
5) Planetfall: Read a book primarily set in a single, isolated location.
Ship Maintenance & Engineering
1) Hull Breach: Read a book under 250 pages.
2) Emergency Repairs: Read a book with a timeline of maximum 72 hours.
3) System Upgrade: Read a sequel or next book in a series.
4) Patch Job: Read a book by an author you have read before and given 2 stars or less.
5) Hitch Your Tits and Pucker Up its Time to Peel the Paint: Read a book with a title that implies speed, urgency, or motion.
Space Combat & Hostile Encounters
1) Enemy Vessel Sighted: Read a book with a villain (or a morally gray) main character.
2) Boarding Action: Read a book with significant physical conflict or combat.
3) Return Fire: Read a revenge story or a book driven by retaliation.
4) Mutiny: Read a book where characters betray each other or challenge authority.
5) Last Stand: Read a book where the stakes are explicitly life-or-death.
Command Decisions & Crew Politics
1) Captain’s Log: Read a book written in a diary/log format (fully or partially).
2) Chain of Command: Read a book whose cover prominently features symbols of authority (crowns, uniforms, weapons, thrones, badges...).
3) Terms and Conditions Apply: Read a book with a title that sounds like a formal process, agreement, or official act (trial, treaty, protocol, council, court...).
4) Court Martial: Read a book with a title referencing justice, morality, or consequences.
5) Orders from Above: Read a book where characters must follow (or disobey) a higher authority.
Shore Leave & Off-Duty Hours
1) Holodeck Malfunction: Read a book with something broken on the cover.
2) Zero-G Karaoke: Read a funny or lighthearted book.
3) Crew Bonding Exercise: Read a book centered on friendship or found family.
4) Squad Loyalty Mission: Read a book whose title includes a person’s name or job title/role.
5) R&R Station:Read a book set largely in bars, cafes, or hotels/inns.
Cosmic Horrors & Existential Threats
1) Signal from the Void: Read a cosmic horror book.
2) Time Dilation: Read a book that plays with time, memory, or nonlinear structure.
3) The Lonely Watch: Read a book focused on isolation or solitude.
4) The Ring Gate: Read a book whose cover prominently features a circle, portal, or doorway.
5) End of the Universe Scenario: Read an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic book.
Command Directives
1) Remember the Book Club: Read a book club theme read (this can be repeated).
2) Primary Mission Objective: Read a mod read (this can be repeated).
3) Tightbeam Transmission: Join a buddy read and post on the thread (this can be repeated).
4) Flagged for Review: Read a book someone in this thread suggested.
5) Ignored at Your Peril: Steal a book from another member's Want to Read shelf.
Normandy SR2 (only for Normandy members)
1) Prothean Archive: Read a book that involves uncovering ancient knowledge, artifacts, lost civilizations, or buried truths.
2) Council Deadlock (aka: Reapers... We have dismissed that claim): Read a book featuring useless politicians (it can be nonfiction).
3) You Big Stupid Jellyfish: Read a book featuring sea creatures.
4) Can it Wait a Bit? I'm in the Middle of Some Calibrations: Read a book over 400 pages.
5) Spectre Asset: Read a book published by a small or independent press.
Rocinante (only for Roci members)
1) OPA Credentials: Read a book by an author from a country underrepresented in your usual reading.
2) Legitimate Salvage: Read a book you found secondhand, borrowed, or already owned (no new purchases).
3) Inners vs Belters: Read a book whose cover is visually divided (split imagery, mirrored designs, sharp contrast).
4) Bobbie Draper’s Cucumber Sandwiches: Read a hard sci-fi, science-heavy nonfiction, or technically detailed book.
5) Holden Pressed the Button Again: Read a book featuring a some sort of broadcast (podcast, radio show, vlogs, blogs...).
Serenity (only for Serenity members)
1) Shiny: Read a book whose cover is colorful, illustrated, or visually playful.
2) Browncoat Job: Read a book featuring outlaws, smugglers, rebels, or criminals as protagonists.
3) Leaf on the Wind: Read a sad book... or a book that features dinosaurs.
4) The Hero of Canton (aka: The Man They Call Jayne): Read a book involving theft, cons, scams, or criminal schemes.
5) I’ll Be in My Bunk: Read a book that does not feature sex (because Jayne didn’t get any). (hide spoiler)]
Mandatory update: Greg and Neta will be very graciously helping out with this challenge (scoring and team assignments included). I’ll be on a bit of a hiatus for the forseeable future. Work has been absolutely obliterating me (and my will to live) these past few months, and I don’t know when I’ll properly be back. I’m still using GR, but I want to keep my (hate) reading fun and low-pressure, without having to think about group admin. So if you don’t see me around much, that’s why.
I originally made this challenge for myself, but adapted it to share in case anyone else felt like jumping into a structured reading challenge this year. It’s not perfect, it’s definitely very sci-fi-ish, but hopefully it’s more fun than mess!!