2026 Fantasy Team Chat

[Melanie, the neutral party]

A place for members of the fantasy team to collaborate.

[Brandi]

Hello Fantasy team!

[Aga]

Hello team! This year I have decided to go with fantasy.

I think my first book will be Made Things because it fits the January antagonist theme perfectly.

[Kieron]

Hello team fantasy. This is my first time doing this challenge so I may need a bit of guidance. 1st question is should we trying to knock off the protaganist/antagonist challenges first and then work our way through the 24 fantasy challenges throughout the year?

[CBRetriever]

Kieron wrote: "Hello team fantasy. This is my first time doing this challenge so I may need a bit of guidance. 1st question is should we trying to knock off the protaganist/antagonist challenges first and then wo..."

yes, because the protagonist/antagonist for January can only be started and completed between Jan 1st and Jan 31st. And don't worry about the stages as those are not up for grabs until we hit the points to earn them

[Brandi]

The order of priority I go in is:
1. Antagonist/ Protagonist (because you have to read those within the month)
2. Books of the month/ quest points (because these give extra points and the faster we get extra points the faster we can unlock the hero's journey)
3. the main reading challenge prompts (because these can be done anytime throught the year)

[Kieron]

Thanks CB & Brandi that was what I had in mind. Not sure I'll read the Jan BOTM's as they don't really appeal to me. Hopefully some of the future BOTM's align with my TBR and I can read some of those.

[Patricia]

Hello, everyone — Patricia here. I just finished reading Halfway to the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel, and now I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve never participated in a Goodreads challenge before, so I’m a bit unsure how everything works.
Also, the next book I planned to read is a little more than I anticipated. For me, eleven dollars for an ebook feels a bit steep.

[CBRetriever]

you go to the Challenge thread and then read the first 10 posts which will tell you what to do

[Brandi]

Patricia wrote: "Hello, everyone — Patricia here. I just finished reading Halfway to the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel, and now I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve never participated in a Goodreads challenge before,..."

I would suggest looking through each of the Team Fantasy prompts and if it matches one of them then there are instructions in the main thread on how to post that you read the book. It will show the exact formt to post and everything.

[CBRetriever]

and the January prompts

I also understand that we've qualified for the first stage in the Hero's Journey so that one is ready to read. I have a nice Charles de Lint book picked out for that one

^^^ is wrong as I cannot find it any more^^^

[Midiain]

The weekly update said that we had taken the first step on the journey with our first quest point, so maybe that caused some confusion? Unfortunately, we need 20 points to unlock the first stage.

[CBRetriever]

Midiain wrote: "The weekly update said that we had taken the first step on the journey with our first quest point, so maybe that caused some confusion? Unfortunately, we need 20 points to unlock the first stage."

OK, that's what confused me. I'll have two next month if Dead Cat Tail Assassins and Station Eternity win the polls as I already own those books

[Eleanor]

Hi everyone! I'm on Team Fantasy - The Storygraph side. I hope it's okay if I post in the team chat here.

Bravo to all my Fantasy teammates who've racked up some points already.

I was having a hard time finding options for the January Antagonist: Puppet prompt, so I thought I would suggest a couple I've found that may fit and be of interest to you. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley, and Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz by Garth Nix.

Hope this helps y'all. Onward!

[Jackie]

Hey Team!

First time for me to do this challenge and I've got a request. Can someone breakdown the scoring a bit? I see we got a quest point. Does this mean we completed the monthly challenge and can read the first book in The Hero's Journey, or do we need to get to 20 books first this month? What is GR & TSG? I feel I should know this, but alas...I don't.

FANTASY
players: 35
quest points: 1
GR- 1
***
GR- 3
TSG- 2
total: 5

Thank you in advance!!

[Riyadh]

Aga wrote: "Hello team! This year I have decided to go with fantasy.

I think my first book will be Made Things because it fits the January antagonist theme perfectly."

also reading this at the moment - hopefully will finish today/tomorrow.

[Midiain]

Jackie wrote: "Hey Team!

First time for me to do this challenge and I've got a request. Can someone breakdown the scoring a bit? I see we got a quest point. Does this mean we completed the monthly challenge and ..."

GR is Goodreads and TSG is The Storygraph.

The first stage in the Hero's Journey will unlock when we earn 20 quest points, but there isn't a time limit on them. Only the monthly protagonist and antagonist prompts have to be done within that month.

[Brandi]

Eleanor wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm on Team Fantasy - The Storygraph side. I hope it's okay if I post in the team chat here.

Bravo to all my Fantasy teammates who've racked up some points already.

I was having a..."

Welcome! It is totally okay for you to post here! And thank you for the suggestions. I'm having trouble with that prompt so I appreciate the suggestions!

[CBRetriever]

Jackie wrote: "Hey Team!

First time for me to do this challenge and I've got a request. Can someone breakdown the scoring a bit? I see we got a quest point. Does this mean we completed the monthly challenge and ..."

no, it means we've had one person claim a quest point so far (I was confused too) and we need 19 other BOTMs for January and possibly February to start the first Stage quest

[Brandi]

Jackie wrote: "Hey Team!

First time for me to do this challenge and I've got a request. Can someone breakdown the scoring a bit? I see we got a quest point. Does this mean we completed the monthly challenge and ..."

This reading challenge is going on both here on goodreads and over on The Storygraph so Melanie breaks down the points to show where they came from to help keep track. And since there are two different points we're keeping track of (quest points and regular points) those are also seperated. The regular points are the points we need in to be highest in to win and the quest points unlock the hero's journey which helps us get more prompts to earn more regular points.

So in long speech, this week's tally shows that our quest point total is 1 because we got on quest point here on goodreads. And for our regular points we got 3 on goodreads and 2 that were reported on Storygraph for a total of 5 regular points this week.

Once we reach 20 quest points as a team, the first stage of the hero's journey will open. It will be posted when we have unlocked that one so if you aren't keeping track of the points don't worry. We might unlock it this month or it might take longer than a month to unlock it. It is just whenever we reach the 20 points.

In addition to the weekly updates in the main feed, you can also check the second post in the mainfeed to see what our most recent point total is. It is usually up to date. If you are also keeping track of points yourself and notice a mistake then you have to post about it in the main thread within a week of the mistake being made or forever hold your peace.

[Jackie]

Thank you everyone for your responses and explanations!! They were all very helpful.

Happy Reading!

[Ivy]

Hello, Fantasy team! I'm joining this team as a lover fantasy! I'm new here so i'm having some trouble getting around. I was wondering what book we are currently reading and how I can suggest books to read next?

[Jackie]

Ivy wrote: "Hello, Fantasy team! I'm joining this team as a lover fantasy! I'm new here so i'm having some trouble getting around. I was wondering what book we are currently reading and how I can suggest books..."

Hey Ivy!
I don't think we're reading a specific book as a group. I think it's more about reading fantasy books that fit the prompts for the Fantasy Team. That's what I've been doing anyways.

There's other monthly challenges that will help us get points too. Brandi gave a detailed explanation. It's Message #20 in this post thread, so just three up from this post.

Hope this helps a little and Happy Reading!

[Brandi]

Ivy wrote: "Hello, Fantasy team! I'm joining this team as a lover fantasy! I'm new here so i'm having some trouble getting around. I was wondering what book we are currently reading and how I can suggest books..."

Welcome to Team fantasy!

Jackie is right, everyone on the team gets the same prompts and we each individually choose what books we want to read for each prompt. We can do buddy reads if we want to but there is no group book for team fantasy. If you have books you would like to recommend to people for different prompts then you are more than welcome to post them here. I, for one, am always happy to see recommendations.

As for the BotM books, there are 2 chosen and they are for everyone in the sci-fi and fantasy bookclub not just those of us doing the booklover's combat. One sci fi book and one fantasy book. We can read one or both for quest points for the booklover's combat. The way the books are chosen is that there is a thread posted a couple months before the month the book will be in (so thread goes up in Dec for the Feb book) and in this thread will be the theme of the book and instructions on how to nominate books. They open it up to everyone in the club to make nominations, then they open it up for people to "second" books that have been nominated, then they take the top 4 or 5 and have people vote which one will be the book for that month. The current fantasy thread is called "2026 Fantasy worm Food Nominations (Vote Now)". I don't actually know what the sci fi one is called. But voting is currently open for the February BotM on both goodreads and the Storygraph. Once voting is over the process will start all over again for the March books.

[CBRetriever]

Jackie wrote: "I think it's more about reading fantasy books that fit the prompts for the Fantasy Team. That's what I've been doing anyways."

it's not necessary to read Fantasy books for the prompts. I'm reading Fantasy, SciFi, a Regency Romance, 2 Mystery Novels, and, if we make it far enough through the Stages prompts, a classic Gothic Novel plus whatever this is classified as: The Passion (could be Magical Realism, Historical (Napoleonic), Literature, etc.

[Riyadh]

How do the quest points work? Do we need to get 20 points first as a team to do it?

[CBRetriever]

no, we just have to get 20 points as a team by reading this year's BOTM books and we can do the 1st Stage and there's no competition for stages

[Brandi]

In regards to the question of if teams should be combined:

If Sci fi and Horror decide they want to combine then I won't vote against them, but I don't think they should combine. I am looking forward to seeing how 3 different teams challenge each other and that will be lost if the two teams combine. We have the higher number of team members at the moment but that doesn't mean we have the highest number of active readers. I feel like the teams will even out over the course of the year.

[Riyadh]

Agree don’t think the teams should change at this point

[Jackie]

Hey Team! How are the BOTM books determined? I'm assuming there's a vote? What chat do I find that info in?

Thanks!!

[CBRetriever]

there's usually a list of the current ones at the top of the forum page, the polls list the ones currently being voted on and all the members of the forum get a chance to nominate books for the Book of the Month and here's an example of that kind of thread

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

in the box in the upper right of the forum here, there's a link to the current polls and here's the polls for February

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

[Jackie]

CBRetriever wrote: "there's usually a list of the current ones at the top of the forum page, the polls list the ones currently being voted on and all the members of the forum get a chance to nominate books for the Boo..."

Thank you!!

[Jackie]

Oooo...February's BOTM reads have been determined and look very intriguing!
SciFi: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

I believe if we read these in February or later, we get quest points! Add to your TBR list team!

[Brandi]

Jackie wrote: "Oooo...February's BOTM reads have been determined and look very intriguing!
SciFi: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

I believe if we read these in February, we g..."

The cool thing about the books of the month is that you can read them at anytime of the year as long as it isn't before they are voted on. So if you can't read them until March or October then we still get the quest points when you report them as read.

The flip side of it is that if you read a book earlier in the year that ends up getting chosen as a BotM then you have to reread it because you can't count the early read.

[Jackie]

Brandi wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Oooo...February's BOTM reads have been determined and look very intriguing!
SciFi: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

I believe if we read these in..."

Oh, good to know!

[CBRetriever]

and the February Bonus Prompts have been announced

February:

protagonist/ Benefactor- Read a book where the main character(s) receive aid from a person, organization, or other source.
antagonist/ Bureaucrat- Read a book where an antagonist is a bureaucrat.

seems like we lost all the chatty people to the other teams...

[Jackie]

I think I'll be able to complete the bonus prompt for either protagonist or antagonist. I'll be listening to Morning Star (book 3 of the Red Rising series).

[CBRetriever]

I'm using these:

protagonist/ Benefactor - Read a book where the main character(s) receive aid from a person, organization, or other source.
Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Reason = The Pals (antagonist and protagonists) are all bureaucrats

antagonist/ Benefactor - Read a book where an antagonist is a bureaucrat.
Lock In by John Scalzi
Reason = bureaucrats on both sides but an antagonist is one

and the antagonist book works for the Book Shelf challenge

[Riyadh]

has anyone got recommendations for books with a detective on the cover? happy to get suggestions in fantasy, sci fi, thriller or mystery

[CBRetriever]

the Georges Simenon Maigret series has a silhouette or Maigret on the covers but they all $9.99 now. I bought mine as part of an Humble Bundle last year.

and in Kindle Unlimited, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes has Sherlock and Watson on the cover

[Brandi]

Riyadh wrote: "has anyone got recommendations for books with a detective on the cover? happy to get suggestions in fantasy, sci fi, thriller or mystery"

Detective on cover:
- Any of the Dresden Files books by Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden is a private detective)
-Any of the Mistoborn Era 2 books by Branden Sanderson (Wax & Wayne are detectives and they have guns on the cover if you still need that)
-The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (last year an exception was made for fairies on the cover where she allowed the word fairies even if there wasn't a picture of a fairy so this might still count but it'sprobably best to ask first)
-Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Vera can be considered an amateur detective)
-Deep Dark by Zohra Nabi (also an amateur detective)

[Brandi]

@riyadh, I have been keep track of quest points and as of the Sunday post we actually had 8 quest points.

1) Brandi/ Hammajang Luck/ Jan 1st/ w1
2) Brandi/ The Incandescent/ Jan 7/ w2
3) (SG) Cabbage_Patch/ Hammajang/ Jam 13/ W3
4) (SG) eleanorrbc/ Hammajang/ Jan 15/w3
5) Pamela Yawn/ Hammajang/ Jan 15/ w3
6) Midian/ Incandescent/ Jan 18/ w4
7) Riyadh/ Hammajang/ Jan 20/ w4
8) Riyadh/ Incandescent/ Jan 23/ w4
9) Christen_littlelibrary/Hammajang/ Jan 26/ w5

[CBRetriever]

Brandi wrote: "@riyadh, I have been keep track of quest points and as of the Sunday post we actually had 8 quest points.

1) Brandi/ Hammajang Luck/ Jan 1st/ w1
2) Brandi/ The Incandescent/ Jan 7/ w2
3) (SG) Cab..."

go to post two in the main thread for the challenge and it does say 8 quest points

[Brandi]

It does, but Riyadh posted saying we should only have 7.

[CBRetriever]

Brandi wrote: "It does, but Riyadh posted saying we should only have 7."

lets stay with 8 - it's one more point for us...

[Brandi]

My point is that we really do have 8 quest points. Well, 9 now. We have earned each of those points.

[CBRetriever]

I'm not disputing that and hopefully I'll add one for next month soon

[Jackie]

Brandi wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Oooo...February's BOTM reads have been determined and look very intriguing!
SciFi: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

I believe if we read these in..."

Since the vote is complete for February's BoTM, can we start reading them now...before February?

[Riyadh]

Hello sorry for the point mistake

[Kaia]

Jackie wrote: "Brandi wrote: "Jackie wrote: "Oooo...February's BOTM reads have been determined and look very intriguing!
SciFi: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Fantasy: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

I believe if w..."

Yes, you can read them and count them for Quest points any time after they are officially announced. The only books that have to be read only during the posted month are the special monthly Bonus Prompts.