Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Share and discuss book ideas for
Task 6: Read a standalone fantasy book.

I'm eager to see the suggestions people have for this one, because I just don't have it in me to commit to more series, especially when so many things on my TBR are already the first in a series I eventually intend to read.

Some of the standalones from my TBR that I'm considering are The Devourers by Indra Das, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, VenCo by Cherie Dimaline, and Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson.

I would recommend Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell, The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk, and Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu.

I loved both Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and would willingly reread either.

A new rec for me is The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

My likely choice:
Ariadne or
The Story Collector

These seem to be possbilities:
The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands
The City of Stardust
The Teller of Small Fortunes
The Book of Love

I highly recommend The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern or Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune would also work.

Spinning Silver, The Library at Mount Char or The Monsters We Defy.

Black Spring by Alison Croggon is a standalone fantasy and a retelling of Wuthering Heights within a supernatural vendetta society.

I read it for a horror prompt several years back, as I thought Gothic would be close enough. It was excellent and one of the best books I've ever discovered through these challenges.

I'm finally going to read The Starless Sea

Elizabeth wrote: "I highly recommend The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern or Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune would also work."

I'm reading The Starless Sea...finally!

"Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop" by Roselle Lim

I am gonna read Heartless for this one!

I've had The Goblin Emperor on my TBR for ages.

I would recommend Blood Over Bright Haven. I read it last year and really enjoyed it.

Maybe Black Water Sister by Zen Cho. I really liked some of her other books.

I created a Listopia for this prompt:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I'm trying to make a list for every Book Riot Prompt :)

Cat wrote: "I've had The Goblin Emperor on my TBR for ages."

I loved Goblin Emperor, but it's no longer standalone since The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones came out (and book 4 will come out later this year :) )

However if you want to use it for the "A book that someone else has recommended to you" option from 2015 Book Riot prompts consider it recommended.

Gail wrote: "Cat wrote: "I've had The Goblin Emperor on my TBR for ages."

I loved Goblin Emperor, but it's no longer standalone since The Witness for the Dead and [book:The Grie..."
Well, darn. That tells you how long I've had it on my TBR lol.

I the remember the year they did a prompt for the oldest thing in your TBR pile, and there were some Very old options for me. TBR piles do not shrink no matter how many you read, they only grow lol.

If you're wanting one book to fill multiple prompts, well, say Hello to This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. It can also check off:

Banned
Genre blending
BIPOC/LGBT author

Aquaria wrote: "If you're wanting one book to fill multiple prompts, well, say Hello to This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone. It can also check off:

Banned
Genre blending
BIPOC/LGBT..."

I believe it checks queernorm too

I'm going to read Under the Whispering Door as it is currently on my TBR pile of books so it is fun to already have it!

I am considering “Ogre Enchanted” for this one. It’s set in the same world as Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, but focused on new characters, so I think it would qualify as “stand alone”.

Jessica wrote: "I would recommend Blood Over Bright Haven. I read it last year and really enjoyed it."

I came here to recommend this! I just finished it last night after reading it on a friend's recommendation, and it was wonderful!

I think I'm going to read The Lost Story

I read Early Riser by Jasper Fforde - a book I started reading years and years ago and then lost, and just found again! I had to start from the beginning haha. I really enjoyed it.

Other options were Naomi Novik's Uprooted or Spinning Silver, or The Book of Love by Kelly Link.

Recommendations that I LOVE:

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees - an absolutely gorgeous and unnerving Faerie book from 1926.

Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison - a little gem from 1952, mentioned a lot in another recommendation: This Is How You Lose the Time War

Any of Diana Wynne Jones' fantastic standalone novels, like Fire and Hemlock or A Tale of Time City.

For a fantasy that doesn't feel at all like a fantasy, the delightfully odd Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Very beautiful, intriguing magical realism: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

A fun wuxia novella: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

Nghi Vo is great for this task. The Chosen and the Beautiful Sneak Peek is a retelling of The Great Gatsby focusing on Jordan Baker's experience as an Asian immigrant (Chinese if I'm remembering) - with a lot of magical worldbuilding.

I have a lot of possibilities for this one.
Nura and the Immortal Palace is a middle grade about Jinn in India,
The Black God's Drums is Nigerian, New Orleans, steampunk.
Clytemnestra is about a queen in ancient Greece, Kaikeyi is about a queen from the Ramayana.

I read The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark and I absolutely loved it.

I really want to read The Butcher of the Forest, Deeplight or Skysong for this one.

Last year I read The Stolen Child and Cuckoo Song, both standalones.

I read both Blood Over Bright Haven and The Sword of Kaigen by ML Wong. Wong does an incredible job of world building and exploring themes of government repression, propaganda, and exploitation. Highly recommend.

My official pick for this was How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe but after I read that I was recommended Spoils of War by Hannah Walker and discovered it also fits this prompt (and bonus, it has LGBT rep)

Spoils of War is very spicy, however, so if you're not comfortable reading extremely spicy scenes skip this ome

Rebecca wrote: "Spinning Silver, The Library at Mount Char or The Monsters We Defy."

I read The Monsters We Defy. The audiobook was terrific! It won an Audie Award.

I'm reading the Briar Book of the Dead. The author uses world building in previous novels but this one is a standalone and not part of a series.

K wrote: "I created a Listopia for this prompt:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

I'm trying to make a list for every Book Riot Prompt :)"

Thanks. I added a bunch to this list today while researching the prompt. I'm trying to read Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune but haven't been getting into it.

If graphic novels are allowed, You Brought Me the Ocean might work for this prompt.

I read Voyage of the Damned by Frances White

I read Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh - 8/14/25.