I joined the SFF Oasis a while ago after a friend, Jaedia, dragged me in. It’s a great Discord community with readers and authors who share a love for the SFF genre. It’s a fun mix of people who are all supportive to each other’s endeavours and chosen paths. Benny, the server owner, and the mods came up with a Ready Player One themed readathon. Since I was already reading a ton in June, I decided I wanted to take part, and joined the Paragon team. It had the least numbers at the time and that was still the case when signups closed. But the Paragon team is killing it!
Ready Player Read
The rules
Welcome to the first Ready Player Read readathon! The rules are below so please familiarise yourself with them. If you have any questions please ask in the SFF Oasis Discord server.
In this event you will score points by reading a book that fits a prompt from the board.
You will earn:
10 points per square (double for your team’s square only)
20 points if you can get a bingo (complete a line)
30 bonus points if you can get bingo for your team square (you complete a line including your team square)
100 bonus points for a blackout (complete every square!)
Reading rules: Only one book per prompt, but can be any book. Limit of 3 manga/comic/graphic novels for the readathon. Novellas are OK to use. However, short stories do not count, unless it’s a short story collection but can only count as one book for one prompt.
Once you have completed a prompt, post in your team’s area and tag your team leader so that they know and can keep track of the team’s overall score. Picking your team can be done on the SFF Oasis Discord server, so hop on over!
The readathon starts on July 1st and ends on August 1st.
The prompts
There are four team: the howlers, team falcon, the wyverns, and the paragons. Each team has their own team square (in the corners).
Spaceship (team falcon)
80s Cover
Set in an oasis
Based on a video game
Wyvern/Dragon (wyverns)
Female Protagonist
Books by a Discord member (there are loads, trad pub and self pub)
Avater – Misleading title
Alternate Reality
Evil Overlord
Set in a harsh world
Post a #shelfie
Free square (read any book)
An indie publisher
Novella
A Debut Novel
A Friend’s Favourite
Graphic Novel set in space
African Futurism
500+ Pages
Animal Companion (howlers)
SFF with Horror Elements
LGBTQ+ Author
1+ Year on your TBR
Archetypical Hero (paragons)
My list of books
We’re already a week in, and while I had made a list of books I could read before the month started, I strayed. Of course I do, because I’m a mood reader. I also bought a whole bunch of books on my birthday. Then I received a few arcs that I really want to read but I can fit them in nicely.
I’m continuing my reading spree from last month and the competitive element is definitely helping. I’m not a competitive person at all, but this time it’s different. Maybe because I know I can win. Or at least contribute a lot to a potential win, even when we have less players. The rest of the paragon is equally burning to slay dragons and werewolves, to blow up spaceships and conquer the space. I finished eight books already and completed the my first bingo, a diagonal line.
These are the prompts I’ve already completed:
Wyvern/dragon The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis (audiobook/Scribd)
Alternate Reality Eternity’s Wheel by Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves, and Mallory Reaves (ebook/Scribd)
Post a #shelfie I posted a #shelfie in the discord channel
Free Square Touchstones by Stephanie Burgis (ARC)
Novella The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (hardcover)
A Friend’s Favourite A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (hardcover, recommended by Aurelie and Moon)
Graphic Novel set in Space Save Yourself by Bones Leopard, illustrated by Kelly & Nichole Matthews (PDF/Humble Bundle)
Animal Companion Spark by Sarah Beth Durst (audiobook/Scribd)
While I’ve got a long list of books I plan on reading this month, I’m going to leave it open. At the end of the month, I’ll post an update and a few mini reviews of my favourite books. If you want to join the Oasis, here’s a word from today’s sponsor (not really ((Benny, if you’re reading this, I’ll take my payment in books)):
Enjoy fantasy or sci-fi books but and want people to talk to? Come join The SFF Oasis, an amazing book discord! There are monthly reads that can be done at your own pace with chapters broken down into groups of 3 for spoiler protection, authors on for live Q&As, our 2022 badge bingo, a section for DnD, a place for writing and so much more! If you’d like to join, click here or paste into your browser: http://discord.gg/c2hXSP5MsX
“1+ Year on your TBR”
Uhhhhh *looks at 400 books* *it’s actually more, but it’s only been 2-3 years since I started doing TBR lists*
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