hrcyed: choose your party
2026 is its third year running.
We're a month into the challenge and I've completed my first set of prompts! It was easier than I thought it would be. Last year, I ended the challenge with about 20 blank prompts? So I'm locking in this year to see if I can get a blackout bingo.
Prompt: Choose Your Party
all about the professions of the protagonists.
🚓 Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier (Thriller)
Paladin - Bodyguards, Police, Military | This was an entertaining read, but... eh. I was really excited about the setting first: an amusement park with a Clown Museum? Sign me up to feel unsettled! I had high expectations for the story as it progressed, but the multiple perspectives (that mostly sounded the same) and convoluted investigation kind of did my enthusiasm in.
📜 The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson (Fantasy)
Wizard - Academics | My favorite thing about this novel was how complex all of the characters were. The capacity for good and evil lives inside all of us etc etc and that was expertly shown here throughout the story. Also: the worldbuilding was my kind of chaos and I loved it!
🪄 The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft by Ronald Hutton (Nonfiction)
Sorcerer - Witches, Magicians | Expertly researched! Loved the historical perspective and how much information Hutton gave on the macro influences of modern pagan witchcraft. For the micro: I knew many of the stories written down, considering how gossip-y the pagan community can be, but it was so very nice to have it all written down in chrono order. This gave me lots to think about regarding my own practice.
🪖 A World Undone by G.J. Meyer (Nonfiction)
Ranger - Military, Hunters | Very well researched and accessible! It did have too many names, but that was expected. I really appreciated the background chapters and how they helped me understand some of the context around the Great War and its important figures. This was many pages of men’s fragile egos causing the death of millions.
🎨 Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris (Horror)
Bard - Musicians, Authors, Artists, News Reporters | Not for me. I did really like the framing re every chapter linking to a painting. That was it.