Read the first book in a series.

Hard Mode: The series is more than three books long.

Read a book where multiple words in the title begin with the same letter. For example, Legends and Lattes, A Storm of Swords, Children of Blood and Bone.

Hard Mode: The title has three words or more that start with the same letter.

Read a book where an important setting is either underground or underwater.

Hard Mode: At least half the book takes place underground or underwater.

Read a book in which the main character is a criminal. This could be a thief, assassin, someone who commits mail fraud, etc.

Hard Mode: Features a heist.

Read a book where characters experience dreams, magical or otherwise.

Hard Mode: The dream is not mystical or unusual, just a normal dream or nightmare.

Read a book that has an animal in the title. The animal in the title does not have to appear in the story. Examples: The Raven Tower, Wolfsong, A Feast for Crows.

Hard Mode: The animal in the title is a fantasy or sci-fi creature, i.e. The Last Unicorn, Leviathan Wakes, or The Kaiju Preservation Society.

Read a book in which the primary protagonist is a bard, musician, poet, or storyteller.

Hard Mode: The character is explicitly called a bard.

Read a book that has either a prologue or an epilogue.

Hard Mode: The book must have both.

Self-published or published through an indie publisher. If a formerly self-published novel has been picked up by a publisher, it only counts for this challenge if you read it when it while was still only self-published.

Hard Mode: Self-published and has fewer than 100 ratings on Goodreads OR an indie publisher that has done an AMA with r/Fantasy.

Read a book that features romance as a main plot. This must be speculative in nature but does not have to be fantasy.

Hard Mode: The main character is LGBTQIA+.

Read a book that fits the dark academia aesthetic. This includes school and university, secret societies, and dark secrets. Does not have to be fantasy, but must be speculative.

Hard Mode: The school itself is entirely mundane.

Read a book with at least three point of view characters.

Hard Mode: At least five point of view characters.

A book published for the first time in 2024 (no reprints or new editions) First translations into your language of choice are allowed.

Hard Mode: It’s also the author’s first published novel.

Read a book in which an important character has a physical or mental disability.

Hard Mode: A main character has a physical or mental disability.

Read a book that was published in the 1990s.

Hard Mode: The author, or one of the authors, has also published something in the last five years.

Read a book featuring orcs, trolls, or goblins.

Hard Mode: As a main character.

Read a sci-fi book that features a large cast of characters and has a focus on social dynamics which may be political or personal in nature. Set primarily in space or on spaceships.

Hard Mode: Written by an author of marginalized gender identity (e.g. women, trans people, non-binary people).

Read a book by an author of color.

Hard Mode: Must be a debut novel published in the last five years.

Read a book in which the primary goal of the characters and story focuses on survival. Surviving an apocalypse, surviving a war, surviving high school, etc.

Hard Mode: No superviruses or pandemics.

Choose because you like its cover.

Hard Mode: Pick the book based only on the information available on the cover. No reading the blurb!

The primary setting is a small town.

Hard Mode: The small town can be real or fictional but the broader setting must be our real world and not a secondary world.

Any five short stories or novelettes.

Hard Mode: Read an entire speculative anthology or collection.

Read a book featuring a being that is uncanny, unearthly, and weird. This can be a god or monster from another plane or realm and is usually beyond mortal understanding. See this link for further information.

Hard Mode: The book is not related to the Cthulhu mythos.

Read a book that features additional material, such as a map, footnotes, glossary, translation guide, dramatis personae etc.

Hard Mode: Book contains at least two types of additional materials.

Read a book that is a sequel to another SFF book.

Hard Mode: Book 3 or on in the series.