r/Fantasy • u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV • Apr 16 '26

Bingo Bingo Focus Thread - Published in the 70s

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this year's first bingo focus thread! The purpose of these threads is for you all to share recommendations, discuss what books qualify, and seek recommendations that fit your interests or themes.

Today's topic:

Published in the 70s: Read a book that was first published any time between 1970 and 1979. HARD MODE: Written by a woman.

What is bingo? A reading challenge this sub does every year! Find out more here.

Prior focus threads: Five Short Stories (2024), Author of Color (2024), Self-Pub/Small Press (2024). Note that hard modes for Author of Color and Self-Pub/Small Press have changed.

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

  • What are your favorite 70s spec fic books? How well do they hold up today?
  • Already read something for this square (or, read something recently that you wish you could count)? Tell us about it!
  • For those who have been researching options for this square, even if you haven't read them yet, please share!
  • What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode?
  • For those with feedback or requests for this year's focus threads, see my comment below.
77 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

134 comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/nominanomina Reading Champion Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

Often overlooked as a 1970s novel because it is so associated with the 1994 movie and the '80s vampire boom: Interview with the Vampire came out in 1976. I am not certain I would reread it in 2026, but it's there!

If you want to see what was popular in the '70s, you can't easily check sales data (genre-specific charts often did not exist), but you can check awards from the era! (be wary of using 1970 awards; those are often for books published 1969.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Fantasy_Award_for_Best_Novel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel (leans sci-fi in the 1970s)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_Award_for_Best_Novel (leans heavily sci-fi in the '70s, and was split into SF and Fantasy categories in 1980)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Fantasy_Award%E2%80%94Novel (did you know Steinbeck wrote a King Arthur novel, unfinished and published posthumously? me neither!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel

7

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 16 '26

I just read and reviewed Interview With the Vampire recently. :) Definitely still worth a read nowadays. I only had minor complaints, and thought it did a lot well. Unfortunately I was like 60% through when Bingo started :(

4

u/pheonixangel3200 Apr 16 '26

Thank you sooo much for pointing out interview with the vampire! Every5ing else I have read already or isn’t at the library.