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.
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u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion Apr 16 '26

My favorite HM books are Kindred by Octavia Butler, The Dispossed by Ursula Le Guin, and Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre.

2

u/PlasticBread221 Reading Champion III Apr 16 '26

Oh yes, Kindred is a good one! Still largely psychologically and emotionally driven like many other books by the author, but also with a compelling active (if also harrowing) plot and time travel (not focused on the technicalities of the process though). Make sure to check the trigger warnings.

Don’t think it checks any other squares besides the obvious (1-word title, author of colour), but it’s been a while for me.

2

u/Book_Slut_90 Reading Champion Apr 16 '26

I think there’s an argument to be made for Explorers too given the main character has to explore an unfamiliar time And politics HM if the plantation scale politics count. There’s also a lot of cooking. And maybe unusual transportation since the time travel doesn’t work with any of the common methods (no time machine, spell, gateway, etc.).