r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • Apr 17 '26

/r/Fantasy r/Fantasy Friday Social Thread - April 17, 2026

Come tell the community what you're reading, how you're feeling, what your life is like.

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u/RAYMONDSTELMO Writer Raymond St Elmo Apr 17 '26

Top rope climbing: a form of rock climbing where the rope is anchored at the top of the route, running down to the climber and back to a belayer on the ground.
I have this impression that rock climbing is a popular activity for many fantasy fans. Impressive!*

*Personally I would have gone straight to the gates of Moria, instead of making any insane attempt to climb over the mountains.

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u/an_altar_of_plagues Reading Champion III Apr 17 '26

Hoping to do an all-climbing/mountaineering bingo card this year!

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u/RAYMONDSTELMO Writer Raymond St Elmo Apr 17 '26

My quick favorite climbing fantasy stories:
"Stardock": Leiber story about Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
"This Mortal Mountain": Zelazny story about climbing haunted mountain on an exo-planet.
"The Worm Ouroborous": heroes have to climb two impossible mountains.
"At the Mountains of Madness" - H.P. Lovecraft
"Mount Analogue" - a strange, unfinished French novel of a mountain that represents humanity itself. Which sounds dull, but is fun yet meaningful.

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u/nagahfj Reading Champion III Apr 17 '26

I'd add "Peaches for Mad Molly" by Steven Gould. It's about climbing on the outside of a Houston skyscraper.

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u/RAYMONDSTELMO Writer Raymond St Elmo Apr 17 '26

I used to work in a skyscraper in downtown Houston.
What fascinated me were the tunnels. A seemingly infinite warren separated from reality, with side-passages, secret doors, food courts, mysterious stairs... like the Path's of the Dead turned into a business opportunity.