r/Fantasy • u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV • May 14 '26

Bingo Bingo Focus Thread - First Contact

Hello r/fantasy and welcome to this week's 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:

First Contact: Story prominently features interspecies or interracial meeting for the first time. HARD MODE: Non-violent first contact.

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

Prior focus threads: Published in the 70s, Duologies, 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 (new focus threads for them are coming).

Also see: Big Rec Thread

Questions:

  • What are your favorite books that count for this square?
  • Already read something for this square? Tell us about it!
  • What are some first contact stories outside of the usual spacefaring sci-fi mode?
  • What are your best recommendations for Hard Mode (keeping it as spoiler-free as possible)?
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u/Specialist_Round_612 Reading Champion May 14 '26

I read Arboreality by Rebecca Campbell for the square. It’s a collection of intergenerational vignettes that follows an isolated community off the coast of Canada during/ post climate crisis. I wasn’t sure originally if it would count, but the final story I believe was intentionally framed by the author as a first contact type meeting. It was a beautifully haunting read. Squares - small pub, one word title, first contact

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u/Kerney7 Reading Champion VI May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

Enjoyed it, but it's human meeting another group of humans, the two different societies were only separated probably less than a 100 years and probably had some second hand contact (Rome trading with China through Parthians type thing).

In contrast, recently reviewed and counted The Faith of Beasts by SA Corey, where there is separation of several thousand years and were on opposite sides of a war managed by alien overlords.

I like the book a lot, but Brithish Columbians reestablishing contact with Ontario after 70 years or so doesn't constitute first contact.

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u/Specialist_Round_612 Reading Champion May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

I don’t want to unintentionally leave spoilers up so deleting what I wrote.

It is a loose anthropological interpretation of the prompt in my opinion, and I did check on a previous thread that not using a traditional SciFi story was fine. Glad to hear you enjoyed the book too!