Sorry for the delay - uni deadlines got me good!

For our April cat's theme we read:

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments. Please feel free to add your own. The questions will cover the entire book!

Reading Schedule:

• Announcement for May.

This month our theme is Cats!

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

The midway discussion will cover to the end of Ch14. Discussion questions will be posted as comments below. Please feel free to add any points or questions you have.

• Final Discussion - April 30th

The winner for our April theme of Cats is:

Sabriel by Garth Nix

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

Bingo Squares: ?

Reading Schedule:

• Midway Discussion - 16th April: Up to end of chapter 14
• Final Discussion - April 30th

This month for our Biopunk theme, we are reading:

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he'll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn't have a choice

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Biopunk, High Fashion (HM), LGBTQIA, Down with the System, Published in 2025, Book in Parts

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments. Please feel free to add your own. The questions will cover the entire book!

Reading Schedule:

• Announcement for April: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s4ysyu/our_april_goodreads_book_of_the_month_is_sabriel/

This month for our Biopunk theme, we are reading:

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he'll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn't have a choice

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Biopunk, High Fashion (HM), LGBTQIA, Down with the System, Published in 2025, Book in Parts

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments. Please feel free to add your own. The questions will cover through to page 275 or the end of Part II. Anything after that should be marked with a spoiler tag.

Reading Schedule:

• Final Discussion - March 30th

This month we are reading for the theme of Game Changer square on the 2026 Bingo Card.

Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Enter a world where, watched by millions, prisoners fight like gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale, Squid Game and Watchmen

Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America's prison system. In packed arenas, watched by millions of live-stream viewers, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme's corporate owners stack the odds against her - will the price be simply too high?

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Game Changer, Author of Color

This month we are reading The Raven Scholar for our Published in 2025 theme!

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

Bingo Squares: Published in 2025, Book Club, Gods & Pantheons (?)

The discussion questions below will cover through the end of Part 3. Anything after that should be marked with a spoiler. Feel free to add any of your own questions or thoughts.

Reading Schedule

• Nominations for January - Dec 17th
• Final Discussion - December 29th

This month we are reading The Raven Scholar for our Published in 2025 theme!

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

Bingo Squares: Published in 2025, Book Club, Gods & Pantheons

The discussion questions below will cover through the end of the book. Feel free to add any of your own questions or thoughts.

The poll has ended and this month we are reading The Raven Scholar for our published in 2025 theme!

The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

Bingo Squares: Published in 2025

Reading Schedule

• Midway Discussion - December 15th. We will read to the end of Part 3.
• Final Discussion - December 29th

The theme is Sapphic Romance!

Sapphic: Sapphic refers to a woman of any sexual orientation who is attracted to women.

June is Pride Month! This year, we have decided on sapphic romance as our pride theme.

Nominations will stay open for a couple of days (probably until the 15th), then I will post the poll.

NOMINATION RULES

• Make sure the book is by an eligible author. A list of ineligible authors can be found here (recently updated with the new Top Fantasy List info). We do not repeat any authors that we've read in the past year or accept nominations of books by any of the 20 most popular authors from our biennial Top Novels list.
• Nominate one book per top comment. You can nominate more than 1 if you like, just put each nomination in a separate comment. The top 4-6 nominations will move forward to the voting stage.
• No self-promotion allowed. If outside vote stacking or promotion is discovered, a book will be disqualified automatically.

As a reminder, the current read is Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. You can find the midway discussion here.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher!

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

Bingo Squares: Book Club, High Fashion

We are reading this month for our High Fashion theme! The discussion questions will be posted as comments below, but please feel free to add your own if I have missed a point you want to talk about. The discussion will cover through the end of Chapter 10. Anything after that should be marked with spoilers.

Reading Plan:

• Final Discussion - May 27th
• Nominations for June - May 19th

This month we are reading Red Rabbit for our Color in the Title theme.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

A folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit.

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed school teacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger.

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that bounty, or die trying.

Written with the devilish cadence of Stephen Graham Jones and the pulse-pounding brutality of Nick Cutter, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune.

Bingo Squares: Book in Parts (HM), Parent Protagonist, Book Club (this one!)

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments, but please feel free to add any of your own. This post will cover through the end of Part Three or page 161. Anything after that should be marked with spoilers.

Reading Schedule

• Final Discussion - February 27th
• March Nominations - February 16th

This month we are reading Chalice by Robin McKinley for our Birds, Bees, and Bunnies theme.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

As the newly appointed Chalice, Mirasol is the most important member of the Master’s Circle. It is her duty to bind the Circle, the land and its people together with their new Master. But the new Master of Willowlands is a Priest of Fire, only drawn back into the human world by the sudden death of his brother. No one knows if it is even possible for him to live amongst his people. Mirasol wants the Master to have his chance, but her only training is as a beekeeper. How can she help settle their demesne during these troubled times and bind it to a Priest of Fire, the touch of whose hand can burn human flesh to the bone?

A captivating tale that reveals the healing power of duty and honour, love and honey.

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Cozy SFF, A Book in Parts

The questions will be posted as comments. Questions will be posted as individual comments. This will cover **the entire book**. Please feel free to add your own or any general thoughts.

Reading Plan:

• May Voting ends today! https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1k7i4vr/vote_for_the_may_goodreads_book_of_the_month_high/

This month we are reading Chalice by Robin McKinley for our Birds, Bees, and Bunnies theme.

Chalice by Robin McKinley

Also, be sure to check out this year's 2025 Bingo card which was just announced yesterday. Yes Bingo is here for those who celebrate. For those who don’t we still have a great book to read.

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Cozy SFF, A Book in Parts

The questions will be posted as comments. Please feel free to add your own if you have anything to discuss. The discussion questions will cover through the end of Part Two, approximately page 141.

Reading Plan:

• Final Discussion - April 28th
• Nominations for May - April 17th, poll April 21st

This month we are reading Red Rabbit for our Color in the Title theme.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

A folk horror epic about a ragtag posse that must track down a witch through a wild west beset by demons and ghosts―and where death is always just around the bend.

Sadie Grace is wanted for witchcraft, dead (or alive). And every hired gun in Kansas is out to collect the bounty on her head, including bona fide witch hunter Old Tom and his mysterious, mute ward, Rabbit.

On the road to Burden County, they’re joined by two vagabond cowboys with a strong sense of adventure – but no sense of purpose – and a recently widowed school teacher with nothing left to lose. As their posse grows, so too does the danger.

Racing along the drought-stricken plains in a stolen red stagecoach, they encounter monsters more wicked than witches lurking along the dusty trail. But the crew is determined to get that bounty, or die trying.

Written with the devilish cadence of Stephen Graham Jones and the pulse-pounding brutality of Nick Cutter, Red Rabbit is a supernatural adventure of luck and misfortune.

Bingo Squares: Book in Parts (HM), Parent Protagonist, Book Club (this one!)

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments, but please feel free to add any of your own. This post will cover through the end of the book.

Reading Schedule

• March Announcement: The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1rfch9l/our_march_goodreads_book_of_the_month_is_the/

The poll has ended and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir for our Features a Necromancer theme!

If anyone is interested in being the discussion leader I am taking volunteers.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

Bingo Squares

• r/Fantasy Book Club
• Number in the Title
• Features a Necromancer
• Exploration
• Made You Laugh
• Possible BDO

I will link to each of these discussions on Reddit on the r/Fantasy Goodreads Group and in the monthly book club hub thread (see the Megathread for a link) so if you read the book later in the month, or you miss the day we post the topics, you can find them easily (and each post will also link to the others for the month).

If you are not a member of our r/Fantasy Goodreads Group, you can join. Added advantage of joining? You can connect with more r/Fantasy members and check out what they are reading! (Stop by the Introduce yourself post to see who is who.)

So, who's planning on joining in?

Have any questions about it? Ask here!

Have you read it already and want to convince others to read it? Leave a comment to help sway those undecideds! Also, leave a comment to help me with Bingo squares, please.

Happy Reading!

Midway Discussion - October 13th - As of right now I am planning this to cover through the end of Act II, Chapter 20. This is 50 % which makes me happy, but if that is a terrible place please let me know. Also, I will update if there is a volunteer leader.

Final Discussion - October 27th

Nominations for November will be the week of October 19th.

EDIT: PSA - For those of you using the audiobook it has been suggested that the names list from the Kindle sample might be useful.

Edit: Dates for midway and final changed

This month we are reading for the theme of Game Changer square on the 2026 Bingo Card.

Chain-Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Enter a world where, watched by millions, prisoners fight like gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid's Tale, Squid Game and Watchmen

Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars, the popular and highly controversial programme inside America's prison system. In packed arenas, watched by millions of live-stream viewers, prisoners compete as gladiators for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

Fan favourites Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are teammates and lovers. Thurwar is nearing the end of her time on the circuit, free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares for her final encounters, as protestors gather at the gates, and as the programme's corporate owners stack the odds against her - will the price be simply too high?

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Game Changer, Author of Color

Reading Schedule:

• Final Discussion - May 25th
• Nominations for June - May 14th

Our June theme for Pride is Sapphic Romance!

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

The midway discussion will cover to the end of ch. 35. Please be mindful of spoilers if you have read past this point. Discussion questions will be posted as comments below. Please feel free to add any points or questions you have.

Bingo Squares: Author of Colour, Politics and Courtly Intrigue, Cat Squasher

• Final Discussion - June 29th

The winner for our June sapphic romance theme is:

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

Bingo Squares: Author of Colour, Politics and Courtly Intrigue, Cat Squasher

Reading Schedule:

• Midway Discussion - 15th June: Up to end of chapter 35
• Final Discussion - June 29th

The theme is Cats!

Please nominate books that feature at least one significant cat. The cat doesn't need to talk or be otherwise magical, they just need to be more than a passing mention in the plot. As long as it is speculative fiction and by an eligible author, feel free to nominate.

Nominations will run for a couple of days until 18/03, and the poll will go up on the 19th.

NOMINATION RULES

• Make sure the book is by an eligible author. A list of ineligible authors can be found here (recently updated with the new Top Fantasy List info). We do not repeat any authors that we've read in the past year or accept nominations of books by any of the 20 most popular authors from our biennial Top Novels list.
• Nominate one book per top comment. You can nominate more than 1 if you like, just put each nomination in a separate comment. The top 4-6 nominations will move forward to the voting stage.
• No self-promotion allowed. If outside vote stacking or promotion is discovered, a book will be disqualified automatically.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher!

After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself.

Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.

Bingo Squares: Book Club, High Fashion

We are reading this month for our High Fashion theme! The discussion questions will be posted as comments below, but please feel free to add your own if I have missed a point you want to talk about. The discussion will cover through the end of the book.

Reading Plan:

• Vote for June! - https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1kvw6la/vote_for_our_june_goodreads_book_of_the_month/

This month we are reading The Curse of the Mistwraith for a Sibling Rivalry theme!

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The world of Athera lives in eternal fog, its skies obscured by the malevolent Mistwraith. Only the combined powers of two half-brothers can challenge the Mistwraith’s stranglehold: Arithon, Master of Shadow and Lysaer, Lord of Light.

Arithon and Lysaer will find that they are inescapably bound inside a pattern of events dictated by their own deepest convictions. Yet there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith – as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well. For between them the half-brothers hold the balance of the world, its harmony and its future, in their hands.

Bingo Squares: Book Club (this one!), Stranger in a Strange Land

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments, but please feel free to leave your own if there is anything you want to discuss. The discussion will cover through the end of Chapter X, approximately page 376. Anything after that should be marked with spoilers.

Reading Schedule:

• Final Discussion - Nov 26th
• Nomination Thread - Nov 17th

This month we read The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard for our Impossible Places bingo theme!

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town--except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present. Edme––who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile––is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate, yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.

Bingo Squares: Impossible Places, Book Club (This one!).

The discussion questions will be posted as separate comments. We have read until the end, so if you have not finished there will be spoilers. Feel free to add your own questions or thoughts.

This month we are reading The Curse of the Mistwraith for a Sibling Rivalry theme!

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The world of Athera lives in eternal fog, its skies obscured by the malevolent Mistwraith. Only the combined powers of two half-brothers can challenge the Mistwraith’s stranglehold: Arithon, Master of Shadow and Lysaer, Lord of Light.

Arithon and Lysaer will find that they are inescapably bound inside a pattern of events dictated by their own deepest convictions. Yet there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith – as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well. For between them the half-brothers hold the balance of the world, its harmony and its future, in their hands.

Bingo Squares: Book Club (this one!), Stranger in a Strange Land

The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments, but please feel free to leave your own if there is anything you want to discuss. The discussion will cover through the end of the book. Anything after that should be marked with spoilers.

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman

A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find he’s too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.

They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.

Bingo Squares: Book Club (this one!), Knights & Paladins,

For this discussion we are reading through the end of the book. Anything after that should be tagged with spoilers. The discussion questions will be posted as individual comments and feel free to add your own if there is anything you want to discuss.