One Night Stand: Once Upon a Time

Fantasy is one of my favorite types of books. Unfortunately, I seem to read less and less of them these days, which is such a shame. I have gone back and forth about whether or not to actually join in this year's Once Upon a Time Challenge, and finally decided to stick to my original plan. So, while this challenge is relegated to the One Night Stand treatment, it is no less special to me.

Carl V's challenge has opened up a world of fantasy to readers, encouraging readers new to the genre to give it a try while challenging existing fantasy readers to explore the genre further. His love for all things fantastical shines through on his blog, Stainless Steel Droppings.


The Once Upon a Time Challenge IV runs from March 21st through June 20th, in concurrence with the spring season. It seems a perfect time to delve into fantasy.

Challenge Options:
(Note: There are four categories: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folklore and Mythology)

• The Journey - Read at least one book within one of the four categories (fantasy, folklore, mythology, fairy tales).
• Quest the First - Read 5 books that fit somewhere within the four categories (all five can be in one category, or spread out among them all--it's your choice!)
• Quest the Second - Read at least one book for each category.
• Quest the Third - Complete Quests the First and Second and follow it up by reading Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (or watching one of the movie versions).
• Quest the Fourth - Read two nonfiction books or collection of essays that pertain to one or more of the categories.
• Short Story Weekends - Read one or more short stories related to the genre categories during the weekend.

Readers may participate in as many or as few of the quests as they like. The goal is to have fun. Be sure and visit Carl V at Stainless Steel Droppings for more information or check out the challenge blog.

I could join the Journey portion of the challenge and most likely could fit in one book, but after much thought and consideration of how much I already have on my plate and don't want to be hampered by yet another self-imposed deadline, a one night stand will have to do. This gives me the option to read one of the books from my list whenever I feel like it, regardless of the challenge's time frame. Can't beat that!

So, for the fun of it, I went through my TBR shelves looking for books that might fall into the Quest the Second, which is to read one book from each of the four genre categories: fantasy, fairy tales, folklore and mythology. Half the battle is putting the novels into the categories! I have shelves and shelves of novels that easily fall into the fantasy category. It was harder to separate out the rest.

Fantasy:
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

Fairy Tale:
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Folklore:
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt

Mythology:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Fall of Atlantis by Marion Zimmer Bradley

• Have you read any of the books I've listed? Any I absolutely must read right now?
• What books have you read or want to read that might fit into this challenge?

Note: Remember, I am not actually joining the challenge, just having a little One Night Stand.

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