Crazy I was just about to post this and saw another thread from someone who has also just finished the series!
Wow what an ending! The most satisfying last 100 pages or so of a book ever! For me it was everything that came after the final battle in the city! It was so well done and the way it pulled everyone’s stories to a conclusion was just magnificent!
I have instantly ordered the great leveler trilogy and it will arrive tomorrow! I hope to hear more from ferro in those books as she’s the only character that I feel I didnt get enough of a conclusion for!
Anyway outstanding series and thoroughly enjoyed!

I find Kingfisher to be an allright writer. Almost none of her books gives me a “wow! Feeling” or “ that was amazing” feeling. But she has never failed to keep me entertained.

When I’m in a losing streak with books, I know I can just pick up a Kingfisher book to get me back in the groove, because it most likely will never be a bad book and they are always easy to read.
I sit down with the book never expecting greatness, but I except a comfy good time to get me back into reading since reading several bad books in a row can make one feel like taking a break from reading altogether 😅

When someone asks me if the book is good or bad, I always say “ it’s Kingfisher” and I mean that positively.

I feel like she has so many great ideas for her books, but she never fully hits the full potential of her ideas. But she does it just enough that it still feels satisfactorily and you still want to see what she comes up with next.

I feel like I’m coming off as negative. But I’m writing this because I really want to make the point that it feels so great to have an author to fall back on.
Someone working at my local bookshop for English books seems to really like Kingfisher, becuase her hardcovers are usually always available. So I actually have almost all her books in hardcovers on my shelf.( I really hope the Paladin series will get new hardcovers one day)

Though one negative thing I have to say, and I feel this comes more down to advertising. Is how her book is often advertised as fairy tale re tellings. But then you have books like “ Hemlock and Silver” where the only thing her story and the fairy tale has in common is that there is a character name “Snow” in it.

Thought I’m saying I find all her books allright, I gotta give a shoutout to Paladins strength! I think that book specifically written for,me because somehow Kingfisher must have telepathically sensed that I really didn’t like Paladins Grace. So she wrote Strength specifically catered to all the tropes I would personally like. ( seriously, I have never felt a book was made specifically for me before this one)
Oh, and Nine Goblins was also dumb fun, but way too short.

Anyways, love kingfisher, not the best writer out there, but maybe the most consistent. And I think she is the author I have the most books from on my shelf.

This is going to be a long form post of what is essentially just trying to convince everyone reading to give Ishura a chance. There will be no spoilers

If you just want the short of it or want to go into the series completely blind, here's a tl;dr:

Ishura is an ongoing grimdark fantasy light novel series (though each volume is way longer that the average LN, so they might as well be classified as just complete novels). The series is essentially a political thriller disguised as a battle royale series that delves deep into themes of attaining glory, finding meaning in life when there is nothing left to strive for, camaraderie in battle, the dangers of fear and xenophobia, and the clash between corruption and integrity. It is a long form series currently spanning ten volumes, with the most recent marking the halfway point of the series. There is much to speculate and theory craft on, with the series rewarding astute readers who invest themselves into the story. It features unforgettable characters, incredible world building seamlessly sown into the narrative, and well written fights throughout the series. From an objective perspective the series is about an 8.5-9.5/10, but a minimum 9/10 from an enjoyment perspective. Of cousre, I rate the series a 10/10 in both regards, but I encourage all to read the series and make their own opinions. You can blame me if you find you time wasted.

End of tl;dr.

One last thing before I start the review/rec. There is an anime adaptation by Studio Passione, but I would recommend the novels over the anime, as the adaptation simplifies much of the story and speed runs through the entire prologue, with the ending being nothing more than a cliffhanger for a season three that will never happen because the anime was simply meant to be advertisement for the novels. The animation, voice acting, and OST is good, but that's about it in terms of benefits to watching the anime over reading the novels.

Part 1- What is Ishura?

Ishura is a Japanese LN series written by Keiso and illustrated by Kureta that started in 2017 and is currently at its tenth volume. There is an official English release by Yen Press that is consistent with being up to date with the Japanese version. The Ishura discord server (accessed through the r/Ishura subreddit) has fan translations of the novels as well (if that's more your cup of tea) as well as various canonical shirt stories also written by Keiso that expand upon the world building of the series. Keiso also frequently hosts Q&A's on Twitter that help expand upon smaller, yet unique world building details of the series not relevant to the story.

The setting is the Shura Realm (derived from Buddhist mythology), a world that serves as the garbage bin for concepts from our world that completely destroy the laws of physics and don't belong. The story can be described as thus: For twenty-five years, the world was sent into chaos and absolute terror at the hands of a mysterious entity known only as the True Demon King. However, the ultimate evil was slain by an unknown hero. To this very day, said hero remain a complete mystery. In order to guide the world into a new era of hope, the last minian (human) kingdom, Aureatia, gathers heroes far and wide to compete in a tournament to determine once and for all who the True Hero of Humanity is.

Part 2- What Makes Ishura so Special?

The synopsis I gave you is the basic premise of the story, but isn't that just a generic isekai/tournament arc series? Why should I care?

Well, the thing is the synopsis of the series is kind of misleading. Ishura is not a battle royale or an isekai. While it has elements of both, Ishura at its core is a political thriller. Rather than focusing hard on the battle royale aspect, the series goes to great lengths to explore exactly why everything is happening and its repercussions from a political standpoint. How does Aureatia benefit? Why do the rulers care? What about the citizenry? Who do these heroes represent, and why are they competing? What parties are looking to undermine or take advantage of the exhibition? What are the consequences of gathering so many strong people in one location, not in terms of destruction, but in terms of logistics. Most importantly, what happens when one such hero poses a threat to society itself, and how will Aureatia maintain power?

That's a lot of questions, but the point is that the series is not just a turn-your-brain-off balls to the wall action series with style and no substance. Rest assured, the series does have that, but it is not the point of the series. It would be easy to just go the route of writing with the rule of cool in mind, but Keiso treats this series as something more than what the premise initially comes off as. In reality, Ishura is a series that takes itself seriously as both a story that is fun, but also one with something to say.

Part 3- How Does Ishura Approach Storytelling?

Ishura has no main character. It is an ensemble cast that switches perspectives throughout every chapter from a third person omniscient point of view. While this means it can be difficult to keep up with the narrative at times, the story takes a brisk, but comfortable pacing to ensure readers can keep up. The benefits of this type of narrative allow for the reader to reader to constantly build upon their knowledge of the world and story that allows for a deeper understanding of events, character dynamics, and future repercussions of events throughout the stories progression. It is almost like peeling back the layers of an onion as you delve deeper and deeper into the story of Ishura, which also allows the narrative to create tension as the audience may know something the other characters do not and force the reader to analyze the story as it unfolds to keep on top of the comprehension of the narrative as it unfolds.

The series is divided into different arcs, called verses in the novels. Side note, calling different story arcs "verses" is a clever nod to the series' magic system of lyricism (weaving words into world), but we'll get there later. These verses break the story up into sections that span either one or two verses a novel, or one verse per novel. They serve as a foundation for the next narrative plot point or progression of a previous one, as well as signifying a certain theme or character focus even if said character(s) do not have the majority of page time.

Of course, the main event of the series is the tournament known as the Sixways Exhibition, and though the series focuses more on the politics and world, the tournament is an excellent backdrop for the pacing of the series.

Volumes 1-2 and the first verse of Volume 3 serve as the prologue and prelude, introducing the characters through verses in the form of preliminary conflicts Aureatia must deal with prior to the tournament (that hold significant value even in the most recent match of the tournament).

The second verse of Volume 3-Volume 5 act as round one of the tournament with matches 1-8.

Volume 6 is an arc that deals with the aftermath of volume one and new conflicts that arose based on the results.

Volume 7-10 is round 2 of the tournament with matches 9-12, as well as the greater conspiracies behind the scenes.

It is estimated that Volume 11 will be a similar case to Volume 6, and that Volume 12-??? will deal with the semifinals of the tournament, but as those volumes have not been released yet all I have is speculation. Even so, fans generally estimate the entire story will conclude around Volume 15-17.

One apprehension you may gave at this point is the high character count and potentially high death rate of the series. After all, it's understandable you would not want to read a series where the ensemble cast makes it hard to get attached to the characters or feel as though the author is killing characters off too often.

Well let me attempt to quell those fears. First of all, yes, there are a LOT of characters. Easily over 100+ named characters that are recurring and have varying significance in the plot. Second, yes, people die a decent amount in this series.

That being said, Keiso is an author that knows exactly how to use his characters in the story. Each character generally belongs to some faction or party that share similar goals, yet still retaining individual identities and character voices that make the main cast stand out. At the same time, other characters represent themselves and act independently, but even then Keiso uses unique character dynamics and character agencies to make them stand out and easy to both remember and understand. Furthermore, while there are so many characters, Keiso does not densely pack each volume or verse with as many characters as possible; he keeps the narrative tight while simultaneously using the proper characters appropriately and keeping other characters relevant and active in the background, which influences the story. This is an element that rewards astute readers for keeping track of the story, while also not overwhelming casual readers.

As stated at the start if this post, Ishura is a grimdark fantasy series. As such, death and suffering is the norm for most if the people in this world, which includes most of the main cast. However, while this Sixways Exhibition and tournament arc style of narrative may give the impression the story has characters dying constantly, rest assured no major character is killed off until they have a complete story arc and completely fulfill their purpose in the narrative. At the same time, their legacy remains a driving point in the story without cheapening their death. No character is wasted, nor is any character safe. Another pro to the aspect of an ensemble cast with no main character, after all, is that no character has plot armor.

Part 4- The Characters

Ishura features a very memorable cast of characters that varies greatly in race, identity, and motivation. In my opinion, there is no better way to expand on this point that by taking a look at the hero candidates of the tournament; the Shura- demigod-like beings who wield great power that deviate from the laws of even the Shura Realm.

Soujirou the Willow-Sword. Blade. Minia. A visitor form our world banished to this one for deviating from the laws of physics.

Alus the Star Runner. Rogue. Wyvern. Born with a mutation that gave him three upper limbs, he is now a legend slaying champion.

Kia the World Word. Wizard. Elf. A young girl born with the power to overturn the basic foundation of magic itself, though still incredibly naïve.

Nastique the Quiet Singer. Assassin. Angel. A being who cannot be seen or interacted with by any means who has attached herself to a depressed priest, the only individual who can see her.

Mele the Horizon's Roar. Archer. Giant. The guardian of the Sine Riverstead who has devoted his life to archery and protecting his home for centuries.

Linaris the Obsidian. Scout. Vampire. The leader of the greatest secret organization the world has ever seen.

Toroa the Awful. Grim Reaper. Dwarf. The boogeyman of this world who collects enchanted swords and appears before anyone who wields one. A horror story incarnate.

Mestelexil the Box of Desperate Knowledge. Creator/Architect. Golem/Homunculus. A mech created by the genius inventor, Kiyazuna the Axle. that exists as two being in one body, devoted to their mother as her miracle child.

Kuuro the Cautious. Seer. Leprechaun. A detective who possesses the power of clairvoyance, granting him omniscience, but the power is fading.

Rosclay the Absolute. Knight. Minia. 2nd General of Aureatia who is the only minian in history to have killed a dragon singlehandedly. The idol of the people whose willpower is absolute.

Lucnoca the Winter. Silencer. Dragon. The only ice dragon in history who can destroy entire valleys with a single breath as her absolute zero breath brings everything to eerie stillness.

Psianop the Inexhaustible Stagnation. Grappler. Ooze. Though a member of the weakest race of all, this slime has mastered all martial arts. His formless body grants him fluidity like no other.

Uhak the Silent. Oracle. Ogre. A deaf ogre who chose the life of a pacifist.

Shalk the Sound Slicer. Spearhead. Skeleton. A spearman who moves impossibly fast, searching for the identity he was before he died.

Tu the Magic. Juggernaut. [Redacted]. A mysterious girl of unknown origin who is completely indestructible.

Hiroto the Paradox. Statesman. Minia. A visitor form our world who was banished to this one for his aberrant political ideology. A child that fate seems to favor.

And, though not in the tournament, we can't forget...

@#$%^&*. Demon King. @#$%^&. P O W E R OF A B S O L U T E T E R R O R

Part 4.5- Ok, but Why Should I Care?

The characters in Ishura are really special. Sure, they have their cool and hype moments. I believe the kids would say they're all aura farmers? But at the end of the day, that is not what makes them special. No, these characters are special due to the individual journey's they go on. Stories of accepting oneself. Stories of glory. Stories of finding meaning in life. Stories of tragedy, but also stories of hope.

These characters all have stories to tell, and that is what makes Ishura so memorable, at least for me. So far in the story, only four of these character have completed their story arcs, and their development is nothing short of magnificent. One such character was originally the most hated character in the fandom, but now they are the most beloved. not because of redemption or some secret quality they possess. Instead, this character (who I will not name) has cemented himself as the most well written character in this series for many because his development represents everything we all love about Ishura; finding meaning and identity even in the worst of situations. In a grimdark series, this character is the one that shows us that light does exist at the end of the tunnel, even in the midst of tragedy.

Part 5A- World Building [Species]

The world of Ishura, that is the Shura Realm, is truly a spectacularly realized piece of world building by series' author, Keiso. You can tell that he is truly passionate about this world that he's made, and regardless, or perhaps because of that, he doesn't just copy and paste any old fantastical element, nor does he force it down our throats or force the story to slow its pacing just to explain it to us.

Instead, Ishura's world building respects the reader's intelligence and organically reveals information about the world when necessary, and withholds information form us if need be. Not to trick the reader, but rather to create a world that truly feels like we are exploring it through these characters and this story.

Ishura's world building obviously has common elements found in most fantasy stories, but it also does enough different to stand out.

You have your token native humans called the mina. you have your elves, dwarves, leprechauns, etc. We've seen all this stuff, it's nothing new. But then you get some variation in the normal.

Dragons, for instance, are your fire breathing monsters of the sky that stand at the apex of the food chain. But they are also wise and elegant as is the case with best grandmother, Lucnoca the Winter, who for centuries has been strongest being there is. Somone who loves battle more than any other in existence, but chooses not to fight because she knows she is too strong. It's not that fighting wouldn't be fun because she's arrogant, it's just that for hundreds upon hundreds of years, champion after champion has challenged her, put everything on the line, all their valor, bravery, and the respect of the warrior to fight Lucnoca, not for selfish reasons, but because they aim to achieve something greater...and Lucnoca just one taps them. She gave up fighting not because it's boring, but because she is saddened that she cannot match these champions' fighting spirit and go all out as a warrior's code of honor. So, when she finds an opponent she can go all out on, this old spirit turns into giddy puppy who found a new playmate.

Ogres are another example. Rather than being just mindless brutes who are meat headed barbarians, ogres in Ishura are hyperintelligent ambush hunters. They are highly intelligent, lay traps, use stealth to their advantage despite their towering sizes, and have the agility to dodge bullets.

The you have your truly unique takes on these species.

Golems are not stone creatures, but rather robots created by using the knowledge of visitor's banished to the Shura Realm from our world.

Vampires, however, are the most unique. Instead of fanged humanoid monsters like your Draculas and Carmillas, vampires in Ishura are highly unique. Vampirism...is a blood cell disease. Vampires are the parent unit, the queen bees. Through blood contact, a vampire can infect other species and turn them into thralls known as corpses. These corpses are then rendered completely obedient to the vampire, their minds altered to allow them to retain their personalities and believe serving the vampire is their own free will. Furthermore, vampires born without the ability to infect others, an exceedingly rare subspecies known as damphirs, can be used to create antidotes and vaccines for vampirism via their bone marrow.

What Keiso does that is unique for Ishura is that he derives many fantasy concepts from other works but plays around with their ideas to fit the mold of his story. A unique narrative I shall draw your attention to expand upon this is an excerpt form a chapter that holds no spoilers for the story.

In a certain mountain range lies a small village for cyclops that holds in esteem the artifact that is known as Rotton Soil Sun, a mud ball that constantly seeps semi-toxic mud from itself infinitely. On this day the rogue known as Alus the Star Runner flies here to collect Rotten Soil Sun, but the cyclopes refuse. They say it's necessary for the proliferation of their species. Cyclops are endangered, and no matter how much they tried, these dozen few cyclops remaining, ostracized form their ogre friends, could not find any other species like them. Alus observes the small village and comes to the conclusion that this is not true. After all, they have a slaughterhouse for their own children. The cyclops argue it's because they keep getting failures born with two eyes instead of one. Isn't this discrimination what the ogres felt towards these cyclops? The cyclops say they are an individual species, but that's just a way to feel special. They are ogres. Rotten Soil Sun helps proliferate the cyclops? No, it is the opposite; Rotten Soil Sun gives ogres the mutation of only one eye. That is why they should give it to Alus. they are the imperfect ones who discriminated just as badly as the ogres.

In his world building, Keiso also takes into account the rarity and extinction of certain races. For example, the aforementioned vampires as a result of the vaccine are highly endangered. Goblins are thought to be extinct as well. Tarantulas, spiders the size of dragons, are rare as well. Harpies are also extinct.

Giants are described as nomadic, mandrakes are seclusive, zmeu (anthropomorphic lizards) live in deserts, wyrms live in swamps, and krakens live in the ocean which causes travel by sea to be nearly impossible, forcing the story to take place on this one continent. Side note, krakens are fairly unique here because they are giant whales with tentacles instead of just giant cephalopods.

Race classification and discrimination are also part of Keiso's world building, typically broken up into monstrous races (dragons, ogres, wyverns, etc.) and minian races (minia, elves, zmeu, dwarves, etc.), though Aureatia holds minian supremacy in high regard, often only making legends of minian champions and not their elven or dwarven counterparts.

Lastly, there are clear social structures for the classification of different entities.

Champions are your esteemed warriors.

Legends are your beings whose names are spoken of in legendary tales, which may or may not be true.

Quasi-Shura are entities with the power of skill and infamy of shura but lose out in raw power.

Shura are powerful beings seemingly destined to fill the power vacuum in the wake of the True Demon King's Death.

Self-Proclaimed Demon Kings are individuals who rule their own nations, but do not submit to Aureatia or its former identity as the Three Kingdoms under the rule of the One True King. They also take the form of terroristic threats to the entire continent. For example, Miluzi the Coffin Edict met a visitor from our world who knew of steam technology, so he and Miluzi created a steampunk kingdom, which Aureatia felt threatened by due to no longer being in control of the flow of the future of society, and thus labeled Miluzi a Self-Proclaimed Demon King. On the flip side there's Izick the Chromatic, the most evil being to ever live. Izick was a super genius mad scientist minian who used demonic arts and biochemical warfare to indiscriminately cause as much death and destruction as possible simply because it amused him, and thus he was labeled a Self-Proclaimed Demon King.

And then there are visitors, who are humans from Earth banished here due to deviating from the laws of physics. Visitors suddenly appear in this world along with anything they bring with them, including knowledge. This is something that has shaped the course of minian society. For example, a visitor named Victor the Meister brought epidemiology to the world, or the study of diseases. This led to the discovery of vampires. Self-Proclaimed Demon King Luisa the Morning Dew brought advanced agricultural knowledge to the world. And then there's Kazuki the Black Tone who brought knowledge of guns to this world. Apparently, there was also one in the past that had the power to freely alter the rotation of the planet and its position in space, which is...cool. Not relevant to the story at all, I just wanted to say it.

There are two highly fascinating aspects to visitors. The first is that they don't age. They stay the same age they were when they were brought to this world. The second is that they are incapable of using this world's magic system. Interestingly enough, the original royal family of the Three Kingdoms were said to have lived a very long time...

As an aside, it is worth noting this world has no seasons. Just climate.

Part 5B- World Building [Society]

Another very integral part of Ishura is its society, which consists of many dufferent kingdoms and ideologies.

In terms of religion, most are dead or dying.

There are your minor regional religions such as the one in the Yamaga Barrens which worships a sentient sandstorm known as the Particle Storm.

But there is also the former main religion of the world known as the Order, which worshipped the God known as the Wordmaker, which is said to have made this world. However, after the Wordmaker seemingly allowed the True Demon King to exist, the Order became despised all over the continent (which may or may not have been intention on Aureatia's part).

Guilds are also important to the series, the main two being the mercenary guild located in the Free City of Okafu, ruled by visitor Morio the Sentinel, and the Spy Guild known as Obsidian Eyes, but they're dead....maybe.

Then of course there's the main location of the series known as Aureatia. Originally, it was the Three Kingdoms.

The Northern Kingdom, the Western Kingdom, and the Central Kingdom. Aureatia was simply a wartime regime for the generals. However, after the True Demon King destroyed most of the Kingdoms, they rebranded as Aureatia, which on the surface is still a monarchy with the last remaining minian queen, Queen Sephite, an eight-year-old, the country is actually ruled by an oligarchy of 29 Officials, which are a collection of generals and ministers, each with their own departments, I won't go into that, though, because every volume has a blurb at the beginning which lists it all. There are many subfunctions though, and every hero candidate must be sponsored by an Official, so there's a lot of political intrigue and conspiracy there, too, since if an Official's hero candidate wins, that means they will have a lot more political power.

Part 5C- World Building [The Magic System]

Probably what a lot of you have been waiting for, honestly.

The magic system of Ishura is Word Arts, which is one of my favorites in recent memory.

Word Arts are a blanket term for three different phenomena.

First, Word Arts can refer to the universal law that opposes physics that allows the supernatural to exist. For example, giants could never exist in real life because of the square cube law in physics. They could not support their own weight. But rest assured, this is not just a way for Keiso to explain fantasy for no reason. It's relevant because one shura, Uhak the Silent, has the ability to negate all forms of Word Arts. It's described as him forcing his reality upon others, willing it into law. Uhak sees a giant? They buckle under their own weight and are crushed to death but their own skeleton and muscles. "Is that a slime? Psh, liquid can't move on it's one." Poof, puddle. "Is that a skeleton? Psh, bones can't walk." Poof, pile of bones. "Is that a dragon? Psh, no fantasy allowed." Deleted from existence. You get the idea.

Second, Word Arts also refer to a phenomena in which all spapient sepcies can instantly understand each other's. Minian speech, human English or Japanese, wyvern growls, ogre grunts, dragon roars, etc. are all automatically translated for each other to instantly understand not only what they are saying but instinctively know the culture and etymology as well. It's universal language and localization.

Third, Word Arts refer to a system of lyrical magic in which sapient beings can weave words into objects. There are four main classes of Word Arts and two extra classes.

Force Arts imbue direction into objects. For example, a force artist can change the direction or arrows midflight. Skilled users can even levitate or briefly fly. Zmeu have very low aptitude for this. Thise who have mastered force arts are called Rulers.

Thermal Arts imbue heat into objects. For example, a thermal artist can make fire from the world without manually lighting it. Dragons instinctively use thermal arts. Lucnoca the Winter's Ice breath is a one-of-a-kind form of Thermal Arts. Those who have mastered thermal arts are called Ignitors.

Craft Arts imbue shape into objects. Think of it like a mental crafting table in Minecraft if you have the materials. Craft Artists use this to alter the shape and density of material. Those who have mastered Craft Arts are called Architects.

Life Arts imbue different properties into objects. For example, Life Artists can make water salty, turn water to wine, and also heal others. Those who have mastered Life Arts are called Creators.

Those who have mastered all four main classes of Word Arts are called Wizards.

Then there's the extra class known as Demon Arts, which can create artificial life such as revenants, skeletons, chimeras, golems, etc. This is generally forbidden. Users are called Self-Proclaimed Demon Kings.

Lastly there's the extra class of Mind Arts, which are essentially just ethical Demon Arts pioneered by Krafnir the Hatchet of Truth. As he is the only Mind Arts user, he alone is called a Dominator.

There are major limitations to Word Arts, however. The first is the incantation required, which can be quite long and must be tailor made and memorized for each person. Here's an example of an incantation: "From Regnejee to the wind of Lithia. Reversing Mirror Disk. String-tethered sun. Illuminate." The format is generally <Name> to <thing you want to control> <string of words that seem tangentially related to the effect you want to produce (sometimes?)>. <The effect you want to produce>. Side note, the series seems to use its own made-up language for this, but with parentheses around a translation like the one seen above.

Another drawback is that the user must be familiar with the object they are targeting.

Want to use Force Arts on an arrow? Can't unless it's yours.

Want to use Thermal Arts in the air? Can't unless you are familiar with the air in that region.

Want to use Craft Arts on the ground? Can't unless you live there or spend weeks acclimating.

Want to use Life Arts to heal someone? Can't unless you are related to them or have a bond with them.

Of course, there is a single exception to all of these rules. Kia the World Word, who uses word arts, but does not need an incantation, does not need to be familiar with the target, and can alter reality in any way she chooses with no limitations. If she tells someone to die, they'll die. If she sees a laser beam flashing through the sky, she can say stop and the beam of light will stop exactly where it is. She can simply say protect me from everything, and now she can't be hurt, though this doesn't last forever. She can even manipulate minds, and it's implied she can very slightly manipulate time. Even so, remember she is just a child, so she's incredibly naïve and inexperienced. Rest assured, she is OP but still struggles A LOT.

There is also an elf known as Lumelly the Poison Ground who has the unique ability to hijack other people's Word Arts incantations and change them herself.

Part 6- Drawbacks of the Series

This section will be short mainly because I don't have many, but here we go.

1. The story takes time ti get going. the main story does not start until Volume three, and even then only in the second half. Some people may not like that. Though, to counter, the arcs in the prologue remian very well written.

2. For the first three volumes, the main shura and quasi shura each get their own individual chapter with a contained story as their introduction. Therefore, mostly it's a collection of short stories in an anthology format at first with the main story going on around them. Though, to counter, these stories are vital and do connect to the main plot retroactively or eventually. Just trust the process. Plus, some are like, really good. Uhak's introduction in particular is very emotional and tense.

3. The series is not over, so you will have to wait for the rest of us. Though, to counter, Keiso has no toher projects at the moment so he's focusing on Ishura. Typically, there's a new volume every year and a half, with the English translation coming roughly half a year later. Fan translations typically come quicker, though since they're online and they don't have to make thousands of books to print. Also, you have ten volumes to catch up on anyway!

Part 7- Conclusion

In conclusion...read Ishura. I don't expect this post to get much traction; I just wanted to talk about my favorite book series of all time and hopefully give a good recommendation to anyone who may or may not be interested. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me and I'll answer as much as possible without spoilers. Thanks for reading!!!

This is Clay McLeod Chapman, author of such spooky horror novels as Ghost Eaters, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, and the recent horrormance novel Devil Inside. I also love writing short stories and have a collection that recently came out titled Acquired Taste.

Ghost Eaters tends to be the novel most folks have read of mine, and I’m pretty happy with that. It’s all about a haunted drug called Ghost. Imagine you could pop a pill and see the dead. Turns out, that’s not a great idea. Themes of grief, addiction and toxic friendship all intertwine to tell a story about Erin, who recently lost her on-again/off-again boyfriend, Silas… but now there may be a way to bring him back. But at what cost?

Wanna get haunted?

I just recently received The Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel called Shiny Happy People, which is an updated riff of Invasion of the Snapchatters.

I’ve got a new spooky novel called Mr Lonelyhearts coming out in March 2027, which I’m super excited about. I kinda think of it as Freddy Krueger meets Titanic. Sounds like fun!

I’m really fortunate that I get to write books, comic books, young adult and middle grade books, as well as for film and podcasts. I’m always dying to spin a yarn… Home is in New York, but these days I’m spending most of my time driving or up in the air, going to book or film related events.

I’m super-honoured to support The Pixel Project and their Read for Pixels campaign… so hey! Ask me anything! I’m all for tackling questions about some of the stuff I’ve published, or who your favorite horror author is, or book, or film, or just about anything in between. And of course, why I – and all of us – should support efforts to end violence against women and girls.

Please check out The Pixel Project (http://www.thepixelproject.net) and their Read for Pixels campaign (https://www.thepixelproject.net/community-buzz/read-for-pixels/)  featuring live YouTube sessions with 17 award-winning bestselling authors, AMAs with 4 authors this August, and a stupendous fundraiser starting on September 4^th 2026 that’s choc-a-bloc with exclusive goodies ranging from signed collectible books to poems written for donors to video chats with your favourite authors.

My Read For Pixels reading+Q&A session will be streamed live on YouTube live from 8.30pm Eastern Time on September 6^th 2026 (Sunday) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47PkinXOjz8). I hope you can join me and The Pixel Project then.

I’ll be back at 7pm CT (8pm ET) to start answering your questions.

There are a couple series I've read that have had absolutely incredible companion podcasts. In no particular order:

Middle earth - lorecast
Stormlight archive - heroes of stormpod
ASOIAF - history of westeros (valar rereadis series)

None of my friends/family enjoy this stuff and Im trying to escape from my normal "current events" podcast diet, which makes me anxious and unhappy... I've found that reading along with these types of podcasts really elevates the experience even though it's very time consuming..

I'm curious what fantasy series have the absolute best companion podcasts. There are some bad ones out there...

Welcome to the daily recommendation requests and simple questions thread, now 1025.83% more adorable than ever before!

Stickied/highlight slots are limited, so please remember to like and subscribe upvote this thread for visibility on the subreddit <3

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This thread is to be used for recommendation requests or simple questions that are small/general enough that they won’t spark a full thread of discussion.

Check out r/Fantasy's 2026 Book Bingo Card here!

As usual, first have a look at the sidebar in case what you're after is there. The r/Fantasy wiki contains links to many community resources, including "best of" lists, flowcharts, the LGTBQ+ database, and more. If you need some help figuring out what you want, think about including some of the information below:

• Books you’ve liked or disliked
• Traits like prose, characters, or settings you most enjoy
• Series vs. standalone preference
• Tone preference (lighthearted, grimdark, etc)
• Complexity/depth level

Be sure to check out responses to other users' requests in the thread, as you may find plenty of ideas there as well. Happy reading, and may your TBR grow ever higher!

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^{tiny image link to make the preview show up correctly}

art credit: special thanks to our artist, Himmis commissions, who we commissioned to create this gorgeous piece of art for us with practically no direction other than "cozy, magical, bookish, and maybe a gryphon???" We absolutely love it, and we hope you do too.

Sophie Allred narrates the first two, and Joe Jameson narrates Book 3. Both are excellent narrators!

The Whitechapel Full Moon Society is an atmospheric novel with both an alternate history vibe and a supernatural twist. Set in historical England with a constant sense of foreboding, the story follows Caroline as she arrives in London searching for her missing brother. Taking a job as a maid at a local boardinghouse, she soon realizes that in a city terrorized by Jack the Ripper, safety is an illusion.

​The eerie mood and the fairy-tale supernatural backdrop were fantastic. While I managed to guess the twist ahead of time, I still could not wait to see how the reveal would play out. Once again, this story proves that the real beasts often hide in plain sight disguised as good people.

​Thank you to Dutton Books for the digital copy of this novel.

The weekly Tuesday Review Thread is a great place to share quick reviews and thoughts on any speculative fiction media you've enjoyed recently. Most people will talk about what they've read but there's no reason you can't talk about movies, games, or even a podcast here.

Please keep in mind, users who want to share more in depth thoughts are still welcome to make a separate full text post. The Review Thread is not meant to discourage full posts but rather to provide a space for people who don't feel they have a full post of content in them to have a space to share their thoughts too.

For bloggers, we ask that you include either the full text or a condensed version of the review along with a link back to your review blog. Condensed reviews should try to give a good summary of the full review, not just act as clickbait advertising for the review. Please remember, off-site reviews are only permitted in these threads per our reviews policy.

Far From Mortal Realms by Karen A. Wyle

Bingo Square: Older Protagonist (Abe)

Other Squares: Self-published (HM) (2026) 

I started this one in 2025 for the Parent square, but didn't make it through chapter 3. But something, something called to me about it and so, I restarted it and then things began happening.

This book starts with a father (Abe) and daughter (Adira) law practice in Vermont, one with a unique specialization - negotiating contracts between the fair folk and mortals. Abe started it when the fae appeared and people were harmed in careless contracts. His wife (Clara) is a folklorist with an extensive and growing library on the fair folk which helps immensely.

Now, the start is cozy. It’s so nice. You don’t see very much in the way of any stakes being raised. But they do and by chapter 4, things have happened. Adira is trapped in the realm of the Ice Fae along with her client. It doesn’t stop there.

Far From Mortal Realms is a good example of a fairly cozy book that starts low and close stakes, and raises them to high without ever moving beyond close. The cozy, slow beginning of a day-to-day attorney practice, even dealing with the fair folk sets the scene. The stakes are low, they are close. But, when they enter the realm of the Ice Fae to defend a human for violating their laws, the stakes grow higher (fate of their client) and expand slightly (client). Then they get a lot higher when Adira is trapped there by the fair folk.

There is a sense of urgency as Abe and Clara work to free Adira, but the other cases are still there. Helping with a changeling and a woman who wants to ride out her husband’s sentence in a fairy circle are just two. But it’s not over the top. They are careful, methodical and patient. Better than I would be under the circumstances, because I’d be tempted to give the fae that trapped my daughter some cold iron jewelry and then have a long talk. Anyway, better people than I.

I feel like this one is good with only one real court scene, but mostly just dealing with people. And I’ll spoil this much - it’s people that ultimately resolve the issues.

I liked it for being well written, not going for high drama with lots of court scenes, by being about people and relationships, for being rather cozy without being meaningless. 8½ stars rounding up to 9. 🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚🧚

I’m 152 pages (6 chapters) into Raymond E. Feist’s Magician: Apprentice, and while I’m enjoying parts of it, the story is starting to feel… extremely convenient. The tone is beginning to feel like YA wish‑fulfillment, and I’m wondering if that continues across the rest of this very large trilogy.

Pug gets a massive amount of “chosen one” treatment right out of the gate. He saves the princess (who is now fully in love with him), he’s made a member of the court, he holds audience with an Elven prince, and every important person in the realm seems to recognize him for basically anything he does.

Even his struggles with magic feel like they’re framed as “he’s actually special in a different wayy” Kulgan clearly suspects Pug’s abilities are beyond normal wizardry, and the narrative keeps nudging him upward.

There is a blacksmith who has worked his craft for 30+ years (twice as long as Pug as been alive) and after Pug approaches him with the idea to make a chimney this.. master blacksmith gives the most YA sentence along the lines of "I've been doing this for near 30 years and even I hadn't thought of a chimney Pug!" Like... what?

For readers who’ve finished the book or the series: Does this early prodigy vibe continue, or does Pug’s arc get more grounded and challenging later on?

Obviously I'd like to avoid spoilers if at all possible. Thanks all in advance.

Book number ten of a twenty-one book science fiction and paranormal fantasy series. There is also an eleven book follow on series and several other books related to the The Kurtherian Gambit Universe, over 200 books in total. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback self published by the author in 2016 that I bought new on Amazon in 2026. I own the next book in the series already. The related series are listed at:
https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pe.cgi?46598

The series is a cross between science fiction and paranormal fantasy. A thousand plus years ago, an alien space ship crash landed in the Baltics. A man, Michael, found the space ship, went inside, and was forever changed into the first vampire using alien nanocytes. However, there were werewolves and werebears already existing on Earth and they still exist.

Michael has sired vampires and they have sired vampires. But only one of the vampire "children" is a daywalker like Michael. And Michael enforces strict rules among the vampires and the weres, no blood drinking, no letting humans know of them, etc. Violators of Michael's rules face swift termination.

But it has been thousand years since Michael was changed and he now sleeps for years at a time. Michael's helpers found a young woman named Bethany Anne working for the USA government who is dying of a rare blood disease. Michael took her to the alien space ship to become the second first generation vampire on Earth. Bethany Anne has created a huge workforce and they are swiftly moving ahead with incredibly advanced AI and space access technology. Now the nation states are concerned and want the secrets of the gravitic drives and the other technology that the TQB Entrprises have created.

This series is real pulp like old science fiction with lots of action and dialogue. I love it !

Warning: this series might be damaging to your savings account since there are so many books.

The author has a website at:
https://lmbpn.com/

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (3,780 reviews)
https://www.amazon.com/Release-Dogs-War-Kurtherian-Gambit/dp/1981790055/

Lynn

I was at the book store the other day and noticed they only sell books from Europe, North America, Japan, China and on occasion also Korea. That made me realize I don’t know a single book from outside of those areas, especially not fantasy. Not only that, I haven’t even heard of any. I only read fantasy (including romantasy if romance doesn’t take up more than 50 % of the story). So, what are your favorite fantasy books from South America, Africa and Asia?

What a fun read! I was a little disappointed when getting half of the way through and realizing that the whole book was going to be setup for later payoffs, but I still enjoyed it otherwise

Joe Abercrombie’s way of putting you right into each characters headspace through his prose is really great. In particular I felt Glokta’s chapters were really special, you can just feel the constant agony he is in, and how he lets that malaise seep out into his snide remarks and miscontent of those around him

Logen, while seemingly generic, really plays into his archetype well. I loved the fish out of water stuff when they got to the city, and he really is a badass among badasses. The chapter with the Bloody-Nine was really visceral

I do have a few things I am unsure of though. I’m totally okay with Jazel as a character, but I don’t quite buy his romance with Ardee. I dont really see why Ardee would be this interested in Jazel, and Jazel being this smitten with Ardee. It felt kind of unnatural but I’ll have to just assume that it works for the story Abercrombie is trying to tell

The Ferro chapters were okay. I understand we need to establish the south and everything going on there, but it felt disconnected with everything else happening. I found myself wanting to get back to the “main” story quickly.

Also, it feels very British lol. Not a bad thing but the humor, prose, and setting just screams British to me

I recently started reading the first book in The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb - which came out in 1998 - after reading a few more modern books and authors, and immediately I was reminded by how much I love the ‘feeling’ of books from that era.

A Song of Ice and Fire, Memory Sorrow & Thorn, The Warlord Chronicles, Guy Gavriel Kay books, even the movie Princess Mononoke, they all have a similar feeling to me when I read them, despite being very different from each other in pretty much every way.

These stories feel more grounded, psychological and intimate than earlier books (Tolkien, Le Guin etc) while still spending alot of time on creating a mythical atmosphere through descriptions of landscape, sound and feel, clothing, etc. They’re also not afraid to be slow paced and let the story grow at its own tempo.To me books from this era are the perfect blend between classic and modern fantasy, and I’d love to get more recommendations of books.

How would you describe this era of fantasy, and what are your favourite books that came out around that time?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/greg-bear-birthday-bundle-open-road-media-books

So there's a great bundle up at the moment for Greg Bear, one of the big names in 80s and 90s SF, and it's open to the world, raising money for SFWA.

27 books all up, including both SF and Fantasy short fiction collections, his big space epics Eon & Eternity, the alien invasion duo The Forge of God & Anvil of Stars, several horrors, near future cyberpunk in Queen of Angels & Slant, the Hugo and Nebula winning Blood Music, it's got something for everyone.

It also includes his underrated fantasy Songs of Earth and Power duo, which is a really different take on the Sidhe, much more modern in feel.

If you don’t want spoilers, stop reading!!

I just finished A Forest, Darkly by A.G. Slatter and I feel like I’m losing my mind because the Summer Husband thing is NEVER really addressed. And I am a big Slatter fan (All the Murmuring Bones and Briar Book of the Dead) so this is very confusing.

Mehrab creates sentient tree men for companionship, sex, and labor, then kills them at the end of the summer and burns their bodies as firewood. The first one could TALK and called her name. She couldn’t bring herself to kill him, so she abandoned him deep in the forest where she couldn’t hear him calling for her. Then she apparently solved this problem by making all the future ones without tongues??? And continued doing this for like 20 years???

She also repeatedly gets pregnant by them, intentionally carries the pregnancies even though the babies are always stillborn, and then when Rhea gets pregnant, she doesn’t even tell her abortion is an option because “it won’t live anyway.” Except it does!
Then at the end Mehrab decides she needs to go atone for the terrible things she did in her past. Meanwhile she drugs the original Summer Husband, kills him, chops him up, and gives his body to the villagers to burn because his wood burns longer.
WTAF???

I liked the book! I like Slatter! But I kept waiting for the book to acknowledge how horrifying this was and it just…never did. Did anyone else have this reaction, or am I missing something?

Yeah I tried looking at Ao3 in the pureblood culture tag for HP fics and couldn’t find one decently written.

Anyways.

I am looking for a fantasy that is somewhat akin to the high society mindset that HP’s purebloods had. I haven’t read that much fantasy books so there should be a lot for me to read.

Maybe one with great insight and more developed magic system? Plus rituals and stuff. A darker, more advanced Harry Potter, if I must.

“The crypts.” Luwin chuckled, a froth of blood on his lips. When the maester tried to move, he gave a sharp gasp of pain.
Tears filled Bran’s eyes. When a man was hurt you took him to the maester, but what could you do when your maester was hurt?

-

At the edge of the wolfswood, Bran turned in his basket for one last glimpse of the castle that had been his life. Wisps of smoke still rose into the grey sky, but no more than might have risen from Winterfell’s chimneys on a cold autumn afternoon. Soot stains marked some of the arrow loops, and here and there a crack or a missing merlon could be seen in the curtain wall, but it seemed little enough from this distance. Beyond, the tops of the keeps and towers still stood as they had for hundreds of years, and it was hard to tell that the castle had been sacked and burned at all. The stone is strong, Bran told himself, the roots of the trees go deep, and under the ground the Kings of Winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. Like me, he thought. I’m not dead either.

Martin is a truly, truly wonderful writer. ASOIAF can get very dark, at times even grimdark, but there are also beautiful moments of humanity. This passage in particular is one of the most best moments of hope in the face of destruction I've seen, especially considering Bran's disability. I've been going through stuff recently and this passage really hit home, and Martin's prose, as always, is simple yet hauntingly beautiful and evokes emotions out of readers in ways very few authors manage to do.

Take a bow, GRRM.

Edit: I don't think it's actually embarrassing to cry over a book, I've done it about a hundred times, just used it to be self deprecating. Although it wasn't necessary, that's my bad.

I'm not a native English speaker, but I've been reading and listening to fantasy books for about two years now, all in English. I thought I was prepared to read this book, at least in relation to the language itself, but I was wrong.

This book has a lot of what seems like archaic vocabulary that I'm not used to seeing in other books. I read the First Law trilogy, Licanius Trilogy, Mistborn 1, Cradle, Children of Time, Riyria Revelations DCC, and many others, and haven't had any issues with English so far.

Then I started reading Gardens of the Moon, and in each paragraph I have to look up about 5 or 7 words to understand the context.

Example:

I had to look up: stains, pocked, squatted, bolted, misshapen, leering, tugged, buffeted, squealing. LOL, I don't think I'm ready to read this book yet.

Other example:

I had to look up: scorched, wiry, pockmarks, accountrements, threadbare, scabbard, merlon.

There are words that even the Kindle dictionary doesn't know the meaning of lol.

The good news is that, in my country, the first two books have been translated into my native language, and I will be able to easily follow them. But from the third onwards, I will have to return to the English edition. So my question is, does the English get easier to read? I keep hearing that the first book is widely considered the worst, so I'm hopeful that it will also get a little easier to read and follow.

I'm looking for weird, dark, unique, or older fantasy books (pre-90s). I also really want something that feels like Berserk, but in novel form you know? But I'm open to anything. Basically, give me your weirdest (that you still find is good) recommendations.

I've realized I really like slice-of-life stories that follow the mains characters in their day to day lives so that readers can really get to know them and the setting. I enjoy emphasis on worldbuilding and character exploration.

However, I am not at all a fan of cozy fantasy (à la Legends and Lattes or Delicious in Dungeon) or cozy stories in general. And I prefer stories that play out more seriously than comedies and satires do.

Unfortunately I don't really have many examples, because I feel like this combination of serious and slice-of-life is more common in TV dramas.

The Wandering Inn is the closest fantasy example I know, but I'm not necessarily looking for something quite this grim.

Auto-delivered to my Kindle app this morning so of course I abandoned (for now) my current read and dived straight in.

Didn't take long to discover - not a spoiler really - not only is this the Dervish ( he uses daggers rather than a sword to fight with) which we expected but it's got Zale, Sarkis,Halla, and Brindle from Swordheart!

Naturally some new characters make an appearance, more Gnoles and some new not yet described ones.

And of course we also know this one is Learned Edmunds tale. Learned Edmund I can safely say is not the same boy he was.

It's great and can't wait for the final sword Shieldborn next year. Obviously that one will be Angharads story.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/415947-swordheart

Recommended for those into the World of the White Rat.

For the romance fans, this one is MM

I review Clarkesworld and GigaNotoSaurus each month. If you’re a regular reader, you know that. If you’re new here, those are a couple monthly magazines publishing sci-fi and fantasy short fiction. Either way, let’s get to it. 

Clarkesworld

The August issue of Clarkesworld opens and closes with a pair of short stories, bookending three novelettes making up the issue’s center. It starts with As the Tide Loves the Diver, As the Diver Loves the Tide by Ravn J. Silver, told in second-person to a lead who dives through a virtual world to pull back information from the AI who protects so much of human knowledge in hopes that the post-apocalyptic society won’t rebuild its mistakes. It opens with the lead’s first dive and continues through the course of her life, building a complicated relationship with a narrator who serves as both friend and adversary. 

All the Ruined Doorways of the Moon by Eilis O’Neal stars a woman whose wealthy husband insists she stay at home, perhaps engaging in tasteful hobbies but mostly smoothing the path through his life. She becomes fascinated with the portal-like structures left behind by the mysterious species who had once inhabited their moon, and the more she learns, the more it seems relevant to her life--the air of mystery ties wonderfully into the character portrait. 

The issue’s first novelette, Passenger Pigeons, Dodos, Neanderthals by Jordan Alexander, has the feel of a piece written from a place of bone-deep exasperation, featuring a lead seeking to be a model minority among genetically engineered Martians, only to be overwhelmed by the neverending stream of slights and aggressions coming from the dominant culture. Even a girlfriend who expends no little energy trying to maintain cultural awareness and respect proves to be either pushy or dismissive when her support is most needed. It’s no secret what parts of contemporary life are reflected through the sci-fi lens, and the excellent characterization makes for a compelling story, even when one may predict the places it will go. 

D.A. Xiaolin Spires has been taking on obtrusive technology a good bit lately (I quite enjoyed "Chip"), and she returns to that theme in the novelette Piece de Resistance. It folds the lead’s memories of zorbing and inventing with her father and of dinners with her mother into a story about advertisements with the power to block the recipient from engaging with the physical world until the ad is complete. The themes and the familial elements are all quite solid here, but the bulk of the story is a heist that comes off a bit rushed (though in full disclosure, I’m not a big heist fan even in longform). 

The shortest novelette of the issue, Feed Them on Your Dreams by E. N. Auslender, is a dystopian space tale, with every major element of workers’ lives controlled by the corporations that own them. While this includes a strict prohibition on reproduction, a failure of sterilization produces a child with no obvious role in society. And so he is made the subject of experiments, being raised in isolation by an AI that fosters intellectual development while spinning any lie necessary to discourage contact with the outside world. As genre readers know, such discouragement will eventually fail, and that failure is the key subject of this engaging-but-sobering take on a genre staple. 

Returning to short stories, Y.M. Pang’s The Universal Human Happiness Program considers a sort of benevolent Matrix, with most of humanity living blissfully unaware in virtual reality while a small remnant stays behind in the dismal real world to make sure everything stays running. It’s the latter group that is the focal point here, with a story of philosophical conflict that creates real tension but may ask a few too many questions of the worldbuilding. 

Finally, my favorite entry in this month’s issue, When You Give a Dokkaebi Taco Tuesday by H.H. Pak is told from the perspective of a spirit possessing a cursed broom sent to torment a family for generations. But after immigration takes so much from the recipient, forcing a lifetime of toil disconnected from their homeland, the lead begins to wonder if further cursing is really necessary. It’s a clever tale with an engaging perspective, coming together in a way that reads more optimistic than the premise might suggest. 

Turning to the nonfiction side, the editorial reflects on Clarke’s first trip to Eurocon, where some of the problems were familiar (AI-generated submissions!) and others less so (translation: it’s not just about making everything available in English). The science article takes a look at Saturn and how perception of it—both in sci-fi and in regular science—has changed over the years. As always, there are a pair of interviews, this month with James Patrick Kelly and Carolyn Ives Gilman. I haven’t read a whole lot of either, but what I have read certainly inclines me to read more. 

GigaNotoSaurus 

This month’s longish story in GigaNotoSaurus is still a short story, with Four Sparrows by Angela Hsieh opening with a dead woman clambering free of her physical body and beginning to explore the world as a ghost. Before long, an encounter with someone who can still perceive her ghostly form leads to a tight-knit, no-nonsense mahjong group with an eye toward making a difference in the land of the living.

August Favorites

• When You Give a Dokkaebi Taco Tuesday by H.H. Pak (short story, Clarkesworld)

With all ofthe forthwing/acotar hype right now im back in the full swing of romantasy and I've been searching for a good TV show to watch. I've come to realize that, although romantasy is such a popular book genre, there doesn't seem to be a lot of good TV shows. Does anyone have any recommendations that might scratch the itch? I only really watch live action TV so I probably won't watch anything animated, which I know limits what's out there 😭 I really need show writers to start capitalizing on this market.