We readers are always after the new hardback shiny, eyes ever pinned to the horizon of new releases. And who can blame us? Buying books is our love language. It’s how we show authors our gratitude and appreciation; it’s how we dote on friends and comfort ourselves.

But in all our gazing out into the abyss of ever-published new stories, all those books we loved the years before get buried in the TBR grave. We miss out on wonderful experiences hiding right under our noses: backlist books. These are older books from publishers that are still in print and have been out in the world for at least a year.

And so, I’ve created the Adult SFF Backlist Books Challenge to dive into the burial mounds of stories we’ve forgotten. But it’s more than just digging in the past for good reads; it’s a challenge to shift all that love, gratitude, and appreciation towards the works of authors already out in the world. More specifically, it’s a challenge to read adult fiction and find joy in stories we’ve overlooked for the high of new shiny books.

Welcome to the challenge, Valkyries ♥

Table of Contents

The Guidelines

  • This challenge will run from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022; you can join at anytime before December 1, 2022.
  • Books must be categorized as adult; category crossovers do not count for this challenge.
  • Books should primarily fall under science fiction or fantasy, but so long as the story has strong elements of these, genre crossovers and expanding to thriller/horror count towards the challenge.
  • Books must have been published before 2022. So 2021, 2020, 2019, and all years prior are fine.
  • Re-reads, ebooks, audiobooks, and short stories all count.
  • Everyone is welcome to participate 😀 A blog is not required; you can link to other sites like Storygraph. Just be sure to let us know in the comments where we can politely stalk you 😀
    • No matter where you post, please share which book you selected for each month and how it relates to the theme/why you picked it!
  • Use the hashtag #ASFBB22 to chat with other readers doing this challenge and to share your reviews, reactions, recommendations, etc
  • To officially sign up, leave us a comment letting us know where to find you and what you plan to read.

Monthly Themes

To keep things as simple, yet still subjective, as possible, we’ve left each monthly theme open to interpretation. This gives you the freedom to read whatever you’re genuinely drawn to so long as you can relate it to the theme in some way in your post. It’ll be interesting to see how other readers interpret the themes and which books they select to read! With each theme below will be about 2-3 examples, but we’re also including a suggestion list of Adult SFF stories to check out if you’re stuck. It’ll be added in a week or so. Without further ado, here are the monthly themes for 2022!

Please note: not all the images below contain links; AWS is down, which means every website that uses them is also down. I’ll add links as soon as everything is back up and running.

January — Winter

January’s theme is winter, which is our favorite season of the year. This theme can be interpreted literally, with a winter setting in the story, but it doesn’t have to be. A cozy cover, a retelling from a snowy region, a nuclear winter apocalypse, a village in the mountains, etc can all count under this theme. And if your story nails this theme for a different reason, we’d love to know. That’s part of the fun here.

Spinning Silver Naomi Novik

February — Time

Time is everything, and it can be interpreted as anything: a date on the cover, a specific era in the book, the ability to travel through time, lost pieces in time, broken memories, an alternate history, and so on.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Cover Teaser
parting the veil by paulette kennedy

March — Oaths

Oaths and promises: two things no main character should swear lightly. And yet, many do, sometimes without realizing it. As with the other themes, interpret this as you will, but remember: an oath can be a declaration, a haunting, the giving of a precious item for safe-keeping, an ideal, the kiss of revenge, or a secret buried deep.

Adult Backlist Books: Malice by John Gwynne Cover Image
Adult Backlist Books: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

April — Hidden Places

April’s theme is one of our favorites: Hidden Places. Curiously, this doesn’t only apply to physical spaces in our world *wink*.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

May — Starlight

May’s theme is starlight; this can be anything that reminds you of starlight, whether it be a place or type of magic or symbolism.

A Master of Djinn by P.Djeli Clark

June — To Sea

June’s theme is To Sea. This can be interpreted in so many ways, from water magic to pirates to places/people/objects claimed by bodies of water. Water is symbolic, so loose associations are fun here 🙂

On These Black Sands

July — To Sky

July’s theme is To Sky. This can be interpreted in so many ways, from air/elemental magic to steampunk airships to sky pirates to animorphism. The sky is your limit, pun totally intended 😀

August — Sacrifice

August’s theme is Sacrifice. As with all other themes, it’s open to interpretation. Check out the examples below!

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb Cover Image
bloodflower by kj harrowick

September — Fire

Fire is hugely symbolic, so it’s meaning can be anything from literal fire or a kind of magic to revenge or a burning desire. It can represent a creature, like the phoenix, or even the tiniest bit of hope. This theme is truly whatever you make of it 🙂

October — Ritual

October’s theme is Ritual. This can be interpreted as things we do to comfort ourselves, magic rituals, the vulnerabilities rituals pose, the roles of those who perform rituals, cults and religions, and so much more.

November — Forest

December — Omens

Reading Suggestions

Looking fo suggestions? We’re currently compiling a shelf on Goodreads for you to check out if you’re not sure where to start. We’ll also be linking to other resources for you to pillage for reading ideas. In the meantime, here is a list of stellar lgbt adult sff to check out 🙂 For other lists, stay tuned!

Spread the Word

If you like the idea of this Adult SFF Backlist Book Challenge, help us spread the word via social media using #ASFBB22. Please also add a link to this original post to your reviews, tweets, IG stories, or blog posts. You can also can tag us @bookishvalhalla on Twitter. In return, we will share your posts as well x

Countdown To the Adult SFF Backlist
Books Challenge

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Will you be joining us for this challenge?