Introducing the Indie Fantasy Club

The Stormlight Archive. Red Rising. The Wheel of Time. Game of Thrones. All books and authors you’re guaranteed to hear about from almost any booktube channel. And for good reason! These are some of the most incredible stories ever told.

The Indie Fantasy Club isn’t about disparaging traditionally published books, but it IS about celebrating independent authors who don’t get as much of the love they deserve. Fantasy is so much fun, and there is so much to explore, I just want to be a voice for some of the unique writers and stories out there.

For a new booktuber, my shelf is embarrassingly bare. We’re gonna fix that, but I’ve gotta read some of these indie fantasy books first. Every time we finish a review, we’ll add it to our shelf.

Ranking system explanation

Some people prefer character-driven stories, while others may prefer to have a strong theme throughout. As a fellow reader, I have my own preferences and biases when it comes to fantasy books, but I don’t want that to affect my scoring system. So I’m going to break my rankings into five distinct categories:

Immersion (Worldbuilding)
Nothing is better than completely falling into a new world of thrilling adventure. When I think of some of the greatest worlds I’ve ever experienced, I think of Westeros or Roshar. So that’s the standard I’ll have for a 10/10.

Names (Characters)
I don’t think anyone creates characters as real or intense as Joe Abercrombie or Robin Hobbs. Every choice those characters make feels so authentic, even when it conflicts with how I want the story to go.

Da Magic/Creatures/Tech
Magic systems are tough because I know people are split between hard and soft magic. So I will be taking both into consideration, with Mistborn being the standard for hard magic and LOTR as the standard for soft. I’m also going to include magical creatures in this, like dragons or golems because I think that fits best in this category, especially if there’s no magic.

Infrastructure (Plot)
I define plot as the overall structure of the story. Do all the elements work together to drive the pacing and the emotion forward? When I think of great series in this category, I think of Red Rising or the Green Bone Saga. Just great themes and satisfying conclusions and payoffs.

Enjoyment
This category is reserved entirely for my personal opinion of the book. I’ve read books that are technically terribly written, but that I’ve really enjoyed. There have also been books that are considered literary masterpieces that I couldn’t wait to be done with. So this one is just a subjective feel for the story.

Bonus Rankings

I’m also going to take a look at the design of these books, like covers, maps and other art. However, this will not impact the overall score of books I’ll be reviewing. It’s just going to be a bonus review for fun.