Rachel | SFF Reads & Reviews📚 (@fantastic_fixations)

I asked @Brandon Sanderson to tell me something Khriss knows about Cultivation that we don’t. He wrote: “Cultivation has a secret world.” BRANDON. SIR. 😭 Got to chat with him (very briefly) yesterday at FanX and have my UK Arcanum Unbounded signed + personalized, and as your resident Cultivation…

Realize I posted this on IG but not here - but welcome (or welcome back) to my page! I love books- science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction mostly, but I will read whatever looks good let's be honest. I'm a reader AND collector, so a lot of the books I own are special editions or OG 1/1s. Just…

I’ve read 105 books this year, and found family is STILL one of my favorite fantasy tropes. Give me Bridge Four, Kelsier’s crew, Team Biscuit, or a bunch of morally questionable misfits who somehow become fiercely protective of one another. I don’t even need them to like each other at first. In…

⚠️ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE REALM OF THE ELDERLINGS SERIES. And yes, this is a LONG character deep dive. You’ve been warned. FitzChivalry Farseer might be one of the most emotionally complex characters in fantasy literature, and Robin Hobb deserves both an award and a strongly worded letter…

Cultivation cosplay update: I FINISHED THE UNDERLAYER ON SCHEDULE! 🌿 I’m as shocked as you are. 😂 One small forest and an unreasonable amount of hot glue later, she’s DONE! Now to attach everything to the overskirt so I can finally call the entire skirt portion finished. The Dragonsteel Nexus…

⚠️ Spoilers through Wind and Truth I love Dalinar Kholin. I also think we need to have a serious conversation about the Blackthorn. Because there’s a difference between redemption and absolution, and Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive forces us to confront that distinction. Dalinar’s…

The Cultivation cosplay continues, and I may have severely underestimated how much work I was signing myself up for. 😂 Currently hot gluing what feels like an entire forest to the underlayer so I can finish the orange silk overskirt. I LOVE how it’s coming together, but good grief, this is taking…

Life is entirely too short to spend it worrying about whether somebody thinks your hobbies, interests, or content are cringe. I’m a grown woman who gets excited about fictional characters, collects entirely too many books, and occasionally dresses up as people who don’t exist. And you know what?…

It’s been TWO YEARS since I finished Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb, and I still think about this book almost every single day. TWO. YEARS. I’ve read hundreds of books since then, but FitzChivalry Farseer and the Realm of the Elderlings have a permanent residence in my head. Robin Hobb spent 16…

Orka Skullsplitter from @John Gwynne Author ‘s The Bloodsworn Saga is an absolute menace, and I love her for it. But there’s so much more to her character than being a terrifyingly effective warrior. She’s a mother who deliberately walked away from violence to build a peaceful life. And when that…

Darrow of Lykos might be one of my favorite examples of a character who forces you to question what being a hero actually means. @Pierce Brown gave us a revolutionary fighting against oppression, then made us confront the consequences of everything that revolution demands. The Reaper of Mars is…

Taking a quick break from your regularly scheduled book content to send a little encouragement your way - and reminiscing about this amazing pistachio latte I had while in Madrid…❤️ Anyways - Happy Friday, y’all! Whatever this week threw at you, you made it here. Maybe you checked everything off…

Absolutely in love with this gorgeous @The Broken Binding edition of The Splintered Sun by Tad Williams! 😍 I honestly couldn’t decide between this and the trade edition because both @Jeff Brown Graphics covers are just too good. So naturally, I got both. 😂 Double Jeff Brown covers for the win! No…

Cultivation spent thousands of years shaping Roshar’s future. Then one of her biggest projects became her worst nightmare. 🌿🐉 PART 5/5 — The Cultivation lore finale! Dalinar, the Blackthorn, became something better after Cultivation’s intervention. Taravangian? He became ODIUM. And by the end of…

Current read check! 📖 What book are you reading right now? I’m squeezing in one more spooky read before October ends with Sarafina by Philip Fracassi. And can we appreciate this gorgeous Black Crow Books special edition?! 🖤 Drop your current read in the comments! Bonus points if it’s horror. 👀…

I have a type when it comes to female fantasy characters, and apparently it’s women who are exceptionally good at violence and have absolutely no patience for anyone’s BS. 😂 Sky pirates, immortals, found family, chaotic adventures, and DOT. My girl Dot. If you love Garlenna from The Price of Power…

Cultivation has been playing god with people’s lives. And I’m starting to think her gardening methods need some oversight. 🌿😂 Part 4/5 of my Cultivation lore deep dive! Dalinar asked for forgiveness. She took his memories. Lift asked not to change. She changed her relationship with Investiture…

No judgement, just having a little booktok fun! #tbr #tbrlist #booktok #booktokfyp #readersoftiktok

Vacation book mail unboxing, and OH, this one was worth waiting for. 😍 The Subterranean Press special edition of The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is ridiculously gorgeous. The artwork! The foiling! The details! AND it’s signed AND numbered😍 One of my favorite reads of the year finally has a…

The delusion is strong with this one. 🌿💀 I FINALLY cut into this DIVINE silk from India for my Cultivation cosplay rebuild, and she’s going to be GORGEOUS. 😍 Minor problem: Dragonsteel Nexus is approaching, and I’m ridiculously behind schedule. I still have approximately 84 million boning channels…

⚠️ Minor character arc spoilers⚠️ I spent entirely too much time deciding which Cosmere men belonged in each category, and I regret absolutely nothing. From Kaladin and Lightsong to TenSoon, Adolin, Renarin & Rlain, and Daddy-nar himself… this might be the most unserious thing I’ve made all week…

Falling in love with an epic fantasy series 25 years late is all fun and games until you start hunting down the original editions. 😂📚 I’ve been absolutely loving @kristen_britain ‘s Green Rider series, and naturally, reading the books wasn’t enough. There’s just something about that classic…

Last. Now. Next. 📚 The fantasy reading lineup is looking pretty stacked right now, and my mood-reading tendencies are absolutely going to complicate things. 😂 📖 Lunatide — Micka Hill 📖 Waybound — Will Wight 📖 Shadows Upon Time - Christopher Ruocchio 📖 Cello’s Gate — Maurice Africh 📖 The…

Cultivation’s magic system might be one of the biggest unanswered mysteries in the Stormlight Archive. 🌿👀 Part 3/5 of my Cultivation lore deep dive! We know Cultivation is about growth and transformation, not just plants. But what exactly does her Investiture DO? The Nightwatcher, Lift’s ability…

Taking a fantasy book collector into Gigamesh in Barcelona was a financial mistake. 😂📚 Added Spanish editions of Elantris, Mistborn, and White Sand to my @Brandon Sanderson collection (my girl Khriss was NOT getting left behind), plus a ridiculously sexy special edition of The Devils by Joe…

I spent half of Mazywood wanting to protect Mazell and the other half wanting to shake some sense into her. 😭 Tananarive Due has done it again. Black Hollywood in the 1920s, the exploitation of Black performers, racism, generational trauma, complicated motherhood, and a family haunted by far more…

I didn’t realize how much I missed Vonvalt and Bressinger until Richard Swan dropped me right back into the world of Empire of the Wolf. 🥹 ⭐ The Anguished Earth | ARC Review | 4.5/5 A murder mystery, unexpected twists, and a chance to see Vonvalt and Bressinger’s friendship before Helena entered…

Nothing is more dangerous than a preorder you paid for so long ago that it feels ✨free✨ when it ships. 😂 Past me keeps buying presents for present me and absolutely destroying my TBR in the process. Anyway…welcome home, Fires of December. #booktok #bookcollector #specialeditionbooks #fantasybooks…

Cultivation is currently less “ancient Shard” and more fabric, pins, chaos and an alarming amount of confidence in my own abilities 😂🌿 But TRUST THE PROCESS. I’m rebuilding this cosplay basically from scratch, and we’re currently deep in the ugly middle where everything looks mildly concerning…

🌿 CULTIVATION LORE DEEP DIVE — PART 1/5 Who is Cultivation? Before she was Cultivation, Kor was a dragon from Yolen who participated in the Shattering of Adonalsium and became the Vessel of the Shard Cultivation. And somehow her life BEFORE godhood gives us almost as many questions as answers. Why…