My beta reader likes my first draft!

I am so happy! A wonderful beta reader I’ve hired before has always had a lot of (very useful) critiques about my manuscripts in the past. But since I started a new book, I decided to send her the first 25 chapters of my manuscript.

And she had wonderful news about it! This came in perfect timing because I’ve been feeling down about my book all week, and last night, ripped out the last 12 chapters I wrote.

But her words are motivating me to take back up the keyboard and type on!

Here you go! I am beyond impressed by this piece! You’ve improved so much, it’s like a different writer! (Your last work was good, don’t get me wrong, but this is on a whole other level.) If I were an agent and saw these first pages, you better believe I’d want more. It’s so clean, too. I am just raving about this. Up until the final two chapters, I had almost no complaints. Keep up the good work!

Make no mistake, she gave me TONS to work on, so I have my work cut out for me. But her words are so uplifting, especially as I usually hire a beta after I’ve completed a manuscript. This time, I decided to hire midway so I don’t waste time doing the wrong thing for 50+ chapters and 300+ pages. I’m so glad I did.

Reading World Fantasy Books

In case you haven’t heard, in 2012, Ann Morgan read the world in a year. She compiled a list of all the countries of the world, and chose a book from each country to read, expanding her literary prowess.

I wrote a post regarding her excursions, and my own decision to follow in her steps.

Now, I’m here to forge a new path, by reading fantasy novels from around the world. I plan to do what Ms. Morgan did, but focus on fantasy stories, rather than any other literature. Since I am a fantasy writer, this makes sense.

I am skipping the US and UK, since I’ve already read fantasy books from those countries, and no fantasy books have come out from Vatican City, as far as I know.

Update: It’s been difficult finding fantasy books from some countries, so I am expanding my search to science fiction and horror.

  •  Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
    • Invaders of Dreams: Djamel Jiji
  • Andorra
  • Angola
  • Antigua and Barbuda
    • Redemption in Indigo: Karen Lord
  • Argentina
    • Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was: Angélica Gorodischer
  • Armenia
    • Ani Hovhannesyan (Anina): Bureaucrat
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
    • Infestation: Tanya R. Taylor
  • Bahrain
    • QuixotiQ: Ali al Saeed
    • Dragon Tooth: M. G. Darwish
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
    • Redemption in Indigo: Karen Lord
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
    • La Guerre du Feu: J.H. Rosny
    • The House of Oracles and Other Stories: Thomas Owen
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Brunei
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cabo Verde
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
    • Eileen Kernaghan: The Alchemist’s Daughter
    • Clem Martini: Feather and Bone: The Crow Chronicles
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
    • Ygdrasil: Jorge Baradit
  • China
  • Colombia
  • Comoros
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of the
    • Everfair: Nisi Shaw
  • Costa Rica
  • Cote d’Ivoire
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
    • The Island of Eternal Love: Daína Chaviano
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
    • Labyrint (Labyrinth): Pavel Renčín:
    • Aberrant: Marek Sindelka
  • Denmark
    • Alex Uth: Marskens konge
  • Djibouti
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
    • El3osba: John Maher, Maged Refaat, and Ahmen Raafat
  • El Salvador
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Ethiopia
    • Who Fears Death: Nnedi Okorafor
  • Fiji
    • The Fantasy Eaters: Stories From Fiji: Subramani
  • Finland
    • En tunne sinua vierelläni (I Don’t Feel You Beside Me):Tiina Raevaara
    •  Unenpäästäjä Florian (Dream Releaser Florian): Jani Saxell
    • The Core of the Sun: Johanna Sinisalo
  • France
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Ghana
    • Tail of the Blue Bird: Nii Ayikwei Parkes
  • Greece
    • The Odyssey: Homer
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
    • The Wrath and the Dawn: Renee Ahdieh
  • Iraq
    • Ahmed Saadawi, Frankenstein in Baghdad
  • Ireland
    • Skulduggery Pleasant: Derek Landy
    • Tokyo Gothic: David Conway
  • Israel
    • Sequoia Children:Gon Ben-Ari
    • Nuntia (Frost): Shimon Adaf
    • Central Station: Lavie Tidhar
  • Italy
    • Scarlett: Barbara Baraldi
    • Black Flag: Valerio Evangelisti
    • Forget me, Find me, Dream me: Andrea Viscusi
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
    • Spice and Wolf : Isuna Hasekura
    • Dragon Sword and Wind Child: Noriko Ogiwara
    • Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: Haruki Murakami
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
    • Wizard of the Crow: Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Marshall Islands
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Micronesia
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Morocco
    • Mirage: Somaiya Daud
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Namibia
  • Nauru
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
    • The Dragonslayer’s Apprentice: David Calder
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
    • The Famished Road: Ben Okri
    • My Life in the Bush of Ghosts: Amos Tutola
    • Akata Witch: Nnedi Okorafor
    • Rosewater: Tade Thompson
    • Lagoon: Nnedi Okorafor
  • North Korea
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Palau
  • Palestine
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
    • Patron Saints of Nothing: Randy Ribay
  • Poland
    • Wit Szostak: Chocholy (The Chochols)
    • The Witcher
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
    • United States of Banana: Giannina Braschi
    • Dealing in Dreams: Lilliam Rivera
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
    • The Scar: Marina and Sergey Dyachenko T
    • Mariam Petrosyan: Dom, v kotorom… (The House Where…)
    • Simbionty (The Symbionts): Oleg Divov
    • S.S.S.M. (The Happiest Country in the World): Maria Chepurina
    • Padeniye Sofii (The Fall of Sophia): Yelena Hayetskaya
    • Day of the Oprichnik: Vladimir Sorokin
    • Shadow Prowler: Alexey Pehov
    • There once lived a woman who tried to kill her neighbor’s baby: Aludmilla Petrushevskaya
  • Rwanda
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • St. Lucia
  • St. Vincent and The Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
    • Kosingas: Order of the Dragon: Aleksandar Tesic
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Somalia
    • Olondria: Sofia Samatar
  • South Africa
    • Lauren Beukes: Zoo City
  • South Korea
  • South Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sudan
  • Suriname
  • Swaziland
  • Sweden
    •  Lilla stjärna (Little Star): John Ajvide Lindqvist
    • Udda verklighet (Odd Reality):Nene Ormes
    • Vännerna (The Friends):Lars Jakobson
    • Let the Right One In: John Ajvide Lindqvist
  • Switzerland
    • Conspiracy of Calaspia: Guptara Twins
  • Syria
    • Breaking Knees: Zakaria Tamer
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Timor-Leste
  • Togo
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
    • Bloodspell: amalie Howard
    • A wave in her hand: Lynn Joseph
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Tuvalu
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
    • Vita Nostra: Sergey and Marina Dyachenko
    • The land of Stone Flowers: Sveta Dorosheva
    • The Stranger: Max fREI
    • Kaharlyk: Oleh Shynkarenko
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vanuatu
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe Yuri Herrera