G from the Book Roast never disappoints. It’s like she felt we were all getting excited for the first proper instalment of the new and improved Magical Readathon called Orilium. Before everything gets started properly, there are still a few things we (or rather, our characters) can and should do in order to prepare for the magical school we will attend in April. This means it’s time for a Gear Up Readathon.
This is a very low pressure readathon. All you have to do to successfully complete it is read two books.
The prompts, however, are very much dependant on the character you created for Orilium and which Guild they belong to. In March, we get to choose our Conduit and our Guild’s legacy by – you guessed it – reading books. You can find all the graphics and propmpts here on Google Drive.
My character, Sistani, is a half-Ilitiran, half-Elf from urban Kerador, and more importantly for this particular mini-readathon, she belongs to the Guild of Archivists. As they have access to the magical library underneath Orilium Academy, this makes them the absolute coolest guild in my opinion. 🙂
Some guilds can have a special bond with an animal companion (which, I admit, I’m pretty little jealous of) but my guild, the Archivists, can make a PACT WITH A GOD! So there’s really nothing to complain about other than that I now have to choose which god to pair up with. Like most choices throughout this amazing readathon journey, this will probably have consequences later on, so I want to choose the right god for me. Here are Aeldia’s gods, their abilities, and the reading prompts that go with them.
Gods of Aeldia
Aitvaras – Phoenix God of the Sky and Riches
Lets you heal wounds by dousing yourself in regenerative flame, but you can only perform this magic on yourself and other patrons of Aitvaras. Temples to this god are made of red toned, rich material and they float aboveground.
Prompt: sky on the cover or the word “sky” in the title or series name
Velinas – God of Death and Rebirth
A bond with this god amplifies your necromancy and herbology abilities, and lets you communicate with the dead. Temples are in underground caves, covered in flowering vines.
Prompt: a book with high stakes (characters could die maybe?)
Laima – Goddess of Fate
Lets you take glimpses into what’s to come by strengthening divination abilities. There’s a strong belief in fate among patrons of this goddess but they also believe they have to act in order to keep fate on its rightful path. Temples appear whenever one is meant to find them.
Prompt: a book where fate plays a big role (chosen ones, prophecies, fated to meet)
Ausra – Goddess of the Dawn and New Beginnings
Restoration and inscription abilities are strengthened and powers are tripled in the early hours. This is also the time when you can conjure a temporary familiar (hello, sort-of-animal-companion?). Temples are made of white marbe and only accessible when the morning sun shines on them. Sounds very pretty but also not super useful on cloudy days…
Prompt: the first book in a series
Gaila – Goddess of Night and Nightmares
Great skill in illusions and reading other people’s fears are just two perks a bond with this godess brings. It also lets you shapeshift into what others fear which makes patrons ideal “interrogators”. At night, they can turn invisible. Temples can be found at mountaintops and only be accessed when the sun is set.
Prompt: night time on the cover, the word “night” in the title or series name
Kovas – God of War
Makes it much easier to learn combat and incantations and enhances his patrons phyiscally. Kovas is super strict, even more so than the other gods, and demands absolute loyalty. Patrons gain the ability to rile a crowd,influence the weak of will, and encourage the undecided. Temples are constructed from the swords of fallen patrons. Yikes.
Prompt: set during war time or includes a war (fictional or real)
I feel most drawn to Ausra and I also really like the prompt, so she is my choice. If, for some reason, I bounce off my chosen book(s) hard, I would either go with Gaila or maybe Laima as a second choice. But I’m fairly confident that I will like one of the series openers I’ve picked out for this readathon. It’s either going to be Tithe by Holly Black, A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross or This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. I have read Holly Black before, I haven’t read anything by the other two authors but I’ve been hearing great things. So I’m excited for all of these.
Conduits
Your conduit is essentially the item you use to enhance the magic you learn. Think of a wand, except it doesn’t have to be a wand. 🙂 Conduits also differ for members of the different guilds. While there are some conduits available to all students, each guild has a few extra options exclusive to its own members. For me, that means I can choose between the following:
- Feather – a book under 100 pages
- Wand – branches on the cover
- Spellbook – title with at least two “S”s
- Staff – book from a series
- Sword – blade on the cover
- Polearm (Archivists only) – a book over 400 pages
- Bone (Archivists only) – bones on cover or title/series title
I’m a little jealous of the Guild of Mind Walkers as they could choose a dagger as well and that just seems way more pracitcal to me than most of the other items, but oh well.
For this, I am probably going with the most pragmatic reading prompts. The way my reading is going at the moment, it just seems smart to choose a short book. Then again, less than 100 pages isn’t actually that easy to find. The novellas on my TBR are all a bit longer. And a feather just seems like a flimsy conduit.
I could read my ARC of C.S.E. Cooney’s Saint Death’s Daughter for the Spellbook prompt or any one of the hundreds of books from series for the Staff prompt. Laini Taylor’s Night of Cake and Puppets comes to mind or Becky Chamber’s final Wayfarers novel, The Galaxy and the Ground Within. Or, if I’m trying to be extra clever, I could read a novella that’s part of a series, which would greatly enhance my chances of finishing this readathon. So I might also go for Martha Wells’ Fugitive Telemetry or Nghi Vo’s When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain.
That’s a lot of planning and preparation for such a short readathon but I am super invested in the world G has created an I enjoy this whole character creation journey so much that I want everthing to work out nicely. I hope many people join the mini-readathon in March and then of course, the month-long readathon in April (or a little later, depending on G’s schedule and health). I look forward to seeing you all at Orilium Academy.
SFF Book Reviews 
I hope you have a great readathon! I´m also planning on participating, but still need to figure out my TBR!
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