(Art by Kimberly Kincaid. Used with Permission)
“Come away, O human child: To the waters and the wild with a fairy, hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.”
~William Butler Yeats
After a weekend spent enjoying the company of fellow geeks at Kansas City’s Planet Comicon (I was there to promote Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 4), I awoke to a Monday that gave us 80 degree temperatures and a nice breeze. Though it was a few days early, Spring had truly arrived. Spring fever promptly set in, and with it came that wonderful sound of a familiar voice calling out to us, “Come Away…”.
It is that voice that beckons us to Middle-earth and to Newford, that calls out from the gap in the village of Wall and from the world of London Below. It is the voice that packs so much promise into four little words…
“Once upon a time…”
Perhaps you too have heard that voice whispering on the spring wind, or perhaps Old Man Winter continues to drown out the sound; either way that time has come: Once Upon a Time is here!
Saturday, March 21st marks the official start date of the ninth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge. This is a reading and viewing and gaming event that encompasses four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology, including the seemingly countless sub-genres and blending of genres that fall within this spectrum. The challenge continues through June 21st and allows for very minor (1 book only) participation as well as more immersion depending on your reading/viewing/gaming whims.
Don’t like the word “challenge”? We have something special just for you.
Come away, and I’ll tell you more…
“I felt a curious thrill, as if something had stirred in me, half wakened from sleep. There was something very remote and strange and beautiful behind those words, if I could grasp it, far beyond ancient English.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, on reading the Cynewulf lines about the star Earendel
Now, for the particulars:
The Once Upon a Time IX Challenge has a few rules:
Rule #1: Have fun.
Rule #2: HAVE FUN.
Rule #3: Don’t keep the fun to yourself, share it with us, please!
Rule #4: Do not be put off by the word “challenge”.
While this event retains the word “challenge” from its earliest days, the entire goal is to read good books, watch engaging television shows and films, play immersive games and most importantly, visit old friends and make new ones. There are several ways to participate, and I hope you can find at least one to your liking:
This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to read at least one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 21st period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.
Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.
Read at least one book from each of the four categories. In this quest you will be reading 4 books total: one fantasy, one folklore, one fairy tale, and one mythology. This proves to be one of the more difficult quests each year merely because of the need to classify each read and determine which books fit into which category. I am not a stickler, fear not, but I am endlessly fascinated watching how folks work to find books for each category.
Fulfill the requirements for The Journey or Quest the First or Quest the Second AND top it off with a June reading of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream OR a viewing of one of the many film versions of the play. Love the story, love the films, love the idea of that magical night of the year and so this is my chance to promote the enjoyment of this farcical love story.
This quest involves the reading of one or more short stories that fit within at least one of the four genres during the course of any weekend, or weekends, during the challenge. Ideally you would post about your short story readings on Sundays or Mondays, but this is not strictly necessary.
Stories are not just limited to the printed page. Many entertaining, moving, profound or simply fun stories are told in the realm of television and film. To participate in this quest simply let us know about the films and/or television shows that you feel fit into the definitions of fantasy, fairy tales, folklore or mythology that you are enjoying during the challenge.
This is a new category this year. More and more console and computer games are allowing players to immerse themselves in story, be it the story created by the game designers or those the player experiences in her or his own imagination. Additionally, table top gaming has seen a rise in popularity, in part because of the excellent TableTop YouTube show hosted by Wil Wheaton. Solo or multiplayer gaming, be it on a screen or on your table top, is a terrific way in which to engage the genres highlighted by this challenge and it would be a shame to miss out by not including gaming in our event. I’m excited to see if this Quest is embraced and how it may be embraced.
In case you were unaware, Saturday April 11th is International TableTop Day. It would be a great day to set aside time to game with friends and then post about it for Once Upon a Time IX.
If you review any of the books you read or shows you watch or games you play for the challenge, please link to them in the Review Site by clicking the link (or by clicking on the banner on the right hand side of my blog), that way we can come and visit you.
The art used for banners for Once Upon a Time IX is the work of Kimberly Kincaid. I am familiar with her work because of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art and from following her on Facebook. The image used for the main challenge banner, Detour, is the one that first caught my eye and every time I look at it I am impressed with it. The angles convey such a sense of danger and bring emphasis to the imposing figure of the Big Bad Wolf in the distance. The young lady is beautifully rendered, in particular I am drawn to the way the light plays off the pattern of her dress. It is such a great piece, and I’m thrilled that Kimberly said “yes” to the use of her art.
The image on the various quest banners is a cropped version of her illustration of Morrigan, my favorite character from Dragon Age: Origins. I was captivated by her story in the version of the game that I played and I often find myself thinking back to that gaming experience.
I hope you will take the time to visit Kimberly Kincaid’s website and enjoy her art. Don’t forget to stop by her store to check out the prints. And keep your eyes peeled here for a giveaway in the near future. If you post your joining of the challenge, please be sure to credit her image and link to her site. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks again Kimberly! You are the best.
For those of you who need banners of a different size, here are a few for you to choose from:
Over the years various well meaning, and not so well meaning, people have tried to dismiss this kind of literature as childish, no longer relevant, escapist, etc.
Terri Windling, in her marvelous essay “On Tolkien and Fairy Stories” writes:
It was only in the nineteenth century that magical literature and art was pushed into the nursery — ironically, at a time when adult interest in them could not have been higher. Prior to this, ancient epics and myths held a central place in the literary arts, while their country cousins, folk and fairy tales, were told to young and old alike. When fairy tales moved from the oral to the literary tradition, they did so as adult stories.
The literature that falls into these categories speaks to me in a way that no other literature does. I think it is all the history. Ancient folklore and mythology inform so many types of stories and there is something very special about those fantasy stories that in some way build upon that foundation. They are not kids stories to me. They never were. But they do retain the magic that they had when I was a child. And I am thrilled that it is that time of year for us to share these stories with one another.
Welcome to the 9th annual journey that is Once Upon a Time.
I’m definitely up for it this year, not least because my order of a certain recently released fantasy/NOT FANTASY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING TO BE DESCRIBING THIS AS FANTASY ITS NOT EVEN REAL FANTASY ANYWAY novel just turned up…
Gotta love it when the timing works out like that. Glad you are participating, and I’m curious about what this “fantasy/not fantasy” is.
I am up for this wonderful challenge, Carl. I’ll take The Journey for the moment, since work has been demanding lately and I’d hate to commit to something so wonderful without being able to fulfill my commitment.
Happy to have you journeying with us. I can empathize with your work situation, Mihai. What is it with work lately? It seems to be spreading way beyond its set hours and needs to be shoved back into that box.
Hopefully this will be one of those years where I actually succeed at this ‘challenge’. Remember the old days? Did you get the Elliott? I haven’t looked to see how many stories there are but we will need to work out some sort of a schedule. 🙂 Now I think I will go post something. 🙂
One year you should have a ‘Quest the Comic’.
And I should specify comics. People often read comics for this event. Heck, I have!
I wish you the best of luck, Kailana. I do have The Very Best of Kate Elliot. As I glance at the website it looks like there are 12 listings. We could do three a week for four weeks? I’m going to look at your de Lint email again and find a de Lint we can read later on too.
Works for me! I think I might start tonight. 🙂
Wanna do our reviews on Saturdays beginning with the 28th?
Sounds good! I am excited to finally try her. 🙂
you know I’ll be there… have to make a post but it might not get up today!
You HAVE to be!!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes! I’ve been visiting your blog almost every day, waiting for this post to appear! I can’t wait to figure out my list and start reading. Thanks, Carl, for making my day once again! 🙂
Sorry I couldn’t get it done more quickly, but it has been non-stop around here. I was thrilled to have a moment to get it posted last night. Welcome again! Spring has begun!
No worries, Carl. I knew you’ve been busy, plus it was fun counting down until the post was up. 🙂
It sort boggles my mind that spring is almost here, but this is the happiest sign of all that it is! 😀 I can’t even explain how much I needed this post this afternoon, but I thank you for it all the same. You told Ms. Kincaid that she was the best; well, that sentiment applies to you too. Hope you know that!
Awww, thanks Debi! I hope you and the family have fun Spring plans…planned. 😉 I’m not sure what I’m going to try to read for this year’s challenge, but I am assured that there is a large pile here waiting.
I totally missed out on this one year, definitely looking forward to taking part this time around!
there’s a word missing there… missed on on this one *last* year!
🙂 So glad you aren’t missing out this time around, Darren.
So happy to see spring and this challenge back again. Thanks for hosting!
You are welcome, Joy. Thank you for taking part.
Once again, I’m in! Looking forward to a magical spring. 🙂
Great, Christina! I hope our Spring is indeed filled with magic.
Would love to do this (and indeed will) but am a bit confused – do you have to have a web based book review site to take part ? would goodreads page do? Just that my blog ain’t book related primarily, although I am thinking of doing some reviews/links and stuff, but art related (and in case you were wondering do think my paintings are fairy tale related in many ways)
I’m in as always. Post is up and books have been on the shelf and ready for weeks. 🙂
Yahoo!!! I’ve been mentally building my list for a couple of weeks but it was really fun to go around the house and actually pull the books today. I’m so excited to start reading!
Great! I’m in, again 🙂
And if you are reading The Very Best of Kate Elliott I’ll have to see if I can read along with that because it is on my TBR shelf at the moment.
Oh Yeah – Spring hath put a spirit of youth in every thing.
So excited for this – been looking forward to your post and will certainly be signing up.
Thanks Carl.
Lynn 😀
Woohoo, always excited to return to this challenge each year! 😀
So happy to sign up for another enjoyable round of your delightful event! Thanks for bringing it to us again!!
The timing this year seems just right. I’ve been in a bookish slump, but I’ve been craving some fairytale-ish reading lately, so when I saw this, I knew I’d have to join in!
Here we go! 🙂
I always take part in the RIP challenge, but this is the first time I’ve signed up for this one. I’m looking forward to it!
Thanks for organizing this. I’m excited to participate and knock some books off my TBR. And your banner art is gorgeous!
Ah! Such a great challenge! I know it’s past the start date, but I hope I can still register myself! I think as a first timer, I’ll start with The Journey and then also do a Short Story Quest as there’s a Borderlands book of short stories on my shelf that I’ve been dying to get to. I’ll post about your challenge on my blog tomorrow! -Tania
Thanks for hosting! I’m again taking part in this challenge.
looking forward to the challenge. First time, but looks like fun!
This will be my first time participating in the challenge. Should be a lot of fun! I am hoping to get some more recommendations from others though, especially in the folklore or mythological department. Good luck everyone!
Count me in! I love this event, and am so glad that you are continuing to host it.
Awesome, I’m in!. Question, do we have a particular tag if we are sharing on social media? Because I’m guessing OUAT or even OnceUponaTime are attached to the series by now, no?
Such perfect timing for me, Carl, as I’ve been anxiously awaiting John Crowley’s Little, Big since the Magritte display on surrealism at the Art Institute last summer. There was a whole display of fantasy (surrealistic) books in the bookshop, and that’s when I decided to read Little, Big sometime this year. Glad you’re still hosting this event! By the way, Little, Big celebrated its 25th anniversary this February, and won the World Fantasy award in 1982. But, you probably knew that, right? 🙂
Hey Carl,
I was wondering if I could bend the rules a bit. I finished “The Silmarillion” before the start of the challenge, but wrote the review and posted it on my blog after the start. Can I post the link? It’s part of my challenge to read all the works of Tolkien, including the books published posthumously. It would be a lovely kickoff to my participation in OUAT IX. Thanks!
Steve
For goodness sake, this is number 9? It hardly seems possible that this is the 9th Once Upon a Time I’ve participated in. Let the fun begin!
Waiting for a new Cover Story post…….. waiting……….waiting……….
I also was kinda hoping you might have something to say about the Hugo Awards nomination ballot, and it’s strange method of creation.
The new banner is beautiful! You must have a great time seeking them out each year.
Thanks again for hosting: always a fine job. I’d like to join with The Journey and hope to be working from some old eyes-too-big-for-my-bedside-table lists to see what new favourites I can discover.
Looking forward to seeing others’ reviews for the event!
I used to review regularly, but I’ve fallen out of the habit a bit over recent years. However, this challenge appeals to me, so I’m signing up for the 3rd Quest, the Short Story Quest, and the Game Quest as well. Best of luck to the various reviewers!
I hope it’s not too late to hop in the challenge now!
Hi Carl,
What a great idea…and the perfect way to gather up a new reading list.
Cheers,
Spike.