2026 Finding Fantasy Reads Awards
Bonus episode
Enjoying the podcast? Consider donating toward podcast expenses or joining our volunteer staff to help us make more episodes!
show notes
In this episode you’ll hear which stories and authors were most played and most appreciated for Season Three.
Award Winners:
Most Played Episode Award:
Captivated by Roseanna M. White – Find her Awakened series here
Narrator’s Choice Awards:
Paeter – Claws, Collars, and Curses by Daisy Graves – Find more of her books here
Karyne – Of Pumpkins and Golden Apples by Hannah Carter – Check out her website here
Listeners’ Choice Awards:
Romantic Fantasy – After Stars Fall by Nicole Wheeler – Check out her website here
Fantasy Adventure – The Tinker by Emily Barnett – Check out her website here
YA Fantasy – Beyond the Shimmer by Rachel A. Greco – Get her free collection of short stories here
Epic/High Fantasy – A Descent of Dragons by Jasmine Young – Snag the first book in the series here
Flash Fiction – The Water Hazard on Hole 18 by J.M. Allison – Check out her website here
Looking for something else to listen to while waiting for Season 4 to start on August 4th? Check out Karyne’s audiobook podcast, where you can listen to her entire debut epic fantasy novel for free: Blood of the Stars.
Enjoying the podcast? Consider donating toward podcast expenses or joining our volunteer staff to help us make more episodes!
full transcript
Karyne (00:00:07) – Hi fantasy readers. This is Karyne Norton, your fellow book binger, and you are listening to the Finding Fantasy Reads podcast where normally you can test out a new fantasy story every single week to find your next favorite author. But today is a bonus. So instead of testing out a new fantasy story, we’re giving out awards for stories from Season 3.
We shared 44 stories throughout Season 3, and while each one is a story I enjoyed enough to want to share with others, I like seeing which stories all of you enjoyed the most.
We’ll start with the Most Played Award, which is exactly like it sounds. This episode was played across all platforms more than any other episode in Season 3. I always expect this one to be an episode from earlier in the season, when more people have had a chance to get through it. But this time around, it was one featured very recently. The winner of the Most Played Award is…
Captivated by Roseanna M. White!
This was a fun one because Roseanna’s story was recommended to me by a reader. Actually, I think it was a couple different readers. Roseanna typically writes historical fiction, but now she’s adding fantasy into the mix, and I’m so glad. If you haven’t listened to Captivated yet, check it out and then continue reading the rest of the Awakened series.
I’ll have links for the episode and her books in the show notes. Congrats, Roseanna!
Next up, we have the Narrator’s Choice Awards, which are chosen by Paeter and me. I’ll start with Paeter’s choice, which surprised me a bit. He tends to like grittier fantasy or bittersweet stories, but this time around he chose a cozy fantasy in which he narrated from a cat’s perspective. If you haven’t figured it out by now, Paeter’s Narrator’s Choice Award goes to…
Claws, Collars, and Curses by Daisy Graves!
Paeter said he chose her story because he had a lot of fun getting into all the voices and the unique perspective. If you haven’t listened to the story, she found such a fun balance between personified animals and a humor that’s more dry than cutesy. Sometimes cutesy animals are hard for me in stories, I will admit it. Am I the only one? But I remember the distinct way she handled the humor is what drew me in.
Anyway, I’ll have a link to her episodes because it was a two-parter, as well as where you can find more of her books in the show notes. Congratulations, Daisy!
Picking my Narrator’s Choice Award was hard because there are a few that stand out to me as ones I really enjoyed narrating. But per my usual, I picked one that had a lot of personality and humor. Those are hard for me to write, so I always have mad respect for authors who can do it well, and it just makes the narration so fun. Plus, I saved this story almost a year out and specifically requested to share it for Halloween, so it was a favorite for me even before I got to narrate it. Can you guess what it is? My Narrator’s Choice Award goes to…
Of Pumpkins and Golden Apples by Hannah Carter!
Hannah has a ton of short stories for people to read, so make sure to check out not just the episode that was my favorite to narrate, but also her website where you can find lots more great stories. I’ll have both links in the show notes. Congrats, Hannah!
Next up, we have the Listeners’ Choice Awards, which were voted on by all of you. There were five different categories, and we’ll start with Romantic Fantasy. This one was written by a newer author whose sweet story also happened to be one of my sister-in-law’s favorites. Most of you know that Paeter is my brother, and his wife, Holly, beta listens to all the episodes to catch all the words we pronounce wrong, along with any editing errors. And clearly she has good taste, because all of you agreed that the Romantic Fantasy Listeners’ Choice Award should go to…
After Stars Fall by Nicole Wheeler!
I’ll have a link to the episode as well as her website so you can follow along with me to see when she has something new out, because I can’t wait to see what else she writes. Congratulations, Nicole!
The Fantasy Adventure Listeners’ Choice Award winner wrote a unique story that was a little bit of a test for me to see how you all liked science fantasy. And clearly you liked it because you voted this Peter Pan retelling as one of your favorites. The Fantasy Adventure Listeners’ Choice Award goes to…
I’ll have a link to the episode as well as her website so you can find her science fantasy YA novel Thread of Dreams, about a girl who steals dreams. Congrats, Emily!
The YA Fantasy Listeners’ Choice Award goes to a story that is super well-deserving. This author applied to be featured on the podcast, and when she was accepted, she literally did a dance on Instagram to celebrate, so I feel like this is absolutely going to make her day, and that in turn absolutely makes my day. The YA Fantasy Listeners’ Choice Award goes to…
Beyond the Shimmer by Rachel A. Greco!
I’ll have a link to her episode as well as her free collection of short stories that you can snag from her website in case you’re wanting more. Congratulations, Rachel!
The Epic or High Fantasy Listeners’ Choice Award goes to a story that I absolutely loved, but I was nervous how it would be received. I try really hard to have complete stories on the podcast, but sometimes prequels toe the line, and this one had just enough of a full story that I felt justified including it, but I also knew it was going to make everyone want to go snag the first book in her series – which is a great thing for her. I just didn’t know if any of you would feel cheated, and apparently you didn’t, because you voted for the Epic Fantasy Listener’s Choice Award to go to…
A Descent of Dragons by Jasmine Young!
I’ll have a link to her episode as well as the first book in her series, A Breaking of Realms, so that you can start binging the series. Congrats, Jasmine!
And last but not least, well, it is sort of least because it’s the Listeners’ Choice Award for Flash Fiction. These stories are all typically around a thousand words or less. Most, if not all of them, come from Havok’s website, which is a flash fiction e-zine that I love because it’s super accessible at just $5 a year. It’s a great entry point for new writers to practice and hone their craft while gaining publishing credits, and it’s also just a fun place for readers to get bite-sized stories on a daily basis. You will always hear me pushing their e-zine because the organizers are fantastic to work with, and I love being able to send people their way.
But right now, we’re talking about which one of the stories won the Flash Fiction Listeners’ Choice Award. And it goes to…
The Water Hazard on Hole 18 by J.M. Allison!
I’ll have a link to her episode as well as her website, where you can watch for her debut novel this December, which is a Sleeping Beauty retelling in a Star Wars style universe. Congrats, Lisa!
And yes, that is her name, even though her initials are J.M. I didn’t screw that up, even though I probably screwed something else up on this episode, because that’s what you get when I’m chatting for the whole episode instead of just reading stories.
And that concludes the Finding Fantasy Reads Awards for Season 3. I honestly consider all the stories featured to be my favorite stories of the year, because I weed through a lot of short stories to find what I hope will become all of your favorites. But for all of the official winning authors from Season Three’s awards, be sure to check your email for your shiny badge as proof that you were a favorite among all of my favorites.
And for those of you who voted, thank you for playing a part in making these authors feel appreciated. I love being able to give back to these authors who have let me share their stories with you. Keep enjoying your summer, and check back for the first episode of Season 4 on August 4th.
If you’re looking for something to listen to in the meantime, don’t forget I podcasted my entire first novel, So you can listen to it for free in the Blood of the Stars podcast, which I’ll link to in the show notes. Thank you all for listening to Season 3 of Finding Fantasy Reads. Happy reading!
Know someone who would enjoy this episode? Please consider sharing it!
Host
Karyne Norton hasn’t found the key to time travel, immortality, or infinite lives, so she’s taking a break from nursing and photography to focus on raising four human beings while writing epic fantasy.