1. A book that haunts you

Haunted is more accurate, though- I’m over it now.

Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson.

When I was a child, the general view in Sweden was that Fantasy was a genre for children. It was definitely the view of the librarians at my local library, who placed everything fantasy-related in the children’s section. (S.F, on the other hand, was placed in the adult section and you had to be fifteen to take out anything from that section.) Anyhow, when I was 12, Lord Foul’s Bane was translated to Swedish, and, of course, but among the children’s books. It is, in case you haven’t read it, not a book for kids, not by a long shot. Many years later I saw someone summing up the plot along those lines:

Leprosy. Trauma. Being moved to another world. Trauma. Trauma. Evil entities. Trauma. Rape. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Trauma. Being moved back to our world. Trauma. Leprosy. Trauma.

Now, I have never read this book since that first time, and I certainly don’t think Fantasy should never be dark, or a protagonist always heroic, so this book (and series) may be very good. But I was completely unprepared for it at 12, and definitely way too young for it. I remembered it with a queasy feeling for years, and though it doesn’t shunt me anymore, I doubt I will ever want to re-read it.

All the questions:

1. A book that haunts you

2. A book that was an interesting failure

3. A book where you really wanted to be reading the "shadow" version of the book (as in, there are traces of a different book in the work and you would have much preferred to read that one)

4. A book with a worldbuilding detail that has stuck with you

5. A book where you loved the premise but the execution left you cold

6. A book where you were dubious about the premise but loved the work

7. The most imaginative book you've seen lately

8. A book that feels like it was written just for you

9. A book that reminds you of someone

10. A book that belongs to a specific time in your mind, caught in amber

11. A book that came to you at exactly the right time

12. A book that came to you at the wrong time

13. A book with a premise you'd never seen before quite like that

14. A book balanced on a knife edge

15. A snuffed candle of a book

16. The one you'd take with you while you were being ferried on dark underground rivers

17. The one that taught you something about yourself

18. A book that went after its premise like an explosion

19. A book that started a pilgrimage

20. A frigid ice bath of a book

21. A book written into your psyche

22. A warm blanket of a book

23. A book that made you bleed

24. A book that asked a question you've never had an answer to

25. A book that answered a question you never asked

26. A book you recommend but cannot love

27. A book you love but cannot recommend

28. A book you adore that people are surprised by

29. A book that led you home

30. A book you detest that people are surprised by