The Globe and Mail
With Rebecca Yarros’s Onyx Storm – the third instalment in the ludicrously popular Empyrean series – set to hit stores on Jan. 21, you might be jonesing for a fantasy infusion while you wait. Here are some titles from the past year that will tide every type of fantasy lover over till you can get your dragon-rider fix.
DARK
An Academy for Liars, Alexis Henderson (Ace) This subtly consuming southern gothic tale of manipulation, toxic desire and murder follows Lennon Carter as she attends Drayton College where individuals who can manipulate the mind are trained. Slowly, Lennon discovers it’s more than just her powers that are disquieting.
Books we're reading and loving this week: Globe staffers and readers share their book picks
HISTORICAL
The Melancholy of Untold History, Minsoo Kang (William Morrow) This debut with its layered storytelling is as magnificent as those found in David Mitchell and Anthony Doerr’s works. The petty feuds of four gods span over thousands of years with multiple voices interweaving as the narrative transitions between mythology and history.
RETELLINGS
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Lady Macbeth, Ava Reid (Del Rey) Written in a true gothic style, this retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth follows its female anti-hero as she marries a brutish Scottish lord and has to do what she must to survive. In this story of quiet feminine rage, Reid adjusts the history to give one of literature’s greatest villains a voice of her own.
POLITICAL
Sons of Darkness, Gourav Mohanty (Head of Zeus) This dark spin on the classic Mahabharata is spellbinding. Mohanty’s fantastical reimagining of Vedic India follows a myriad of characters vying for power: a conqueror, a former prince, a bowman, pirate royalty, a pious assassin, a hero-turned-torturer and a princess.
ROMANCE
The Curse of Sins, Kate Dramis ( Sourcebooks Casablanca) Book 2 in this series – the first book was The Curse of Saints – has these enemies-turned-lovers preparing for war. Will is desperate to keep Aya safe from those who would make her a weapon, but there are bigger secrets yet to uncover. Kate Dramis colours the “morally grey dark prince” trope a shade darker.
DRAGONS
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons, Peter S. Beagle (Saga Press) Beagle’s rapier wit and literary talent shine through in this whimsical fairy tale of knights, dragons, a princess and an ever-reluctant chosen one. The author of The Last Unicorn has always excelled at developing characters who reveal deep truths about the world.
QUEER
Mistress of Lies, K. M. Enright (Orbit) A bloody and gripping debut follows three clandestine revolutionaries – Shan, Isaac and Samuel – who band together to protect the non-magical from their corrupt leaders. But their political machinations and the web of lies they require strain their bonds even as their poly queer romance develops.
DYSTOPIAN
Metal from Heaven, August Clarke (Erewhon Books) This queer political revenge story examines class warfare in a dystopian world where one man controls the most valuable resource, ichorite, a metal stronger than steel. When a labour strike ends in the massacre of workers, Marney Honeycutt is the sole survivor. Ten years later, she sees her chance for vengeance in wooing his ward, Gossamer Chauncey.
ACADEMIA
Blood Over Bright Haven, M. L. Wang (Del Rey) Wang’s stand-alone is rife with theological and ethical complexity. Sciona is to become the first female highmage in history while Thomil is an outsider brought low by the empire. Thrown together, they slowly unveil the origin of the empire’s magic and the lies that keep it all together.
Infinity Alchemist, Kacen Callender (Tor Teen) Two gifted youths – Ash Woods, who has to study alchemy in secret, and Ramsay Thorne, who is an elite student at Lancaster College of Alchemic Science – have to work together to find the Book of Source. The sacred text grants its possessor extraordinary power but will pit them against more dangerous and experienced foes.
CONTEMPORARY
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The Book of Doors, Gareth Brown (William Morrow) Cassie Andrews works in a New York bookshop unassumingly going about her life when her favourite customer dies. He leaves her a book with the power to become a door to anywhere, heralding her involvement in an arresting plot of good versus evil. Brown’s debut is an irresistible love letter to reading.
HORROR
Don’t Let the Forest In, C. G. Drews (Feiwel & Friends) This psychological horror features two high-school seniors: sensitive and strange Andrew and mercurial Thomas. Andrew writes twisted fairy tales and Thomas draws them. One day Andrew finds out Thomas’s drawings are coming to life and killing people, and destroying the creator may be the only way to end the eldritch terrors.
EPIC
The Doors of Midnight, R. R. Virdi (Tor Books) The sequel to The First Binding returns to its enigmatic hero, Ari, as he awaits judgment for murder. Virdi expertly explores the complexity of narrative through Ari as he expounds on his life and the meaning of storytelling, and reflects on his reckless youth and hard-earned wisdom.
TRADITIONAL
The Spice Gate, Prashanth Srivatsa (Harper Voyager) Amir was born into servitude as a Spice Carrier, one who can travel through the spice gates of the eight kingdoms. When his brother is born into the same terrible fate, relegating him to a lifetime as a mule for the gluttonous rich, Amir decides to make a break for their freedom. But after stumbling into a secret, Amir could forever unbalance the kingdoms.
COZY
The Crescent Moon Tearoom, Stacy Sivinski (Atria Books) This debut from Sivinski, who has a PhD in English from the University of Notre Dame, is the new gold standard for cozy fantasy. The scene is set in 1890s Chicago where three clairvoyant sisters run a tea shop reading fortunes from the leaves at the bottom of their customers’ cups. But when the city’s Diviner loses her powers it sets in motion diverging paths for the sisters as they embrace their individuality.
SPECULATIVE
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The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, Shubnum Khan (Viking) After a personal tragedy, Sana and her father move into the ruins of a seaside mansion on South Africa’s east coast. Mysterious, otherworldly and beautifully lyrical, this is a haunting story of a young girl’s search for meaning interwoven with a century-old love story.
NEW ADULT
The Last One, Rachel Howzell Hall (Red Tower Books) Kai can hear people’s thoughts, but that’s not the strangest thing about her; she also can’t remember a thing about who she is and where she comes from. Acclaimed mystery writer Hall has switched into the world of fantasy, and she delivers her trademark sensational internal monologues, and a reminder that heroism comes in many different forms.
POPULAR
Wind and Truth, Brandon Sanderson (Tor Books) Social-media sensation Sanderson is familiar to all those who follow BookTok or Bookstagram, and avid readers have long awaited this absolutely gutting fifth and final instalment of the Stormlight Archive first arc.
SELF-PUBLISHED
The Forest Where the Phoenix Sleeps, Brooke Marley Jones Canadian author Jones’s self-published debut is a spooky cottage-core fantasy where the hero saves herself. After accidentally incinerating someone, Nell is swept away by Darragh, a powerful firestarter, to a magical world as enchanting as it is deadly.
MYSTERY
The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey) When a high Imperial officer is killed and cause of death is murder by tree, Darentana’s best but reclusive detective, Ana Dolabra, is called in to investigate. This is a fantastical reimagining of a Holmes/Watson mystery where the eccentric Ana Dolabra (Holmes) never leaves her house and Dinios Kol (Watson) is magically enhanced to remember everything.