And a happy new Cannonball year unto you! It’s my first review of the new year, and as last year my full cannonball slipped through my fingertips I’m hopeful that this is the year…of redemption. But like, also, this is the year of realizing that it’s just a number and as long as I’m reading I’m a winner. Onto my first review!
I had already heard of N.K. Jemisin from LeVar Burton Reads, the podcast wherein the ever delightful LeVar Burton reads short stories. He tends to stick to speculative fiction/sci-fi/fantasy and loves to feature people of color and women, and if you aren’t already listening to it you should!! Anyhoo, he has read a number of her stories, to include some from her fabulous collection called “How Long ‘Til Black Future Month” which I had already checked out from the library and was eager to read: her writing is so thoughtful and cerebral and creative that she crams a lot into just a few pages. So what the heck can this woman do with a book?! A number of my fellow book reading gal pals raaaved about The Broken Earth trilogy being their best read of last year, so I was eager to jump on board. And WHOA NELLY.
Oh, and if me and my friends loving it doesn’t sell you, well she won the Hugo Award (aka, the fancy sci-fi fiction book award) THREE YEARS IN A ROW FOR EVERY BOOK IN THE SERIES. And um, no one has ever done that.
I’m a little nervous to talk about the book because at this point, um, I’m a little behind in my reviews and so I don’t want to give anything away. But, how I’ve been trying to sell other people on it is this: imagine the incredible skill for world-building and immense mind-numbing creativity of Tolkien with epic battles of various factions but add to it vibrant modern social commentary and NOT EVERYONE IS A DUDE AND MORE STUFF HAPPENS THAN JUST WALKING. I see I have tipped my Tolkien card. But I digress again.
I don’t read a lot of science fiction/fantasy and find it to be stodgy and not very approachable. But Jemisin hooks you and you MUST RIGHT NOW know what happens next. A better comparison than Tolkien I think is Atwood’s Madd Addam trilogy, I remember it gripping me the same way. In conclusion, run, don’t walk, to get this trilogy. You’re welcome.
I didn’t give The Fifth Season enough attention when I first tried reading it, and so I couldn’t keep track of the plot–but it’s also a but more oblique at the outset as to what the plot was. How far in should I go for the various threads to start coming together?
Hmm. That’s a good point, definitely oblique in the beginning…maybe halfway it starts to come together?
Jemisin is definitely one of the best fantasy writers working today, and these books are fantastic. Her new urban fantasy from last year was also a bit of a mind blower.
I’m having a hard time with your description of fantasy as “stodgy”, though. What fantasy are you reading? Certainly the more old fashioned stuff can come off that way if you’re not really into it, but especially in the last twenty years it’s such a diverse and creative genre, you can pretty much find anything you’re looking for, and it’s very different than it used to be back when Tolkien was first publishing LOTR in the 60s. I’m not trying to be a dick here, it’s just fantasy is my favorite genre and I really like talking about it, and I’m very curious about what led you to feel this way!
Hi narfna! Certainly don’t think you are being a dick, excited to discourse about it with someone who loves the genre! My “stodgy” description is probably showing my own lack of exposure to the genre, and thinking more of the fantasy of yore than newer stuff. (When I think fantasy I think of my friends talking about Wheel of Time and that makes me very tired). So, I might be over generalizing a bit. I remember reading and enjoying Ursula K Le Guin, and that was fantasy maybe? Or could have been speculative fiction? I also get speculative/sci-fi/fantasy often confused
I would love more recommendations! Please and thanks!
Whoof, oh yeah, Le Guin and Jordan. I like the Wheel of Time, ultimately, but it’s certainly not what I would recommend to people who aren’t really into fantasy. And I have a really tough time with Le Guin. She’s more of a cerebral writer than is my preference, and her stuff does feel very old fashioned.
Oh, boy, an excuse to make a list! I will BRB when I have finished compiling. I will try to make a bunch of different types of recs, but everyone else please feel free to jump in. I know there are a ton of fantasy readers on here.
(And hey, you’re already reading one of my favorite fantasy series, the Dresden files!)
Okay see, I don’t think I would even qualify Dresden as fantasy, though obviously yes. So maybe my problem is more language than anything else.
I have seen a lot of reviews that are like “ugh, when does this series get good” and I’m like, uh, immediately. Like, you take some of it with a grain of salt, and yes, Dresden is a bit of an old-fashioned dude, but he is such a wonderful noir character, and if people don’t see that they are missing the point.
Yeah Dresden is urban fantasy/paranormal fantasy, which I’m not super well versed in! But it does get less hardboily/noir and more epic fantasy related farther into the series.
Non stodgy fantasy recommendations (an incomplete list):
Diana Wynne Jones is a great choice for lighter, more female based fantasy. I particularly like Howl’s Moving Castle and Deep Secret.
For satirical/funny fantasy or sci-fi, there’s always Terry Pratchett (Discworld is his most famous work, there are reading guides all over the internet if you want to start with it, since there are like 40 books and you can pick and choose the order to read them in), or Jasper Fforde.
I personally love Neil Gaiman, but people can be hit or miss with him. I’d recommend starting with one of his lighter works first, Stardust, Anansi Boys, or his book co-written with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (which we did for book club, so maybe you’ve already read it?) If you want to go straight for the meat with him, there’s always American Gods!
Robin Hobb writes very lyrical, character based epic fantasy. I’d recommend starting with the Liveship Traders with her. I started with her first series, the Farseer trilogy, and didn’t like it as much. But either are ways into the universe she writes in, the Realms of the Elderlings. Pirates, ships, dragons!
I don’t know if you want to step into the massive A Song of Ice and Fire books, but they really are very good.
Brandon Sanderson is probably the best pure epic fantasy author working today. I love his Stormlight Archive books, but if you want to try a standalone, I’d suggest Elantris or Warbreaker, and if you’d like to start with a smaller series, Mistborn is excellent.
Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy is also great, a much darker (though technically YA) take on Necromancy and death.
I kind of want to recommend Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. I read it last year and loved it but it’s kind of weird and I don’t want to spoil it. Short, though!
Also, I have newly discovered Alix E. Harrow, who writes very feminist centered historical fantasies. I just read The Ten Thousand Doors of January at the beginning of this year and loved it!
If you like swearing, heists, underdogs, and loveable criminal underdogs, I highly recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora and subsequent books.
Gail Carriger writes funny, romantic alternate histories where vampires and werewolves wander freely in Victorian England. I’d start with Soulless on that one.
Laini Taylor writes to die for young adult fantasy that honestly feels more adult to me than a lot of other books. Strange the Dreamer and Daughter of Smoke and Bone would be starters for her.
And all the N.K. Jemisin! I have yet to read anything bad from her.
Erin Morgenstern writes lush, lyrical meta-fantasy books that feature romance and the power of stories: The Night Circus and The Starless Sea.
This is a graphic novel series, but Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples is both fantasy and sci-fi and is beyond excellent.
Naomi Novik’s Slavic fairytale inspired fantasy makes you so cold and creeped out but they end so well! Uprooted, Spinning Silver. And her new dark academia YA series is really good also: A Deadly Education.
Leigh Bardugo’s more mature stuff: her adult release from last year, Ninth House is set at Yale and features secret societies. She also has a YA heist duology called Six of Crows that I loved.
P. Djeli Clarke is doing awesome stuff with BIPOC characters in historical fantasy settings. Only novellas for now, but so great.
I loved The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It’s standalone epic fantasy and has lesbians and dragons.
If you would like your heart warmed: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune.
If you’re feeling like something weird and horrory but still fantasy, The Dark Tower by Stephen King is a wild ride.
And there are seriously so much more that I’m still catching up on!
I’m not a huge urban fantasy or paranormal fantasy person, so maybe other people can jump in there? I know many people will recommend Ilona Andrews (romantic fantasy), but I’ve barely started reading their stuff.
*copy, paste, save*
(I know people like his Dresden stuff better, but I really enjoyed Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera books.)
I still haven’t gotten around to Codex Alera! Hopefully soon.
Thanks for the suuuper thorough list narfna! Funnily enough, off of it I have read Gaiman (LOVED) as well as 2 or 3 of the GoT books, and Erin Morgenstern (loved Night Circus, didn’t love Starless Sea, too wander-y for me, or maybe it just didn’t lend itself well to the audio format?
I tried for the first Discworld and just couldn’t get into it…it it on my nightstand though so maybe I’ll try again.
So I guess I already like a bit of fantasy, but will be diving in with more soon!
If you’re going to do Discworld, I’d try one of the higher rated/favorite ones first to see if you like Pratchett in top form. The first book really isn’t his best work. Guards! Guards! is a good place to start, or with one of the Witches or Death books, Wyrd Sisters, or Reaper Man. ElCicco just reviewed that last one!
I hope you like the ones you try! I was going to do a sci-fi list also but I thought that might be overkill. If you want me to put one together, I can always email it to you!
I read Fifth Season on my sister’s recommendation. I could not get into the first 75 pages, and then the rest of the book clicked together like I could not believe. I need to read the rest of the trilogy. I’m actually really upset that I’ll never again read The Fifth Season for the first time.
Like you, I have struggled with sf/f in the past, but I’ve started to realize that I look for good craft and writing to pull a story together and have had trusted readers make recommendations. I would second Narfna’s Gaiman recommendation, and if you are an audiobook listener, he reads Neverwhere (my personal favorite of his). I also greatly enjoy two Regency fantasy series–Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent memoirs (DRAGONS) and Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamourist Histories (magic!).
I’m reading The City We Became right now and very similarly I couldn’t get into the first 20% as per Kindle but now I’m very into it.