The Fantasy Inn’s Best of 2019

1) The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards — There was no doubt at all that The Last Sun and its sequel, The Hanged Man, were going to feature in this list. My level of obsession with the Tarot Sequence universe long left the “aw you’re really into it aren’t you” station to firmly head towards “please, I beg of you, shut up about it, not even the author talks that much about his own books”. But it’s just that good. The worldbuilding. The characters. The humour. The bromance. The romance. THE HUMOUR. The emotions. Agh. Aaagh.

2) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow: The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a miracle of a book. It’s the kind of story that makes you go “huh, I didn’t know books could make you feel like this”. Every sentence is a work of art – not the pretentiously complicated or unnecessarily gilded type. No. The kind of art you feel speaks to you in particular. In short, reading the Ten Thousand Doors of January was like being bitchslapped with righteous anger and riotous hope through a prose so beautiful I don’t even comprehend how it’s allowed to exist. But, you know, bitchslapped in a good way.

3) The Bright Sessions by Lauren Shippen — If you’d told me last year that an audiodrama was going to be in my top 5…well, honestly, I would have said that it was only a matter of time. A lot of audiodramas are very queer, very slice-of-life, very found-family. 3 of my favourite things. Plus, Travis, aka Mister I’m Making an Intro to Audiodrama Flowchart For Fun, is my coblogger and friend and I’m weak and easily influenced. The sly minx got me with The Infinite Noise, Shippen’s spin-off novel, and from there I was lost. Picking up The Bright Sessions was a foregone conclusion. Behind the deceptively simple concept of “what if people with superpowers went to therapy”, this audiodrama is a masterpiece. I was genuinely grieving its end.

4) The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty — How does Shannon Chakraborty do it? The City of Brass started a rich and complex tapestry of political conflict and family strife. The Kingdom of Copper added to it with vibrant and unexpected threads. This sequel was beyond exciting – everything I loved about the first book was magnified. The third book, The Empire of Gold, is to be released in June 2020. There’s no doubt it will be exceptional, and that it will destroy me. I can’t wait.

5) Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri — Another great follow-up to a great debut. Tasha Suri’s books manage to be sharp and sweet, like high-quality honey. Pair that with unforgettable characters that are decent to the core and doing their best in a broken world, and a talent for immersive storytelling, and you get one of the most beautiful fantasy books ever written.

1) The Poison Song by Jen Williams – The epic conclusion to one of my favourite fantasy trilogies out there, The Poison Song was just as amazing as the earlier books in the series with wonderfully diverse characters and fantastic worldbuilding, this book was difficult to put down.

2) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal – My new all-time favourite alternative history book. The characters are amazingly written and the on-going struggle of the main character against sexism and her own anxiety is really well written.

3) The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards – The character relationships here were amazing. The bromance between the main characters, the ongoing banter, the friendships. It was all really well done and The Last Sun was an intensely enjoyable read.

4) Black Wolves by Kate Elliott – I really loved the epic, all-encompassing scope of this book. At 800 pages long, and set over 60 years, there’s a lot going on and it’s fantastic to read. Characters are all very unique and many different shades of grey.

5) Faycalibur by Liam Perrin – This book is the sequel to one of my favourites from last year. A delightful, comedic take on the tales of Camelot that’s thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

1) Middlegame Seanan McGuire- I said this had a strong possibility of making it to this list near the beginning of the year when I read it, and here we are. (I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.)

2) The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – I feel like I’m a bit obsessed with this book. Reading it was like being in a trance. From the prose, the plot, the characters…just everything about it was amazing.

3) A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine – This is one of those books that I liked when I read it but didn’t think much of. But then I kept thinking about it. And any “issues” I had with it became things I enjoyed about it. Definitely one that’ll stick with me. (I received an e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.)

5) Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim – I saw that one of my Goodreads friends was reading this. Me being intrigued by the title and cover, I decided to pick up an e-copy from my library. What an amazing snap decision that was! Mulan meets Project Runway. Loved it.

1) Jade City by Fonda Lee — This series is so much fun, and a real rush to read. At some point during the second book, I had to actually stop reading and pace back and forth for a minute because the tension/adrenaline was getting to me! I also love the focus on family. I think gangster stories are one of my favourite subgenres; I should really read more of them!

2) A Conspiracy of Truths by Alexandra Rowland — I mean, it’s a book about a grumpy old man who tries to bullshit his way out of bad situations, but only succeeds in talking his way into even worse situations. What’s not to love? I cackled a lot while reading. Plus I adore non-traditional storytelling techniques… but mostly I’m here for the bullshitting.

3) The King Must Die by Mary Renault — Not sure if this retelling of the Theseus myth counts as fantasy or straight up historical fiction, but it’s a really engrossing read regardless. I was especially fascinated by how the morality of the society portrayed is so different from ours, and yet how Renault still made the characters feel so close. Also it features bull-leaping!! We need more bull-leaping in books.

4) Lancelot by Giles Kristian — To be honest, I don’t read proper male-centric books that often. So this retelling of the King Arthur mythos, focusing on Lancelot and his relationships with his king, his brothers-in-arms, and the woman he loves, felt really fresh to me. And it’s so vividly, beautifully written! I can’t wait for the sequel.

5) The Odyssey by Homer — Okay, I realise how pretentious this makes me sound. But I listened to it for the first time this year and loved it! I don’t think I could have read it as a physical text, but the audiobook version – narrated by the amazing Sir Ian McKellen! – just worked perfectly for me. (Which I guess makes sense, considering the work’s original oral nature.) I had the poem’s particular phrasings stuck in my head for weeks: rosy-fingered Dawn, with winged words, the nymph with lovely braids…

1) A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie — Shock, I know. I’d almost forgotten just how vivid Abercrombie’s books can be. Just how colourful his characters can be. I adored this A Little Hatred, and can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy.

2) Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden — I love the Winternight trilogy so much that I’m actually sort of offended that none of my co-bloggers picked this one. Arden’s prose is lovely, and Vasya is so much fun.

3) This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone — Honestly… Just a beautiful book. It’s unfairly beautiful. Impossibly beautiful. Read it.

4) The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker — I will read absolutely anything that R.J. Barker writes. I loved his Wounded Kingdom trilogy, and while I’d hesitate to say that this is even better (I don’t wanna pick favourites), it’s an incredible book with so much imagination behind it.

5) The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child — I’ve a soft spot for books that toe the line between general fiction and fantasy. Arlo Knott does just that, and I adored how thoroughly it explored the concept behind it: what if a person had a real-time rewind button?

1) The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft — How the hell did this book come out in 2019??? This was my first Orbit edition of a Senlin book, and also my first audiobook in the series. It really feels like each book improves on the one before, and I adored the POV-hopping structure of the novel. I was also able to convince my cousin to try the Books of Babel and its now his favorite series! As much as these books get talked about online I’ve never been able to discuss them in person.

2) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal — Just… wow. So much research with actual astronauts, a professional audiobook narrator and award-winning writer producing her own audiobook, and sci fi alt history that roots itself in characters and social issues rather than science. I’m so here for it. This is one of the very few series I’ve had to binge back to back instead of jumping around to other books in between. Sometimes I find a narrator/writer combination that’s pure gold–Steven Pacey + Joe Abercrombie, Peter Kenny + Claire North, James Marsters + Jim Butcher, etc.–and apparently the team up of Mary Robinette Kowal with Mary Robinette Kowal is one of my favorites.

3) The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow — I’m a sucker for books that emphasize the importance of stories, and I love how Harrow flipped the often-colonialist narrative of portal fantasies into a wholesome homecoming story. And the prose is beautiful for its rhythm and emotional impact rather than clever use of specific words. I never know if a book will align with my taste in prose (I love Sanderson’s writing and can’t stand Mervyn Peake’s…) but 10K Doors pushed all the right buttons for me. And it makes me irrationally happy that January LaVoy is the narrator. Other than the name, she has a brilliant story-teller voice that fits thematically. You can hear her smiling or on the verge of tears delivering certain lines, and it’s incredible.

4) Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir — Was this sci fi or fantasy? Was it a murder mystery, series of deadly trials, or story of scholarly research? Probably all the above, plus lesbian necromancers in space. I loved grappling with the questions raised in the first half and the wild ride of a conclusion puts the sequel firmly at the top of my most-anticipated list for next year. I think the last series that had me this excited about both the characters and the world was Django Wexler’s Shadow Campaigns. Muir does an excellent job of disproving the myth that writers have to stay focused on one aspect of their craft.

5) The Once and Future Nerd by Christian Madera — I don’t think I’ve ever found a story that improves in quality as quickly as Once and Future Nerd. It’s epic fantasy full of orcs and elves and rogues and political intrigue, but done in a way that just feels fresh. At its best, the story gives off a “Terry Pratchett writes Lord of the Rings” vibe, with original music, immersive sound design, and heaps of humor and heart. If you’re looking for something that reminds you of the fantasy genre’s roots in popular culture, but with enough trope subversions and heartwarming character arcs to keep even the most seasoned fantasy fan invested, look no further.