The Fantasy Inn’s Best of 2022

1) A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

A Marvellous Light was already one of my favourite books ever, so I was highly anticipating the sequel. And what a sequel it was. Maud and Violet and their merry band of accidental accomplices make for an amazing read. Freya’s writing is evocative and superb as usual. It is a magical book that I love with all my heart.

2) Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher has yet to write a book I didn’t adore, but I believe Nettle & Bone is my favourite of hers so far. It has all the classical ingredients of a fairy tale but with the added spice of righteous fury (also a demon chicken). A true masterpiece.

3) Babel by R.F Kuang

Babel is the kind of books that breaks you just a little bit. The one that has you staring straight ahead once you finish it. It has appeared on a lot of top lists in 2022 for a very good reason. Babel is definitely a must-read if you like your fantasy extremely nerdy and violently anti-colonialist (and who doesn’t?)

4) A Rake of His Own by AJ Lancaster

One of the very few books I actually reviewed this year! I loved being back in the Stariel universe. Marius and Rake were an absolute joy to read about.

5) The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

One of the most gentle and soft fantasy books I have ever read. It was the reading equivalent of being hugged by a marshmallow. I am already thinking about a reread…

1) Triage. Tin is a third-year emergency medicine resident who finds himself having to save the life of university student, Tol. When Tin fails, he finds himself trapped in a time loop with the only way out being to change Tol’s fate. Romance ensues. Content warning for all things medical.

This gave me so much anxiety while watching, but it’s one of those shows that I thought was brilliant by the end. I like how the relationship develops and how we see that minor changes can have dire consequences.

2) The Miracle of Teddy Bear. Tofu has given Nut comfort for the past 10 years. Tofu is also a teddy bear. One day he suddenly finds himself turned human with no recollection of how or why. He then begins to attempt to unravel the secrets of his past, all while trying to navigate the hostile dynamics of Nut and his mother.

This is another romance series. It deals with the topics of homophobia, domestic abuse (physical and emotional), mental illness, and bigotry—as well as friendship, memory and more. You might be thinking, “This is, um…a romance? About a teddy bear that comes to life…?” And I get it cause that’s what I was thinking at first. But it’s worlds better than what the premise would have you believe.

3) Extraordinary You. Eun Dan Oh is a girl with a terminal heart disease. She notices strange things happening around her one day. There are gaps in her memory, and some of her actions seem out of her control. She finds out she’s actually a character in a comic book. And she’s just an extra at that. She sets off to change her fate.

I was hooked. Hooked!

5) Until We Meet Again. Korn and Intouch must keep their relationship a secret due to their fathers and society being against them. They fought to be together but ultimately lost that fight at a young age. Thirty years later, Pharm is a new university student who has a sense of missing someone. Dean, who is in a few classes above, has also felt as though he’s been in search of someone. The two young men find their fates intertwined with each other, as well as with Korn and Intouch. Content warning: Death, suicide, homophobia, guns

AKA – “Have you cried today?”

1) The Sun Sword by Michelle West

I can’t say enough good things about the Sun Sword series, or really the entire larger Essalieyan series. Have I mentioned you should really fucking read the Essalieyan books?

This is a perfect blend of character and plot. There’s the Rule of Cool you might find in a Sanderson series but with more thoughtful worldbuilding and skipping the blow by blow descriptions of every battle. Fight me, fanboys (just don’t explain every blow).

2) Blood of Liscor by Pirateaba

This story/audio combination is one of my favorites. I could probably substitute any of the Wandering Inn volumes I listened to this year, but this one earns its spot on the list because it does such an excellent job of showing the horrors of senseless war. When you’ve had multiple books to fall in love with characters on both sides of the war, watching them slaughter each other is heartbreaking.

And yet, somehow the story still maintains its slice of life feeling. The LitRPG elements are delightfully underplayed – I rarely know what levels each character are or often what their class is.

3) Hello from the Hallowoods by William A. Wellman

This podcast felt like the perfect blend of two of my most-loved listens: The Bright Sessions and The Magnus Archives. How can it be like a slice of life found family story and a bone chilling horror story? Undead/demon/monster/human found families!

The worldbuilding is excellent and shows how organized religion and capitalism can be more horrifying than literal monsters. The queer rep is some of the most prominent and varied I’ve seen. At times it felt like I was playing Spot the Token Straight Character, which was refreshing.

4) The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I love time loops, and I can’t believe it took me this long to actually read this book. The angle of the narrator’s consciousness jumping from character to character each loop was new to me and it worked brilliantly.

It was also compelling enough to keep me riveted and awake through hours of rocking a baby in the middle of the night, which is high praise.

5) Street Cultivation by Sarah Lin

Modern day LitRPG where currency and experience points are the same thing? Love it. It gives all the stats crunchiness you could want while also commenting on class inequality and the cycle of poverty.

I also love that a consistent theme is the main character being presented with an epic quest and just saying… nah, I’m good.

1) The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

This is Practical Magic (the movie version) with a bit of T.J. Klune to it. Imagine Ian McKellan and his cute husband hire a witch to nanny their wild magical witch children. Mandanna takes on English nationalism and weaves it into a part of the experiences characters have with the magical and mortal world. If you like T.J. Klune, Terry Pratchett, or Travis Baldree i.e. you love cozy fantasy with just a bit of gentle romance and quirky magic, you would love this. It honestly is one of my absolute favorite things.

2) Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Legends & Lattes is Dungeons & Dragons for the cozy gay gamers. Major Stardew Valley feels. If you are generally stressed from – points outside – than please read this. Travis Baldree really just wants us all to rest at a cozy medieval inn, receive a pat on the back from an orc, and a magical cinnamon roll from a pastel pink succubus.

3) Belladonna by Adalyn Grace

Belladonna saved me from burnout at work. A perfect book to take me away – this YA fantasy romance twists into a murder mystery of deep, complicated themes. What really captured my heart is the people in this book and the love story that bloomed between two young people who have only ever known death and loss only to find hope at the end of a gothic tale. At every corner, Grace subverts tropes and expectations but most of all she reminds me how much fun is to read. This was like if Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas fell in love with a grim reaper.

4) White Horse by Erika T. Wurth

Erica Wurth writes prose as if the smoke breathes from the pages. I appreciate a horror nerd. White Horse is aplenty with the canon of the genre with bookshop scenes and characters reading habits. Secrets of the past transform into contemporary hauntings. Indigenous women’s large role in politics become the central figure in this very personal, eerie tale where family secrets unravel and complicated relationships between women consume. For any fans of Dark Winds, classical horror, and complex women.

5) Hell Followed With Us by Andrew Joseph White

This is a book about trans teens that massacre Christian evangelical cultists. I related to these kids. Their struggles balancing religion with queerness in America speaks to a lot of teens but also adults who have horrible memories of growing up gay with religious christianity. The angels, the gore, the fashion, the feeling that every single part of this world is burning put me on the edge of my seat but what really made it a good book is the vulnerability and humor of the characters when they are literally going through hell. Recommended for fans of Aiden Thomas and Tamsyn Muir.

1) Tamora Pierce’s Alanna: The First Adventure and In The Hand of the Goddess. Can we pretend I read these ages ago, like I should’ve, and not waited until way too late in life? The first two books in the Song of the Lionness series are really fabulous – a coming of age fantasy about a young woman who wishes to become a knight, and has to disguise herself to make her dreams come true. A great fantasy ‘school story’ with one of the genre’s best young hero/ines.

2) Geraldine Harris’ Seven Citadels: You know I had this series on my shelves for aaages but wasn’t going to read it until I got all seven volumes? (Spoiler: there are only four. Do your research.) The mystical quest of the young prince Kerish, who, in order to save his kingdom, must convince seven sorcerers to give up their immortality. It is philosophical, fascinating, and more than a bit weird.

3) T. Kingfisher’s The Saint of Steel. I don’t know how old something has to be before we can call it a classic, but this series started in 2020 and that feels like a century ago. Kingfisher fuses mystery, epic fantasy, romance, and a bit of good ol’ ‘slice of life’ to create a series of interlinked adventures about the paladins of a dead god. And if ‘paladins of a dead god’ alone isn’t enough to get you interested, I despair for your soul.

4) David Edding’s Belgariad: So, as it turns out, the Eddings were trash people. And, let’s be honest, this is not a series that – by many measures – ‘holds up’. It is the poster child of racial essentialism, and the gender roles are baked in so hard it is a five-tier wedding cake. But modern fantasy owes a lot to the commercial success of Eddings’ character-driven epic. He proved that that a by-the-numbers fantasy series – one so predictable it tells you the entire plot up front! – could be a massive bestseller as long as the characters were sweet and engaging. On the 47th reread, I can assure you that, Silk, Polgara, Hettar and company are just as goofily charming as they always were.

5) Sarah J Mass’s Throne of Glass: Where has this been all my life? It is a glorious romp of a fantasy epic, with absolute no adherence to consistent character development, logical world-building, or sensible plot. All this series cares about is having a great time, and I am here for it. I’m currently starting the seventh and final book, with absolutely no idea how it is going to end. If you spoil it for me, I swear by the wrath of a thousand sexy fire-wielding assassin fairy princesses, I will end you.

Best Novella: Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold

I know I’m late to the party with this Hugo and Nebula winning novella, but this Vorkosigan saga story deserves all the accolades it got. It’s also still a powerful and clever tale that encapsulates the best elements of the series it sits in, while doing a good job of standing alone.

Best Novel: The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyon

I’ve raved about this series in a guest post, but I don’t mind if I become the “A Chorus of Dragons” guy if it makes more people give this series a chance. Seemingly insurmountable odds have built up against the protagonists, and this book delivers in typical epic fashion with immense battles and incredible feats of magic.

And at the same time it never loses sight of the important emotional moments, with the development of the characters in the previous four books being crucial to their chance of winning the day.

Best Comic: Way of X by Si Spurrier

In the current roster of X-men comics the hated and feared mutants have formed a new mutant nation on the living island of Krakoa. What makes this different from other times mutants have escaped to an island is the fact that mutants are finally combining their powers to make themselves a true world power. Creating new drugs that cure once deadly diseases and expand human’s lifespan (and selling them to any nation that recognises their sovereignty) and even cheating death itself with their resurrection protocols.

Way of X sees Nightcrawler trying to figure out how mutants can keep meaning in their lives when mortality is no longer relevant. While many of the other teams are solving external problems, this book asks questions about community and sense of purpose, bringing much needed perspective to the X-books.

Best Movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once

A multiversal headfuck, this movie only improves the more you think about it. And once you watch it, you’ll probably end up thinking about it a lot. Funny, action packed, brilliantly inventive and emotionally devastating.

I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but suffice to say that the writer-directors know how to set up and then pay off both jokes and emotional moments.

Best Game: Spider-Man Remastered

It’s been a while since I’ve been this in love with AAA game. Spider-Man Remastered gets the most important thing right, which is making swinging and thwipping round New York immensely smooth and satisfying. The combat does a good job of capturing Spider-Man’s abilities too.

And the story was far better than I was expecting, introducing Miles Morales and giving us an experienced Spider-Man with plotlines that felt true to the character, with a big ramp up for Act 3 that shakes the game up. Even 40 hours in I’ve found myself not wanting to put the game down.