Fantasy¶

Worlds of myth, magic, and the extraordinary.

❤️The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins (2025)¶

An absolutely phenomenal fantasy. A bunch of children are taught by a powerful being and co-exist with humans. When the 'father' goes missing, the group needs to understand what happened and keep other powers at bay.

Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch (2025)¶

Those who like Jasper Fforde might like this modern fantasy of a policeman recruited to the magical division, who investigates a series of gruesome murders and is thrown in the middle of a conflict between the personifications of London's Rivers.

Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo (2025)¶

The protagonist, who can 'see dead people', is enlisted into a secretive magical society and is immediately thrown in the middle of a murder and conspiracy. The Houses at Yale are run by secret societies, each specializing in a form of magic; she joins the Ninth one that oversees them all.

❤️The Lord of the Rings, by J R R Tolkien (2025, 2020)¶

This time I paid special attention to the geography and timelines of the whole journey: one of the few things that does not translate over well in the movies.

Lost in a Good Book & The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (2024)¶

A humorous world where fiction and reality collide in matter-of-fact ways. If you like Douglas Adams & Terry Pratchett you will like this.

The City & the City, by China Mieville (2024)¶

A novel that crosses genres seamlessly, from Crime to Fantasy. The book is more interesting if it is /not/ treated as a fantasy but rather as a political dystopia.

The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera (2025)¶

A surreal, shifting novel that is part Rushdie, part Kafka. A character's fate and choices diverge and converge in unexpected ways. Highly recommended.

The Shadow of the Torturer, by Gene Wolfe (2024)¶

A good fantasy novel about a Torturer who is exiled from his guild.

The Just City, by Jo Walton (2024)¶

An excellent thought experiment. Athena and Apollo decide to implement Plato's 'Just City' in Atlantis, and recruit a bunch of children to form the first generation.

The Witcher series, by Andrzej Sapkowski (2021-2022)¶

I finally caught up with this series.

The Last Wish: Hooked from the start; the first two books are nice collections of short stories.
Sword of Destiny: Part of the early Witcher short-story collections; very enjoyable.
Blood of Elves: Continuation of the Witcher saga; a nice break from TV shows.
Time of Contempt: Part of the main Witcher series; highly engaging.
Baptism of Fire: Things are getting interesting now, with the Witcher assembling a rag-tag party to search for Ciri.
The Tower of the Swallow: Part of the Witcher series; the story is becoming increasingly engaging.
The Lady of the Lake: Exquisite. The series converges here into brutal, poignant, and unpredictable events. Highly recommended.
Season of Storms: An unrelated prequel that can be read standalone, though it contains spoilers for the final book of the main series.

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke (2022)¶

A short fantasy from the author of the excellent Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Recommended.

Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson (2021)¶

Thoroughly enjoyed it; avoids many common fantasy tropes.

Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb (2021)¶

Very enjoyable fantasy read; worth finishing the trilogy.

The Tangled Lands, by Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias S. Buckell (2021)¶

Four short stories by the two authors, all centered around a world troubled by poisonous brambles that grow and spread whenever its people use magic.

❤️House of Leaves, by Mark Z Danielewski (2023)¶

A horror book based on a film documentary narrated by a blind man and annotated by a constantly-digressing tattoo artist. Lovely layers upon layers of a labyrinth.

Illuminations, by Alan Moore (2023)¶

A short story collection from a master of the craft. He has not lost any of his strangeness and this collection is quite nice.

Vita Nostra, by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (2026)¶

A strange Russian fantasy. The story follows a promising student's rise in a school of surreal magic. I loved the sense of unknowable complexity.