It all started with this tweet by Paul:
https://twitter.com/PrinceJvstin/status/1242909634316447746
And then the likes piled up…
255. The speculative technology of the computers is humorously out of date, but that’s really not the important part of the story of Long, a Dragon who Gets Involved, despite himself, in R.A MacAvoy’s Tea with the Black Dragon
254. When I mention Elizabeth Moon you probably have a good idea what I am going to recommend, but I am going to surprise you again with her space opera Vatta Series, starting with Trading in Danger.
253. It’;s a hard book to take in many ways, and the time dilation of the travel works for shite, but the power of the story of the Jesuit priest Emilio in Maria Doria Russell’s First Contact novel The Sparrow haunts me, still.
252. Robert Charles Wilson writes SF with a very interpersonal touch, the stories of people as much as the speculative elements. That is really true in his The Chronoliths a story of monuments from the future suddenly appearing in the present, and what it does to the characters
251. I’ve wondered where to steer readers toward
@longshotauthor in all this. But this list about books I really like, so I am going to go with FURIES OF CALDERON the first of the Codex Alera series.
250. From Fallen Angels to the Xuya universe,
@aliettedb’s fiction is character focused, strongly drawn and immersive. I think a great place to start with her work is her post-apocalypse story of a scholar and a Dragon in her standalone novella In the Vanishers’ Palace.
249. A SFnal story of alternate worlds with a strong thriller chassis that keeps the pages turning,
@JasonMHough;s Zero World delivers on the action beats.
248. Speaking of the International circuit, if you want to try the Italian master of fantastika, Italo Calvino, I have a fondness for If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler, which begins with you, the reader buying the book, and getting the wrong one…
247. Speaking of astronauts returning and finding things really have changed, this is where I recommend a Stainslaw Lem to you, but not the one you think I am going to. No, I am going to point you at the bizarre and thoughtful RETURN FROM THE STARS.
246. Since as I’ve said I’ve focused on novels, I do miss a lot of older writers, women included. But I think you can still find James Tiptree/Alice Sheldon’s classic men astronauts return to earth to a surprise, Houston Houston Do You Read
245. We recently lost a giant of the field, Vonda Mcintyre. My favorite of her work, one that is a bit timely given that the main character is a healer in a post apocalypse world, is Dreamsnake (I’ve got to reread this one for myself)
244. Greg Bear. It’s going to feel like a weird alternate future history now, rather than a future, buy my favorite of his, the one with the biggest dumb object you could have, one that is interdimensional in scope, is his novel EON.
243. The Dying Earth subgenre is one that Vance owned for decades until Gene Wolfe staked a claim. Now, the real inheritor of that subgenre is
@hapthorn, such as in his Majestrum, set in the peultimate age of the far future of Earth.
242. One’s a Rogue/thief with a bit of magic talent. The other is the priest of a God who was a God for just a moment–but his hammer will teach you to respect the Momentary God. Meet Egil and Nix in the low fantasy The Hammer and the Blade by @Paulskemp
241. The Daniel Blackland series, starting with California Bones has
@gregvaneekhout introduce us to the titular character, a secret osteomancer, bone magician, in the Kingdom of California, bound into a heist to rob the ruler of California of a valuable magical artifact…
240. The word “entrepot” invokes all sorts of interesting things to me, putting together all sorts of goodness about cities and their connections. Visit the entrepot of Crosspointe, and meet Lucy, who has a secret ability to sense magic, in @dianapfrancis The Cipher.
239. If you want to back to SF again, for a moment, and want the story of a young android learning she doesn’t quite have the restrictions on her actions that her kind generally has, you want to try vN by @MadelineAshby
238. In contrast, @hyperbolismpod presents a world in NO RETURN with a strange and wonderous science fantasy world, of alchemy, odd technology, and a God orbiting in the skies above.
237. And now is here where I recommend a @LordGrimdark book to you. I think the best one volume book of his work that you can try and see if his brand of Grimdark really is for you is his epic depiction of a key battle in The Heroes. Contained, and wonderfully executed
236. How do you fight colonialism in your country? If you are the Traitor Baru Cormorant, by @sethjdickinson
you fight back by trying tiosubvert the system by joining it and rising in the ranks of imperial government. A fascinating story of colonialism, and a strong protagonist.
235. A stunning Neo Lovecraft novel that also engages with the dark underbelly of racism in America, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
234. Now is the time for me to introduce you to the best Necromancer/Swordfighter bickering duo I’ve read in a long time, especially in a Science Fantasy novel. Gideon the Ninth by
@tazmuir
233. Aliens don’t always visit New York, or London, or other world capitals. Read what happens when the aliens come to settle in a biodome in Africa in
@tadethompson’s amazing and sometimes phantasmogrical ROSEWATER.
232. Maybe a fractured Europe, in the wake of Brexit is perhaps a sensitive subject. But if you want to read about a hopefully fictional future with an atomized europe,
@HutchinsonDave ‘s series starting with EUROPE IN AUTUMN
231. With civilization retreating to arcologies, the outside world is a wild and deadly place…but also the future. Intrigue and mystery of what lies outside, and the main character’s new job as a most unusual courier is @teffeau’s cyberpunk novel Implanted.
230. Graphical stories also count. Above the Timberline is a wonderfully illustrated story of rediscovering lost civilization after an ice age, excellently done by Gregory Manchess.
229. How about some Prohibition era secondary world fantasy, and brew up some magic and mayhem thereby? If that sounds up your alley, get on your zoot suit and pick up
@Jas_Gower ‘s Moonshine
228. A treacherous fantasy empire. A scribe who winds up chronicling the deeds of a band of warriors whose leader has a most unusual flail in
@JeffSalyards Scourge of the Betrayer.
227. Another audacious author is the force of nature that is @lavietidhar. I am going to point you at his “superhero” novel, The Violent Century as your entry point into his work
226. Time for me to bake your noodle. Post Apocalypse Australia, with sentient trucks. They even get it on. Sound like that’s up your alley? Check out
@acidic’s Trucksong
225. Not quite a PI but rather a fallen paladin, Aral in
@KellyDMcC’s The Broken Blade is quite literally that, until, as the first line of the novel reveals, Trouble comes looking for him…
224. Flintlock/Gunpowder Fantasy is a bit of a thing. Although I didn’t pick it, the aforementioned Django Wexler writes it, and Cold Iron mentioned above is in it. But the real heart of this subgenre is @BrianTMcClellan ‘s Promise of Blood
223. I remember when in 2013, younger me got himself a diverse and wide open space opera novel, and he learned, yes, Space Opera could do that. Find out for yourself in
@jkoyanagi ‘s ASCENSION
222. And if you like THAT, then let me introduce you to the work of Glen Cook, who has his own series in that vein starting with Sweet Silver Blues. Garrett makes an interesting contrast to the entry above as do their supporting casts.
221. Low Fantasy and mysteries kind of naturally go together. Gumshoes in worlds seem to be a thing a few authors pick up on. Like
@AlexBledsoe and his Eddie LaCrosse novel, The Sword Edged Blonde.
220. A book that John DeNardo famously bounced off of, but is dense, takes no prisoners (it’s not 201 SF, it’s 501 SF) and shows amazing imagination is
@hannu’s The Quantum Thief.
219. Get your airship action here!
@_ChrisWooding_’s Tales of the Ketty Jay, starting with Retribution Falls are lots of fun. (if you liked my earlier recce of Robyn Bennis, get this one too)
218. Okay, so let’s pull out the @robinhobb card. I am not going to go with the usual choice you might make here, and instead go with my very best favorite, which is the Liveship Traders series, starting with SHIP OF MAGIC
217. Although she has gone far beyond Phedre and her story, I still think the best place to start with the word of
@JCareyAuthor is without a doubt, her lush alternate history, Kushiel’s Dart.
216. That @msagara has a lot of books. She writes boatloads of intriguing fantasy. The best place to start, I think is at the beginning with her Cast in Shadow as her heroine Kaylin has to team up with a Dragon Lord to solve a series of murders on the mean streets of her city
215. This one is a bit of a cheat, I admit. The trio of Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson and
@KateElliottSFF (who I already have picked) came together into a wonderful fantasy novel about magic and art called The Golden Key.
214. next up, @JustinaRobson . I am a particular fan of her Quantum Gravity series, mixing hard SF and magic, starting with Keeping It Real
213. Elizabeth Willey wrote three books, two in a series that was never finished as prequels to her first standalone novel, another interdimensional novel of a royal family dealing with all sorts of trouble entering their worlds, in The Well-Favored Man.
212. I am to give you another unexpected choice, this time for @pennyvixen
. You’ve probably heard all about her rather popular book…but I first started reading her work with the dark and lushly written fantasy MELUSINE.
211. Jack McDevitt does space archaeology and archaeology real good, too. So how about a novel that starts with someone digging up a 10000 year old sailboat…in North Dakota. Set sail on Eternity’s Shores.
210. Going to go a bit sidewise with L.E. Modesitt and not offer up the usual choices and instead offer you his space archaeologist space opera THE ETERNITY ARTIFACT
209. In an allied vein to the above is @Catherine_Asaro’s The Last Hawk. Kelric, scion of the Ruby Dynasty crashlands on a planet even more matriarchial than his own Empire…and the women have very definite and conflicting plans for his future, while he seeks a way off, and home
208. In a world where men are relatively rarely born, there is always a market for their marriagability, especially to a line of daughters in a group marriage. A gaggle of royal sisters in Wen Spencer’s novel will indeed find out A Brother’s Price.
207. Featuring a strong character in Widdershins, whose story has gone from rags to riches to rags again, but now with a God in her mind,
@mouseferatu ‘s Thief’s Covenant features excellent action beats, excellent dialogue (especially with Olhun)and the novel is breezy and fun.
206. Five years ago, the Gods came back, estabishing themselves in the world again, complete with pantheons embassies, the works. A rebellious teenager gets wrapped up in their machinations in
@Gwenda ‘s Woken Gods.
205. If you want some brilliant near future SF from a seriously smart guy who can think rings around me, and if an nano-drug that can link minds peaks your interest as something you want in an SF novel, go forth to NEXUS by @ramez
204. Maybe you want to be scared more than a little bit in your SFF. As noted above it’s not my usual thing, but if a haunted space station getting creepy broadcasts go forth to get
@ghostfinder ‘s shiveringly good The Burning Dark.
203. If you stand to read about fictional plagues, then a novel about a plague consuming the Cerani Empire. and a prince locked in a tower, and his future bride riding to meet him are the ones who must stop the evil behind it all.I give you @Mazarkis_W ‘s The Emperor’s Knife
202. Cecilia Holland, much better known for historical than fantasy (like Angus McClellan above) steps into a historical infused epic fantasy about the relationship between a mute girl and a Dragon in her novel Dragon Heart
201. In a world stratified by the ones with magic, living in plenty in floating towers above a blasted landscape, and those without, a girl who can see ghosts finds she also has a dark magic in
@ksumnersmith ‘s RADIANT
200. The prolific @ChuckWendig puts out books like popcorn in a wide variety of SFFnal goodness. My personal favorite has to be Miriam Black, the woman who can see when you are going to die with just a touch, and you can meet her in her first novel, BLACKBIRDS.
199. A different Babylon here. Babylon steel, ex swordswoman, now runs a brothel in a city with plenty of interdimensional portals and connections. Needing money, she gets back into the mercenary game for a simple job in GaieSebold ‘s titular Babylon Steel
198. In a word where alchemy makes for some rather unusual magical effects in a fictional rust belt city. Patrol cop Kate Prospero is caught in a war between cops and wizards over some rather nasty magic.Enter into Babylon in @jayewells’ Dirty Magic.
197. I’ve gotten this far without touching the oeuvre of @jeffvandermeer
but I will just point you to the Area X volume, a compliation of his three novels, for some of the best New Weird out there today.
196.
A mysterious prisoner sends a letter to Malcolm, claiming that Malcolm’s house used to belong to him–and he has a rather bloody request in THE END OF THE SENTENCE, from
@KatWithSword and @MARIADAHVANA
195. In Australia, @Bridgeman_Books
has been rightly winning awards for her Aurora series. Get on board with that solar system space opera series and meet the crew of the UNF Aurora in Aurora: Darwin
194. Far future space opera set in her “Creative Fire” universe, but set after the return of that ship to their home system, a divided solar system and a looming conflict is in
@brendacooper ‘s EDGE OF DARK
193. If you liked my recommendation of Mazes of Power above and want more about underground cities, how about a murder mystery in the underground city of Recolletta? Meet Inspector Liesl Malone in @Carrie_Patel ‘s The Buried Life
192. Novice knight Gair can hear music no one else can. As a knight, he especially knows what this means–he is a witch, and witches are not permitted to live. But the secret society he joins has problems of their own, world-shaking problems in @ElspethCooper ‘s SONGS OF THE EARTH
191. In a world where glamour, style, fashion and high social events are tied to International relations and diplomacy, an Assembly delegate from Amazonia gets wrapped up in paparazzi, and assassins, in PERSONA by @GLValentine
190. An antiquities archaeologist/thief winds up getting on the wrong side of the hidden supernatural forces of the world and to get them off her back…has to make a deal with a dragon who wants a certain item in @kristicharish ‘s OWL AND THE JAPANESE CIRCUS
189. Next up,
@scalzi . I think the purest distillation of his viewpoint, humor and style, and my favorite has got to be Redshirts, especially the audiobook.
188. Clockwork automaton prodigy Arabella Ashby, a young woman who is perfectly content growing up in the untamed frontier of Mars. Events draw her to take a position on a interplanetary sailing ship in disguise, in @daviddlevine ARABELLA OF MARS
187. The Minerva Sierra challenge is a hard race across unforgiving terrain. Marmeg doesn’t have corporate funding and support that her opponents do, but she has tenacity and drive. Meet her in
@divyastweets ‘s RUNTIME.
186, I vacillate over where to point you in regards to the work of @ITregillis
but I think that the alternate history Milkweed Triptych starting with BITTER SEEDS is the best place. Or else Gretl might do something nasty to me.
185. I don’t read a ton of Urban Fantasy (as you might have seen from this list) but I do highly enjoy the works of
@ce_murphy . I started her Urban Fantasy with her classic entry point into her Old Races verse. Heart of Stone. Yes, there are Gargoyles.
184. Some of the most memorable mercenaries in fantasy, a quarrelsome rambunctous lot, who seem to always find themselves in over their heard. Meet Lynx and company in
@tomlloydwrites ‘s Stranger of Tempest.
183 The fantasy of @jyneonyang is diverse, unique and sometimes goes gonzo (the dinosaurs, just the dinosaurs alone).
Start with their Tensorate novellas with The Black Tides of Heaven.
182. A unique space opera with a lot of interesting setting elements and a slowly and excellent revealing worldbuilding showing a most curious history and backstory,
@Spencimus ‘ A Red Peace also brings excellent action beats to your reading pleasure.
181. Since she is going to return to the verse, I am going to point you to
@veschwab ‘s A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC. 3 Londons, and a pair of very dangerous siblings as antagonists.
180. Out of all the wonderfulness of @naominovik
‘s work, and she’s gotten better and better over the years, I am still always thinking back to her Napoleonic Wars with Dragons, His Majesty’s Dragon.
179. I maintain that the Pandora’s Star universe is the most consistently excellent of Peter F Hamilton’s doorstopper SF catalogue, so that is where you might start with his work,.
178. I wasn’t sure where to point readers of the ever inventive @robertjbennett
given all he has written, but I think I will stick with his latest series, with a series of Houses in a secondary fantasy world with strong and thoughtful worldbuilding, Foundryside.
177. Do you like your Gods and Powers in your secondary world fantasy Old Testament in flavor and capricous power. Do you enjoy wide scale worldbuilding with deep themes and characters? Go read Silent Hall by @N_S_Dolkart
176. Do you like mecha? Have I got a book for you with Mecha in an alternate United States which lost the Second World War.
@TieryasXu Mecha Samurai Empire has interesting cultural notes, a great main character…and enemy punching mecha!
175. I got to 175 without touching the master, the late Terry Pratchett. I do think that if you want to go into Discworld, then your entry point might well be one of my favorites, Guards! Guards!
174. As far as the works of the @queenofgrimdark
, Anna Smith Spark. the blood soaked Court of Broken Knives is your best entry point. Her historical background really comes through in her secondary world fantasy.
173 In the mood for dragon hunting with a strong note of an ecological edge and theme to it? Try
@BrianNasl ‘s Blood of an Exile
172 Poul Anderson is another of my formative writers and I am spoiled for choice as to what to recommend to you. I think I will stick with the classic tale of a ship near lightspeed outracing to the end of the universe in TAU ZERO
171. An army priest of a goddess comes back from a war to his home city to find his home gangster business is being infringed upon by forces from within and without his city. To claim his own,
@PeteMC666 tells us how Tomas Piety becomes The Priest of Bones.
170. Another secondary world fantasy where people sail with magic from land to land, but with even higher amped on magic action and adventure, you might also likeThe Dragon Road by
@JosephBrassey
169. A fantastic secondary fantasy world with islands of matter floating in the air currents of a Gas Giant. Forbidden and lost magics, intriguing and adventure set sail on the skies of AN ALCHEMY OF MASQUES AND SHADOWS by @Artfulskeptic
168. One’s an ancient Djinn who has been sleeping for millennia. The other is a soldier in self exile from Kathmandu, one of the few liveable spots in post apocalypse Earth. They team up in THE GURKA AND THE LORD OF TUESDAY by @saadzhossain
167. Another alternate history with magic, where Geomancy makes the early 20th Century US and Japan into powerful allies, where a young powerful geomancer looks for the causes of a SF earthquake in @BethCato ‘s BREATH OF EARTH
166. A secondary world fantasy where people live on various levels of huge rainforest trees. It’s an amazing setting, with Gods, religions and interesting cultures, and
@ThoraiyaDyer brings it to you in CROSSROADS OF CANOPY
165. Sadly, Eurovision is cancelled this year. But you can read about an Interstellar multi-species Eurovision in
@catvalente ‘s lyrically awesome SPACE OPERA
164. Urban fantasy, featuring a disabled protagonist with BPD, who gets recruited to an organization that secretlyt negotiates relations between Hollywood and Faerie. I give you
@mishellbaker ‘s Borderline.
163. Okay, another alternate Rome–a world where the Roman Empire never fell, discovered the Americas and is now tangling with the Mound Builders in what is now St. Louis (have you seen the Mounds? They’re amazing) Clash of Eagles by @AlanSmale
162. How about a nice Ragnarok for your reading while in lockdown? Poor Ted Callan of Winnipeg gets wrapped up in the doings of Norse deities in
@chadwickginther ‘s Thunder Road.
161. Where to point you in the oeuvre of @kijjohnson is pretty clear, since we are going for standalone books in this list rather than short fiction (not my strength). So, more Neo-Lovecraft (yes I read a lot of it), and learn of the Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe.
160. A secondary world fantasy set in a world inspired by Indonesia and the interesting polities and geography there. Better known for his historical stuff, I really enjoyed this SFF turn by
@angusmacallan1 in Gates of Stone
159. Post Apocalyptic fantasy set in the desert Southwest, where the former reservation is just about all that is left, but there are still magicians…and monsters inside of the wall. Get on with
@RoanhorseBex ‘s Trail of Lightning.
158. Fun fact. Dragons are very cool, but I LOVE Griffins. The combination of bird of prey and giant cat is irresistable to me. So I am going to point you toward
@RachelNeumeier ‘s Lord of the Changing Winds if you want your Griffin fix, too.
157. Next up @cmpriest. . A wonderfully interesting set of novels in a variety of series and themes and subgenres. I am going to give you Zombies and Steampunk and send you to Boneshaker.
156. The urban and secondary fantasy voice of @Rachel_Aaron
is light, fun and a breezy read. Maybe what you need right now is to learn that Nice Dragons Finish Last.
155. Also in that same sort of vein, although set on Earth,
@scriptopus Gemsigns is about a subspecies of humanity created in response to a deadly plague, but now they seek to escape the corporate slavery that holds them still in bondage.
154. The talents of Karen Lord are prodigious. For a novel of psionics, interplanetary contact and breathlessly good literary style, go with her The Best of All Possible Worlds.
153. He’s really developed his craft since then, but I think the best voice of @Mark__Lawrence
and what he is trying to do remains in his post-apocalyptic novel Prince of Thorns. Jorg is an unpleasant character in many ways, but a compelling one all the same.
152. If you like the idea of a fantasy medieval Venice ruled by the descendants of Marco Polo, with vampires, Weir and more, check out The Fallen Blade by Jon Grimwood. Get to the third book in that series and you will meet…me (tuckerized, anyway)
151. Imagine a world which was not ours…or was it, where a mercenary captain named Ash stands at the nexus of powers intent on warping history and reality in the 15th century. I give you Mary Gentle’s massive epic ASH: A Secret History
150 (good lord). Good milestone to break out the C.J. Cherryh. And when I think Cherryh, I think Morgaine. Gate of Ivrel introduces us to our determined protagonist, with one of the most powerful swords in all fantasy on a one-woman quest to close all the gates between worlds.
149. Can’t mention Kevin without mentioning his longtime pal
@DelilahSDawson . In her Lila Bowen plumage, let me introduce you to the fearsome former slave Nettie Lonesome, carving her way through a fantasy West, in her novel Wake of Vultures.
148. Showing the evolution of his craft and skill,. A Plague of Giants by @KevinHearne
expands his talents from urban to secondary world fantasy, with a story where the telling of the tale is as important as the events themselves in shaping events.
147. I mentioned multiverse and dimensional travel a few times now. Here we have a novel of a young woman who discovers she’s been locked away in a shadow world and her arrival in the real world causes all sorts of trouble. Chrysanthe by Yves Meynard
146. Back to book based fantasy. Like the idea of being able to pull things out of books (akin to H.G. Parry’s novel earlier this thread). Check out
@jimchines ‘s Libriomancer.
145. Want some epic fantasy set in a desert city, with a heroine bent on revenge against its tyrannical rulers and learning what she needs to do to take them on. Check out
@bbeaulieu ‘s Twelve Kings in Sharakhai
144. With the arctic melting due to climate change, see a future world where that ice is gone, where the new frontier is the coasts of the arctic ocean,
@tobiasbuckell ‘s ARCTIC RISING
143.Alternate history, where a swordsman in Elizabethan London gets wrapped up in a story of magic, and murder and mayhem. Oh and the Fae visiting from across the Atlantic. @AnneLyle
‘s Alchemist of Souls.
142. I like big phat fantasy and I cannot lie. ( @bhvide knows why). So what about one that she helped edit? The Soul of the World by
@ddmealing has an interesting secondary world colonial setting and feel to its story of ancient arcane powers rising once again.
141. I agonized over which Barbara Hambly to recommend. I finally landed on the tale of Gareth, the only dragon killer alive, and half trained witch Jenny, as they deal with a Black Dragon in Dragonsbane
140. So you want a wizard school novel that is NOT Harry Potter? Before Rowling picked up her pen,
@dduane was writing the Young Wizard series, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard.
139. More old school: Pastoral, rural science fiction in a series of stories by Zenna Henderson tell the story of a group of human like aliens with psychic powers living in the rural west. Ingathering: Stories of the People, collects the set.
138. Tension, Apprehension and Dissension have begun! Want to go old school classic with telepaths and an attempt at the perfect crime in a world with them? Go read Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man.
137. Remember @NaomiKritzer
‘s wonderful story “Cat Pictures, Please?” What if I told you there is a fantastic novel sequel to that story. It’s true, and you should read Catfishing on Catnet.
136. Stunningly well written and literate turn of the 20th century fantasy set in my hometown of New York, a story of two individuals learning to come together, The Golem and the Jinni by
@helenewecker is incandescent in its writing.
135. Rebuilding after the fall of interstellar civilization, an explorer/archaeologist travels to another planet and finds even more ancient tech from before the Fall, along with secrets and a native of the planet with an unusual bond . Artemis Awakening by @JaneLindskold
134. Where to direct readers on Philip K Dick. Tricky, difficult and his shorter fiction is honestly better than most of his novels. I still think that you go with The Man in the High Castle to try his work and see if it’s for you.
133. An amazingly ambitious post-singularity far future (147th century!) SF novel very much worth your while, with dense prose, deep worldbuilding and a wide canas is The Promise of the Child by @Tom__Toner
132. If you want your Epic Fantasy to have a large dose of Rock and Roll and more music references than you can shake a drum stick at, then get the Band back together with
@Nicholas_Eames ‘ Kings of the Wyld.
131. Epic fantasy also inspired by Scandinavia but in a very different sort of vein, is
@StinaLeicht ‘s Cold Iron.
130. Epic fantasy in a cold and brutal land inspired by Lapland, The Song of All by
@tlecountmyers
129. Do you like Epic fantasy but want to see someone take on its conventions, critique and subvert them? I give you Starborn by
@silvanhistorian
128. Urban fantasy set in a world where Atlantis was a real thing–and they now rule Nantucket? Sounds bonkers and gonzo, but
@KDEdwards_NC ‘s The Last Sun has a pair of unforgettable characters and a strong, unique voice.
127. How about a book that starts a series that goes from Urban fantasy to high epic fantasy by the third book. I give you Awakenings by
@EdwardLazellari
126. The Matt Wallace book I really want to recommend to you is not yet out. So instead, learn about his nearly as fantastic Sin du Jour series, about a catering staff for demons and other supernaturals, in Envy of Angels. You will never see Chicken Nuggets the same way again
125. If you like books (and if you read this far, you likely do) how about an AH series where books are heavily restricted but the powerful Great Library does not have FULL control over books.
I give you @rachelcaine ‘s INK AND BONE
124. How about an alternate history where magic was rediscovered and is being used in Egypt in the late 19th century, instantly making it a world power? I give you The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by @pdjeliclark
123. A story of landing on an alien contact, first contact, and harrowing story of discovery and introspection. This is Windhome by Kristin Landon.
122. You like superheroes, right? How about Australian superheroes and a young woman who covers them on the internet who finds out much more than she imagined about them, and herself.
I give you @tansyrr ‘s Girl Reporter
121. The Silver Scar by @betsydornbusch is set in a post apocalypse Colorado where the archwarden of a resurgent church begins to question his role in place in a war with Wiccans, powerful magic, and the secrets and lies we tell to maintain and expand power
120. Trying to pick one @HNTurtledove novel is a difficult choice–but let’s go recent, and topical, in an alternate history where Europe, not the Middle East or Africa, is the war-torn backwater with violence, refugees and fundamentalism, in his novel Through Darkest Europe.
119. A pair of sisters struggle to keep their failing family’s fortune by fair means, and foul, while one of them tries to hide the potent and dangerous magic she wields.
Get to know @PatriceSarath ‘s titular The Sisters Mederos
118. Does adventure filled military SFF with airships sound intriguing to you? Then set sail with @According2Robyn ‘s The Guns Above.
117. I was delighted when @LindaNagata returned to her world of The Nanotech Succession. And I think Edges, the first novel of the Inverted Frontier, is a perfect jumping in place for new readers who want far future SF with nanotech, aliens, and mind expanding worldbuilding
116. A Space opera of found and not so found family, with psychic space cats on a spaceship for hire. This is the juicy goodness of @valerievaldes ‘s Chilling Effect.
115. Lois McMaster Bujold is the premier SF author living in Minnesota, my adoptive state. I think its time for you to get to meet Miles Vorkosigan, in The Warrior’s Apprentice (not the first book in the series but the most representative “opening book”
114. Gene Wolfe. A master of SF and fantasy whose vocabulary, density of words, and deep resonances and themes make him an author you can re-read. He is not a 101 SF writer. But I think his most accessible is The Fifth Head of Cerberus.
113. In a similar vein, Belisarius is a member of Homo quantus and has amazing abilities with calculating things in his mind as well. And he has a little heist to plan. Meet him as the titular character in @DerekKunsken ‘s The Quantum Magician.
112. Want fast fun SF with a protagonist who can do those equations you see the gifs of with people thinking in her brain and that mathematical brilliance gives her parahuman ability? Then get yourself to Zero Sum Game by @sl_huang
111. While you probably heard of @ann_leckie for her Ancillary novels, I am to plug her brilliant turn into fantasy, The Raven Tower. Meddling Gods, a throne for the taking, and a protagonist not quite sure where he fits in.
110. A strongly literary SF novel set on a space station, with a strong character based focus is @jesswynne ‘s Substrate Phantoms.
109. Space Opera, with AI angels, eldritch entities and a protagonist who is neuroatypical. The Outside by @xasymptote
was one of my favorite novels of 2019.
108. A fantasy of portals, and the stories we tell ourselves and others about the Doors we go through, the power of The Ten Thousand Doors of January by
@AlixEHarrow is powerful and abiding.
107. A demigoddess on the loose. Personal AI Robots. Dik diks. And did I mention this is a future South Africa? The vivid imagination of @nickydrayden
‘s Prey of Gods has all of this, and much more.
106. If you want to read something relevant then and now even more relevant for our scary times of fundamentalism, division…but the power of hope and change and the ability to make things better even in the darkness, then Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is for you.
105. Another heart novel from another heart author is Roger Zelazny and his Nine Princes in Amber. My internet name of Princejvstin has part of its origin in my love of the Amber Chronicles.
104. Need to mix some classics in here. Jack Vance is one of my heart authors. There is so much of his to read, so I will land on his Planet of Adventure quartet, starting with City of the Chasch. (aka The Chasch)
103. You like heists? I like heists. If you want a heist novel with mages in a world where magic is forbidden and feared, try @CateGlassWriter’s An Illusion of Thieves.
102. Want some grimdark high adventure in a cold and unforgiving land. Try A CAVERN OF BLACK ICE by J.V. Jones
101. Going to go with an unusual and unexpected choice for Kim Stanley Robinson and go with his Paleolithic historical novel, SHAMAN.
100. I am going to go with an unexpected choice for the legendary Ursula K LeGuin and point you toward her meditation on colonization and much more, The Word for World is Forest.
99. A reporter returns to her home planet even as an interstellar war threatens to overwhelm it, and her. The stunning writing of
@unamccormack comes to full play in The Undefeated
98. The Radium girls, an elephant and dark alternate history. @BBolander
‘s The Only Harmless Great Thing is like a short, sharp shock with its themes, writing and style.
97. Imaginative future SF with an African SF protagonist whose journey to the stars wraps her in the fate of Earth and its war with an alien race, Binti’s journey for knowledge will come at personal cost, but her thirst will not be denied. Get to know her in @Nnedi ‘s titular book
96. I never knew I ever wanted a bicycle chase scene in my fantasy, until I picked up the Edwardian-esque fantasy novel Witchmark, by
@clpolk . Fascinating characters and worldbuilding, and much on the costs of war and conflict.
95. If you want your fantasy much darker, and want, again, a fantasy outside the bounds of Europe, in a world where a young woman’s connection to the Gods may be more dangerous than the invasion of her country, then you want @kuangrf ;s The Poppy War
94. Meet Dr. Greta Helsing. No, she does not hunt undead, instead she administers to the ills of the undead, and other supernatural types as well. Get to know her in
@ceruleancynic ‘s Strange Practice
93. In guise as S.C. Emmett, @lilithsaintcrow
‘s THRONE OF THE FIVE WINDS expands her talents into courtly intrigue , honor, loyalty, scheming, and social clashes in a deadly fantasy empire’s court.
92. One of the smartest persons in understanding genre tropes and how they work is
@MikeRUnderwood . Joyfully he has a series where he gets to play with that sandbox. Discover the Genrenauts in The Data Disruption
91. Maradaine is a vividly imagined fantasy city, and @marshallmaresca
has multiple intersecting series set within it. Start where it all began, and meet the titular Thorn of Dentonhill.
90. Mars Xi has been made into a void witch in a far future space opera setting, and as a result she can kill you with her brain. And she is not happy. Meet her and her pet Seven in
@cjwhite ‘s Killing Gravity.
89. I keep forgetting that some of you may not have read @scottlynch78
and gotten to know the tag team of Locke and Jean, two con men like none other in a vivid fantasy city. Get to learn the Lies of Locke Lamora for yourself.
88. Expanse adjacent in another way, @iannmcdonald
‘s Moon series posits a future moon where powerful families scheme and plot on the new frontier. LUNA: NEW MOON is the first of the trilogy.
87. I know some of you like the Expanse, but @AbrahamHanover
, half of James S A Corey, is a kickass author on his own, too. Check out his Dagger and Coin secondary world fantasy series that subverts tropes and shows the power of *money* with The Dragon’s Path
86. Remember sometime back when I was discussing Neo-Lovecraft? If you want more than that, get thee to Beneath the Rising by
@premeesaurus as a supergenius and her best friend accidentally start and must stop a Lovecraftian apocalypse.
85. In that same line, @BluejoWalton , also known for her love of sunsets, cons, and the history of SF, recently had her fantastic coming of age love of SF/fantasy novel, Among Others get a reissue. Go get yourself that one.
84. You may have seen @Ada_Palmer ‘s #somethingbeautiful project on twitter. Check out her Terra Ignota future SF series starting with Too Like the Lightning.
83. I honestly didn’t know until recently who @SamSykesSwears was related to. Don’t care, because his writing and voice is his own. Check out what happens when Lenk and his company run into the biggest city around, when the City Stained Red.
82. Now @MykeCole . You might know him on twitter for the merciless way Sam Sykes (whom we will address anon) torments him. But his fiction, infused by his military service, is top notch. His Armored Saint has warhammer like mecha in a fantasy universe. That is of interest, yes?
81. The SF of @stealthygeek is snarky, funny and often painfully true, as he knows just how ridiculous we are as a species.
So I will recommend his first contact novel., as humans expanding into the universe really find out what the galaxy thinks of us, in Gate Crashers
80. Moving east and back into secondary world fantasy, a stunning debut of a world inspired by the Mughal Empire, I present to you
@tashadrinkstea ‘s Empire of Sand
79. Where to read from the Lady of Horses, @dancinghorse
herself? Lots of choices, but I will go to my favorite, involving a vivid Middle Eastern setting, a transformed prince, and of course, horses. A Wind in Cairo.
78. I made it all this way so far without having to try and pick a @cstross
novel. I will go with an omnibus, cheating a bit–The Bloodline Feud gathers his first interdimensional Merchant Princes novel series.
77.@Paul_Cornell too, has a vast oeuvre. In the same vein and as a good companion piece to above, check out his suburban fantasy The Witches of Lychford
76. The oeuvre of @JulietEMcKenna is ever expanding, So let me go with her recent turn into urban rural fantasy and recommend her The Green Man’s Heir, about the son of a dryad getting mixed up in the tangled coils of a serial killer, and the power behind them.
75. The Light Brigades by @KameronHurley
brings her sensibility to her best written novel yet, a story of war, revolution, and time travel
74. I’ve gotten this far without picking a @KateElliottSFF
but she’s my favorite author, and its hard to choose. I will go with her first person Icepunk afroceltic alternate history with magic, Cold Magic. Oh, and lawyer dinosaurs. You heard that right. Lawyer dinosaurs.
73. Daggerspell by @Kit_Kerr . Visit Deverry, a world where some Celts from our world long ago emigrated and settled, a world where lifetimes and reincarnated souls promise revealed pasts, and fateful futures.
72. The Tiger’s DAughter by @ArsenaultRivera . A complex and touching story of two women in a fantasy realm inspired by China and Mongolia, where their relationship, and themselves are tested by Empresses, demonic evils, and their own doubts.
71. Staying Dead by @LAGilman Meet Wren Valere. She’s a thief, and she has magical talents, to boot. She’s a Retriever, in a Manhattan where the magic users, the Cosa Nostradamus, stay under the radar of the rest of the world, Wren takes a job she shouldn’t. Trouble ensues!
70. The Ruin of Kings by @jennlyonsauthor. A widescreen epic fantasy with multiple narrative time frames about someone with a Destiny…but a dark one. Plus a crown in peril, a dangerous Dragon, and well drawn characters, plots, schemes and worldbuilding.
Also, footnotes.
69. City of Lies by@samhawkewrites. Sitting nicely in “City State” Fantasy, a story of a pair of siblings desperately trying to protect their suddenly vulnerable city during a perilous siege.
68. Finder by@zanzjan centers around a protagonist, whose entry into a solar system sets off a chain of unfortunate events, because, despite his inclination and nature, he gets himself *involved*, instead of focusing on his ostensible goal. A novel of human connections.
67. Heir of Night by @helenl0we is strong epic fantasy for the 21st century, with a centrally strong young female protagonist, caught by prophecy, betrayal, and the threat of war with a power that could wipe out the world.
66. Where Oblivion Lives by @T_Frohock . In 1930’s Spain, as Civil War looms and distantly, WWII starts to shape, a group of beings between man and God struggle and seek to find strength, power and comfort in each other. Really strong family dynamic and a tender queer relationship
65. Into Bones like Oil. I don’t read a lot of horror, but I make exceptions for personal friends like @KaaronWarren , in this gothic ghost story of a seaside house where the inhabitants are channeling ghosts.
64. Infomocracy by @m_older . A brilliant story of a near future earth where polities have atomized and citizenship is now a matter of choice and preference, but the next election is still a chance for powers old and new to shape it by means foul as well as fair.
63. Middlegame by @seananmcguire . Maybe the most brilliant thing she’s done yet (but that’s a wide open category), a story of two talented twins who might be sculpted to bridge the yawning chasm between man…and god.
62. An Accident of Stars by @fozmeadows understands and deconstructs and examines portal fantasies, in the story of a young woman who winds up in another world, caught in the machinations of a power struggle she needs to understand–fast.
61. The Bone Ships by @dedbutdrmng has ships made of Dragon Bones, unique and interesting ecologies and cultures, and a story of a desperate attempt in a race against others to find what might be the first dragon seen in a century
60. Ship of Smoke and Steel by @DjangoWexler . A young woman’s magic brings her from being ward boss on the mean streets to the attention of the government, who have an impossible mission for her: Steal a ghostly ship.
59. Seraphina’s Lament by @BookwormBlues . A heartbreaking, dark story of a land wracked by refugees, drought and more, inspired by the famine in 1930’s Ukraine, a story of a slave, whose actions may seal the fate of not just a realm, but humanity itself.
58. A Natural History of Dragons by @swan_tower . Lady Isabella Trent is a one of a kind, Victorianesque adventurer and self taught scientist intent on finding and studying the dragons still left the corners of her richly imagined world.
57. A Memory Called Empire by @ArkadyMartine . In a byzantine (in several senses) Empire, a new ambassador with restricted and forbidden technology must manage filling her predecessor’s shoes, as possible civil war…and oh yeah, to find out who killed her predecessor.
56. Velocity Weapon. A stunningly good space opera by @MeganEOKeefe
with a pair of siblings in an intersystem, conflict, a ship AI with a Plan, and a wham! moment that will knock you out of your seat.
55. The Tethered Mage by @melisscaru . Set in a Venetian influenced city state, Amalia, daughter of one of the most powerful nobles in the Empire, teams up with a Mage in a world where such powers are concerned. Can they stop war and destruction of their home?
54. THE PERFECT ASSASSIN by @KA_Doore . Amastan is a bookish sort, but he IS born into a family whose job it is to be assassins. When a murder points at someone trying to frame his family, Amastan has to step up and get his blade wet, like it or not, even if he has never killed.
53. Stealing Worlds: A near future novel from the fecund imagination of @KarlSchroeder , where AIs take on the stewardship of entities, like rivers and lakes, long denied a voice in late capitalism.
52. THE MIRROR PRINCE. @VioletteMalan ‘s tale of a history professor who finds out he is much more than he himself realizes, in fact his entire life is a fiction, and he really is a Prince…and the Wild Hunt is after him.
51. MOTH AND SPARK. A novel of romance, dragons, war, magic and vividly beautiful writing from @anneleonardauth
50. Winningly continuing the story of Miranda after The Tempest, @kekduckett ‘s Miranda in Milan is a focused story of a young woman seeking to escape the bounds, magical and otherwise, placed upon her
49. The Invisible Library by @GenevieveCogman features Irene, an agent of an interdimensional library, in a multiverse where Dragons and Fey continually joust for control and influence over worlds.
48. Alice Payne Arrives is @kateheartfield ‘s novella marrying the strengths of historical fiction, and time travel in the bargain
47. A thief on the streets of Cairo finds herself taken to a city of Djinn that is on the edge of revolution and massive social change in
@SAChakrabooks ”s The City of Brass
46. A tidally locked planet. A crumbling world trying to survive as things slowly fall apart. A novel of hope, first contact and stunning invention. The City in the Middle of the Night by
@charliejane
45. A stunning Alternate history SF novel of a space program in a world suffering from a disaster, is The Calculating Stars by
@MaryRobinette
44. Brightfall by @jaimeleemoyer brings the story of Maid Marian post-Robin Hood into sharp and interesting relief.
43. Children of Time by @aptshadow is one of the best SF novels of the 21st century an epic widescreen deep time story of terraforming, AI, and spiders.
42. A single volume epic fantasy with the power, poetry and worldbuilding goodness of @julieczerneda . Check out her novel Gossamer Mage
41. Meet Hail, aka Princess Hailimi Bristol, Princess of the Indranan Empire. When she is dragged back to her home from her independent life, her enemies in Behind the Throne by
@kbwagers have no IDEA what they’ve unleashed
40. Firefighters vs Dragons. If that high concept appeals to you, then you want @SeanGrigsby ‘s Ash Hickers.
39. How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by @svartjagr is a mixture of elements SFnal and fantastic alike in a story of a Princess with fairy blessings who winds up on a quest to…yes, rescue a prince.
38. Godblind by @AnnaSmithWrites is a bloodsoaked book of Grimdark epic fantasy of gods and invasions and how an escaped slave can change the fate of all.
37. Traditional epic fantasy in a classic mold, convincingly done is @sarah_kozloff ‘s A Queen in Hiding
36. Conspiracy of Truths by Alex Rowland is a fascinating novel of the power of story and perspective in order to effect change and even revolution in a society ready to topple over.
35. An epistolic novel of love and seeking to find strength in another and oneself rather than the system they were raised in is the heart of THIS is How You Lose the Time WAr by
@tithenai and @maxgladstone
34. Set in her world of reincarnated souls and high magic, A Jewel Bright Sea brings @ClaireOdell99 ‘s talents to a story of piracy and freedom
33. Two monsters, living quietly with humans in 19th century Tarrytown, wind up getting wrapped into affairs of local supernaturals and the mortals that keep a watch on them in Frost and Filigree by @NataniaBarron
32. Or maybe you want Rome in a secondary world fantasy instead? Then you want @CassRMorris ‘ From Unseen Fire
31. Want some secret magical history in your late Roman Republic Roman goodness? Pick up The Shards of Heaven by @medievalguy
30. What would a world look like if Rome lasted to the modern day? Take a look at @McDougallSophia ‘s Romanitas
29. If you want Post WWII spy stuff with X men like talents, then check out @mikemartinez72 ;s MJ 12 Inception
28. If you want magic straight up in your WWII goodness, then check out @DavidAlanMack ‘s Midnight Front
27. How can the spy and skullduggery before WWII be made even better? Add magical “Talents” to the mix. This is the chassis
@KayKenyon uses in At the Table of Wolves
26. Generation ships, investigating mysterious alien objects, the politics and problems of long journeys and projects, and a well constructed episodic superstructure is the strengths behind
@MarinaLostetter ‘s Noumenon
25. Heroic fantasy of a high order that evokes Dumas and Zelazny is on the dueling ground when you pick up @HowardAndrewJon
For the Killing of Kings
24. Gods Monsters and the Lucky Peach by @kellyoyo
shows a world that is working back from a collapse, and is now using time travel as a way to try and learn from the past in order to rebuild the present.
23. Gamechanger is a hopeful work of near future SF from @LXBeckett
showing how a society rebuilt after a near complete collapse of humanity has its own problems and characters, as seen through the protagonist, Rubi Whiting
22. Mazes of Power by @JulietteWade
is a potent work of sociological SF and character development set in a world where everyone lives underground.
21. Starting his titular series, Embers of War by @garethlpowell
is big blockbuster SF with big dumb objects, mysterious aliens, space battles and presses a lot of SFnal buttons
20. Continuing on the NeoLovecraft kick, a hauntingly poetic and heartrending novel is @johnhornor
‘s The Sea Dreams It is the Sky, featuring a haunted South American country that does not exist…
19. Hammers on Bone by @casskhaw
is a far harsher and equally excellent Neo Lovecraft novel, with a rather monstrous protagonist…who deals with other monsters
18. Winter Tide by @R_Emrys is a Neo Lovecraftian novel that focuses on found and rebuilt family, and trying to make sense of your life and ways after a long period of internment
17. Last Song before Night by @IlanaCT starts her Harp and the Blade trilogy (now complete)! telling the story of a poet at the center of events bringing back magic, and drastic change, to her world
16. Emilie and the Hollow World by @marthawells1 is a charming YA fantasy novel about a protagonist who winds up getting herself onto an expedition into the depths of her world.
15. Hunger Makes the Wolf by @katsudonburi deals with a space biker witch on a desolate planet dealing with overweening corporate authority.
14. Silver Moon by @clundoff . Menopausal Werewolves. Nothing more needs to be said.
13. Lotus Blue by @catsparx is a most excellent barren post apocalyptic barren desert setting that is haunting and evocative of so many of our concerns today
12. Planetfall by @EmApocalyptic is a devastatingly powerful look at a colony on a planet, with a protagonist dealing with mental illness.
11. Rage of Dragons by @EvanWinter features a Aftican flavored epic fantasy that while some call Gladiator meets Game of Thrones, I think in some ways Count of Monte Cristo is a better touchstone
10. The Copper Promise by @sennydreadful features a tagteam of adventurers (including the titular Copper Cat) having to deal with a draconic invasion they themselves released and initiated.
The Unspoken Name by @AKLarkwood . Epic fantasy with an orc priestess assassin protagonist who works for a wizard. And with a sorceress. And her rival priestess. And fucking Tal, that wanker.
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep BY @hg_parry -A man’s brother’s secret ability to bring literary characters to life in Wellington leads to trouble when he finds that there are more escaped characters than he first imagined…and someone has a Plan for them.
The Whitefire Crossing by @cischafer. A secondary world fantasy where crossing a perilous mountain pass is a recipe for well drawn characters facing peril, adventure and magic.
Steel Crow Saga by @NotLikeFreddy . Secondary world fantasy, again with an Asian influenced setting, and also, oh yeah, Pokemon. A strong quartet of four diversely interesting characters with secrets, lies, goals, hopes, fears and dreams drive the narrative.
Carnival by @matociquala . The best one volume introduction to the work of one of our finest SFF writers, about a diplomatic mission to another planet with a pair of fantastic characters
The Fifth Season by @nkjemisin . You’ve heard all about it, secondary world fantasy with a tectonically unstable world, where community is important. Now’s the time to find out what the fuss is all about
Jade City by @FondaJLee . If you want The Godfather in an Asian-flavored setting, with magic, this is the book you want to read.
The Blackdog by @KVJohansen . Get in on her Epic Fantasy series here at the beginning, in a world with gods, demons, devils, and more on the Caravan Road
The Fire Opal Mechanism, by @fran_wilde . Lovely words, intriguing worldbuilding and finely drawn characters
