I read a lot of really good books this year! Some of them I’ve already posted about here and there, but others I haven’t, and it seemed like a good time to make a list:
Charlie Jane Anders, The City in the Middle of the Night. On a desolate frozen planet, human existence is confined to two very different cities. When reluctant revolutionary Sophie is forced into exile, she doesn’t expect to survive, and only the the planet’s native wildlife can help her. A really beautiful book with a wonderful protagonist, aliens, broken hearts, and radical empathy.
Tana French, In the Woods. I’m just adding myself to the chorus here, praising French’s gorgeous, evocative prose and overall atmosphere of creeping dread.
Rebecca Roanhorse, Trail of Lightning. Post-apocalyptic sf/fantasy adventure, but the protagonist is Navajo/Dine, and so is the apocalypse surrounding her. It’s a fun trip through Native lore. (first of a series, the sequel is out but I haven’t read it yet)
Ann Leckie, The Raven Tower. I loved this book; it’s so different from her other books but also amazing. A fascinating exploration of divinity and language, wrapped up in a retelling of Hamlet. This book is too hard to describe, but I so recommend it.
S. A. Chakraborty, City of Brass and Kingdom of Copper. Egyptian street hustler Nahri accidentally summons a djinni and finds herself whisked to the hidden city of djinn, where she has a much bigger (and more dangerous) role in politics than she ever dreamed. These two books are packed full of politics and machinations. with tons of intrigue; the characters make terrible choices all the time, but often for understandable and relatable reasons. I’m really looking forward to the forthcoming sequel.
Naomi Novik, Spinning Silver. I feel like Novik’s novels keep getting better. This one plays with a whole lot of fairy-tale tropes; Miryem is a Jewish girl who takes over her father’s lending business and her reputation for “spinning silver into gold” gets the attention of the fey creatures who surround her. But that’s not all; the story expands to include a humble farming family, a duke’s plain daughter, demons, princes, and an ever-encroaching winter. A great book, though be warned that there are abusive situations in it.
Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War. I know I’ve gushed about this elsewhere. It’s a time-traveling f/f enemies-to-lovers story in beautiful, weird epistolary prose! It’s not that long! Go get it!
Max Gladstone, The Empress of Forever. Tech genius Vivian Liao finds herself in a far future dominated by the terrifying Empress of Forever. Do you like found families? Do you like queer women? Do you like character growth? Do you like ragtag misfits banding together against authority? If you do, this is a book for you!
Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth. The heirs of the empire’s Nine Houses of necromancers, plus their cavalier bodyguards, are thrown into a locked country house to solve puzzles. Then the murders begin. Plus, protagonist Gideon (one of the great snarky protagonist voices of all time) wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place. Necromancy, duels, intrigue, snark, enemies-to-friends(?). People do in fact die in this book. Also first in a series.
Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe, eds. The Mythic Dream. A collection of myth retellings from a wide, diverse group of some of the best sf/f authors today. Highly recommended.
Yoon Ha Lee, Hexarchate Stories. I am a fan of Lee’s Machineries of Empire series (please go read Ninefox Gambit!). This collection has short stories scattered through the series’ timeline and giving nice snapshots of Jedao, Cheris, and other characters. Also has a new novella that functions as a sequel to the trilogy, which I enjoyed a lot.
Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire. Wow, I love this book. Mahit Dzmare is the new ambassador from her small, independent mining station to the vast and mighty Teixcalaanli Empire, only to discover that her predecessor is mysteriously dead, and the implanted memories she has from him aren’t working correctly. What was he up to? Can she find out without getting killed herself? The plot and characters are compelling, but the book is also a long meditation on empire, cultural hegemony, and marginalization. Such a great read, I’m also really looking forward to the sequel to this one.
Naomi Kritzer, Catfishing on Catnet. Steph has always moved around a lot, so her friends are mostly on Catnet, her favorite social media site. But she doesn’t know that the site is run by a well-meaning AI, or that her questions about her past are about to make her world a lot more dangerous. On the one hand a near-future thriller about AIs, automation, and the surveillance state, on the other hand a wonderful exploration of queer teen romance and friendship. So good, and highly recommended!
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