I’m thankful for a lot of things about my relationship with the r/fantasy and r/QueerSFF subreddits, but one of the biggest has been their insistence on highlighting self-published and small press books. There’s dedicated communities hyping stories that nobody has heard of, a recurring self-published/small press squares both sub’s yearly reading challenges, and a willingness to talk about books that get no press in many other spaces.
Since I’ve started tracking my reading, lots of these books have ended up as personal favorites. So here are 10 Self-Published and Small Press books I’m obsessed with that I think everyone should consider reading.
- How to Survive this Fairytale by SM Hallow: a book that will make you sob, this follows Hansel after the gingerbread house as he heals from trauma and tries to figure out how to live a good life. There’s a prominent romance plotline, but it’s Hansel’s story first and foremost; the love interest isn’t around for huge chunks of the book. Also written in second person with the narrator as a character. Weird, blisteringly fast paced, and gut-wrenching.
- The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek: with almost 3.5k ratings on goodreads, this is the most popular book on the list, but its also a few decacdes old. It’s a character study crossed with a Romance, set in a Fantasy Western setting. Tangled yearning, prison breaks, and three dimensional characters that aren’t easy to untangle. A cult classic that I wish I’d have discovered much earlier.
- Heart of Stone by Johannes T. Evans: if you like melancholy or grounded Romances, this is the only vampire love story you’ll ever need. It’s quiet, filled with uncomfortable silences and a small growing warmth that Evans never oversells. A real unknown masterpiece in the m/m Romance scene.
- Red Dot by Mike Karpa: a sculptor has severe imposter syndrome as he can’t find a way to get traction with his career. As he delves into humanity’s relationships with sentient AI, whom it is illegal to treat as if they have a personhood, he also gets tangled up with his rival’s brother. This book strikes a great balance between a personal journey and a romance plotline.
- The Iron Below Remembers: This book mixes alternate-history academia with the pressures of maintaining a relationship with a superhero. Expect lots of fictional essays, an ocean of footnotes, and a casual attitude towards discussing sex (though none happens on page).
- The Effaced by Tobias Begley: this is one of my favorite self-published authors, though I can only recommend him to people who like complicated magic systems, progression fantasy, and cinematic fight scenes. This book gives major Arcane vibes, and follows a retired assassin with metal magic as he is dragged back into the underground to clear his name.
- Brimstone Slipstream by Matt Weber: when two empaths start taking the illegal dragon racing circuit by storm, a journalist conducts a series of interviews with them and their ground crew. The results trace a remarkably detailed history of the city’s relationship with dragons and the various tricks dragon racers use to get ahead. There’s a lot more theme here than I was expecting from a book that looks like a mindless racing story (very little racing happens here, though I’m hopeful for the sequels!)
- Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee: this is an epic poem in the classic sense. It follows an emperor with a heart of gold as he tries to help his people. While Xau’s personality and POVs are excellent, this tome shines because of how Lee casts a much wider net, and the side characters are the beating heart of this story. If you liked Goblin Emperor, I can’t recommend this enough.
- The City that Could Eat the World by John Bierce: this book formed the inspiration for the Blades in the Dark campaign my tabletop rpg group just finished two days ago! There are sooooo many gods that you can give worship to, and get power in return. One of our protagonist is a mimic exterminator who worships (and hosts in her body) a god of counting flagstones. The most powerful god is one of City Guards, causing this continent-spanning megacity to be formed out of interconnected walls. Crazily vivid world, more thematic weight than I anticipated, and intense fight scenes.
- Party of Fools by Cedar McCloud: this is a silly romp of a story following some rebels who stumble upon the Empress’s consort who wants to go on a food tour. This is very feel-good, but also has some really good depth on people coming to terms with their roles in a corrupt empire. And I laughed quite a bit.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Marked for Plot 