Epic Fantasy – Page 2 – Marked for Plot

The Vessel’s Blood

I was asked to read this book by the author. I did not receive any payment for this review, and the book was purchased with my own money. My review is my honest opinion about the book.

Compared to many readers, my taste in books can verge on the unknown. For others, my reviews are remarkably mainstream. I can say with certainty though, that this is the least-reviewed book I’ve ever read (with the sole exception of a book of poetry retelling the story of Cronus written by a friend). It also happened to have a rather intriguing premise: what would the story of a man whose destiny is to turn into a god, their own soul consumed, when everything goes wrong? Throw in a pair of gay protagonists who don’t immediately fall in love, and it should be right up my alley. In general, I loved the ideas behind this book, but have some large reservations about the writing craft elements that didn’t work for me. Thankfully, craft can be workshopped.

Read if Looking For: non-romantic gay epic fantasy, spoiled brats acting like soiled brats, books that focus on scenework over narration, expansive worldbuilding

Avoid if Looking For: books tackling existential questions, romantasy, breakneck prose

The Jasmine Throne

The Burning Kingdom’s Saga is a great example of what modern Epic Fantasy looks like, and it’s been on my to-read list for several years. There’s quite a few ambitious sapphic fantasy series that have made waves in the 2020s, and this is a great addition to that list. I didn’t love everything about The Jasmine Throne, and am very excited to see where the series heads.

Read if Looking for: creepy plant gods, worldbuilding set up to explore sexism and racism, varied depictions of what female strength can look like, characters making hard (and not always ethical) choices

Avoid if Looking for: epic fight scenes, deep political scheming, instalove romance

Luck in the Shadows

The Nightrunner series is probably the single most recommended gay epic fantasy book, and was absolutely the type of story I wish I’d been able to find as a teenager. I knew going in that I was probably going to have some issues wht the eventual romantic pairing between the two leads, and have been frequently assured that the mentor/student dynamic isn’t a problem since they don’t get romantically entangled until later. Unfortunately, even though nothing concrete has happened yet, there’s already issues. I’m only one book into the series, and can already tell you that this is going to be a fantastic epic fantasy with, like so many older fantasy works, problematic elements that should be acknowledged instead of brushed aside.

Read if you Like: 90s epic fantasy tropes, spy protagonists, down to earth wizards, a brewing war

Avoid if you Dislike: age gap or mentor/student romances, over-the-top evil villains, quick pacing

Dark Moon Shallow Sea

I’m slowly beginning to think that David Slayton may not be the author for me. My reactions to this book feel very similar to his fairly popular series (by gay fantasy standards at least) White Trash Warlock. I don’t want to say that I don’t have any concrete issues with the book, but the biggest one is that the writing style just didn’t resonate with me. It just ended up being the type of story I likely won’t remember in a month.

Read if Looking For: thief protagonists, dead gods, insta-love triangles, eldritch fire dogs that are absolutely a good boy

Avoid if You Dislike: characters who are part of police forces, twists that feel coherent, breakneck pacing

Masks of the Miscam (Noss Saga #2)

I was so excited when I saw that Wolf of Withervale was a finalist for the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off! I left that book feeling a lot of joy at finding an old-school epic fantasy that leaned into queer identities and culture. It had its flaws (which largely continue in book 2) but I’m really enjoying this doorstopper series filled with ancient artifacts, massive armies, and a lot of gigantic animals. I was disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, at the lukewarm response it got compared to other finalists, and thrilled that this series is getting more eyes on it . This review won’t avoid spoilers for book 1, and you can see my review for that book here.

Read if Looking For: 90s style Epic Fantasy but Queer, Indulgent Worldbuilding, Tropes Played Straight

Avoid if You Don’t Like: Infodumps, Self-Insert Main Characters, Explicit Sex Scenes

The City that Would Eat the World

2025 has not been my best year of reading (yet). There’s been quite a few disappointments, a decent number of ‘good, but not great’ books, and one or two that will stay with me. I’m happy to say that I finally found something addictive in The City that Would Eat the World. It was a raucously fun adventure in an alien world that is both utterly unlike our own, while mirroring it deeply.

Read if Looking For: easy reading, weird megastructures, batshit crazy plans, anticapitalist themes

Avoid if Looking For: themes you have to dig for, gritty and dark books, romantic subplots

The Whitefire Crossing

In my eternal quest for queer men represented in non-Romantasy books, I’ve started to look back at books that I likely missed in my childhood. Published in 2011, this book would have come out right as I was transitioning to reading books for adults more regularly, still desperately closeted in a small town, and craving representation in any variety.

I didn’t quite find that in The Whitefire Crossing. Both male leads are entangled with women, though sequels very well reveal bisexual identities or add new lead characters. It’s tagged as LGBTQ+ in Goodreads though, which is a good indication that there’s something there. Time will tell I suppose. It didn’t blow me away, but had a lot of interesting things going for it.

Read if Looking For: extended travel sequences, detailed climbing descriptions, all-powerful mages

Avoid if Looking For: dynamic fight scenes, books high quality female representation

The Truth of the Aleke

The Lies of the Ajungo captured my attention with how deftly Moses Ose Utomi mixed fable elements into a simple, but tightly written novella with an entrancing setting and eye for exploring power as a motif. The Truth of the Aleke continues that journey, jumping forward several hundred years, abandoning the folktale-esque vibes for something more traditionally ‘epic’ while still maintaining the thematic core of the series.

Read if Looking For: interesting takes on traditional story beats, fallible characters

Avoid if Looking For: deep worldbuilding or complex magic systems

Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Progression Fantasy is a subgenre that happily draws on video games, anime, and tabletop RPGs as inspiration points. Sufficiently Advanced Magic happily wears its influences on its sleeves. It’s a big magic school story with lots of cool fights, badass moments, without a whole lot mental load required of the reader. And while I think I ultimately prefer Journals of Evander Tailor for my ‘queer kid enchants items in a big magic school’ read, this is a phenomenal option, and definitely the more widely popular one.

Read If Looking For: anime vibes, overly analytical characters, dungeon crawling

Avoid if Looking For: books without filler, mystic magic, healthy parent/child relationships

The Enchanter

I was a Harry Potter kid growing up, and despite falling out of love with the series for a wide variety of reasons, magic schools will always hold a special place in my heart. I also loved Shoenn Manga, and remember buying the newest Naruto books released to see what was happening during the Chūnin Exams. This has since transformed into an adult love of the Progression Fantasy genre, featuring readable prose, fun battles, and lots of power ups. There’ve been a couple good marriages between these two elements, and even a few with lots of queer rep (Arcane Ascension and Mage Errant both get a big shout out for this!), but Journals of Evander Tailor is by far my favorite. The Enchanter is the first book in the journey, and I’ll keep singing its praises as long as I can.

Read If Looking For: breezy reading, detailed magic systems, supportive relationships, consequences for actions, a thoughtful and pragmatic lead character

Avoid if Looking For: beautiful prose, queer-friendly worlds, magic that remains mystic and unexplained