I don’t read a ton of short fiction, but I’ve been trying to pick up more anthologies after loving Exhalation by Ted Chiang. Convergence Problems features the story A Dream of Electric Mothers, which is one that had been on my list to try out. What I found was a book of stories I burned through in a few afternoons.
Read If Looking For: anthologies, gorunded Sci Fi, parallel storytelling, the link between cultural beliefs and technology,
Avoid if Looking For: a novel,
Translated Novels tend to be some of the more unique reads. It’s easy to forget how much cultures have self-reinforcing patterns in their writing, even across subgenres. Walking Practice is a great example of how translated fiction can be an engaging experience that confronts your notions of how stories go.
Assuming you’re reading in English and not Korean, I highly recommend reading Victoria Caudle’s translation notes, which will provide key context for what the hell is going on with this book’s typesetting.
Read If Looking For: horror with deep themes, gruesome depictions of bodies, gore, and sex, utterly alien narrators
Avoid if Looking For: something like what you’ve read before
Sometimes a book comes along that utterly redefines how you view books, reading, or genres. The Traitor Baru Cormorant was like that for me, a book that shook me to my core, and forced me to realize just how powerful Queer Fantasy could be. It remains one of my all time favorites.
Read If Looking For: a book that will rip your heart out, economist lead character, anti-colonial stories
Avoid if Looking For: queer characters living happy lives, quick and/or breezy reads, twists that are complete surprises
Tarot Readings and Psychics have never really been my thing. I like the idea of them, the layers of meaning in the cards over time and how they represent core aspects of the human experience. However, I don’t particularly subscribe to the more supernatural aspects of them in real life. In Fantasy however, I find them a delight. And my favorite thing about The Mask of Mirrors (and its sequels) is that the in-universe Tarot analogue, aside from being wonderfully designed, was used by the authors as part of the writing process. Every card reading in the story – with one notable exception – was done in real time in our physical world, and the results were the ones used in-universe, helping to drive narrative beats and character arcs. It shouldn’t work, but M.A. Carrick show their writing chops by turning what could be a disaster, into a really excellently crafted trilogy.
Read If Looking For: deeply realized cultures and characters, con artists, lavish descriptions of clothing, queernorm worlds
Avoid if Looking For: a fast paced story, or one that prioritizes action scenes
The Tainted Cup was one of my more anticipated reads of the year. I loved Bennett’s Divine Cities, but found Foundryside to be aggressively mediocre despite hitting nearly every trope I enjoyed at the time. I am very appreciative that The Tainted Cup has more in common with the former than the latter.
Read If Looking For: a classic murder mystery book in an epic fantasy world
Avoid if Looking For: you don’t enjoy Sherlock Holmes
I came to the Bone Ships as part of r/Fantasy’s bingo project, looking for an interesting book for the ‘Weird Ecology’ square in 2023. This book came with a lot of accolades and, while I didn’t find all of it to my taste, it was good enough for me to read the sequels, which quickly cemented the series as some of my all time favorites.
Read If Looking For: dark and gritty stories, secondary worlds that don’t evoke real world cultures, books on ships
Avoid if Looking For: an upbeat read where everything goes well for the main character
I have long been chasing classic epic fantasy stories featuring gay characters, and have been disappointed over and over again. I love romances (and read many of them) but finding stories focused on gay men where romance plot structures don’t dominate is horribly difficult. I put of reading The Spear Cuts Through Water for a long time, out of fear it would not live up to my hopes for it. When I read it, I discovered the best book I’ve ever read.
Read If Looking For: ambitious books, mythic style writing, heartrending and terrifying characters
Avoid if Looking For: a straightforward story
I’ve been on the lookout for epic fantasy debuts, especially since I wasn’t terribly impressed with the early few I read during 2024. The Sapling Cage captured my attention with it’s cover, and earned a purchase with the promise of witchy epic fantasy. I found it a refreshing reset, blending the best parts of classic fantasy with modern sensibilities.
Read if Looking For: grounded stories, Tamora Pierce for adults, books that wind instead of twist, travel scese
Avoid if Looking For: characters powering up, fast pacing, punchy fight scenes
I’ve been a big fan and advocate of Tobias Begley’s previous series (Journals of Evander Tailor) in the progression fantasy space. I appreciated how they balanced small scale magic-school stuff with overarching plots, included quality queer rep, and had a clear grasp on characterization within a breezy writing style. So after binging book 3 in that series and seeing he had a new one coming out, I was overjoyed to see he had a new book coming out! Mana Mirror is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was definitely mine.
Read if Looking For: side quests, magic systems, wholesome family dynamics
Avoid if Looking For: action heavy, plot driven, or deeply thematic books
Alexandra Rowland has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read A Conspiracy of Truths, and their writing has never lead me astray since. Their most popular novel (A Taste of Gold and Iron) is also their weakest in my opinion, but still quite excellent. So this book was an easy pick for me for this card, and it met pretty much every expectation I had for it.
Read if Looking For: Raucously funny pirates, unhinged monologues, seagulls, cake decorating contests, sexual language (but very little actual sex)
Avoid if Looking For: a book that takes itself seriously
Marked for Plot 