Another year down, another great list of excellent books. A few things stand out for me relative to previous years. I made an exception to my “series just go together” rule for Gideon/Harrow/Nona the Ninth. I keep series together generally because the quality of books in a series is usually consistent enough that it doesn’t seem that useful trying to pinpoint exactly where books in the series fell among each other, let alone with books around them, and I can just rate the series as a whole and be fine. As well, keeping the books in a series together and in order makes it easier for interested parties to find the first book. But the gap in enjoyment between Gideon and Harrow was so substantial that I didn’t feel like I could keep Harrow up at the top ahead of all of those books I enjoyed a lot more.
Second, the total bookshare of “Books written by women”, “Books written by trans folk”, and “Books that ought to have ‘romance’ or ‘erotica’ or ‘smut’ tags on them” has continued to grow, and especially so at the top of the list. Fellas, if you’re reading this, sapphic books by queer women are the way. All you have to do is stop buying books from corporate chain bookstores, and ask around and there’s a lot of absolutely amazing stuff waiting for you.
I closed out the 2023 list by pointing out I’d basically published no actual reviews that year, and hoped that 2024 would change that. I managed 1 whole review but I guess that’s better than nothing. I wish I knew what happened to the part of my brain that could do one of these a week. Maybe 2025 I’ll find it somehow.
(2019) Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
Those who Break Chains, Maria Ying
— (2022) The Grace of Sorcerers
— (2022) The Might of Monsters
— (2023) The Serpent of the House of Hua
— (2022) The Demon of the House of Hua
— (2023) The Ruin of Beasts
The Sacred Dark, May Peterson
— (2019) Lord of the Last Heartbeat
— (2020) The Immortal City
— (2021) The Calyx Charm
(2017) All Systems Red, Martha Wells
(2023) Translation State, Anne Leckie
(2020) The Faceless Old Woman who Secretly Lives in your Home, Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
(2022) Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
(2021) The God is Not Willing, Steven Erikson
Cradle, Will Wight
— (2016) Unsouled
— (2016) Soulsmith
— (2017) Blackflame
— (2017) Skysworn
— (2018) Ghostwater
— (2019) Underlord
— (2019) Uncrowned
— (2020) Wintersteel
— (2021) Bloodline
— (2021) Reaper
— (2022) Dreadgod
— (2023) Waybound
(2023) Jewel Box: Stories, E. Lily Yu
(2020) Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
(2022) Broken Skies, Morgan K. Bell
Selah, Ella Walker Henderson
— (2022) Of Wind and Lightning
— (2022) Of Plains and Fire
— (2022) Of Ice and Storms
— (2023) Of Seas and Breath
— (2023) Of Desert and Glass
— (2023) Of Visions and Dreams
(2023) Carpathians, Paul A. Dixon
(2022) A River Enchanted, Rebecca Ross
(2022) A Fire Endless, Rebecca Ross
(2018) The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang
(2019) The Dragon Republic, R.F. Kuang
(2020) The Burning God, R.F. Kuang
Mages of the Wheel, J.D. Evans
— (2020) Reign & Ruin
— (2020) Storm & Shield
— (2020) Siren & Scion
— (2023) Ice & Ivy
— (2020) Wind & Wildfire
Arcane Ascension, Andrew Rowe
— (2017) Sufficiently Advanced Magic
— (2018) On the Shoulders of Titans
— (2020) The Torch that Ignites the Stars
— (2022) The Silence of Unworthy Gods
Tree of Ages, Sara C. Roethle
— (2015) Tree of Ages
— (2016) The Melted Sea
— (2017) The Blood Forest
— (2017) Queen of Wands
— (2018) The Oaken Throne
— (2018) Dawn of Magic: Forest of Embers
— (2020) Dawn of Magic: Sea of Flame
— (2011) Dawn of Magic: City of Ashes
Colony Mars, Gerald M. Kilby
— (2020) Gizmo Origin: A Colony mars Short Story
— (2016) Colony One Mars
— (2016) Colony Two Mars
— (2017) Colony Three Mars
— (2017) Jezero City: Colony Four Mars
— (2019) Surface Tension: Colony Five Mars
— (2020) Plains of Utopia: Colony Six Mars
Witch Warrior, T.R. Cameron
— (2022) Witch With a Badge
— (2022) Witch With a Grudge
— (2022) Witch With an Enemy
— (2022) Witch With a Target
— (2022) Witch With a Dragon
— (2022) Witch With a Problem
— (2022) Witch With a Challenge
— (2022) Witch With a Crisis
— (2023) Witch With a Choice
— (2023) Witch With a Cause
— (2023) Witch With a Battleplan
— (2023) Witch With an Attitude
Myrtlewood Mysteries, Iris Beaglehole
— (2022) Celestial Magic
— (2022) Delectable Magic
— (2023) Bountiful Magic
Blood Magic, J.T. Lawrence, M.J. Kraus
— (2018) The HighFire Crown
— (2018) The Dream Drinker
— (2018) The Witch Hunter
— (2019) The Ember Isles
— (2019) The Chaos Jar
— (2019) The New Dawn Throne
The Grey Gates, Vanessa Nelson
— (2023) Outcast
— (2023) Called
— (2023) Hunted
— (2023) Forged
— (2024) Chosen
Space Janitor, Julia Huni
— (2018) Orbital Operations
— (2018) The Vacuum of Space
— (2018) The Dust of Kaku
— (2020) The Trouble with Tinsel
— (2019) Glitter in the Stars
— (2019) Sweeping S’Ride
— (2021) The Rings of Grissom
— (2021) Planetary Spin Cycle
— (2022) Waxing the Moon of Lewei
Taran Empire Saga, A.K. DuBoff
— (2021) Empire Reborn
— (2023) Empire Uprising
— (2023) Empire Defied
— (2023) Empire United
Verity Chronicles Series, T.S. Valmond
— (2020) Exile
— (2020) Divided Loyalties
— (2020) On The Run
Mindspace: Complete Series, A.K. DuBoff
— (2019) Infiltration
— (2022) Conspiracy
— (2022) Offensive
— (2022) Endgame
(2023) Off Script: A Book Ball Fantasy, Sarah Zane
Star Guardians, G.J. Ogden
— (2022) Star Guardian
— (2022) Goliath Reborn
— (2022) Morpheus Ascendant
— (2022) The Hunted
— (2023) Corporeal Power
(2024) Western Lights, C.P. Schafer
The Earthburst Saga, Craig A. Falconer
— (2022) Last Man Standing
— (2022) Into the Fire
— (2023) Operation Starshot
— (2023) The Anomaly
— (2023) Reason to Fear
— (2023) The Last Horizon
(2021) The Evil Within The House, Thomas Michael Thomas
(2019) Time Tourist Outfitters, Ltd. Christy Nicholas
Rereads (Unranked)
(1996) The Golden Key, Melanie Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, Kate Elliott
