My Best SF/F Reads of 2023

I don't remember all the books I read in 2023. But some of them were memorable, and not all of them made the Top 8 – I’ll start with a few Honorable mentions.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville deeply impressed me, but man am I glad I participated in a read-along. Otherwise I wouldn’t have appreciated half the hidden politics and philosophy and science and ultimately, I was probably the wrong reader for the book. But I’m glad I read it. It made me feel smarter than I am.

Another book I found very enjoyable but which did not make the list is The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. The settings, a subtly magical island, is phenomenally executed, and the romance is sweet and – unlike most fantasy romance these day – it’s healthy and gently played. While the book deals with some adult themes, the voice and characters are more suitable for Young Adults. I find myself wishing that I’d discovered this book when I was somewhat younger.

Enough with the honorable mentions. Time for the Top 8:

#8 Silver in the Woods by Emily Tesh

Silver in the Woods is a tale of a grumpy old man with a mysterious past, and a young man called Henry Silver. The setting is a wood with dryads and secret groves and a slowly revealed history that is both surprising and profound.

Barely more than a hundred pages long, I wasn’t expecting this story to be so beautiful and engaging. I love good prose, and Tesh's writing is phenomenal. Short books tend to be under-hyped, and that is true of this one in particular. Tesh proves that an author really needs no more than a hundred pages to tell a memorable tale.

#7 Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

I was skeptical because the novel is epistolary, and normally I don't enjoy that. Adding to the confusion, the days and years are not measured in any recognizable way. Instead the book opens,

“Entry for the first day of the fifth month in the year the albatross came to the South-Western Halls.”

I got over my reservations on exactly page 7, when I read the phrase,

“Of the fifteen people whose existence is verifiable, only Myself and the Other are now living.”

The book is strange and different, and the ambiance is breathtaking. Huge empty halls with magnificent statuary, waves crashing against the stairwells, the lower floors flooding with each incoming tide.

Reading this book was an unforgettable experience, and I imagine I will read it again some day.

#6 Forge of the High Mage by Ian C Esslemont

Paths to Ascendancy #4

I am a huge Malazan fan, and this book scratched the perpetual Malazan itch.

Forge of the High Mage is the forth book in Esslemont’s prequel series, and it features some of my favorite characters from earlier books in Paths to Ascendancy. It is also packed with surprising reveals and encounters with much loved characters from other books set in the Malazan world.

#5 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I tend to enjoy fantasy a little more than Sci-fi, but this science fiction book blew me away. Space operas, stories about technology gone mad, or post-apocalyptic scenarios tend not to be my thing.

Children of Time are all of those things and still utterly unique.

The world has ended, crazy technology occasions an experiment that sees arachnids in charge of a planet, while the dregs of humanity are homeless and dying aboard a generation ship. There are wars and battles too, both in space and on the planet’s surface.

I have not yet read beyond book one, because I was quite happy with how it ended. But I do intend to continue the works of this brilliant author.

#4 The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn

I read more indie books this year than ever before, and while many of them entertained and satisfied me, The Necessity of Rain is without a doubt one of the best indie book I have ever read.

Through the experiences of a diverse range of interesting characters, Chorn masterfully explores grief, loss, hope and love. Pick up this book and I bet you'll cry your eyes out. I did.

The world-building is thoroughly unique, and The Necessity of Rain deserves endless hype in the book community.

#3 Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb

The Tawney Man Trilogy #1

I read the whole Tawny Man Trilogy this year (because how do you not binge Robin Hobb?), and I could have included all three books on this list.

Having read Farseer years ago and Liveships Traders more recently, I knew what to expect from Hobb. And still this trilogy took my breath away.

Some of Hobb's books feel slow and drawn-out in places, but I had no such problem with the Tawny Man Trilogy, and never have I been so eager to continue the Realm of the Elderlings. I will most likely buy and read the Rain Wild Chronicles at some point in 2024.

#2 A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

The Long Price Quartet #1

Pictured is the omnibus edition which contains the first two installments of Daniel Abraham’s The Long Price Quartet. The second book is A Betrayal in Winter. I have recently started that one and expect to continue with the second omnibus edition immediately after this one (I'm a binge-reader).

The fantasy elements are scares in this book; there is not a lot of magic. Few people in this fictional world can wield magic. But the way they do it is unique and interesting. Basically poets bind a power with words, and that power – called an andat – can then do whatever it is that it's designed to do. But binding them is not easy. Nor pleasant. Nor without danger.

Something else that sets these books apart is Abraham’s incredible prose and well-crafted characters. These books deserve to be talked about among lovers of fantasy and good prose; It’s #2 on my list.

#1 The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The Wars of Light and Shadow #1

I could have included every single book in The Wars of Light and Shadow on this list. I read them all in 2023, and together they are the best series I have ever read (yes, better than Malazan).

I cannot believe it took me this long to come across Janny Wurts’ books (Why did no one recommend this to me sooner?).

I started reading Curse of the Mistwraith in February, and I did not want to like it. I did not have time to read ten books. There were so many other books that I wanted to pick up, and this series was incomplete (the final volume comes out in May ’24 -- preorder here ).

I fell in love.

When I was about halfway through Curse of the Mistwraith, I knew that I was going to binge the whole series and that I'd spend the rest of the year utterly obsessed with Athera and Wurts’ beautiful characters and complex magic system.

I can’t wait for the final book in the Wars of Light and Shadow, and I know I’m going to read and reread this series again and again.

That’s the end of the list and the year 2023.

I thoroughly recommend every book that I’ve mentioned here.

Read good books in 2024. I know I will; there are so many awesome books out there that I am super excited about. I’d let a vampire turn me just to stay alive and read them all.

Happy New Year.