Rhiannon A. Grist, The Queen of the High Fields, Luna Press, 2022.

The Queen of the High Fields is a contemporary fantasy novella that'll take you deep into Welsh myths.

Okwiri Oduor, Things They Lost, Oneworld Publications, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Things They Lost is a mesmerising magical realism tale about mothers and daughters, with a fascinating and rich world, and a very endearing main character.

Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2022.
Audiobook available.

The Mountain in the Sea is a fascinating short scifi novel that'll particularly enchant those of you who like first encounters and semiotics.

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Memory, Tor, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Children of Memory is the third instalment in the scifi series by Adrian Tchaikovsky which started with the Clarke Award winner, Children of Time. Like its predecessors, it offers a thoughtful and inventive take on progress, humanity and communication.

The review is spoiler free and is followed by a Q&A with the author about his series. The Q&A includes spoilers for all three volumes in the series, but a large red banner will warn you that you enter spoiler territory.

Darcie Little Badger, Elatsoe, Levine Querido, 2020.

Elatsoe is a YA fantasy novel I enjoyed tremendously thanks to great characters, a wonderful worldbuilding and magic system, and meaty themes.

Eloghosa Osunde, Vagabonds!, Fourth Estate, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Vagabonds! is a remarkable magical realism story - or rather multiple stories of life in Lagos, and particularly stories of LGBTQIA+ persons and women.

Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Last Chances, Head of Zeus, 2022.
Audiobook available.

City of Last Chances is the love child of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and Hav by Jan Morris while being entirely its own thing with a polyphonic narrative. I loved it, ok? Go buy it. Don't even read the review. Just go get it.

Eugen Bacon, Broken Paradise, Luna Press, 2023.

Broken Paradise is, like many Eugen Bacon's stories, difficult to categorise. And this intriguing fantasy novella is also as usual with Bacon's stories, beautifully written.

Glenda Larke, The Tangled Lands, Wizard's Tower Press, 2023.

The Tangled Lands is a very entertaining portal fantasy novel in two secondary worlds with endearing characters, lively prose and mysteries at its heart.

Andrew Knighton, Ashes of the Ancestors, Luna Press Publishing, 2023.

Ashes of the Ancestors is a novella that begins as a deceptive cosy fantasy with a great world building and turns into a very topical story that makes it a must-read.

Samit Basu, The City Inside, tordotcom, 2022.

The City Inside is a near-future dystopia set in Delhi, very much inspired by Indian politics and with a thoughtful take on action when faced by fascism.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic, Jo Fletcher Books, 2020.
Audiobook available.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a modern masterpiece of supernal gothic, full of tension and deliciously creepy.

Simon Jimenez, The Spear Cuts Through Water, Random House, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Let's be honest: I enjoyed The Spear Cuts Through Water less than I enjoyed Jimenez previous novel, The Vanished Birds. Nonetheless, it's a remarkable and ambitious fantasy novel, erring on the literary side, in which I found much to admire.

Stark Holborn, Ten Low, Titan, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Ten Low borrows from the western genre but this very entertaining scifi novel also has a twist of its own that sets it apart.

E. J. Swift, The Coral Bones, Unsung Stories, 2022.

In this scifi novel, three strands mingle to tell the story of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Lavanya Lakshminarayan, The Ten Percent Thief, Rebellion Publishing, 2023

The Ten Percent Thief is a fascinating polyphonic scifi novel presenting a sharp social and political satire through slices of life.

R.B. Lemberg, The Unbalancing, Tachyon Publications, 2022.

With sublime prose, The Unbalancing is a fantasy novel telling magnificently a story of love, exile, and persistance.

Naseem Jamnia, The Bruising of Qilwa, Tachyon Publications, 2022.

The Bruising of Qilwa is an intricate secondary-world Persian-inspired fantasy novella.

Juliet McKenna, The Green Man's Gift, Wizard's Tower Press, 2022.
Audiobook available.

Dan Mackmain is back for the fifth adventure in this contemporary rural fantasy series.

Adrian Tchaikovsky, Ogres, Rebellion Publishing, 2022.
Audiobook available.

It is no mystery that I often enjoy Tchaikovsky's stories and this very topical scifi novella is another one I was very happy to read.