A retelling of the Norse legends. I’m always up for talented storytellers taking a turn at mythology (see also Stephen Fry’s Mythos for Greek mythology). Get up to speed before you read The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul or American Gods.
Elder Race
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke
That’s the premise for this book in a nutshell. A brave princess from a medieval town travels to an ancient wizard’s tower for help stopping a demon that threatens her land. But it’s vastly advanced technology, not magic or monsters. Good read.
Gods of Jade and Shadow
If Cinderella were a Mexican teenager who discovered the Mayan god of death trapped in a chest in her grandfather’s room, which sent her on an epic quest to help him reclaim his throne. I love hidden-world fantasy, and this was super good. I already want to re-read it.
Noor
Cybernetically enhanced woman deals with prejudice, gets accused of murder, goes on the run, gets high, and accidentally discovers a huge corporate secret. Very good.
Jack Four
I love Neal Asher’s Polity Universe and I’ll read anything set in it. This one started with an interesting premise: Jack Four is an AI sub-mind cut off from its “parent” so he’s faced with true independence. It kept me turning the pages, but possibly for the first time I felt pretty meh about a Neal Asher novel. Recommended for Polity completionists who want to know more about the Prador king and the Spatterjay virus. Not recommended for anyone new to the Polity Universe. (Start with something like The Technician.)
The Desert Spear
Solid sequel to The Warded Man. Moves the action to Fauxrabia where Arlen learns to fight demons with his new friends. Another good read that sets up the rest of the series.
(Also a re-read, for me, so that I could pick up the series with book 3 and then finish.)
The Warded Man
Demons rise from the Core every night to hunt humans. Humans are few and scattered, and survive only by warding their homes and villages. One boy figures out wards work if you draw them on your skin, and learns to fight back. It’s very magic-system-y, but it works—especially in this first book.
(I started this series in 2010 but I saw that all the books were out and I decided to finish it.)
A Dead Djinn in Cairo
Prequel to Master of Djinn, which I loved. Delivers. If only it weren’t so short.
Season of Storms
I’m a completionist, and this is a Witcher prequel of sorts, from when Geralt was just a Witcher, not the Witcher. Honestly I liked it better than anything after book 3 of the core series. It was just a good fantasy adventure.
A Thousand Ships
The Trojan War from the women’s point of view. I’m a sucker for anything related to ancient Greece, so I enjoyed this and appreciated the perspective. The tone was pretty homeric—i.e., not a light read. Recommended especially if you’re into ancient Greece.