2023 was a very enjoyable SFF reading year to me, with almost exactly half of the 166 books I read being either science fiction or fantasy or both. And most of them were good. That said, compared to previous years, I didn’t find any new favourites of the same caliber as The Broken Earth Trilogy or Arkady Martine’s Teixcalaan books. There are also some strange absences: I started two of the Sanderson secret projects, but didn’t finish them, despite liking both Tress of the Emerald Sea and Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. I also didn’t read the latest Murderbot, as I was advised to do a Network Effect reread before I tackle System Collapse*. All three are very much on the top of my list for this year.**

As always, I am taking into account everything I read in 2023, regardless of the publishing date, although I read mostly new stuff last year (something I want to change in 2024). I already covered Martha Wells’s Witch King and Alix E. Harrow’s The Six Deaths of the Saint in my overall best of the year post, so I will not include them here. But for the rest, in no particular order:

The Will of the Many by James Islington. This was one of the biggest launches of the year and many a booktuber’s best book of 2023. It wasn’t quite that for me, but I did enjoy this Roman-inspired fantasy a lot – somewhat surprisingly, as Ancient Rome is of not among my favourite historical periods and I’m a bit tired of the magical school trope as well. Neither bothered me here, though, and there were some unexpected delights. The will-based magic system is one of my favourites of all time and in terms of how well it fits the worldbuilding, I’m not sure I’ve read better. Vis is a very engaging protagonist, despite being a pretty unambiguous hero, which usually makes them boring. And the political manoeuvring is delicious. While most of the book is a straightforward fantasy, this changes towards the end and I am not sure how I feel about that development (it really depends on the sequel). Still, as things stand, this was a very well-written and exciting opening to a new series.

Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey. I would not recommend Infinity Gate to a science fiction newbie, as it has a strong emphasis on the science and a number of traditional SF themes are explored in some detail – the multiverse, the war between humans and machines, the supersoldier, the solitary scientist, artificial intelligence, etc. That said, the approach to these themes is fresh and there is no sign of any conservative bias that could put me off. So if you are a serious SF reader, I would very much recommend it, when you get the urge to read some meaty genre stuff. It takes its time to set things up, but it’s worth it in my view and I am very excited for the sequel.

The Actual Star by Monica Byrne. Talking about meaty science fiction, The Actual Star isn’t for beginners either. And it’s perhaps strange to include it in my favourites, as I only gave it a 4-. But it was the most unique SFF book I read in 2023 and if you are looking for something ambitious and challenging, this may be for you. The book has a triple timeline – taking place around years 1000, 2000 and 3000 -, united by the theme of the Maya culture, but not in ways you might expect. It explores topics around religion, society, environment and identity in pretty radical ways. My favourite thread by far was the future one that takes place in a post-apocalyptic, anarchist society. The book is extremely fascinating but suffers from being too concept-heavy. It also goes to some weird places sexually, so perhaps do some further research first, if this could be an issue for you. I have a longer review on Goodreads, but overall, if ‘progressive SF’ is something that excites rather than worries you, check it out.

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törsz. On a lighter note, IBSS is an engaging, dark academia-adjacent story about family, magic and books. It follows two sisters who have a difficult relationship with magic and each other and features at least one magical library. It does nothing particularly revolutionary, but it’s very well written (I was seriously impressed throughout with the writing on the sentence level) and the characters are easy to root for. It also seems to be a standalone, which I appreciate: I am tired of everything being at least a trilogy and it’s good to see the tide finally turning. Although in this case, I wouldn’t actually mind more books in this universe.

Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo. I am not sure if I have included the earlier novellas in the Singing Hills cycle in any of my annual best-of lists, but if I haven’t, it’s about time. The series started with The Empress of Salt and Fortune and this is the fourth instalment. The quality has been impressively even throughout the series, so I cannot really pick a favourite. In all the stories, we follow cleric Chih, who collects stories in a land that reminds one of Imperial China (a setting I have a well-known soft sport for). In Mammoths at the Gates, Chih returns home and we learn more about their background. But all is not well in the monastery where they grew up…

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge. Staying in China, we have Yan Ge’s weird, uncanny stories about human-like beasts living in the city of Yeong’un. The short stories are connected by the protagonist, a young writer who is trying to uncover the mysteries of the beasts. Like The Actual Star, this is definitely not for everyone – it is a literary fantasy, strongly influenced by Chinese mythology and classics (which most Western readers are not educated enough to fully appreciate). The style is aloof and deliberately obscure, which can be frustrating. But if you are in the right mood and open to reading something different, slower, hard-to-pin-down, this can be a special experience.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang. One of my goals for 2024 is to finally read M.L. Wangs Sword of Kaigen, which must be the most-praised self-published fantasy book ever. I’ve had the book almost since it came out, but somehow still haven’t read it. I did, however, read the author’s second book and it is great. The set-up is familiar enough, with a young talented female mage who is attempting to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. Unsurprisingly, this is not universally welcomed. It is quite remarkable how Wang manages to tackle a number of social issues while keeping the reader fully engaged in the story. I had a couple of moments where I thought the message was a bit TOO clear, but I am also a very demanding audience in this regard. Overall, this is very well done (similarly to The Will of the Many, the magic system and the society are linked in an ingenious way) and the author deserves special praise for not pulling her punches in the end.

Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee. If Blood Over Bright Haven wasn’t enough emotional upheaval for you, may I recommend Untethered Sky? It is a Middle East-inspired fantasy novella from the author of The Green Bone Saga, about a young woman whose goal in life is to hunt monsters, after a tragic accident in her family. This is of course exactly what she will commence to do, with the help of extremely dangerous giant birds called rocs. In terms of the quality of the writing, this was probably the best SFF text I read in 2023. I have seen people complaining that it’s too short, not developed enough, etc. In my view, this is nonsense. The story is perfectly paced and works very well in the novella format. I recommend it even if the premise doesn’t immediately speak to you, but be prepared to feel tense throughout the entire book.

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. Don’t worry, I also have some books that will not keep you on the verge of a heart attack several hours straight. Godkiller is a case in point. Not that there aren’t any stakes or bad things don’t happen, but the feeling here is more adventurous and fun. This was perhaps the biggest surprise of the year for me, considering I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy taking place somewhere that feels quite a bit like Medieval Europe. Especially if the fantasy in question is compared to The Witcher. But I was completely won over by the titular godkiller, the noble but tortured knight, a strangely gifted child and a small god. That Kaner accomplished this in 300 pages is even more remarkable. The second book in the series, Sunbringer (out in February), is one of my most anticipated releases of 2024.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers series by Honey Phillips. In the spirit of transparency, I will confess that 2023 was the year I discovered alien/monster romance (I blame Bookslikewhoa and her videos). Romance is usually not my genre, but it turns out that I find undying love and unrelenting sexual chemistry much easier to accept when it takes place on a different planet. I mean, when the male protagonist is blue and has horns, surely it is a clear sign that one is not supposed to expect psychological and physiological accuracy? In any case, out of all the things I read in the genre, this series about seven alien brothers (who are in fact brothers in arms and all from different species) who end up with human brides. It is silly and sweet and medium spicy*** – certainly not a literary masterpiece, but exactly what I needed when I spent all my evenings after work translating a book and my brain refused to absorb anything more challenging.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. Leaving no stone unturned, I also bring you a romantasy! I find this genre a more difficult one than alien romance, because here I actually have standards and most books fail dismally to meet them****. But I found Sorcery of Thorns to be an exception – nicely written, no instalove, genuinely likeable characters and an engaging – if somewhat predictable – plot. So if you are in the mood for a an earnest librarian (of magical books) falling for a troubled sorcerer, look no further.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. And finally, the book that should not be here at all. Not because it’s bad, but because I read it in the beginning of 2024, but forgot this fact and included the book in the photo I took for this post and I really do not have time to wait until the light conditions in Brussels improve enough to take another one. On the bright side, I did enjoy it a lot and my mistake allows me to include it here as the second book in the series is coming out. This is a ‘lady scholar is unafraid to research extremely dangerous faeries but does not know how to talk to people’ type of a story. It is rather whimsical, but not unbearably so, has a strong winter vibe and a lovely (but chaste) romantic subplot.

This was probably too long, but I wanted to include different sub-genres and moods. I am becoming less and less interested in ranking things, I would rather present you with books that you may find interesting – while providing some quality control, of course. In this spirit, let me also mention a few things that weren’t my absolute favourites, but could be favourites for you. If you like gothic fairy tales, poetic language and toxic friendships, you may enjoy The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshni Chokshi (but not if you want proper fantasy with lots of magic). For more magical, but intelligent fairy tale retellings, I recommend Thornhedge (T. Kingfisher) and Burning Roses (S. L. Huang). For a queer Holmesian gaslamp-mystery on Jupiter, seek out The Mimicking of Known Successes (Malka Older).

For the record, I also read two Ann Leckie books in 2023, The Raven Tower and Translation State. Both are high-quality, but I just didn’t enjoy them as much as the Imperial Radch trilogy. Same goes for Bookshops & Bonedust, which I liked less than Legends & Lattes, but may still hit the spot for you, if you need some cosy fantasy. I also read the much-hyped Land of Milk and Honey (C Pam Chang), which I found quite irritating and more literary fiction than genre. AND I got more than half-way through Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series, which I did enjoy and plan to continue, although the love drama almost made me quit after book five.

I promise I’m done now, honest.

*I did read two Murderbot stories (Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory and Compulsory), however, and both were nice.

**I did in fact finish Tress while writing this post and enjoyed it a lot. I am going to do my Year of Sanderson in 2024, as opposed to 2023, when it was done by everyone else, including Sanderson.

***In case you need to look up what ‘spicy’ means in romance context, I recommend you do so before you start reading. There was a time when I, too, thought that the romance genre is all about love.

****No, I did not read Fourth Wing, after seeing what people I trust had to say about it. But I think I will, eventually, as I just need to know.