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Best Books of 2025: Science Fiction & Fantasy
The most striking aspect of my SFF reading in 2025 was that there was very little SF in the SFF. I only read a few science fiction books, which is very unusual for me. I mostly attribute this to the fact that there seemed to be less interesting science fiction published last year, not many big releases (with the possible exceptions of Tchaikovsky’s Shroud, a minor Scalzi and the final instalment in The Sun Eater series). There is so much more excitement around fantasy at the moment that SF seems to be somewhat crowded out of the market. I will make a more conscious effort this year to ensure I don’t neglect one of my favourite genres like this again.
Best of 2023: Science Fiction and Fantasy
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.**
The Best Books I Read in 2022
I had a rather shitty reading year in 2022, thanks, of course, to Vladimir Putin. I only hit my 100-book Goodreads target out of spite, refusing to give Vlad the Small the satisfaction of ruining my challenge. So I went ahead and finished 32 books in December (most of them in the last 10 days of the month), including four volumes of One Piece*, which absolutely count, thank you very much.
Best of 2019: Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Yes, I’m aware. It’s almost the end of February, not the time you’d generally expect a best-of list for the previous year to appear. But as discussed, I’m blogging when I want to (and when I can), so end-February it is. If you’re a regula..
N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth: Best Fantasy Written in the 21st Century?
I’ve never thought of myself as a reader of particularly high standards: I read for fun as much as I read for enlightenment and catharsis. If anything, I’m suspicious of those whose reading list is only filled with Proust and Nabokov and Sand. More than 30 y..
On Becoming a Radio Star or Why I Read Science Fiction and Fantasy
Last weekend, I was a guest on an Estonian radio programme that focuses on pop culture (if you speak Estonian, you can check it out here). We talked about the blog, reading, movies and life in general and it was a much less painful experience than I expected..
Winter Reading: The Bear and The Nightingale
There are books that seem to be made for reading in a certain weather or place. Eve Babitz is summer reading while Doctor Zhivago is winter, Zadie Smith is London and Crazy Rich Asians is Singapore. It is of course not necessary nor always possible to match ..
Better Than Star Wars: Saga vol 1
I am not a huge graphic novel/comic book reader – I do get through enough of them to prove that I’m not one of those elitist snobs who disregard comics on principle, but not much more. This means reading mostly Alan Moore* and of course Neil Gaiman’s Sandman..
7 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for Feminists
I considered calling this post “7 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books for Normal People”, as it’s kind of the same, but I’m hoping that having “feminism” in the title will get me a huge amount of clicks! If you’re a long-time reader of SF&F, you know how relen..