2023 has been a year of fantasy for me. The literary world is currently experiencing a Renaissance of outstanding queer fantasy, and I am all here for it. While I have read a few other genres as well, among them some Greek mythology retellings, which is another genre experiencing a rebirth, and which in part can also be considered fantasy, the last few years have really been a rebirth of Young Adult and New Adult fantasy.
In this list of fourteen books, I present the most stunning and best fantasy books I read in 2023 and I hope you will find some you may want to include in your reading list for 2024. Maybe you find a fitting book you haven’t thought of before, and perhaps your new favourite is among them.
All I can say is that a few among this collection have really changed my way of thinking, challenged me intellectually, and had a profound impact on how I see and will observe the world in the future. Above all, they have given me happiness, hope, as well as heartbreak, and a fabulous time.
14: The Alpha’s Son by Penny Jessup
The Alpha’s Son by Penny Jessup is probably delving as deep into the YA genre as a writer can. There is only one bed at the hotel, there is a brooding love interest, enemies to lovers, and, of course, no touching allowed. When you love YA and werewolves, then this novel is a good read for you.
13: Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
The retelling of Greek myths has been one of my favourite genres for years, and this year is no exception. While most authors focus on stories and characters circling around the Odyssey or the Iliad, this one tells the untold story of Atalanta, the only heroine of the Argonauts.
Saint once again manages to tell a breathtaking story, taking the reader into a completely different world. The story surprises and convinces the reader with a perspective unknown to a well-known myth and shows how very different a story looks from another point of view.
12: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Bowen takes you on a fantastical adventure you won’t be forgetting. It is all about the African mythology and religion of the Orisha and the infamous Mami Wata. It very much feels like a mature Percy Jackson quest, paired with a lot of YA tropes as well as deep and complex characters.
When you read Skin of the Sea, you will dive into a world of magic and mystery and get to understand African mythology, which is just as exciting as the ones from ancient Greece.
11: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
I continue to recommend retellings of mythologies, and this Young Adult fantasy novel takes the reader deep into the world of Chinese mythology.
A wonderful and troubled main character, Xingyin, sets out on a long and dangerous journey to save her mother. While reading, you will encounter typical YA tropes such as forbidden love, a love triangle, a lover’s betrayal, and more. All this is paired with the absolutely magical and fantastic world of Chinese mythology, including all powerful emperors wielding the elements as well as wise and fierce dragons.
If you want to read something you have never encountered before, then this novel is meant for you.
10: Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
We continue the list with the retelling of Greek myths, and I am very happy to have Haynes once again on my reading list. I was very much looking forward to reading Stone Blind, as it tells the story of Medusa, probably one of the famous so-called monsters in Greek myth. However, while reading, you may get to understand that she is everything but a monster.
Once again, Haynes convinces with an amazing knowledge of Greek mythology, creating, reimagining, and turning known stories into beautiful new ones. She builds a hostile world around a very unusual family that is thrown into a story we all think we know but learn to understand that it was actually quite different.
In particular, the ending is one of the best ones I have ever read, leaving you with a changed perspective and so much intellectual fodder to think about for a long time.
9: Dragonfall by L. R. Lam
Some dragons are gay! Get over it. Lam creates a fantastical world where humans turned against dragons long ago, banished them, and, in the course of history, forgot their hatred and began to worship them again.
In this YA novel, filled with the spiciest YA tropes, the worlds of humans and dragons collide. The reader experiences a rollercoaster of emotions and is gripped on every page. If you love Young Adult fantasy and dragons, this one is for you.
8: Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat
The ranking continues with another Young Adult fantasy novel, and this one is deeply inspired by The Lord of the Rings, which can be seen in every chapter. The worldbuilding feels very complete, as does the development of the main characters.
The book makes you crave more and considering the big plot twist in the end, it’s only obvious that once you finish, you will want to read the sequel immediately! YA tropes perfectly blend with high fantasy, creating a magical world that won’t let you go.
7: Carry On Trilogy by Rainbow Rowell
The Carry On Trilogy can be considered a satirical masterpiece of Young Adult fantasy. Rowell playfully dismantles YA tropes, makes fun of the mega franchises that were Harry Potter and Twilight and creates a story that is both authentic and features three-dimensional characters that you begin to root for from the beginning.
This is especially worth reading when you have grown up with the fantasy franchises of the 2000’s, still enjoy them, and can appreciate the somewhat ridiculous parts of these stories and their characters. It’s a queer fantasy satire that grips the reader on every page.
6: Flames by Robbie Arnott
A few years ago, I read and recommended The Rain Heron, Arnott’s second novel, and this year I read his debut novel Flames, and I am very happy to include it in my Top 10 fantasy books of 2023.
While Flames is much more fragmented than his second one, it carries an equally strong ecocritical message with astounding worldbuilding and an imaginative story, creating unique narrative perspectives. Here, the reader enters a familiar world, one that has been changed through human interference and global warming. However, the reader experiences all of it from various and fresh perspectives.
5: A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
Meadows creates a fantasy world with various kingdoms, which parallels how LGBTQ+ rights exist, or don’t exist, in our world today. In her world, there are some kingdoms where queer marriages are accepted and even arranged at courts to strengthen family and political relationships. In others, this is forbidden, and queer love is even persecuted.
Central to the story are two princes, Vel and Cae, whose marriage is arranged to strengthen the bonds between two kingdoms. While there is a lot of plot, the story is very character-driven, deals with mental health, and especially centres around issues for gay men who experience or grow up in a hostile environment.
At the same time, the novel narrates a wonderful story of two troubled men who overcome all sorts of issues and insecurities that very much relate to our world.
All of this is set in an exciting Persian/ Middle-eastern- like empire world, which also draws links to real historic and factual ancient empires where queer love was accepted.
4: Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
This year, Clare published her first fantasy novel set outside her infamous shadow hunter universe. It is not only her first novel outside of the familiar fantasy franchise but her first high fantasy novel.
While the story starts slow, setting up a detailed world and complex characters, truly engrossing the reader in a magical world very much reminiscent of a magical Venice full of trade and commerce, the story picks up fairly quickly, creating one plot twist after the other.
The main characters are as strongly built as in the shadowhunterverse, giving the reader a typical and strong Clare-experience of emotional depth and insight. This, of course, leads to trouble and misunderstandings, which is also typical and very much loved by a fantasy audience.
If you enjoy fantasy, this is a big book for you, taking you into a world of magic and wonders that also manages to reflect our own world.
3: A Restless Truth by Freya Marske
This is the second fantasy novel in Marske’s The Last Binding Trilogy. Its first novel, A Marvellous Light, made it Number One on my 2022 reading list. I am glad to say that the queerness in her trilogy continues and that her second one made it into the top three too.
The mystery and riddles of the early 20th century world of magicians in England continue. This time on a cruise liner. On board there is crime, plot twists, ghosts, juicy lesbian love, and, of course, a lot of magic. Marske’s second novel successfully returns to a world the reader fell in love with in her first novel, telling a story that is as gripping as ever!
2: The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards
If you want to read great fantasy/ science fiction, then The Last Sun, the first novel in the Tarot Sequence is an essential read. The worldbuilding, the characters, the plot, all of it is simply exciting, gorgeous, and spicy.
It is great fantasy and science fiction turned into one, serving the hottest gay and bi characters you will ever meet. The story is reminiscent of a kidnapping story in which the main characters have to solve a strange crime that is being riddled with even more questions while they investigate.
Besides, fighting demons and powerful Atlanteans who raise the dead is not the only thing the last son of the sun court must battle against. But there are also demons inside him, haunting memories from the past that create another mystery for the reader.
It is probably the most fast-paced and, at the same time, most balanced New Adult urban fantasy/ science fiction novel there is. Be ready to be swept away by the world of New Atlantis, the Dagger Throne, Lord Tower, and the Last Sun.
1: Babel by R. F. Kuang
This dark academia Young Adult fantasy novel is the best book I have read since The Song of Achilles. Kuang manages to lay bare the atrocities of the British Empire that were committed during the times of the colonies and wraps all of this into a stunning fantasy story.
The characters are enormously well written, the plot evolves and unfolds in a flowing and exciting way, and the themes shown were absolutely on point and relevant in a 21st century context, while the story takes place in an imagined 19th century magical world.
This novel is pure magic, a testament to language and its beauty and magic, breaking every reader’s heart and leaving the reader with newfound wisdom. It is a treasure that stands unparalleled to anything else in the world.
Fabian's Writing 