Last minute stocking fillers for a fantasy fan...
What you could buy me, if I hadn't read it already!
Four days to go - and what do you buy for your friend who likes graphic novels, literary fantasy and genre books? Here are some of my favourite reads from the past year, for all ages.
The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Not only one of the most original takes on the vampire myth, but also a book about mothers and children. A strange community who feast on books keep themselves to themselves, and keep their women in line. Until Devon decides she’s not going to be kept in line anymore…The Black Project by Gareth Brookes
The strangest sweet-but-sick story of a boy who builds a girlfriend. Also recommended by the same author, The Dancing Plague. Two wonderfully inventive graphic novels, that made me laugh out loud. Very much for older readers.The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth series) by N.K. Jemisin
Not usually a fan of other worlds sci-fi, I devoured this book like a Book Eater… A woman living an ordinary life in a small town, somewhere in the future or somewhere on another planet, comes home to find that her husband has murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. She’s been hiding her power, and now must reveal it in order to find her child. Oh, yes, and the world is ending too. I read the first and had to read the rest of the series.
The Infinite (The Leap Cycle series) by Patience Agbabi
This one is for your friend’s middle grade children. Children born on the 29 Feb are very rare, and some of them have the ability to leap through time. In a poetic time travelling adventure spanning 4 books (the last is due out in 2024), Agbabi introduces us to spunky, neurodiverse heroine Elle and her friends, who are battling a shady consortium through time.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
In the year 1714, a young woman makes a deal with a creature who may be a god, may be the devil, or may be something older. But you always have to be careful with the wording of your deal, and there’s an unintended consequence of this magical bargain. Over the next 300 years we follow Addie as she finds out that eternal life isn’t the marvellous thing she’d thought it would be… until she goes into a book shop and meets a man… As they say, the devil does have all the best stories.
The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley
Really inventive collection of interlinked short stories - there’s even one that is told in the format of a manga comic. It’s quirky and full of surprises. A cat is wandering around Tokyo - but as the stories continue, it’s obvious, this is not just any cat…
The Sandman Vol 3 - Dream Country written by Neil Gaiman with various illustrators.
A collection of 4 short stories in which we discover the true origin behind Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream which won a World Fantasy Award for best short story, the first time a comic book had done that. Two of the stories feature in the Netflix TV adaptation. If you like The Sandman you will probably like this collection. What is a fabulous insight, is the script at the back showing Gaiman’s process. If your friend writes or draws graphic novels or comics, this is a great gift.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
A circus that only appears at night and two magicians fighting to be the best, and maybe falling in love in the process. A beautiful book, if you liked Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, you’ll probably like this…
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (The Glass Books series) by G.W Dahlquist
This is one of my all-time favourite book (series), it might be a bit hard to get hold of, but well-worth tracking it down. Steampunk, three points of view from an heiress, an assassin and a retired army doctor, who have adventures as they try to save the world from a deadly plot of a group of mad scientists.
Anything by Ray Bradbury, eg, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Bradbury was the author that awoke my love for fantasy and sci-fi as a child. And as an adult, his stories don’t disappoint in their humanity. His stories are scary, sad, beautiful, putting the magic into magical realism.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my list of last minute book buying recommendations!
Happy holidays. See you on the flipside!