(Also, I know some of these books come more under supernatural, but I tend to count supernatural as a sub-genre of fantasy. To me fantasy is essentially everything that's not real or based off science. Enjoy :D)
Favourite Fantasy Books
As a huge fan of fantasy you'd think it'd be easy as pie for me to come up with ten fantasy books that I love. Well, you'd be slightly mistaken. This is the part where I open up my Goodreads "read" shelf to remember what books I've read.
10. All The Birds in The Sky
by Charlie Jane Anders
The two main characters are an engineer and a magician. Need I say more?
9. The Pygmy Dragon
by Marc Secchia
This guy is one hell of a writer. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes bad. I read and reviewed his book Dragonfriend last year, which I found to be quite confusing despite being a fun read, but The Pygmy Dragon was a completely different kettle of fish. The world and story is beautiful and conquers the topic of social segregation. Secchia is an indie author so if you're into supporting indie authors I recommend picking up this book.
8. Unspoken
by Sarah Rees Brennan
I still need to read the rest of these! I absolutely loved the idea of two people who had been able to speak to each other telepathically forever before finally meeting. The whole development of how they realised that the voices in their heads were each other was done fantastically. I really need to read the other in this series. But then again, I really need to read everything.
7. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
by Holly Black
A devout Holly Black fan, I couldn't not include one of her books in this list, my favourite being The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I can't say I remember a great deal from this book, but I can't really say I remember a great deal about anything haha. All I remember is reading the damn thing in one sitting at the library and wishing for the life of me it was in a series. It's not. Cri.
6. The Dragon Children: The Prophecy
by Hannah Byrnes
A beautiful telling of two children brought to a world of dragons to fulfil a prophecy. As a lover of dragons, I had to include this. I remember finishing it and being like "No. Can't stop. More pls. No stop. You do me an upset." The dragons were beautifully described. If I were to live in a dragon universe it'd be this one, hands down.
5. The Witchstruck trilogy
by Victoria Lamb
I love Elizabeth Tudor and I love witches. This book was a brief moment of heaven about a witch named Meg who goes to work as a maid for the exiled Lady Elizabeth. Despite its glaringly obvious historical mistake, claiming that Dr John Dee went to Oxford - M8 no, he went to Cambridge - and the dire ending, Lamb creates a story that twists around you as you read it.
4. The Witch's Daughter
by Paula Brackston
Right. Don't get me started on this book. It's sooooooooooooooooo good! The main character is a witch named Elizabeth and the story switches between telling her life story (of 384 years) - which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read - and present day, in which she's teaching a new witch named Tegan, all the while awakening old memories. The whole structure is beautiful and unmatched. Stunning.
3. The Watcher in the Shadows
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Very gothic and very steampunk. The writing is breath-taking and the world is creative and mind-twisting. This isn't as character-driven as I usually like, and very much relies on Zafon's masterful descriptions, but it's definitely one of my favourites. Zafon is a favourite author of mine; he knows exactly how to take you away to another world. ;)
2. The Magician King
by Lev Grossman
This is one I'm reading at the moment, but I already know it's going to be influential and a classic in my life. I've done my usual and read the second without realising there was a first here, but DAMNED IF I CARE. I'll read the first one after as a kind of back-story because The Magician King is FANTASTIC! The world is mesmerising. When I'm not reading it, I'm thinking about it, I'm drawing it, or I'm doing maths. I haven't drawn in a long time but Grossman writes characters, things, places that need to be drawn. Plus: The main character, Quentin, has completely unexpected and unprecedented Asperger's. It's great. Can't been a good bit of casual Asperger's in a book.
1. The Half Bad trilogy
by Sally Green
I'm pretty sure I recall writing a review for Half Wild, and if you read that review you'll know exactly how I feel about this series. There was a bit of an uproar about the end of Half Lies (the third and final book in the trilogy), which I won't mention because spoilers and that, but I thought it was beautiful. I thought it was a bit shoved into the end like she'd had an idea that didn't fit with the story so she had to make the story fit with the idea and it didn't quite work, but still: This was a damned good series and ain't no one changing my mind about that.
