Wyrd & Wonder is headed into the final stretch, but before it’s over, I wanted to shine a light on the best fantasy books I’ve read so far this year. This is a mix of five and four-and-a-half star reads, and even though we’re not even halfway through 2020, I can already tell that the end of the year “best of” list is going to be tough to narrow down. Here they are, my top EIGHT favorite fantasy books so far (click the titles to read my reviews):
You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce.The nitty-gritty: Dark and magical, You Let Me In surprised me in every way possible and is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker. The nitty-gritty: Thrilling and atmospheric, The Bone Shipsis a rollicking sea adventure with heart, humor and a very large sea dragon.
A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers. The nitty-gritty: Lovers cursed by a witch find themselves reliving their lives, over and over, in Constance Sayers’ sparkling and gripping debut.
Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst. The nitty-gritty: A thrilling standalone with heart and emotion, Race the Sandsis guaranteed to satisfy both adult and YA readers.
The Bard’s Blade by Brian D. Anderson. The nitty-gritty: A deceptively “gentle” epic fantasy tale with bite, The Bard’s Blade is surprisingly addictive and perfectly paced. This series starter is a must read for fans of well developed fantasies.
Titan’s Day by Dan Stout. The nitty-gritty: A cleverly plotted sequel with plenty of mysteries, Titan’s Day is a strong entry into Stout’s fascinating retro/noir urban fantasy world.
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood. The nitty-gritty: An exciting, fast-paced fantasy debut that will leave readers clamoring for the next book.
The Bone Ships was fun – looking forward to the sequel! The Unspoken Name I didn’t care for, and The Bard’s Blade is currently glaring at me from the review pile. 🙂
I have both Race the Sands and The Unspoken Name lined up for reading, and I’ve had my eye on the Southern Book Club Guide for some time now – with the promise of vampires right from the title, I could I not take it into consideration? 😉 Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…BOOK TAGS: MY FANTASY BUCKET LIST for WYRD & WONDER 2020
And I would like to try many, if not all, of these. Such a fantastic looking set of stories. I haven’t had as many so far this year, at least that weren’t rereads: Circe, With a Single Spell, Made Things, and if it finishes as it’s begun, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is likely to make the list.
Loved Bone Ships and I’m currently in the middle of Race the Sands – which is great! I really want to try You Let Me In, alas, it’s not available in my library yet 😉
2020 has been a great year for reading so far! And that’s awesome, because I think I’m getting pickier every year, lol. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday 05/27/20
…I looked back at how many five star reviews I’ve written this year and it’s unprecedented (even allowing for the fact at least one of those was me catching up on something I read (late) last year). The genre is in SUCH a good place right now, it feels? Or I’ve gotten way better at picking my way through it 😉
I love the Fantasy genre, but lately I’ve been struggling to find some good titles, so I’m copying down these carefully 😀
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was already on my TBR, but I loved the premises of A Witch in Time and You Let me In!
This was a great post, with some amazing books! And I have to say that I have a couple of them on my TBR thanks to you (or because of you, since it is not always so great keeping add books to that fluffy black hole, argh! )
The Bone Ships is the only one I read of all of these and I fully approve!!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Tammy! Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Catwoman (2004) Movie Review
The title and cover of The Bard’s Blade caught my eye – after checking out your review, I’m adding it to my TBR 🙂 I already have Yout Let Me In on my TBR – very curious about that one. Jenna @ Falling Letters recently posted…The Binding: Not as Magical As I’d Hoped [Wyrd & Wonder Review]
So far I’ve only read one of these but I hope to get to The Bard’s Blade soon, and also The Bone Ships because I have heard literally nothing but good things about that one.
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I need to try some of these and see how I feel about them, sort of hit or miss with fantasy but would like to get into it more.
You just need to pick the right ones:-)
The Bone Ships was fun – looking forward to the sequel! The Unspoken Name I didn’t care for, and The Bard’s Blade is currently glaring at me from the review pile. 🙂
The Unspoken Name had some mixed reviews. Luckily it really worked for me.
I have both Race the Sands and The Unspoken Name lined up for reading, and I’ve had my eye on the Southern Book Club Guide for some time now – with the promise of vampires right from the title, I could I not take it into consideration? 😉
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…BOOK TAGS: MY FANTASY BUCKET LIST for WYRD & WONDER 2020
The Southern Book Club is definitely one of my highlights of the year, very dark but so so good:-)
And I would like to try many, if not all, of these. Such a fantastic looking set of stories. I haven’t had as many so far this year, at least that weren’t rereads: Circe, With a Single Spell, Made Things, and if it finishes as it’s begun, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is likely to make the list.
The Ten Thousand Doors is really good:-)
Southern Book Club, Bone Ships, & Bard’s Tale!! I’m looking forward to trying those 🙂
All really good, hope you can read them!
Loved Bone Ships and I’m currently in the middle of Race the Sands – which is great! I really want to try You Let Me In, alas, it’s not available in my library yet 😉
Hopefully You Let Me In will become available at some point, it’s definitely worth reading!
I haven’t read any of these yet but I know I’ve added several of them to my TBR based on your reviews, so I’m looking forward to reading them.
You can’t go wrong with any of them, IMO:-)
I really want to give The Unspoken Name a try soon – I need more orcs in my life – so I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’ve heard so many good things about The Bone Ships, too!
Jess @ Jessticulates recently posted…#WyrdAndWonder Top Ten Tuesday | First lines from my favourite fantasy novels (and one novelette)
Both are so good, you really can’t go wrong:-)
I haven’t read any of the books on your list but I’m particularly looking forward reading The Bones Ships and The Unspoken Name! 😀
Maryam recently posted…Get to know the Fantasy Reader Tag | Wyrd & Wonder 2020
Both are lots of fun, hope you get the chance to check them out:-)
2020 has been a great year for reading so far! And that’s awesome, because I think I’m getting pickier every year, lol.
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday 05/27/20
I haven’t had too many duds this year, only a couple!
…I looked back at how many five star reviews I’ve written this year and it’s unprecedented (even allowing for the fact at least one of those was me catching up on something I read (late) last year). The genre is in SUCH a good place right now, it feels? Or I’ve gotten way better at picking my way through it 😉
I know, it’s crazy how many good books are coming out these days! If only we could freeze time and read them all…
I love the Fantasy genre, but lately I’ve been struggling to find some good titles, so I’m copying down these carefully 😀
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires was already on my TBR, but I loved the premises of A Witch in Time and You Let me In!
I highly recommend all of these, and I’m sorry you’ve been struggling with fantasy. Hopefully one of these will work:-)
YES, The Unspoken Name is one of my highlights this year too! <3
Yay! I just loved it.
This was a great post, with some amazing books! And I have to say that I have a couple of them on my TBR thanks to you (or because of you, since it is not always so great keeping add books to that fluffy black hole, argh! )
I know what you mean, I keep adding books to my TBR and never know if I’ll actually read them, ha ha.
The Bone Ships is the only one I read of all of these and I fully approve!!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Tammy!
Lashaan Balasingam recently posted…Catwoman (2004) Movie Review
I’m glad we both agree about The Bone Ships:-)
I didn’t realize that the Unspoken Name was a series haha she tied it up so nicely!
Brittany recently posted…Review: The Unspoken Name
She did! I’m very curious to see what’s next:-)
Great post, I love your short blurbs. Really looking forward to the Unspoken Name, just wish my order would hurry up and get here
I hope your book comes soon!
The title and cover of The Bard’s Blade caught my eye – after checking out your review, I’m adding it to my TBR 🙂 I already have Yout Let Me In on my TBR – very curious about that one.
Jenna @ Falling Letters recently posted…The Binding: Not as Magical As I’d Hoped [Wyrd & Wonder Review]
Your thoughts on You Let Me In and The Bone Ships have me intrigued! The vampire slaying one sounds fun.
So far I’ve only read one of these but I hope to get to The Bard’s Blade soon, and also The Bone Ships because I have heard literally nothing but good things about that one.
I really enjoyed the Southern Book Club book – so good.
Lynn 😀
I’ve seen some good things about The Southern’s Book Club. The title alone sounds pretty interesting!