10 of 2018's Best Fantasy Novels Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind
Whoever said the fantasy genre is just for children definitely hasn't been reading the right books. Whether they contain elements of magic realism, have a hint of sci-fi, or take place in a fantastical realm of the author's own invention, fantasy novels tell some of the most inventive, ingenious, and undervalued stories out there. Here are just 10 of the most wildly creative and totally addicting fantasy novels published this year — we hope you're prepared to enter a whole new world.
Chandler Klang Smith's epic debut, The Sky Is Yours, takes place in a dystopian city known as Empire Island where dragons live in splendor and the poor are left to scavenge the postapocalyptic wasteland, and she tells the story of former reality TV star Duncan Humphrey Ripple V, who falls in love with a teenage urchin named Abby.
Tomi Adeyemi's West African-inspired fantasy debut, Children of Blood and Bone, tells the story of Zélie Adebola, a maji (a person meant to wield the magic of the gods for the good of the people of Orïsha) who — after the ruthless King of Orïsha wipes out most of the maji, including Zélie's mother — must set forth on a journey to restore magic to her home and take down the monarchy.
In Ling Ma's Severance, first-generation American Candace Chen tries to contend with the recent death of her Chinese immigrant parents by sticking to the routine of her dull, Manhattan office job — until Shen Fever sweeps the city, and Candace suddenly finds herself part of a group of survivors, led by a megalomaniac IT tech.
In Peng Shepherd's The Book of M, people start losing their shadows, and society breaks into two factions: the shadowed and the shadowless. Married couple Max and Ory try to escape by holing up in a remote hotel in Virginia, but when Max loses her shadow, the pair must contend with the consequences.
Thea Lim's An Ocean of Minutes tells the story of Polly, who — when her boyfriend, Frank, catches the deadly flu pandemic sweeping America — decides to travel into the future as a bonded laborer to get Frank the life-saving treatment he needs, and though the pair plan to reunite 12 years later, what Polly doesn't expect is being rerouted an extra five years in the future.
Uprooted author Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver offers a retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Rumpelstiltskin, where the daughter of an unsuccessful moneylender's claim that she can turn silver into gold catches the attention of the frightening king of the Staryk, who wants to exploit Miryem's powers for his own gain.
Inspired by the history of China's 19th and early 20th century, R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War tells the story of a dark-skinned peasant girl named Rin, who, to the surprise of everyone, aces the empire-wide test to find the most talented young people to study at the national academies and quickly learns that fitting in at her new school won't be easy — until she discovers an aptitude for shamanism, that is.
Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood tells the story of 17-year-old Alice, who — soon after the death of her reclusive fairy-tale-writing grandmother — discovers that her mother has been snatched up by someone who claims to come from the dark, supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set, and Alice has no choice but to travel to her grandmother's estate, the Hazel Wood, to figure out where her mother could be.
In Charles Soule's The Oracle Year, an ordinary bass player named Will Dando wakes one morning to realize he can predict the future, and he sets up a heavily guarded website to anonymously announce his revelations as the Oracle, earning him legions of followers — as well as several dangerous enemies who want to take him down.
Matt Haig's How to Stop Time tells the story of Tom Hazard, a man approaching his 440th birthday — though he looks no older than 41 — and the captivating French teacher he falls for, despite the number one rule for people with anageria, the rare condition Tom suffers from: never fall in love.