The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

You learn over time that the world isn’t broken. It’s just… got more pieces to it than you thought. They all fit together, just maybe not the way you pictured when you were young.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. There was a lot that I liked; the magic system was cool and I loved that the protagonist was a middle-aged mother who'd been hiding her light under a bushel for fifteen years. The complicated family dynamics were incredibly well done, especially the marriage between the protagonist and her husband, and there were some really powerful moments in the story.

However, there was a lot I didn't like. I was never totally on board with the worldbuilding. Most of the time the story seemed to be taking place in a feudal-Japan-inspired world so I found the mentions of modern technology and superheroes jarring. The pacing and structure of the book were also weird. The Sword of Kaigen took SO LONG to get started. The first third of the book dragged because of the constant, and mostly irrelevant as it turned out, info-dumping and dull conversations. 

The climax of the book had me gripped and genuinely hit me in the feels but it was in the middle of the book. Which is... an odd choice. The story meandered after that, although there were again some fantastically emotional moments, and then the story just kinda ended. 

The Sword of Kaigen is a really hard book to judge. There was a great story in there, it just needed a really ruthless editor to cut away all the unnecessary exposition and characters to reveal it.  

Recommended For: Fans of Asian-inspired fantasy and anyone who likes their fantasy full of complicated characters.

Read On: Other fantasies with Japanese-inspired settings are Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn and The Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin is a fantastic SFF story with a middle-aged female protagonist.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

 By the time Alex managed to get the blood out of her good wool coat, it was too warm to wear it.

Alex Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. A dropout and the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved crime, Alex was hoping for a fresh start. But a free ride to one of the world's most prestigious universities was bound to come with a catch. Alex has been tasked with monitoring the mysterious activities of Yale's secret societies who tamper with forbidden magic and raise the dead. Now there's a dead girl on campus and Alex seems to be the only person who won't accept the neat answer the police and campus administration have come up with for her murder.

This had everything I love about dark academia. Ninth House is full of secret societies up to no good, ghosts who hang around campus, a twisty murder mystery, and an underdog outsider who will not allow a girl's death to fade into obscurity. My only niggle was that it was a little slow at the start but it was absolutely necessary to create the rich and believable world of Ninth House.

Recommended For: Fans of dark academic stories with a touch of the supernatural

Read On: Not fantasies, but The Secret History by Donna Tartt and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova are other dark academia books I've really enjoyed. I also loved Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, a YA-fantasy duology.

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

"Absolutely not, What an utterly hare-brained idea, Annabelle."

Brilliant but destitute Annabelle Archer is one of the first female students at Oxford University. In return for her scholarship, she must recruit influential men to champion the rising women's suffrage movement. Her first target is Sebastian Devereux: cold, calculating and the most powerful duke in England...

Confession time: My guilty pleasure is enemies-to-lovers stories full of misunderstandings, witty banter, and prickly exteriors hiding hearts of gold. This cute romance had all of that but the spark was never quite there. All in all, Bringing Down the Duke was a sweet and funny romance, but fairly forgettable.

Recommended For: Anyone looking for a light-hearted and easy-to-read historical romance

Read On: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare is another historical romance that has all the feels and is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny.

Saint's Blood by Sebastien de Castell

On the morning of your first duel, an unusually attractive herald will arrive at your door bearing a sealed note and an encouraging smile.

This is such a fab fantasy series full of sword fights, friendship, messy politics, and wry humour!

Recommended For: anyone who likes swashbuckling fantasies that are more sword than sorcery

Read On: The last book in the Greatcoats series is Tyrant's Throne. Another swashbuckling fantasy is Swordheart by T. Kingfisher.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

Let me tell you of the worlds I've left behind.

John Scalzi is one of my fave sci-fi authors and this third book in his Old Man‘s War series didn‘t disappoint. The story has shifted from military sci-fi to a colony so it‘s a quieter tale but it still has all the things I like - politics, wry humour, and a love for humanity tempered with a distrust of organizations.

Recommended For: Anyone who likes sci-fi that's more about humans than space battles.

Read On: The next book in the Old Man's War series is Zoe's Tale. Another sci-fi that focuses on space colonists is Semiosis by Sue Burke. I can also highly recommend Scalzi's Interdependency series - the first book is The Collapsing Empire.

Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence

The dissolution of any monastery or convent is not something to be lightly undertaken. Even the might of House Tacsis, whose line was born of emperors, may not suffice.

I devoured Grey Sister in a day because I just could not tear myself away! I loved the political intrigue and the strong female friendships that formed the core of the story. I also enjoyed the greater role that Abbess Glass plays in this story as I always like clever characters who see the world as a chess game and other people as pieces to be set up as needed. My favourite thing about this series, however, has to be just how effortless the worldbuilding is. Not once is there any info-dumping - things are just presented as they are - and yet I have a real picture of the precarious world that the Sisters inhabit.

If I have any niggles with Grey Sister, it's that Nona was almost becoming too super-powered by the end of the book and some of the things she did broke the established rules of the world. However, this may have consequences in the third book, so I'll reserve judgment until then.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and fast-paced dark fantasy with lots of politics, brutal fight scenes, and brief flashes of humour. It maybe wasn't quite as good as Red Sister, but as the tricky middle book of a trilogy, it was a good read.

Recommended For: Fans of dark fantasy full of action

Read On: The final book of the trilogy is Holy Sister. Mark Lawrence has also written the Red Queen's War trilogy which is another excellent series of dark fantasies shot through with sardonic humour. The first book is Prince of Fools.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.

A quick reread before reading the rest of the trilogy... I enjoyed Red Sister more the second time around! It's rare to have a fantasy book where pretty much all the characters are female with nary a love interest to be seen. Oh, and the women all kick arse and take names.

Recommended For: Lovers of gritty fantasy looking for something a little different

Read On: The next in the series is Grey Sister.

Prayers In Steel by Michael McClung

The woman's slippers were silk, that much he could tell, and embroidered with seed pearls. There was no way to know what colour they might once have been since her feet were soaked to the ankles in blood.

This photo sums up my Easter break so far! Prayers in Steel is a straightforward sword and sorcery fantasy that isn't the most original tale out there, but it was a fun read and fitted my mood perfectly. Unexpectedly short, though - I'd settled in for a chunky fantasy and was a bit surprised when the book ended two hours later!

Recommended For: Any fantasy fans looking for a quick undemanding read.

Read On: The second book in the series is An Unclean Strength but I'm not sure I'll get to it. Michael McClung also wrote the Amra Thetys series which I really enjoyed. The first book is The Thief Who Pulled On Trouble's Braids.

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

Winslow Houndstooth was not a hero. There was nothing within him that cried out for justice or fame. He did not wear a white hat - he preferred his grey one, which didn't show the bloodstains. He could've been a hero, had he been properly motivated, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

Winslow Houndstooth has a bag of federal gold and a crew of mercenary hippo-wranglers. His job? To clear a Louisiana bayou overrun with dangerous feral hippos. The hippos aren't his only target, however. Also hiding in the bayou is the man who destroyed his life, and Winslow is after revenge.

A crime caper set in an alternative 1890s Louisiana with a diverse cast of hippo-riding cowboys? Exactly my kind of read! I loved the idea (and I love that it was inspired by an actual real thing that almost happened) and I think I would have come to adore the characters too. There was A LOT going on for a novella, though, and I'm not sure I completely followed what was happening and why. If only this had been longer with more time for character development, I'd have absolutely loved it!

Recommended For: Anyone looking for a fun and fast speculative fiction novella.

Read On: The second novella in the series is Taste of Marrow. Other great alt-history fantasies are His Majesty's Dragon by Noami Novik, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

84K by Claire North

She had not seen the man called Theo in the cards, nor did they prophesy the meaning of her actions. When she called the ambulance they said they would come soon, and half an hour later she was still waiting by the water.

What if any crime could be committed without punishment, so long as you could afford to pay the fee assigned to that crime? Theo works in the Criminal Audit Office. He assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full. But when Theo's ex-lover Dani is killed, it's different. This is one death he can't let become merely an entry on a balance sheet. Because when the richest in the world are getting away with murder, sometimes the numbers just don't add up

So this was an odd one and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's a grim dystopia and there's a real sense of hopelessness and an uncaring passivity which is much more believable (and therefore unsettling) than the active cruelty and discrimination so often seen in dystopian stories. This is a recognisable England in which ambulances only turn up after they check your credit rating, and prisoners pay off their debt to society by working in factories. I was quickly absorbed in the story and really wanted to know what happened even though I knew from the first page that there would likely not be any happy endings. This is not that type of book.

However, the writing style was hard work. It was written in a dreamy way, full of half-sentences and partly finished thoughts, which was a little off-putting. Also, the narrative kept slipping from one timeline to another without any warning. Lastly, I'm not sure that I liked the lack of resolution at the end.

Recommended For: Anyone looking for a disquieting dystopian novel written in a unique style

Read On: 1984 by George Orwell is the ultimate dystopian novel. Other more modern novels set in a capitalist dystopia are Autonomous by Annalee Newitz and Jennifer Government by Max Barry.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Who doesn't know this story? Ebeneezer Scrooge, literally the definition of a grumpy old miser, is visited by the shade of his old business partner who urges him to change his ways before it is too late. With the help of the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet To Come, Scrooge gets a second chance at figuring out what's really important in life and immediately becomes a kinder and more generous man.

A Christmas Carol really is a great little story, and I can see why it is one of Dickens's most loved books. It's sweet and touching and full of characters that burst off the page in true Dickensian fashion. There are also some genuinely chilling and unearthly parts, the most unnerving of which is when Scrooge comes face to face with his own corpse which lies cold and unregarded in an empty chamber. 

My favourite thing about the book, however, is all the stuff that doesn't make it into the adaptations. Dickens was a tireless social campaigner, and A Christmas Carol calls out the attitudes that many held (and, sadly, still hold) about the poor. At the start of the book, Scrooge refuses to give to charity because the poor should turn to the workhouses and the treadmills if they have no money. He also advocates that hunger and disease will rid London of its 'surplus population' - a sentiment he regrets when a ghost asks him to choose who will live and who will die. Lastly, Dickens calls out politicians who pass discriminatory laws in the name of religion;

"There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."

My first experience with Dickens was Great Expectations, which landed with a thump on my desk when I was 14 years old. Like so many schoolchildren, this first introduction to Dickens wasn't an inspiring one and I've steered clear of his works ever since. A Christmas Carol has convinced me to give him another chance.

Recommended For: Anyone, like me, who is a little intimidated by Dickens.

Read On: There's so many to choose from! I'm tempted to give Great Expectations another chance, or David Copperfield as there's a film adaptation out in January.