By skyforbes 
Books listed in alphabetical order by author. You can read Krysta’s list of her favorite books from 2024 here.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
If Baldree can make me care about the mundane issues of picking what to put on the menu at a coffee shop (I don’t even like coffee), he can probably make me care about anything. It’s clear how this jump started cozy fantasy. Even without too much of a plot, it’s such a chill, casual read that you can’t help but have a good time.
I’m counting this duology as one slot, to give more books a chance to get on the list, but both were strong fantasies! At a time when I was in a reading slump and thinking particularly that the YA books I was reading just weren’t of the caliber I wanted, Holly Black came through and reminded me she can really write. I loved the stories and became interested in characters I didn’t think I cared about at all, after reading The Folk of the Air trilogy. I won’t doubt Holly Black again.
The sequel to The Infinity Courts, The Genesis Wars keeps this series going strong. With complex characterization and a plot that is not only thrilling but asks important questions about life after death, memory, when AI becomes more than a computer, and what it means to be a good person, I continue to be flabbergasted these books aren’t better known and loved.
Atmospheric and creative, this story feels original even though it’s based on a fairy tale. It’s dark without being too dark and perfect for readers looking for a fresh retelling.
This whole series of books about what it was like to live in the Middle Ages (usually England) is fascinating and will put to rest some bizarre notions people sometimes have about the past.
Starling House is a beautifully atmospheric book that contrasts the setting of Eden, Kentucky, a dreary, insular town with a single industry (the power plant) with Starling House itself, a seemingly haunted place half-shrounded in myth. If place can be a character, that’s certainly true here, and I was rooting as much for the town and the House as I was for protagonist Opal herself.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is beautiful story about fighting for one’s family and choosing one’s own fate. Set in the lush capital of the Spirit World, the book takes readers on an adventure with protagonist Mina to save the Sea God from a curse and end the storms killing her people back in the human world — if she can figure out the key to breaking the curse in the first place.
This is definitely one of the big books of the year for YA fantasy fans. (I think it came out last December, so most of us read this year). It’s a great conclusion to a duology about two young journalists trying to figure out the truth about the world and the war of the gods, even as they fight for their love. I was sometimes confused by the hand wavy world building, but the rest of the story is so good I am willing to overlook that.
Sanderson’s work is always creative. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is also timely because it explores the necessity of art and the value of human performance over automation.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Heavenbreaker going in. It’s one of those books that’s miscategorized on Goodreads, and I would definitely say it’s science fiction and not a romantasy. I enjoyed the world and the characters, and I am looking forward to finding out what happens in the sequel.
