Call it escapism or call it a balm for running a website covering politics in 2018, but I read a lot a lot of speculative fiction this year. Back in April, we published a list of the best fantasy novels of the 21st century (so far), and since then we’ve been in the speculative fiction category across all media with the top 15 sci-fi and sci-fi novels. fantasy comics of 2018, the 100 best sci-fi tv shows of all time, and the 100 best sci-fi movies of all time. Meanwhile, the team at paste books found time to read a bunch of new fantasy novels, including one that topped our list of the best novels of 2018.
The following 15 books capture the range that makes fantasy fiction so great, from epic high fantasy to alternate reality, urban fantasy, and literary fiction starring a Greek goddess. these books visit other magical worlds, sure, but they also draw inspiration from african, chinese, and greek mythology, as well as the american civil war, 80s punk scenes, faraway planets, and edwardian england. most of these are stand-alone novels, but there are also a few sequels to some of our favorite fantasy series.
You are reading: Best new fantasy books 2018
here are the 15 best fantasy novels of 2018:
15. witchcraft mark by l.l. polk
If magic existed, those with power would undoubtedly create their own strict class structure, ruling over Muggles without our knowledge. or so imagine c.l. polk in her all-star debut, set in an alternate world where cars, radios and lighting are just beginning to take hold; poor wizards are sent to asylums; and an oppressive system forces even second-rate wizards from wealthy families to serve as little more than batteries for their superiors. add a mythical love interest and even more evil with the world than our protagonist can imagine, and you have a gripping magical mystery from a fresh voice in fantasy. —josh jackson
14. vita nostra by sergey and marina dyachenko, translated by julia meitov hersey
vita nostra shows how tireless, cruel and necessary is the search for knowledge. Marina and Sergey Dyachenko’s novel, translated from Russian by Julia Meitov Hersey, deals almost entirely with the tyranny of education. In an amalgamation of fantasy, science fiction and pedagogy, the students of the mysterious institute of special technologies learn to shed their human essence in search of something greater: complete understanding. Through the education of new student Sasha Samokhina, we see the destructive nature of the process; they induce her to vomit gold coins, shame her, force her to have sex, and silence her. she also has an immense power of understanding; she is able to read and analyze the world, understand the subtext on which it is built, and edit that text in turn. but the cost! This is not the rabbit-eyed education of Hogwarts; this is the violent expansion of the mind. vita nostra reminds us that language and knowledge are the greatest powers, and it is through the word that we have shaped everything around us. —b. david zarley
13. a reaper at the gates by sabaa tahir
It’s hard to delve into the third book in Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series without spoiling the first two, so we’ll keep it short. Set in a world that resembles ancient Rome, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy novel of love and revenge. When a young soldier poised to take over the oppressive military government decides to turn his back on the regime, he clashes with a young scholar determined to save his brother. he is a soldier, she is a slave, and together they prepare to fight for his freedom. the series gets better and better with each installment, as is the case with a reaper at the gates. war feels inevitable as the characters you’ve come to love fight to stop the chaos…in both the land of the living and the land of the dead. —eric smith
12. foundryside by robert jackson bennett
robert jackson bennett, who wrapped up his divine cities trilogy last year, wasted no time in introducing a new fantasy saga in 2018. starting with foundryside, the the founders series introduces a fascinating world run by a magical technology called “escriving”. The novel’s industrialized magic system is intriguing on its own, but Bennett combines it with a thieving protagonist and her high-stakes heists to create a riveting epic. foundryside, weaving together fascinating adventures and tackling real-world problems, kicks off a story that will leave you clamoring for the second book. —frannie jackson
11. the beauties by dhonielle clayton
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dhonielle clayton’s world of poisonous macaroons, where beauty has literally been weaponized, is an accurate reflection of the toxicity of the capitalist patriarchy that already dictates value in the real world. set in a world ravaged by natural beauty: all humans are doomed to live with wrinkled gray skin, disheveled hair, and red eyes unless they can pay a talented beauty to change their situation: beauties draws a dystopia that is more tempting, more feminine and more brutally fragile than any of the previous ones. Its young protagonist, Ace Belle Camellia Beauregard, is the perfect tour guide through this brutality, poised as she is between being a wide-eyed Pollyanna in awe of life beyond the walls of her sheltered upbringing and a judge of sharp eyes of moral hypocrisy that her sugar world has. If it takes him too long to unravel the mystery a perceptive reader sees from the start, the time he spends watching the broken world of Orleans through his empathetic eyes, laying a solid foundation for the society-shattering fireworks threatened by the sequel. — well worth every second. —alexis gunderson
10. bloody rose by nicholas eames
Nicholas Eames’ follow-up to last year’s Kings of the Wyld follows another gang of mercenaries, Fable, led by their legendary leader Bloody Rose. Told from the perspective of a young bard named Tam, the novel takes a punk-rock approach to a fantasy world populated by every kind of monster imaginable. From Tam’s escape from a life of drudgery to seek glory in arenas filled with cheering fans to the camaraderie and stresses of a life on tour, the world of Eames is a welcome escape for anyone who has ever wanted escape the limitations of parents or society. expectations. While the most famous grandual groups may sport flashy names like Screaming Eagles, Men Without Helmets, The Dura Brothers, and Boomtown Rats, they throw literal rather than figurative axes, accompanied by musicians who capture their most daring exploits in song. Of course, Fable must do more than just play for the crowd, taking on one last epic concert that will endanger the very existence of all mankind. —josh jackson
9. laini taylor’s muse of nightmares
laini taylor’s writing is the stuff of dreams, even when its subject matter is literally nightmares. she not only ties language together in ways almost impossible to believe, she builds fantasy worlds unlike anything you could have imagined, let alone expected a master craftsman to write. his latest, muse of nightmares, continues the wildly fresh and seductive story of blue gods and magical metal and deep trauma compounded by generations of abuse and genocide that began in strange the dreamer from last year. >. muse wraps it up with the addition of a whole new thread of trauma launched from a new wizarding world that should be too much to work with, but in taylor’s deft hands, and with the feasibility of multiple universes working. together established in the previous trilogy of hers, it is an absolute success. if you’re exhausted with traditional fantasy, read this duology now. And for those readers who want a healthy dose of sexy, deeply emotional romance with its magical battles and flying creatures, rejoice: Taylor’s smoke and bones daughter of that very thing is extra strong here. —alexis gunderson
8. a conspiracy of stars by olivia a. cabbage
This is a book I’ve screamed at anyone who wants to hear it for, and it’s my new favorite series to debut this year. Set on a distant planet, A Conspiracy of Stars follows a teenage girl whose parents are famous scientists, who study the secrets of the planet they live on: the animals, the plants, the natural wonders that the world have to find out. offer. however, when she realizes that the planet’s natives are being treated horribly, she discovers some dark secrets and a war that could be brewing. olivia a. Cole’s novel is an intense mix of science fiction and fantasy, dealing with colonization and how we treat the world around us. —eric smith
7. spun silver by naomi novik
Rumpelstiltskin’s fairy tale has never been more captivating than in Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver. The exuberant narration of a classic story follows Miryem, the daughter of Jewish moneylenders who takes over the family business. But her talent for turning silver into gold catches the attention of a calculating faerie king, catalyzing a chain of events that endangers both the human and faerie kingdoms. Novik has already proven herself a master of weaving fairy tales with uprooted, her 2015 nebula award-winning novel about a young woman chosen to be a “dragon’s” handmaiden. spinning silver further cements its place as one of the genre’s greats, delivering a magical story of sacrifice and anti-Semitism that will delight readers from start to finish. —frannie jackson
6. grey sister by mark lawrence
A fantasy series about an orphan who is in a boarding school to learn magic may not seem original in 2018, but there is no character like nona. The protagonist of Mark Lawrence’s high-fantasy series was given to her kidnapper and sold to a convent to study combat, magic, and poisons, along with academics and spiritual devotion, but there will always be something wild about her. lawrence’s narration is the kind that makes you turn the pages and then wonder where the time went and why everyone else has already gone to bed. And while Abeth’s world could be left without inhabitable land in an apocalyptic global freeze, Grey Sister expands on the world she introduced in the first volume of the Ancestor Book series last year. passed with great effect. Lawrence has published a book every year since 2011, so fans probably won’t have long to wait for the conclusion of the holy sister trilogy. —josh jackson
5. tess del camino by rachel hartman
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When rachel hartman revealed the world of shape-shifting academic dragons in her excellent seraphina several years ago, it was clear that a new virtuoso had arrived on the fantasy scene. While the first two books set in this world featured the musical half-dragon Seraphina as the protagonist, tess of the road shifts the narrative lens to seraphina’s violent disaster of a (fully human) half-sister, tess . Tess’s sense of self-worth has been so shattered both by the patriarchal mores of the society she grew up in, and by her own internalized misogyny manifesting in raging self-hatred, that she runs away from home with nothing but her brother. -the name of law in her mouth and a pair of good boots on her feet. Tess’ is a mind-numbing psyche to sit through the almost epic length of a swords and dragons fantasy, but living her journey to forgiveness herself, first alone, then with her genderfluid, dragon-adjacent quigtul friend. pathka–is enlightening and healing. Tess’s journey ends on a cliffhanger, so we can’t wait to read more of her. —alexis gunderson
4. justina ireland’s scary nation
Named the Best Young Adult Novel of 2018 by paste, dread nations combines elements of fantasy, horror, and alternate history to create something completely unique and utterly memorable. Set in an alternate world where the undead rose at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War, the novel picks up years later as America plunges into horror. Readers meet Jane, a teenage girl studying to be a wizard who is trained to fight zombies for the wealthy white class. but it’s not the life she wants. A novel about race, class and much more, dread nation is one of the best reads of 2018. —eric smith
3. children of blood and bone by tomi adeyemi
Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, a truly epic young adult fantasy blockbuster, has topped the best-seller list all year, and for good reason. Featuring impressive world-building and lush prose, readers are drawn into a world where magic is outlawed and a ruthless monarch seeks to kill those who still have these gifts. Zélie, a teenager with her own powers, is in a position to fight back, seeking revenge against those who oppressed her people and killed her mother. children of blood and bone is an epic of more than 500 pages… but you will never want it to end. —eric smith
2. the war of the poppies by r.f. wow
Inspired by 20th century Chinese history, The War of the Poppies kicks off R.F. kuang’s epic fantasy trilogy. What begins as a magical school story: a Rhine peasant girl enters the best military academy in the country and perfects her mysterious powers with the help of drugs, gradually transforming into a brutal exploration of war and its cost. . this novel is not for everyone; Chapter 21 is inspired by the 1937 Nanjing Rape and makes for a devastating read. but if you can handle the content, kuang’s novel offers a powerful and exciting saga that will leave you clamoring for the sequel, the republic of the dragon, ahead of its summer 2019 release. —frannie jackson
1. circle by madeline miller
madeline miller has mastered two specific skills: writing magnificent prose and reinventing ancient greek literature in powerful ways. Her 2011 debut novel, The Song of Achilles, built on The Iliad to weave a captivating saga with the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus at its center. And now she’s back with Circe , a novel starring the scheming sorceress briefly mentioned in Homer’s The Odyssey . Through Miller’s lyrical writing, Circe is transformed from a sweet and ignored goddess to an extraordinary witch banished by Zeus to a desert island. Men may have achieved glory in Greek epics, but in 2018, Circe is fiction’s most compelling protagonist. If you only read one novel on this list, make it this one. —frannie jackson
Looking for more reading recommendations? Check out our lists of the best novels, best non-fiction books, best young adult novels, and best book covers of 2018.
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