2023’s Most Captivating Books: The Best Fantasy Books of the Year

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros

All Violet Sorrengail wanted was to follow in her father’s footsteps and live a quiet, peaceful life amongst history and books. She intended to enter the Scribe Quadrant where that would be her reality.

Then her mother, General Sorrengail, ordered her to join Basgiath War College to become a Navarre Raider, an infamous Dragon Rider. Violet was anxious and afraid to join because she had always been smaller and frail due to her chronic illness. But she was given no choice.

There are fewer dragons this year than normal and Violet knows they’d rather incinerate weak humans than bond with them. She has to use her smarts to navigate the various challenges given to her to have an edge over the other students.

The only choice Violet is given at Basgiath War College is to graduate or die trying.

Fourth Wing has taken the world by storm. Readers adore all of the characters and Yarros has effortlessly weaved romance and tension for an exciting new fantasy story. This is the first book in The Empyrean series. The second, Iron Flame, is already out!

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

A Day of Fallen Night is a prequel to the international sensation Priory of the Orange Tree that has expanded on the worldbuilding and universe before the events of the first book.

For fifty years Tunuva Melim has trained to slay wyrms as a sister of the Priory. No wyrms have been seen since the Nameless One appeared and new generations are questioning the purpose of the Priory. Sabran the Ambitions is newly married to the King in the north, saving realms from destruction. In the East, Dumai has dedicated her life to waking the dragons sleeping in the mountains.

The Dreadmount erupts and brings with it terror and violence. All of the women must do everything they can to save humankind from the threats it brought.

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Amina al-Sirafi is one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates and has lived her life having countless adventures at sea. She is a true adventurer at heart, but that hasn’t stopped her from settling down a few times to get married. When she has a daughter, Marjana, things slow down for her.

Amina is approached by a mysterious benefactor who asks for her help in one final quest to rescue their granddaughter. Amina eventually agrees to go, only after being promised riches beyond her wildest imagination.

So, she assembles her crew and they set sail on a grand adventure filled with tension, excitement, and a lot of laughs. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is an engrossing nautical fantasy book that will keep the reader engaged until the end!

The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young

In Jasper, North Carolina the Farrow women are known for two things: their vibrant flower farm and the curse plaguing their bloodline. June Farrow, the last remaining Farrow, realizes she is showing the same signs of mental illness the other Farrow women had. She’s hallucinating, seeing doors appear out of nowhere, and hearing voices in her sleep.

Her mother disappeared and was presumed dead when she was young and saw the same things. June was raised by her grandmother and her best friend, Birdie, in her absence. After her grandmother’s death, June receives a letter in the mail from her. It contains two images, one of a minister in town who had died under mysterious circumstances and one of a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her mother. The images were too old to be what she thought. When she speaks to Birdie about them, she realizes there might be something more to the curse and the hallucinations she sees.

The next time she sees the door, she decides to open it. To her surprise, it’s real, and she walks through the threshold.

The Unmaking of June Farrow is a brilliant blend of fantasy, romance, and science fiction. It will keep you guessing until the very end!

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde is a professor at the prestigious Cambridge University where she is known as one of the world’s most prominent experts of Faeries. She has been intrigued by them throughout her entire life and spends most of her free time thinking about them rather than dealing with actual people.

She’s writing the first-ever Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Her research takes her to the small, gruff village of Hrafnsvik where she plans to research The Hidden Ones. They’re an elusive species of Faeries thought to be residing in the dark forest near the village.

To her surprise and annoyance, her academic rival Wendell Bambleby comes to the same village to research The Hidden Ones. As she gets closer to discovering who they really are, she begins wondering what Wendell Bambleby is really doing in Hrafnsvik with her.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a low-stakes, cozy fantasy story with compelling characters, romance, and lore. It’s perfect for a light, easy read!

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt are both journalists at the Oath Gazette covering a war that has been dormant for three hundred years. The Gods have awoken once more and their grievances have too.

Iris’s mother is battling addiction and her brother is missing in the front lines of battle. There is a promotion at the Gazette and Iris knows that she needs it. To do that, she needs to beat her rival, Roman, to win it. 

Her worry for her brother grows and she begins writing letters to him and she slips them under her wardrobe door. Soon enough, the letters vanish. 

Roman discovers the letters and begins anonymously writing her back. Through the letters, they develop a strong connection that leads them to the front lines of the war, with the hopes of saving humanity.

This is a wonderful enemies-to-lover fantasy romance perfect for any fans of the trope. It is full of hope, love, and heartbreak, and you will fall in love with each of the characters.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Claire

Kel is an orphan who was adopted for the sole purpose of acting as a body double for Prince Conor Aurelian. He was trained in swordsmanship, diplomacy, and every aspect of being a Prince, but he has always known his purpose is to die for Conor– nothing else.

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician. The Ashkar are the last people able to use magic and are forced to live within the walls of the city. Lin is allowed to leave to tend to the sick in the city of Castellane. 

After an assassination attempt on Conor, Lin tends to Kel’s wounds. Together they’re pulled into the web of the criminal overlord of Castellane known as the Ragpicker King. He tempts them with offers of their most compelling desires and they delve deeper into his shadowy world filled with intrigue and conspiracies.

Cassandra Clare has written several young adult fantasy series that have captured the hearts of fantasy readers of all ages. This is the first book in her promising new Sword Catcher series.

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

A man wakes up in the middle of a clearing without any memory of why he is there or who he is. All he knows is that he’s somehow found his way to medieval England and he’s being chased by a group of people from his own time.

Everything he needed to know was in his copy of The Frugal Wizard’s Guide to Surviving Medieval England, but unfortunately, his copy was destroyed during his transit. All he has are a few scraps that he tries to decipher to aid him. With the help of the locals, he tries to regain his memories and figure out why he is in medieval England and why he is being chased.

Brandon Sanderson is perhaps one of the most prominent fantasy authors of our time. He’s written many acclaimed books, but The Frugal Wizard’s Guide to Surviving Medieval England is unlike any of them. It’s a funny and unexpected adventure from Sanderson.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Bookshops & Bonedust is a prequel to the cozy fantasy book that captured the hearts of readers and brought cozy fantasies to the forefront of the genre, Legends & Lattes. Both books are light, relaxing reads with engrossing characters that anyone can fall in love with.

Viv was a young, battle-hungry orc working for the mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens. That is until she was injured during the hunt of a powerful necromancer. Now, she’s been shipped off to recover in a quaint beach town called Murk.

She spends her days in the small bookshop with its foul-mouthed owner and finds herself getting accustomed to a simple life. Even though her new life is quiet, adventure manages to find Viv.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Starling House once belonged to a 19th-century author named E. Starling. They were reclusive and mysterious in the small town of Eden, Kentucky, and their mysterious disappearance became a legend in town.

Opal has resorted to working odd jobs to help pay for her younger brother’s college tuition. Even though she’s heard the rumors about Starling House, she needs the money so she applies to be a housekeeper. Something about the house calls to her, something she can’t quite explain.

When Opal is offered the job she meets the last living relative of E. Starling, Arthur Starling. Starling House comes to be a home for Opal and she would do anything to protect it. When sinister forces emerge, she and Arthur have to delve into the secrets of the home to keep them at bay. 

Starling House is a dark fantasy that feels like a grim fairytale. Opal and Arthur are entertaining main characters and the gothic atmosphere is captivating.