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Time’s 10 Best Fantasy Books of 2018

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Nary a one. Must add that none of them looked all that interesting, either. I guess I'm off looking in a different direction.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
Nothing leaps out at me, either, except for the Novik (having liked the first one).
 

Peat

Sage
I read The Poppy War. It is a curate's egg to me due to the many and dramatic shifts of tone and theme, with some parts being DNF-worthy and others being some of the best I read this year. Best of the year? One of the most interesting, yes. Best? As someone who ready very few books released this year I'm not in much place to argue, but if it was one of the best then this wasn't a vintage year.

As for the rest? They all sound like books I'd happily pick up for a quid in a sale (which is how I picked up the Poppy War) or from the library. But to actively go out of my way for, not so much. But then, having looked at a few other "Best of" lists, that's true of pretty much everything.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
IMO, any list that omits Josiah Bancroft's The Arm of the Sphinx is a list not worth considering.
 
BLech. I do not find a list including any book by sarah j. maas to be credible. And Children of Blood and Bone? It was hyped up so much but it sounds essentially like just another YA fantasy. It's not been discussed or liked all that much after its release.

I got Foundryside for christmas so i hope its good lol (i loved city of stairs)
 

Mythopoet

Auror
I read The Poppy War. It is a curate's egg to me

I've never heard the term "curate's egg" before and now I've learned something new. Thank you.

IMO, any list that omits Josiah Bancroft's The Arm of the Sphinx is a list not worth considering.

This does sound like an interesting series. I'll have to give book 1 a try.

I am ashamed to say that while I purchased it immediately, I've not yet read The Fall of Gondolin. I purchased it in hardcover, but I don't want to carry it around and get it soiled. Fortunately, just recently there was a huge sale on Tolkien ebooks and so I got a bunch I didn't have yet, including Gondolin. Will probably dive in after I finish the Letters.
 

Peat

Sage
BLech. I do not find a list including any book by sarah j. maas to be credible. And Children of Blood and Bone? It was hyped up so much but it sounds essentially like just another YA fantasy. It's not been discussed or liked all that much after its release.

I got Foundryside for christmas so i hope its good lol (i loved city of stairs)

I feel a bit of a heel for saying it, but I can't help but notice that when non-fantasy publications make fantasy lists, it seems rather focused on worthy publications rather than the best, and writing standard fantasy books in non-western settings is worthy. And it is, I am very happy that people are pushing the range of mythology, culture and history being used to create fantasy literature. But it doesn't necessarily make them the best.
 
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