Genre: High Fantasy

In the Kingdom of Elben, there is a legend of a god bestowing magical power to a king along with a surrounding barrier that protects the land from invading forces. In order to maintain the barrier, the king is told he must marry and court six queens who each reside over a castle and land. Boleyn, his newest queen of Brynd is enamored by King Henry and is determined to become his favorite Queen and to leave a lasting impression across the kingdom. However, as she settles into her new role and investigates new ways to increase the King and Elben’s magical powers, she uncovers clues that suggest the historic arrangement may not be as it seems. Meanwhile, originally planted as a spy by another Queen under the guise of a lady-in-waiting to Boleyn, Seymour finds herself torn between the familial and royal obligations she’s been tasked with vs her fascination and interest with her new mistress. As Boleyn and Seymour find themselves swept up in the power struggle between the Queens, the trusted associates, and the king himself who’s obsessed with producing a male heir, the two women find themselves in an unexpected alliance as they navigate the political…

Imagine a fantasy world with an affinity for plants. Now in a pot, throw in the essence of a monster-filled world, Sherlock Holmes and Watson, dark academia alchemy, and an Agatha Christie complete collection. What you get is Robert Jackson Bennett’s impeccably crafted and compelling The Tainted Cup, the first novel in what has since become the Shadow of the Leviathan series. While considered a high fantasy novel to be expected from RJB, at its core The Tainted Cup is a brilliantly written serial murder mystery thriller embellished with a distinctly unique and creative fantasy wrapping. Featuring a complex and twisty murder investigation, a lavishly developed fantasy world, not to mention a charming pair of off-beat main characters, The Tainted Cup is an incredibly cool genre bender that I loved every minute of. “Projecting motives is a fool’s game. But how they do it- that’s a matter of matter, moving real things about in real space.” In the world of the Tainted Cup, the Imperial Empire maintains a series of hulking walls that are designed to keep giant leviathan monsters in the bordering seas from invading and destroying everything in their path (think of Attack on Titan but in the…

Necromancers, cavaliers, copious amounts of magic and challenges, oh my! Tamsyn Muir’s debut novel and the start of her Locked Tomb series, on paper Gideon has everything going for it. While featuring many hallmark elements of fantasy epics such as an emperor with numerical houses/factions, pseudo magician + knight pairings, and an unknown challenge for representatives to ascend to the “Lyctor” status, Gideon the Ninth separates itself from the rest of its genre firstly by setting the series not in the traditional fantasy-realm past, but instead in an interstellar futuristic expanse. Secondly, this novel’s reputation featuring “lesbian necromancers” proceeds itself and has that instant hook for booktok and social media recognition (though important to note, while having a wandering queer eye, this is not a romantasy novel). While technically being classified as fantasy and sci-fi, Gideon’s second half functions more as a whodunnit survival thriller meshed with dark academia elements and is very compelling when Muir gets it just right. Unfortunately, despite the ambitious plotting and creative ideas found throughout the story, Gideon the Ninth is held back by a few but very notable flaws with its approach to storytelling as well as its confusingly vague and messy world-building. Additionally,…