Happy (slightly belated) New Year! As usual, I took the opportunity to cover some highlights of 2024 and discuss my favorite stories from the last year.

Blog Highlights in 2024

One of the biggest highlights of 2024 on this blog was the thirteenth annual Women in SF&F Month, which contained wonderful essays by speculative fiction authors discussing their thoughts, experiences, influences, and work. It featured the following guest posts (which are eligible for nonfiction/related work awards):

• Gabriella Buba — “Fantasy Safe Spaces: Facing the Specters of the Past Now They’ve Come Back to Haunt Us”
• Eliza Chan — “Into the Retelling-Verse”
• Amber Chen — “Using Fiction to Empower Girls in STEM”
• Genoveva Dimova — “Female mentors in fantasy”
• Amy Leow — “Villains, Grey Areas, and What Women Can and Cannot Be”
• Samantha Mills — “The WIP of Theseus”
• Premee Mohamed — “Speculative War and Writing What You Cannot Know”
• Laura R. Samotin — “Writing Found Families With Two-Dimensional Characters”

I also wrote about some series I think deserve more recognition for last year’s Women in SF&F Month:

• The Books of Ambha Duology by Tasha Suri
• Chronicles of the Bitch Queen by K. S. Villoso
• The Mirage Duology by Somaiya Daud
• Swords and Fire by Melissa Caruso
• The Warchild Mosaic by Karin Lowachee

If you enjoy lists, I also shared about my Favorite Books & Media of 2023 and some Anticipated 2024 Speculative Fiction Releases.

 Favorite Books & Media of 2024

As always, I reflected on what I read over the last year and came up with a list that feels right for my experiences with the books I read during that time. The first half of the year was a bit rough since I read some new-to-me books that I liked well enough but only three that really stood out to me, but fortunately, I discovered more great books later in the year. I ended up with five 2024 releases and four older books/series that were highlights.

I did end up doing quite a bit of rereading this year, often because I wanted to refresh my memory before reading other related books. Any book I enjoyed enough to reread would be a highlight, but I am leaving those off the list since I’ve included many of them before. The related books that I read for the very first time do appear here, though, since those were also great.

These posts are usually limited to books, but I couldn’t resist gushing some more about my favorite game for the second year in a row, especially since I did spend quite a bit of 2024 playing it!

Favorite Books Released in 2024

I had five favorite books released in 2024, but I found myself at a bit of a loss when it came to choosing a Book of the Year. These are all books I’d rate around an 8/10 or 4/5 stars, and I don’t think there’s one I’d say is far better than the others. I went back and forth on how I’d rank them since I enjoyed them all for different reasons, so they are in the order I read them instead of which I liked best. These all get to be my 2024 Books of the Year!

One thing I found interesting about this year’s selection is that only one of them had a romantic arc, and none of them have a romance as defined by the genre. (My top two last year both had romances!)

Cover images link to Bookshop. As an affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills
Read an Excerpt

There’s a line Samantha Mills wrote in the afterword of The Wings Upon Her Back that I feel summarizes so much of what it’s about:

“I was thinking about what it takes to choose a new path when you’ve spent your whole life walking someone else’s.”

This science fantasy novel is about a woman in a warrior-sect who makes one choice that upends her entire life and everything she’s worked toward. That one moment leads to her becoming an outcast, and after twenty-six years of service, she’s no longer accepted by her mentor and community. It’s about grappling with the fact that she’s been wrong and dedicated so much of her life to something she now knows she shouldn’t have, and it also shows how she came to be part of her order and explores the relationship she had with her mentor. It’s about choosing a new path and redemption and so many difficult subjects like disillusionment and fascism, and it also has some beautiful turns of phrase (and gods and winged warriors).

Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
My Review

Vaishnavi Patel’s debut novel, Kaikeyi, was one of my favorite books of 2022, and I think her second novel is even better. Like her first novel, her latest book reimagines the life of a female character from an Indian epic who is often overlooked in studies and texts. This time, she tells the story of the river goddess Ganga from the Mahabharata, showing how her time as a mortal changed her. Goddess of the River largely focuses on Ganga’s relationship with her son, their influence on each other, and how this had an impact on the kingdom of Hastinapur.

It’s an excellent mythic tale that explores a lot of themes and questions, and both Ganga and her son are fascinating characters. Ganga has a unique perspective as a goddess who encompasses a river, and I particularly enjoyed experiencing mortality through her eyes: suddenly being reduced to a form that contains so much less yet has all these strange, overwhelming human senses, and being expected to abide by all these absurd human rules and customs. Though her son has the perspective of one of us mere mortals, I found his struggles with doing what’s right equally compelling, especially the examination of duty, honor, and justice that permeates his character arc.

The Mountain Crown (The Crowns of Ishia #1) by Karin Lowachee
Read an Excerpt

Karin Lowachee is the author of my favorite science fiction series, and though the first novella in her new fantasy trilogy is very different in style, it showcases the thought and care that make her such a wonderful storyteller. The Mountain Crown follows Méka as she returns to her colonized homeland to perform her people’s rite of gathering a king dragon. In the course of her quest, she collects a dragon from the fighting pits, the slave who cared for the dragon, and a traitor (who has history with the former and his boyfriend).

This is one of those books that feels like going on a journey with the characters. It doesn’t explain everything but lets readers experience what it’s like to live in this world and communicate with dragons, who have their own unique phrases and ways of conveying their thoughts and feelings. It’s just a lovely story with some beautiful writing, respect for life and nature, and a persistent protagonist (and, of course, fantastic dragons!).

The Scarlet Throne (The False Goddess Trilogy #1) by Amy Leow
Read an Excerpt

The Scarlet Throne follows a teenager who casts judgment with the voice of a goddess—but instead of hosting a revered deity, she hosts a cat-like demon who can show her the truth. She’s sacrificed much to hold on to her position as long as she can and is older than most living goddesses ever get to be, but when the priests decide it’s time to replace her with a young girl, she decides to do even more to attempt to hold on to what power she has. I enjoyed reading about a protagonist who didn’t even try to be a good person but was selfish, ambitious, and driven, and I’m excited to see what Amy Leow does with the rest of the series.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang
Read/Listen to an Excerpt

Blood Over Bright Haven is not a subtle book, but it is a thoughtful, interesting, and memorable one. It follows two main characters: the first woman to become a highmage, and a janitor that the other mages decide to make her assistant despite (or, rather, because of) his lack of magical knowledge. M. L. Wang doesn’t hold back from exploring the worst parts of humanity, and this isn’t a feel-good book about breaking glass ceilings but one that shines a light on intersectional problems and resistance to tearing down an established structure. There are no easy answers or fixes, and her female protagonist can be smart and brave but also selfish and ignorant. It’s not a comforting story—although the ending does offer a glimmer of hope amidst the tragedy—but it’s one that feels true in so many ways.

Note: Blood Over Bright Haven was self-published in 2023, but I read the new edition that was traditionally published in 2024 so I included it here.

Favorite Books Published Before 2024

1. The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
Read an Excerpt

This is the only book on my list that is not fantasy or science fiction (or a bit of both). I discovered Sharon Kay Penman in 2023 after hearing her historical fiction novels might appeal to readers looking for more like A Song of Ice and Fire. Her Welsh Princes trilogy (which I loved) did have the same sort of epic feel and large cast of characters with strengths and flaws. So did The Sunne in Splendour, which actually covers an inspiration for George R. R. Martin’s fantasy epic: the War of the Roses. I love how Penman writes characters since they’re all distinct and tend to have a complex mix of qualities instead of being clearly “good” or “bad.”

2. Lilith’s Brood (Xenogenesis #1-3) by Octavia E. Butler
Read an Excerpt from Dawn (Xenogenesis #1)

Since I found myself wanting to read some older books last year, I caught up on some of Octavia E. Butler’s work I hadn’t read yet, including this series. Lilith’s Brood is an omnibus containing the three Xenogenesis novels, which tell the story of humanity’s transformation into a new species after most are destroyed in a worldwide war. The remaining survivors are rescued by aliens who travel the universe and incorporate the genetics of others into their own, meaning they keep evolving as a species. They also only allow humans to continue to have children if they join one of their families and let them use both human and alien genetic material to create them.

Dawn, the first book in the series, is the story of how one of these survivors, Lilith, came to be part of an alien family and an ambassador to other humans on the ship. The next two books in the series follow two of her children: Adulthood Rites is about her first son, and Imago is about a child who grows up to become the first alien/human hybrid of the third alien gender, neither male nor female. Dawn was my favorite in the series, followed by Adulthood Rites, but all three books were interesting with aliens that felt alien and humans that felt so very human. These novels are disturbing and unusual, and their themes and examination of changes in humanity over time reminded me a bit of Patternmaster, my favorite of Octavia E. Butler’s series. (But even so, these are both very different stories!)

3. Parable of the Talents (Earthseed #2) by Octavia E. Butler

It had been years since I read Parable of the Sower so I read it again, in part so I could read the complete Earthseed duology together in the year it began. This novel is about Lauren Olamina, whose story opens when she’s a girl living in a gated community in California, which has scarce resources and is becoming increasingly violent. The daughter of a Baptist minister, she comes up with her own religion and outlook on life in response to what she experiences and seeks to learn how to survive on her own, preparing for when the inevitable happens. Parable of the Talents covers her life as an adult and the challenges she faces in her continued struggle to survive after she’s created her small religious community.

I appreciated Parable of the Sower more this time than when I first read it, and I do think it’s more compulsively readable and engaging than Parable of the Talents. However, I also think the second book in the duology is a more mature, thoughtful, reflective book. I especially loved getting some perspectives other than Lauren’s, particularly that of her daughter, who was not enthusiastic about her mother’s teachings.

4. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

The Blue Sword has been on my bookshelf for a while, and I’m glad I finally read it. Like I wrote of The Mountain Crown, this is one of those books that feels like going on a journey with the characters. I suspect this would have been a childhood favorite if I’d read it at the time (like Robin McKinley’s Beauty, which I still love), but I enjoyed reading about a girl with a magic sword and cat and horse companions as an adult, too. This is just a well-told story with a great romance, and I actually think I preferred it to The Hero and the Crown (which I barely remembered and reread after finishing this one).

 

Favorite Media of 2024

It’s not new to 2024 unless you count the fact that there have been new additions through patches (like evil endings), but like last year, I had to give a shoutout to Baldur’s Gate 3. After all, I spent a lot of the year playing it given that I’ve now completed six full games. (That number was three at the end of 2023.) I’m also going into 2025 with a newly begun multiplayer game and another single-player game in mind, so I have no plans to stop playing—especially since I’m excited for all the new subclasses that will be introduced in patch 8!

As I wrote of Baldur’s Gate 3 last year:

It’s just fun with a lot of entertaining dialogue and scenes, and it also has some beautifully done scenes and storylines, excellent acting, and a story that I appreciate more each time I play it. But what stands out to me the most about Baldur’s Gate 3 is the character development and growth that can happen depending on how you interact with and treat your companions, paired with the aforementioned excellent acting that makes them all the better. I didn’t really remember much about the characters from the previous games, but this one has some memorable ones with fantastic lines and journeys, including one character from the older games who I appreciate far more in this one. There are also a lot of wonderful animals and non-main characters, and the narrator (Amelia Tyler) does an incredible job.

I also discussed how it’s made to replay in 2023, and that’s exactly why I’m still hooked. There are lots of different outcomes I have yet to see, and I’ve been having fun coming up with characters who have different classes and worldviews and seeing what happens. Although I do want to play a character who tries to everything right and one who revels in doing everything wrong at some point, it’s been interesting to create ones who make a mix of good-leaning and bad-leaning choices based on their particular struggles and personalities. (I also want to play a character who starts out well-intentioned but then turns to the dark side at some point.)

Last year, I played as the following Dark Urge characters:

• Sansa, a high elf Oathbreaker paladin/sorcadin who cared about those around her but made bad choices because she valued them more than anyone and everything else—and wanted them to be able to protect themselves if necessary
• Visenya, a high elf rogue/bard who loved causing chaos as she lied and persuaded her way through Faerûn (my favorite so far)
• Nymeria, a half-elf beastmaster ranger with an affinity for ravens who cared more about practicality and competence than good or evil, though her major choices tended toward good most of the time

Now my husband and I are playing our third multiplayer game with a party that will seek power. I’m playing as Cersei, a Lolth-sworn drow storm sorcerer Dark Urge who is becoming convinced she’s being personally protected by Lolth. (She has some delusions of grandeur.)

It’s not often I have this much fun with something, and I’m completely enamored of this game. Thank you, Larian and Baldur’s Gate 3 team!