Best Fantasy Books of 2021

Imagination through Reading Books Country Colors is a piece of digital artwork
by Debra and Dave Vanderlaan 

Hey everyone, 

Welcome to the holiday season. As the year winds down, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my favoirite reads of 2021.

No hype. No guff. 

Just straight up honest thoughts on the books that delighted me most.

To start with, you may recall my first book in the Amassia Series launched in January of 2021. For all of you who read, liked and reviewed, I am very grateful. 

Crown of Bones made several ‘best of’ lists for 2021, including Most Undervalued… which I think is good, right?

Next for me comes Sorcery of Thornes by Margaret Rogerson. I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version, narrated by the extraordinary Emily Ellet. What a treat. Rogerson’s portrayal of good and evil through the eyes of a character coming of age is refreshingly open-minded. She brings home the idea that we are never one or the other…

Blood Like Magic is right up there with my Audio Book favorites. Narrated by the very talented Joniece Abbott-Pratt, it captures a unique blend of Fantasy through a Trinidadia- Canadian lens. The voice of the characters, along with vivid worldbuilding, is grand but what I really love is the sense of generations, the connections we have to our ancestors and how they shape us. Just brilliant!

Also at the top is Sara Beth Durst’s The Bone Maker. I love how she takes epic fantasy and turns a full and glorious tale into a standalone volume. No waiting for months or years to find out what happens and yet a powerful dose of storytelling from start to finish.

 Of course, the irony is, I wish there were more! Always a wonderful writer, Durst brings to life a kind of steam-punk with bones feel. Her non-human characters absolutely capture the heart. The narration by Soneela Nankani is unstoppable.

Even a very short Best Of list is not complete without mentioning The Library of the Dead by T L Huchu. Such a wonderful read. Tinashe Warikandwa certainly adds even more with her fantastic narration.

I particularly LOVED the life of the books and realize now, as I write this, that the grimoires in Sorcery of Thorns enchanted me in much the same ways. These two books, though very different, complement each other in many ways

Well, it makes sense. I do love books….

Which of these titles have you read? Thoughts? I’d love to know what your Bet of 2021 List looks like.

See you in the comments.

xxKim 

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Kim Falconer, writing YA Fantasy as A K Wilder, is the author of Crown of Bones, book #1 in the Amassia Series. The sequel, Curse of Shadows, is due for release in June 2022.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

You can Throw the Bones, read your monthly horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site or just drop a comment to chat. See you there!