Fantasy books

Silver in the Wood, by Emily Tesh

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There is a Wild Man who dwells in the quiet green depths of Greenhollow and there are many legends and stories about him in the local village. Tobias lives a perfectly unremarkable life in his cottage with his cat, and his dryads. He listens to the wood and keeps himself to himself. Until, however, Greenhollow Hall acquires a new, handsome and very curious owner in Henry Silver. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias must confront his troubled past. Read More »

City of Stairs, by Robert Jackson Bennett

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The city of Bulikov was once the greatest city on the Continent, thanks to the all-powerful Gods who watched over its people. But these Gods also had the power to conquer the world and enslave its people, until they were killed themselves. Now Bulikov’s illustrious history has been censored and its inhabitants subjugated. The city itself was irrevocably altered by the death of the Gods and stands as a constant haunting reminder to its inhabitants of the lives they once lived.
Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. On the surface, she is just another junior bureaucrat sent by the city’s oppressors to lord it over them. But beneath her official veneer, Shara is in fact one of her country’s most accomplished spies. She was sent to Bulikov to investigate a murder but soon realizes that there is much more going on amongst the rubble. And she begins to suspect that the all-powerful Gods may not be as dead as everyone thinks. Read More »

City of the Beasts, by Isabel Allende

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When his mother is taken seriously ill, fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold is sent to live with his forbidding grandmother. Kate is not your typical warm and cuddly grandmother, rather she is brusque, adventurous and no-nonsense. Kate is preparing to embark on an expedition into the Amazonian rainforest and, rather than change her plans, she takes Alexander along with her.
They set off with their team, including a local guide and his young daughter Nadia, deep into the rainforest. Their aim is to locate an isolated and potentially headhunting tribe, as well as a legendary marauding creature known only as “The Beast”. As they get further from civilisation, and expedition members start disappearing, they will discover much more than they bargained for about the mysteries of the jungle and its inhabitants. Read More »

The Summer of Impossible Things, by Rowan Coleman

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In the wake of their mother’s passing, Luna and her sister Pia have travelled to Brooklyn to oversee the sale of an old family building. They hope to find some small mementoes of their mother’s life in this place, but something else very unexpected happens. Luna finds herself drawn to this old dilapidated building, when suddenly it is no longer abandoned, but new and occupied. Nothing prepares her for coming face to face with her mother, in 1977. As she explores this startling shift in reality, Luna must decide what she is prepared to do to save her mother’s life, even at the cost of her own. Read More »

The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

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Nora Seed is miserable. She just lost her job, she is estranged from her brother, her mother passed away recently, she gave up on her dreams, she ended her engagement just days before her wedding. And her cat just got killed by a car. Life doesn’t seem worth living, so she decides to end it.
But instead of dying, Nora ends up in the Midnight Library. In this library between life and death, the shelves go on forever and they are all filled with books. Each book represents a different life she might have lived, had she made different choices. With the help of the librarian, she must now try to find what makes a life worth living, and discover what that life might look like. Read More »

Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon

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After their harrowing escape from Wentworth Prison, Claire and Jamie have travelled to the relative safety of a monastery in France. They cannot stay here, however, especially if they want to succeed in their plan to change the future and somehow stop the Battle of Culloden. To that end, they journey to Paris to join the French aristocracy and befriend the young Prince Charles Stuart. Manipulation, intrigue and danger abound in the French capital and especially at the court of the French King. Claire and Jamie must navigate uncertain loyalties, unfamiliar customs and many other obstacles in the pursuit of their goal. The one constant is their love for one another, but will that be enough to carry them through these turbulent times? Read More »

Clariel, by Garth Nix

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The events of this book take place roughly 600 years before those in Sabriel. Young Clariel has been forced to leave behind her beloved home on the edge of the Great Forest, to move to the city of Belisaere. Her mother’s career advancements, and possible opportunities for Clariel herself, do not interest her, however. All she can think about is escaping and returning to the forest. She believes that only there will she be happy and lead a fulfilled life. But forces are stirring which will change the course of Clariel’s life beyond her dreams. In a world where those responsible for law, order and otherworldly protection have been shirking their duties, uncertainty reigns. The ambitious circle, as does a mysterious Free Magic being. Clariel must soon choose her path, but will it be the right one? Read More »

Melmoth, by Sarah Perry

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One winter’s night in Prague, Helen Franklin has a chance meeting with her friend Karel. But all is not right with him, he seems deranged and jumpy. It turns out that Karel has come into possession of a mysterious manuscript, which he then entrusts to Helen.
The manuscript itself is accompanied by various letters and testimonies. These stretch from 17th century England, to wartime Czechoslovakia, 1920s Turkey and Manila. Varied as they are, these accounts all have one common aspect: all tell of being followed by a tall, mysterious woman dressed all in black – Melmoth. Read More »

Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon

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It’s 1946 and Claire Randall is in Scotland on a second honeymoon with her husband Frank. After the horrors of the war, both are keen to rekindle their love and start their lives afresh. Frank is busy researching his family history whilst Claire is more interested in the local plants and their healing properties. One afternoon Claire stumbles through a circle of standing stones and finds herself suddenly in 1743! After an encounter with Captain “Black Jack” Randall, her husband’s six times great grandfather, she falls in with a band of Scottish outlaws. Claire is desperate to get back to the standing stones and her own time, but circumstances and people get in the way. Will the familiarity of her life with Frank be enough to leave behind the life that she is quickly building for herself in this new century? Read More »

Abhorsen, by Garth Nix

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In this thrilling series finale, Lirael and Sameth are faced with ever more dangerous obstacles. The ultimate evil, The Destroyer, which had been bound and buried for centuries has been unearthed and prepares to unleash all manner of hell on both the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. Young and inexperienced as they are, Lirael and Sameth must journey far, both in Life and in Death, to try to defeat this terrible foe. The fate of the world as they know it depends on their success. Read More »