The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Staff Pick)

Looking for an excellent fantasy novel for a swashbuckling friend in your life? You've found it.
- Connor
Looking for an excellent fantasy novel for a swashbuckling friend in your life? You've found it.
- Connor
The only fantasy book you or a loved one will ever need, written by one of the very best authors in the genre.
- Sam
There are countless amazing fantasy novels about a life of excitement and adventure, but very few that ask "What happens next?
- John
Oh my god WITCH KING!!!!! I can't stop thinking about it!! Lush, richly textured, vibrant; bleakly vicious and wrenchingly kind in turns. Wells's fantasy cultures are thoroughly envisioned, with an emphasis on clothing that I personally found delightful, and the magic systems are complex and unique. Another banger from my friend and ally Martha Wells!!!
- Piera
A Mughal India-inspired romantasy, Tasha Suri's debut follows Mehr, a governor's illegitimate daughter with the magic of powerful gods in her blood. Empire of Sand chronicles her love in all its forms and the sacrifices she's faced with when she's wrapped up in a marriage of state that puts the gods, previously held at bay, at the helm of chaos. Full of immersive imagery and stakes so high you'll feel your heart pounding at every turn of a page, Empire of Sand is an epic saga that will leave readers profoundly moved by the final chapter.
- Cindy
This techno-thriller follows K, a slacker with a mind for recognizing patterns and an unfortunate habit of losing time. He's obsessed with games of all kinds, but none more so than Rabbits. The high-stakes game has claimed lives, and almost robbed K of his sanity. If you dig unreliable narrators and puzzles, and characters "hacking into the mainframe," this is your book.
Dave
The Secret History meets The Umbrella Academy in this dark academic Paranormal Fantasy. If you're active on BookTok, you might remember seeing this title all over your For You Page last year. Through unconventional storytelling, The Atlas Six definitely lives up to the hype. The cast will stay with you long after you've put it down, and its musings will have you trying to formulate your own theory of the universe.
Engel
Lesbian necromancers in space! If that tagline didn't get you already, this book is perfect for anyone who loves impossible storylines. In this futuristic empire, what's left of humanity has settled across nine planets. As protectors of the Locked Tomb, the inhabitants of the Ninth are practitioners of necromancy, and its Reverend Daughter, Harrowhark, is in need of a cavalier so she can become one of God's hands. Gideon has a sword but wants nothing more to do with the Ninth. It's dark in a funny way, aesthetic--if you have a thing for skeletons, swords, and academia--and is one of my favorite books of all time. Gideon and Harrowhark are sure to stay in your brain forever (that's a little joke for Book 2).
Engel
If you like your time travel novels with a smidge of Einstein, a smattering of social realism, and more than a pinch of spot-on London dialect, follow Esso and Rhia as they figure out themselves and the mysteries of spacetime.
Sarah
What says "holidays" more than smashing corrupt capitalist overlords? This book contains intense asexual friend crushes, community solidarity, using the media to expose corporate lies, and, of course, rad video game action. It's a romp, but with feelings.
Shana