New releases get the bulk of the attention on most book sites, for obvious reasons. But what about the books that don’t get hyped up upon release? Or the ones that we all put on our TBRs but forgot to get around to reading? Or the ones that everyone thought would be a shoo-in for awards season but for whatever reason didn’t crack the list?
Well, that’s where this new column comes in. Every month I’ll highlight five books, both adult and YA, that have come out in the last decade (not counting the current year) that deserve a little extra love. Some of these books were marketed as science fiction, fantasy, or horror, and some fall elsewhere on the genre spectrum, but all have at least some speculative elements. If you have suggestions for titles, drop them in the comments!
Now let’s kick things off with some of my favorite underrated titles…
The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig (Angry Robot, 2013)
After I read Wendig’s Star Wars tie-in novel Aftermath, I was hooked. I not only have read (and loved) everything he’s written since, but I also dug into his back catalogue. His YA, his short story collection, his comic books, his books of writing advice, I’ve inhaled all of it. When I read The Blue Blazes, I was on an urban fantasy kick. Mookie is a thug in a criminal organization stuck dealing with a wayward daughter, a dying kingpin, and an underworld of dangerous magic. While my obsession with the subgenre has waned over the years, the Mookie Pearl series still stands as one of my favorites.
The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (Greenwillow Books, 2016)
This was not only Heidi Heilig’s debut novel, but an immediate favorite that made her an auto-buy author for me. This YA fantasy tramps around the past in a magical pirate ship captained by a man who would do anything to get his dead wife back…even if it means losing his daughter in the process. On top of everything else, Heilig does a fantastic job of depicting mental illness (the father of our protagonist Nix has bipolar disorder). If you like high-seas adventure, time-travel, and historical fantasy, this is the duology for you.
Buffalo Soldier by Maurice Broaddus (Tordotcom Publishing, 2017)
Alternate history from a Black diasporic perspective? Hell yes! I reviewed this book for Tor.com back in the day, and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Maurice Broaddus wrote a propulsive steampunk alt-history novella with a spy trying to ferry a young boy across the border to freedom and safety who finds himself caught in the middle of a much bigger colonial conflict. If you liked P. Djèlí Clark’s The Black God’s Drums, then you need to check out Buffalo Soldiers.
The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic by F.T. Lukens (Interlude Press, 2017)
If you have followed me for a while, you know that I never shut up about F.T. Lukens. I am a huge fan of their YA novels, especially the Rules series. Bridger finds a job with an eccentric intermediary between humans and the magical community, develops a crush on his school’s golden boy, and has to deal with his deadbeat dad all while trying to earn enough money to go to college and figure out which of the infinite queer labels apply to him. It’s lovely and warm with enough mystery to keep things interesting. Should be a hit for readers who enjoy cozy fantasy.
The Story of the Hundred Promises by Neil Cochrane (Forest Avenue Press, 2022)
Speaking of cozy fantasy, The Story of the Hundred Promises is so good! It’s probably a little too emotionally weighty to be truly cozy, but it made me feel all warm inside when I finished it. Like a hug from a friend you haven’t seen in a long time or a cuppa on a dreary rainy day. It’s loosely inspired by “Beauty and the Beast” but wonderfully and excitingly queer. Darragh Thorn left home when he came out as trans and has spent the subsequent years as a sailor. Now with his father on his deathbed and his sister unsure of how to proceed, Darragh heads to the north to find the enchanter who helped him become his true self. A beautiful must-read that deserves far more attention than it got. It breaks my heart that it hasn’t hit the awards lists.
Alex Brown is a Hugo-nominated and Ignyte award-winning critic who writes about speculative fiction, librarianship, and Black history. Find them on twitter (@QueenOfRats), instagram (@bookjockeyalex), and their blog (bookjockeyalex.com).
