Fantasy Favourites pt.2: Standalones
- The Fiction Fox
- Aug 6, 2022
- 12 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2024
This post is part of my All-Time-Favourite-by-genre-project, in which I'll try to tackle the daunting task of identifying my all-time favourite books through multiple genre-specific lists. Each list will have a top 10 (and possible honourable mentions), and will be updated every 6-12 months, if everything goes according to plan.
*Most recently updated: December 2024
The fantasy-genre is still heavily dominated by series, which can be frustrating when you’re craving fantasy, but aren’t ready to commit to a 7-book epic. Luckily, there’s still plenty of wonderful standalones out there, a few of which I have covered in part 1 to my Fantasy-Favourite series. Similar to that post, these books are listed in roughly the order in which I read them, and all of them I’ve rated anywhere between 4.5 and 5-stars.
1. The Gracekeepers and The Gloaming both by Kirsty Logan Starting off my list, I’m immediately cheating by placing two books in the spot of one. I didn’t see a better way to do so however, as both these books are some of my oldest and dearest fantasy standalones of all time, and hold a shared close place in my heart. If you’ve spent any time on my blog or talking to me about books, my love for Kirsty Logan as an author isn’t going to be a surprise to you. That love started here.
The Gracekeepers is set in a world drowned by water and has strong themes of grief, isolation and mourning throughout it. The ocean has irreparably changed world, and divided its people into those inhabiting the mainland ("landlockers") and those who float on the sea ("damplings"). Callanish is a Gracekeeper, responsible for administering shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean. North is a dampling circus performer with a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance. The two of them cross paths when a sudden storm offshore brings change to both their lives - offering them a new understanding of the world they live in and the consequences of the past, while restoring hope in an unexpected future.
The Gloaming is set in the same world, on a more intimate island-setting, and can be read completely separate from The Gracekeepers. Here, where magic is more than the stuff of fairytales and folklore, we follow an unorthodox family of five in the wake of a tragedy that changed their lives forever. It’s a brilliant magical realist tale of grief, love, longing and homesickness for a place you can’t return to.
I often recommend Kirsty Logans books in tandem with Emily St. John Mandel work, as both capture that stunning feeling of melancholic hope that I adored. Kirsty Logans work came to me at the exact right place and time, helping me deal with grief and change, and will for that reason always have a prominent place among my favourites.
2. Arcadia by Iain Pearce The next book on the list has nothing in common with the previous, other than the way I found it; namely based off the recommendation of one of my favourite booktubers/authors Jen Campbell.
We begin our story against the backdrop of Cold-War England, where ex-spy-turned-novelist Henry Lytten is writing a fantasy novel in order to escape the troubles of his current time. He finds an unlikely confidante in Rosie, an inquisitive young neighbor who, while chasing after Lytten's cat one day, stumbles through a doorway in his cellar and into a stunning and unfamiliar bucolic landscape. A landscape remarkably similar to that of the book which Lytten has been writing.
What follows is a refractory tale, part portal-fantasy, part sci-fi dystopian, part Alice Through the Looking Glass and part Cloud Atlas.
Arcadia explores the magic of world-building and storytelling on an almost meta-level, but does it so effortlessly well that it never felt pretentious to me. If you enjoy stories about stories in particular, this is a modern classic you cannot pass up.
As someone who grew up on retellings of ancient Greek mythology, and actually enjoyed Latin in grammar-school, because of its stories, there was bound to be a retelling on this list. There were plenty of options to pick from (stay tuned for my Mythology-recommendations post that will be coming soon), but the choice for Circe was an easy one. She has always been one of the most fascinating and mysterious characters in Greek Mythology to me, partly because she always appears as a secondary character in another hero’s story, but never gets her own voice. Here, Madeline Miller jumps in to change that, and does so in the best way possible.
Circe is a story about Gods, mythological creatures and witchcraft, but is still one of the more personal and relatable “coming of age-fantasies” I’ve read. If you’re intimidated by the recent flood of Greek retellings and want to skip straight to the best one out there; this is the way to go in my opinion.
Staying with “Classical Greek vibes”, we have the shortest but perhaps most complex book to describe. Piranesi is definitely more on the literary, rather than genre-fiction side of things, and is packed to the brim with mystery, atmosphere and questions, not all of which are answered throughout. I highly recommend you go into this story as blind as possible, so I’ll keep the description short.
We open our story with a man only known as Piranesi, wandering the infinite corridors of The House Between its half-drowned, never-ending halls filled with classical marbled statuary however, this mysterious building is anything but a regular home. It evokes everything from Olympus to Atlantis to, most clearly, the ‘imaginary prisons’ of 18th-century titular artist. There is one other living person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person. A terrible truth begins to unravel; about The Other, The House and a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.
5. The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton From Classical Greek influences, we move over to something more Shakespearean with this (very loose) retelling of King Lear with a more diverse, feminist and fantastical twist. My love for this novel lies in its phenomenal character work, lushly vivid insular setting, steeped in wild magic, and absolute stunning lyrical writing.
As the book on this list with the lowest Goodreads-rating on average, I understand that this isn’t the biggest crowd pleaser. Tessa Gratton was done dirty by her marketers who compared this to Game of Thrones, setting completely the wrong expectations for the audience. Contrary to Martin’s brutal and fast-paced approach to hard fantasy, Gratton’s story is “softer”, more reflective and slower in pace. Luckily for me, that was exactly what I loved about it.
The erratic decisions of a prophecy-obsessed king have drained the isle of Innis Lear of its wild magic, leaving behind a trail of lands and political unrest. The king's three daughters—battle-hungry Gaela, master manipulator Reagan, and restrained, starblessed Elia—know the realm's only chance of resurrection is to crown a new sovereign. But their father will not choose an heir until all the prophesised circumstances are met. Refusing to leave their future in the hands of blind faith, the daughters of Innis Lear prepare for war—but regardless of who wins the crown, the shores of Innis will weep the blood of a house divided.
Few subgenres have held as many disappointments to me as the dark-academia-trend that has been blowing up in previous years. Although I love it in theory, I think I may have burned myself out on so much angsty sameness. I have however had much luck with the very specific sub-subgenre of “weird academia”, that includes books like All’s Well and Bunny by Mona Awad, Middlegame by Seanan McGuire and of course Vita Nostra. Very little about this novel is traditional; from the influences of the original Russian, the disorienting setting, to its insistence not to explain or “spoon-feed” you information. After all, both you ánd the characters are smart enough to figure it out for yourselves, right…? Keen readers will have spotted that I put this book in the wrong list though, as it's part of a series. Yes, and no. As a series, I didn't enjoy this one, and frankly wish I'd stopped after book 1. In my opinion; its ending works perfectly fine on its own and as a standalone it's a favourite. As a series, unfortunately I decided not to continue with it.
16-year old Sasha is vacationing with her mom at the beach, when she meets a mysterious man who makes her an unusual proposition. The next day Sacha suddenly finds herself vomiting up golden coins… This even kicks off an epic coming of age fantasy novel, involving a magical university (but not in the way you expect), strange characters that seem barely human and at times absolute mind-melting philosophy and metaphysics.
Similar to the previous entry, this book too is a part of a series (The Alchemical Journeys). Each book can be read as a standalone however, with only a few overlapping "cameo's" from different characters. Despite the fact that I desperately wanted to love this entire series after by intense love for Middlegame, none of the subsequent books quite worked for me. This one however is absolutely worth a go, even if you decide to consider it a standalone and don't ever pick up any of the next books in the series.
In Middlegame, we follow Roger and Dodger, twins who grew up in separate foster families, but have always had an almost supernatural connection to each other. They don’t know it quite yet themselves, but Roger and Dodger aren’t quite human. It may explain his unlikely affinity with words and languages, and her understanding of the structure of the world through maths and numbers. When Roger and Dodger meet up as adults, they find themselves wrapped up in an plot years-long in the making. One that involves alchemical creations, impossible cities and the possibility of Godhood to be attained…
8. Elatsoe & Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger Speaking of cosy-vibes, Elatsoe was one of my cosiest reads of last year. Again; this is technically a duology, but both books can be read as standalones and only have a few "cameo's" of familiar characters, hence their addition into this list rather than the series-one. Similar to The House in the Cerulean Sea, it reads like a middle-grade and is packed with beautiful themes of family and belonging, but with a slightly more melancholic undertone. If that hasn’t convinced you yet; our protagonist is an asexual, Lipan- Apachean girl who has the happiest ghost-dog as a companion. What more could I want in a book…?
Elatsoe is set in an America very similar to our own, but for a few small differences. This America has been physically shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family.
When her beloved cousin is the victim of a racially fuelled murder in their small town that wants no prying eyes, Ellie must use all her wits, skills and friends to get to the bottom of the secrets buried under her nose.
Technically part of Brandon Sandersons overarching Cosmere Universe, Tress of the Emerald Sea is a book that stands completely on its own in both tone and story. Pitched by the author himself as his "princess-bride-story within the Cosmere Universe", this is a joyful and (dare I say) cosy fantasy that compromises none of the high-stakes and high-fantasy-elements its genre-fellows tend to do.
We follow Tress, a young woman who embarks on a daring journey across the seas to rescue her best friend Charlie, who’s fallen prey to the Sorceress of the Midnight Sea. Except the seas in the Cosmere Universe, aren’t your typical bodies of water… Instead, Tress has to traverse the treacherous currents of oceans made out of fungal spores, each type of them highly toxic or volatile, responding to agitation in deadly ways. Helped along the way by a lovable cast of (pirate) characters, including a talkative rat, Tress’ adventures are some you won’t easily forget.
10. Dreams of the Dying - Nicholas Lietzau Dreams of the Dying deserves a little bit of an extra shout-out for being the only independently published book to make the list. It’s also somewhat of an outlier, as it’s technically part of a planned series, but can still be (very satisfactory) be read as a standalone. Some Skyrim-players may be familiar with this author from his brilliant work on the total conversion mod Enderal, which happens to be one of my favourite games of all time. Dreams of the Dying is set in the same world, but follows a completely standalone story. It blends fantasy, with elements of horror and brilliant character work into one of the most memorable novels I’ve ever come across. We follow Jespar, a mercenary with a haunted past, who’s taken to drifting along the Enderelean coasts and any city with a decent-sized tavern. When a mysterious, but extremely well-paying job invites him into the beautiful but dangerous archipelago of Kilay, it all seems like a dream come true. That dream soon turns out to be more of a (literal) nightmare. Wrecked by political turmoil, the tropical empire is on the edge of a civil war, and Kilay's merchant king is the only person able to prevent this catastrophe. Unfortunately he has fallen into a preternatural coma-and it's Jespar's task to figure out what or who caused it. As the investigation takes him across the archipelago and into the king's nightmares, unexpected events not only tie Jespar's own life to the mystery but also unearth inner demons he believed to be long exorcised.
Brilliantly addressing themes of both political- and mental health-nature, it’s not just the wonderfully crafted characters that will occupy a space in your mind long after you turn the final page.
Perhaps these books have sparked your fantasy fever, and leave you craving more. In that case, be sure to check out my Fantasy Favourites: Part 1 for some series and fantasy in other forms of media. Or maybe just get excited with me, over some books that are on my TBR, that I have a feeling might my future favourite 5-star reads as well.
Honourable Mentions and 5-star predictions
Never the Wind by Francesco Dimitri The main reason that this book gets an honourable mention-spot, rather than a full favourite, is that I hesitate to call it a full-on fantasy novel. It's more so a coming of age tale some influences of magical realism and gothic horror, very similar to The Ocean at the End of the Lane. That doesn't make it any less worth the read however.
Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins The Library at Mount Char is a fantasy-sci-fi-horror hybrid that I’d heard such mixed things about, yet the only thing reviewers seemed to agree on is that is it strange and quite dark, and more than a little absurdist at times. It all begins with a missing God, his not-quite-human daughter, and a regular Joe (actually named Steve) framed for his murder… What follows is a tale that is fast paced, dark, delicious and wholly unique in world, characters and story. I absolutely loved this wild ride from start to finish.
From Dust a Flame by Rebecca Podos From Dust a Flame is a Jewish-inspired contemporary-fantasy with themes of family, self-discovery and retracing your (cultural and familial) roots at its core. We follow 17-year old Hannah and her adoptive brother Gabe, who’ve never had a place to truly call home. Every year-or-so their free-spirited mum uproots the family to move cross country; no trails left behind, no extended family to inform, and no explanations provided. That silence is forcefully broken when Hannah falls victim to a curse that mutates her body in impossible ways overnight. Their search for answers leads Gabe and Hannah down the path of her Jewish ancestry, along myths, legends and the tragic history that their family has carried for generations.
The Last Memoria - Rachel Emma Shaw Similarly to Dreams of the Dying, this too is an indie-accomplishment that deserves to reach a far larger audience. In this standalone fantasy novel about memory, prejudice and more, we follow a young womans fight for survival against all odds. In a world where Memoria (humans who can steal and transfer memories by touch) are shunned and hunted for their magical ability, we follow one of the last of them, Sarilla, on the run from the king and her own past. Her plans go awry when she runs into Falon, one of her “victims”. This leads the two of them, not just into a high stakes external journey, but one of selfdiscovery on both their parts as well.
Now She is Witch by Kirsty Logan ver the past few years, the genre of “feminist witch fiction” has become so oversaturated that I’ve burned out on it a little bit. Leave it to one of my all-time favourite authors however, to put a spin on it that makes me adore it again.
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern Although it's a fan-favourite amongst many readers, The Night Circus didn't wow me quite enough to land a full spot on the list, but is beautifully crafted enough to place itself as an honourable mention. If only because the imagery it created still lives rentfree in my mind, and it's the "circus-novel" against chich I compare all others.
The Spell Shop - Sarah Beth Durst Fine, fine, just one more cozy fantasy that managed to melt my heart. This cute story about a magical librarian who is forced to start a new life in a small village as a jam-maker as a cover for her secret spell-selling operation differs from many "cozies" in an important way. Despite being distinctly cozy and whimsical, The Spell Shop still manages actual stakes and consequences with its revolution-plotline, and helped me build investment in both the characters and their trials and tribulations. I’m happily anticipating the continuation in this world, scheduled for release in 2025.
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