Would it even be a month-long feature on the Fantasy Hive if we didn’t corral the team into creating lists of recommendations?? 

Of course not.

With that in mind, every Friday we’re going to follow along with our Women in SFF photo challenge, and bring you our Top Three of that Friday’s prompt.

Last week, the team discussed their Top Three favourite (female) reads since last Women in SFF.

This week, we’re looking at our Top Three Favourite authors discovered through Women in SFF or newly discovered authors…

Nils

The City of Brass by S A Chakraborty

This first choice is easy! Shannon Chakraborty is an author I first read because during Women in SFF we hosted a readalong of The City of Brass. Myself and Beth fell so in love with the world of Daevabad we buddy read the rest of the trilogy together and it was superb from beginning to end.

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Secondly I’d choose The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean which I read last year during Women in SFF. I absolutely loved the concept of people eating books to sustain themselves and the way Dean describes the taste of books was a lovely detail I enjoyed reading about. I can’t wait to read more from her.

Dark Water Daughter by H.M. Long

Lastly I’ll choose a newly discovered author—H.M. Long. I recently read Dark Water Daughter and it’s such a fantastic nautical flintlock fantasy which has fascinating original worldbuilding.

Julia:

Hills Heather and Bone by KE Andrews 

A female necromancer with arthritis, a small geeky husband, a chicken who might be possessed – what a glorious mix of cosy and dark! There’s a few hard to swallow topics, so make sure to read trigger warnings if you need any, but I adored this blend of weird, fun but also thoughtful story.

Half a Soul / Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater 

Definitely on the comfy reading side, Olivia Atwater has instantly written her way into my heart. From a cute regency story with characters who just don’t work just like society would like, to urban fantasy with angels trying to tempt a mere mortal, these cosy reads are just balm for the soul.

Magpie Lord by KJ Charles 

Me and loving a steamy book with a good dash of romance? Really? Are we sure it’s me and not a body snatcher? Apparently even if can love the occasional achillean romance, when it’s as well written as this series! Lots of action, intriguing magic, mysteries and great characters had me hooked body and soul.

Hil

A Marvellous Light, A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

Edwardian, gay/sapphic, murder mysteries with a homicidal hedge.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody and C.L.Herman

Every seven years the families of Ilvernath nominate a champion each to compete and win control of the magic in the area. After a tell all book is released, the competition is pushed into the spotlight and the seven champions are competing for more than just the magic. It’s a battle royale with a twist.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

(Actually Nils, this is totally your fault!). The series is intricately written, detailing the determination of a woman to find her kidnapped daughter against the backdrop of the end of the world. 

Theo

Eleanor Catton for Birnam Wood. 

Birnam wood is a tale of the eponymous environmental group camping out on a millionaire’s estate in a well crafted narrative with compelling characters. Catton – like many great writers – has a knack of writing bits of exposition that are lively and entertaining pieces of writing in their own right. I didn’t find the story as hopeful as some reviewers claimed, instead it seemed to me an indictment of naive and fractured activism in a world of rapacious capitalism and personal data incontinence. More a warning that we all need to see the big picture than a love letter to the small picture. 

Mitriel Faywood for A Gamble of Gods,

Faywood’s self-published debut is a daring tale of three first person protagonists whose adventures span the spectrum of speculative fiction from epic magical fantasy, through contemporary urban earth to far future technological marvels (anyone for an equine version of Data?). It’s refreshingly different, fast paced and impossible to second guess the twists and turns.

J.D.Evans for Reign & Ruin

SPFBO7’s winner and in some ways a more conventional fantasy than A Gamble of Gods confining itself to one well rendered world with a middle eastern aesthetic and an interesting magic system. There is a romance element that gradually binds the two protagonists together but that enhances rather than distracts from the well-crafted fantasy elements.

Beth

City of Brass by S A Chakraborty.

I’m also going to feature the Daevabad trilogy! As Nils said above, we read this for a readalong for a past Women in SFF, and it was my first time reading Chakraborty. I’ve loved everything of hers since for the pure magic that sparks from the page!

The Magician’s Daughter by H. G. Parry.

This entry is covering both aspects of this prompt, as we interviewed Parry back in our first Women in SFF in 2020 and I thought oh! She needs to go on my to-read list. Now for this year’s WSFF I’ve finally picked up one of her books and it was most definitely worth the wait. Our protagonist, Biddy, uses quotes from Jane Eyre when she’s annoyed at people. I think we’re going to get along very well indeed.

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.

An author I discovered/started reading since last WSFF is Jodi Taylor. Fans of the Chronicles of St Mary’s may well be wondering why it took me so long to cotton on to this series, and honestly I have no idea. She’s another author who was on my radar for a while – I first picked up Just One at the Llandeilo literary festival back in 2017!! For those not in the know, this is a series about a secret department who travel about in time firstly documenting certain events to aid the researches from the uni who fund them, and then they find a way to start rescuing thing otherwise lost to antiquity – such as the library of Alexandria. A huge tick for both my inner fantasy lover and my inner historian.