TOP PICKS – March 2025
Welcome to this month’s Top Picks!
Every month, we like to share with you our favourite reads of the month. We’ve rounded up our contributors and asked them each to recommend just one favourite read of the month.
A big thank you to Nils for coming up with this feature, and our contributors for taking part!
Let’s find out what the team has read this month…
Nils: Once was Willem by M. R. Carey
It was a bit of a mixed month for me as I had two reads that were rather disappointing and three reads (plus another cosy murder mystery which I won’t mention here as it’s not SFF) that were standout.
Senseless by Ronald Malfi is a bizarre, dark psychological read with hints of the supernatural where we meander through solving a gruesome murder. Every sentence made me question everything, so quite the mindfuck! Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis was both light-hearted and deep with a fantastic character study of a Dark Lord who doesn’t remember who he is. I had a lot of fun with this one.
My Top Pick goes to my first read in March which was Once was Willem by M.R. Carey—A Frankenstein-esque medieval tale where a group of unholy monsters save a village from a greater evil. I cannot praise this book enough, it’s so beautifully written and thoughtful and poignant throughout.
Kat: Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang
This month has been a month of finally getting around to reading things I’ve been eyeing for ages and them actually living up to expectations!
Runners up are wonderfully atmospheric Carmilla by J Sheridan le Fanu and the snort-inducing Saga graphic novels by Brian K Vaughan, but it’s impossible to beat how absolutely blown away I was by Blood Over Bright Haven by M L Wang! The magic system was reminiscent of Robert Jackson Bennett’s in Foundryside, the plot had me gasping and crying and our main character Sciona is the bull-headed, academic nerd of my dreams.
Gray: The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell.
This month, I have only read one book that I can heartily recommend, and that is The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell.
It is an urban fantasy with enforced masquerade told through the perspective of a “World Weekly News” style tabloid that covers dubiously supernatural events. It isn’t perfect by any means, but the characters and quality of the writing carry it.
Cat: A Study in Black Brew by Marie Howalt
I’ve had a lovely month of book ARCs and also some great recommendations from my Fantasy Hive friends! A classic that I’d somehow managed to overlook grabbed me tight in The Stars are Legion, and the gorgeousness of Every Dark Cloud and The Naming Song reminded me of just how beautiful and meaningful great science fiction can be.
But my favourite is a joyful Holmsian retelling, A Study in Black Brew by Marie Howalt. In these difficult times it’s so refreshing to revisit a well-loved tale in a very different setting, and with a pair of protagonists that I was genuinely sorry to leave on the final page. More in this Universe, please!
Vinay: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
I had a pretty mixed month this March – I had my first DNF of the year and followed it up another which promised a lot but ended chaotically. Thankfully though the rest of the month was pretty good.
Blood of the Kami by Baptiste Pinson Wu was a wonderful lore-filled journey into a mystical feudal and magical Japan while Space Brooms by AG Rodriguez and Special Delivery by Rex Burke were both fun thrilling action adventurers set in space. Scales by Christopher Hinz scratched that Michael Crichton itch that you never realized you had while Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky was a masterpiece in lulling you into a trope while hitting you with a counter-trope and was almost the Pick of the Month.
But then I picked up Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Drop of Corruption, Book 2 in the Shadow of the Leviathan series – A wicked clever immensely fun sequel that ups the ante further on a remarkably fun and imaginative series. A Drop of Corruption is already shaping up to be an early forerunner for book of the year (like its predecessor). I couldnt have asked for a better birthday gift than this book and this is my Pick for the the Month
Vinay’s review | Available now
Beth: Servant of Rage by Alex Knight
I’ve had a bit of a strange reading month; I’ve read a lot, but not fantasy! My book club’s read this month was The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, the classic Japanese locked-room murder mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I also picked up Yokomizo’s The Inugami Curse, and also Shizuko Natsuke’s Murder at Mt Fuji; I’ve found myself with more opportunities to read via the kindle app on my phone this month, so these books have been super handy for that!
But to go back to fantasy, the two I read this month couldn’t have been more different! Try as I might, I just couldn’t get on with The Witch Who Trades with Death by C M Alongi, so that was a very unfortunate DNF for me, I’d really been looking forward to it. In the end, the writing style just wasn’t doing it for me. However, I finished Alex Knight’s reworked and rereleased Servant of Rage at the start of the month, and it has pride of place as my pick of the month. This is a super high-octane action adventure; if you enjoy lots of fight scenes, explosive magic systems and high stakes. then you’ll absolutely love this Wuxia-inspired fantasy from Alex.
What was your favourite read of the month? Share with us in the comments!
