Fifteen Favorite Fantasy Reads of 2022
I read a ton of good books this year.
Knowing I had a lot of editing and writing and other things on my plate (like starting our first year of homeschool high school, tons of traveling, and other various life things), back in January I made the responsible decision to set my Goodreads goal at a very low and reasonable 25 books.
And then I proceeded to blast through that like a rocket leaving the atmosphere and heading off to the moon.
I am finishing the year up with 84 books devoured (a handful of those were short stories, but for the most part they were novel-length reads). So, responsible and reasonable goals are clearly not for me.
I am not sorry.
Now, sadly, I cannot talk about all 83 books here, though I’m definitely gonna try. So, here are the rules.
The following list is my top 15 favorite fantasy reads of 2022. In order to be eligible to make the list, they must be:
novel length
speculative fiction (fantasy or science fiction generally)
Indie/small publisher is a bonus for getting on the list, because I don’t think authors like Terry Pratchett or J.K. Rowling really need any extra help from little old me, but I don’t make it a hard-and-fast rule because
1) we all know how good I am at following my own rules (not good at all) and
2) I like having a little flexibility built in!
But first of all, because let’s just start by throwing all the rules out the window, some honorable mentions:
Short Stories I Loved in 2022
These don’t make the main list because they aren’t full-length novels, but they were still fantastic reads and thus deserve being mentioned.
The Villain Who Saved Christmas by CB Cook
This is a delightfully charming little story about selflessness, bravery, and redemption all seamlessly woven together into a sweet, short tale. It’s definitely going on my list of annual Christmas reads.
Many thanks to Deborah for recommending it!
The Other Cinderella by Beka Gremikova
This was a startlingly twisty retelling of Cinderella, with a rather dark ending, but I loved it to pieces.
Dawnsong by Bryn Shutt
This story was intriguing and beautifully written. It left me wanting to curl up with these characters and explore the world more fully. It speaks to regret and sorrow, but with gold-and-silver threads of hope and light woven throughout. Adventure, wit, a dash of romance, and some heavy doses of mystery, I’m very excited to go read Illuminare next!
The Hollow Star by Penny Kearney
This short story was heart-wrenchingly, achingly beautiful. The gorgeous prose of this book is absolutely to die for. Even though it’s shorter in length, it feels like a full novel, which is impressive. I also give this story major props for having a wolf-shifter but zero romance! I didn’t even know that was possible! snerk
And now, without further ado, my top 15
15
Dana Illwind and Growing Shadows by Arthur Daigle
Although this story sucked me in right away in the first chapter, I also found myself struggling to stick with it after that because it quickly started to feel more like a series of short stories strung together than a cohesive novel, especially for the first third of the book. There seemed to be some major time gaps between chapters with important things happening “off screen,” and each chapter spent some time re-hashing what had happened in the previous chapter, and this… kind of frustrated me. I barely have patience for books that do that for previous books in a series (because I more often than not am binge-reading the series and so I have not had time to forget what happened in the previous book).
However, once I got past those first chapters, the story settled down and became more of a novel. I enjoyed the character interactions, the impulsive and intelligent Dana, the epically powerful but sometimes unobservant (and snarky) Jayden, and the various characters they interact with along the way.
I definitely had some suspicions about Jayden that turned out to be correct, so I felt very smart.
14
Vanilla Bean Vampire by Selina J. Eckert
This book was super cute and cozy and magical all rolled into one. If you took a Hallmark movie and blended it with a gentle crime drama and then sprinkled it all over with magic, this story is what you’d get.
Reese is an adorable heroine, and I loved watching her story arc as she struggles to manage her growing business and comes to realize that she's been a little oblivious to the people around her and needs to be a better friend. I also enjoyed how courage played a big part in this story and how she eventually had to use her baking skills to go on an adventure and do some heroic stuff (intentional vagueness there because: spoilers) but I just loved how she stayed herself, and didn't suddenly become this amazing superhero... she used the strengths she had.
13
Still Small Voice: Book 2 in the Towers of Light series by Allen Brokken
I spent a good couple of weeks devouring this entire series so that I could read an early copy of book #5 and I regret nothing.
This is a beautiful story about a trio of siblings. Their father is a knight who fights the darkness, and they have a special lighthouse that helps keep the darkness at bay. But when their father goes missing in the war and their mother goes to find him, the children must hold fast to the things they've been taught and find out if their faith is strong and true.
Full of spiritual truth and everything epic fantasy should be, this super cute middle grade series is high on my recommended reads list. Wingfeather Saga meets Little House on the Prairie meets Frank Peretti’s Cooper Family Adventures.
I loved all five of the books in the series, but I think book 2 is my favorite so far.
12
Imprint by Madeline J Rose
I got to interview the main character of this book earlier this year (read the interview HERE). And the story definitely made it into my top 15 for the year.
Paige Turner has a special ability: she can escape the real world and enter the books she reads. Literally.
But this wonderful talent turns deadly one day when men with strange powers suddenly appear and seem to be hunting for her.
Paige doesn't know what they want, but she knows she wants to stay away from them!
This story was such a fun read. Paige is such a sweet little cinnamon roll floofball character, but throughout the story she is challenged over and over again to stand up for herself, to be brave, and to not give up. And I love the growth that she experiences throughout the story.
Then there's Markus. Markus is the opposite of Paige. He's boisterous and goofy and full of optimism and spunk. So naturally, I ship him and Paige RATHER a lot. There's some super adorable awkward teen romance moments, but I appreciated that the author allowed her characters to be fairly mature about their feelings rather than just giving in to them like you see in so many YA books these days. Cute and awkward teens sort of crushing on each other? Yes. Steamy and inappropriate? Not in this book!
The villains of the story are devious and full of evil plans, and there are narrow escapes and dastardly schemes aplenty to keep you turning the pages late into the night. *not that I'm speaking from experience or anything... eheheh*
In short, this is a rolicking fun read, fantasy and meta-fiction combined in ways that put me in mind of James Riley's "Story Thieves" or Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" stories. I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel and eagerly look forward to the next installment!
11
Endlewood by Alissa J Zavalianos
An adventure full of danger. A world of twists and turns. Two stories playing out side-by-side but years apart.
This was an intriguing and mystifying read with plenty of twists to keep me guessing, and yet, everything was so well-foreshadowed that even when I didn’t see something coming it still made sense. I started to have a sneaking suspicion about one of the big twists about halfway through and was quite excited when I turned out to be right.
There’s definitely some tragedy in this story that I won't soon get over.
I loved the world-building and caught a lot of similarities to themes found in LOTR.
10
Wrought of Silver and Ravens by EJ Kitchens
This was a beautiful retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses. Athdar has quickly become one of my favorite characters. I also loved Princess Thea. I got very frustrated by the characters not talking to each other or telling each other the truth… much anguish could have been avoided by a little trust… but I also understand why everyone had no idea who they could trust, so it worked well.
Such a cliff-hanger of an ending though!
9
Tainted by Morgan L Busse
I’ve been wanting to read more in the steampunk genre, and this was everything I had been hoping for!
well that was quite the wild ride and I need book 2 stat! // Kat, who thinks she's a cinnamon roll but is actually pretty much made of steel // Stephen Grey, who thinks he's the toughest thing on the streets but is truly a dear sweet cinnamon roll // a world full of intrigue and danger and political machinations // an evil scientist // hints of a Frankenstein re-telling that I didn't even pick up on until the last couple of chapters // airships // magic // mystery // great character interactions // just a great romp through a steampunk fantasy and exactly what I was hoping for!
8
The Fisherman Who Stole the Storm by HK Tindle
I met a lot of new-to-me authors this year and I am happy to say that all of them write absolutely spectacular stories. This was no different.
Seamas, a gentleman and a sailor, two things that don’t usually go together, he has no plans for the future, no interest in destiny, all he knows is that he’ll go wherever the sea calls him. Ephyra, a woman with strange, mystical powers over water with a firm belief that destiny has something great in her future. But first she must figure out what it is, all while working for a captain who only cares about her powers and a crew of sailors terrified of her. Fate throws Ephyra and Seamas onto the same ship, where they challenge each other’s world-views and find something worth holding onto.
This book is absolutely gorgeous.
But the short story that comes right on its heels absolutely wrecked me.
7
The Thirteenth Princess by Nina Clare
This was a delightful 12 Dancing Princesses retelling. Told from the POV of "Princess" the unnamed, un-remembered 13th princess from the tale, cut out of the story by historians with a penchant for tidy, symmetry, this is a gorgeous take on an old familiar.
Things I loved:
Beryl - the fairy godmother of the princesses, whom almost no one knows is a fairy
Princess - oh she is such a delightful character to hang out with as she is telling the story. Feeling unwanted, out of place, and severely inferior to her radiant sisters who each have triplet buddies... Princess doesn't grow bitter about her lot in life. She finds ways to enjoy it, and when she discovers an invisibility cloak... she absolutely uses it to the fullest.
I enjoyed the the author handled the large cast, though I didn't feel like I got to know the 12 princesses very well, but it was okay, because I was seeing them through a bit of an "outsider's" pov (at least, Princess believes herself to be an outsider.
The plot. So many twisty turns and intrigues!
The evil uncle King Regent trying to keep the throne... this was a very interesting take on the story
The fact that the executioners did not follow the Uncle's orders to kill anyone who didn't solve the puzzle, but rather spirited them quietly out of the country. (always a problematic aspect of this fairy tale)
The very gentle and sweet romances between the princesses and their various princes.
There is a lot to love in this story, and the final chapter brought sorrowful tears and sweet ones of joy.
6
City Between by W.R. Gingell
I spent rather a lot of the year finishing the City Between Series. I’m sure it’s not surprising at all that the second half of the series made it onto my list this year, as the first half of the series was high on my list LAST YEAR.
Across books 6 - 10, I continued to love this series. Books 6 and 7 had some fun twists and turns I didn’t see coming, and then books 8 and 9 all but destroyed me. I clung stubbornly to my love of my favorite character, however, against all reason… and book 10 made up for some of the torture and sorrow my poor heart had endured. An instant favorite, I am now collecting the paper versions of this series and will definitely read them again soon.
This series is fairly dark, and yet somehow lighthearted. It wrecked me, and it also made me laugh. It also has the distinction of being one of the few stories told in first person where I actually really liked the main character telling the story. Pet is definitely a favorite.
Crime drama meets fantasy in an epic mashup that I was pretty much destined to fall in love with.
5
Gilded in Ice by Sarah Pennington
The second book in the Bastian Dennel files absolutely swept me away. Snow White and Rose Red meets East of the Sun, West of the Moon in an epic jazz-era-inspired fantasy world and it just works!
This author never ceases to amaze me with her ability to blend two different tales into a single story so brilliantly.
Things I loved:
Bastian - I loved him in the first book and I was delighted to spend more time with him, though he is not really the main character of this particular story, I enjoyed what time he did spend on the page
Kona and Roselle - I enjoyed getting to know Bastian’s two sisters, very different from each other, and yet both quite enjoyable characters. Kona, who does the first impulsive thing in her life and goes to help a talking cat, leaving her family members frantic over her disappearance. And Roselle, tagging along with her brother as he investigates their sister’s disappearance and finding that she really has a taste for his line of work along the way.
The plot - I love a good mystery, and I also love good foreshadowing. Being familiar with both stories, I had more than a mild inkling of what might be going on, but it was so much fun to see it mashed up against a 20s era detective story that I was able to get lost in the new take on an old favorite.
4
The SVR Universe by H.L. Burke
H.L. Burke was definitely my most-read author this year, as I read no less than 12 books by this author this year (4 of them were re-reads of her first series, Dragon and Scholar). She is one of the most prolific indie authors I read, and I just love her sort of quirky fun plots and her fantastically human characters. I’m working my way through to catch up on the books in her super hero saga and it’s been a blast and a half.
I highly recommend the entire series, but I’m specifically giving the series the #4 slot for Power Play, my favorite of the SVR books to-date. Super heroes meet a portal fantasy meet D&D…. this book was the most fun I’ve had reading all year. And that’s saying a lot, because I really love reading. But this was exactly the type of nerdy fun I needed at exactly the right moment and I just love it to pieces.
Jake, Laleh, and Marco - three troubled sable (super-abled) teens find themselves at a camp specifically tailored to keeping them on the straight and narrow and out of supervillainy. But Jake (who thinks he’s all steel and ice but is really a cinnamon roll) hasn’t decided if he really wants to be anything other than a supervillain. Laleh (who is kind of a brat with a heart of gold) just wants to be anywhere her mom doesn’t want her. And although Marco (who thinks he’s a marshmallow but really has a spine of iron) is terrified of his powers and grateful for this opportunity to learn how to use them without hurting people, all he really wants to do is go home.
I love them all.
3
Seventh City by Emily Hayse
I read this book early on in the year, but the second I read it I knew it was going to be a hard one to beat, and look at it here up in the top 3!
This book is absolutely gorgeous and completely gripping. The main character, Maki, is such a dear, fierce little wolf cub. Intent on rescuing her brother who was captured by the “invaders” (soldiers who have come to their lands from afar), she disguised herself and then hires herself to the invaders as a horse-boy to stay close to her brother and bide her time.
But as she gets caught up in their adventure, Maki begins to make friends in spite of herself. The farther she travels with them, the more she begins to see them as people, and not just as monster-invaders. But can she and her brother survive such a change of heart?
This story absolutely swept me away…. and THAT ENDING! // *sobbing* all the happy tears... but also so heartbroken... oh man... all the feels with this one, y'all. I'd give it 6 stars if Goodreaads allowed it
2
Vortex by Anne Wheeler
I don’t read a lot of science fiction. I prefer my sci-fi on screen and my fantasy in books. But this story… as soon as I finished it I knew it was going to be somewhere in my top 5.
It’s kind of a Coast Guard based story, but set in space in the distant future of our own Earth. Mars has been colonized, as well as other worlds, and space travel has pretty much been mastered. But when something goes wrong at the outer edges of space, Captain Josiah O’Donnell is called on to investigate.
Wrestling with the ghosts of his last mission that went horribly awry and the deaths weighing on his conscience, Josiah finds himself facing all his old fears… and his ex-wife who has been assigned to his crew. Can he overcome his own personal baggage and do his job, or will this be yet another failure on his record?
Meanwhile, Coralie Frazer is stuck in a living nightmare. On the outer reaches of the galaxy, she has become a food source for her former co-workers, who were strangely altered by an unknown phenomenon on their trip to Etrik, and though she cannot bring herself to call them “vampires” Coralie knows that is exactly what they have become. If she calls for help, will anyone hear? And if they do, will they come rescue her, or be caught in the same trap?
Vampires in space. A sort of military science fiction that reminded me a lot of Stargate. A heaping dose of fantasy that made me feel at home. And characters who absolutely stole my heart.
1
Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus
And here we are at the tippy top of my list. A coveted spot, to be sure, and the highest honor a fantasy book can receive… right?
Ahem.
Okay, maybe not. But it’s the highest honor I can bestow, and Escape to Vindor was definitely my absolute favorite book I read this year. I don’t know if I can even quantify what I loved so much about it.
Megan is such a sweet character, as well as an absolute kindred spirit. As one who created all kinds of imaginary worlds in my head as a kid and wished I could get to them... this story was a little like stepping back into my childhood.
When Megan's mom gets a fantastic new job offer, Megan's world turns upside down. She doesn't want to move away from her home, her school, the few friends she has... but it's not like she has a choice in the matter. Her only solace is Vindor, the world she has spent her entire childhood imagining and perfecting. When life gets too hard, she imagines herself there, not as scared little Megan, but as Selina, the guardian of Vindor who is pretty much fantastic at everything and always knows exactly what to do.
Too bad Vindor is just an imaginary world. Megan would definitely prefer to be there.
Or would she?
On her way home from school one day as the impending move looms closer, Megan finds herself sucked through a portal and into the world she has only dreamed about. At first, she is excited. But Vindor is far more real than she ever could have imagined, and a looming shadow is creeping across the world, threatening Vindor's very existence. And of course, everyone thinks Megan is Guardian Selina and now they're looking to her to solve all their problems.
Suddenly, Megan has far bigger problems on her hands than switching schools.
I loved the mystery of the Shadow and trying to figure out how they were going to resolve the problems in Vindor. I also loved the world-building and the way that Megan has to grow up a lot as she settles into the role that is expected of her and really begins to make friends with the characters she thought were just figments of her imagination.
Megan is one of the most relatable characters I've ever read, and I just got completely swept away by her adventure. Every bit as compelling as the idea of Narnia or Middle Earth, Vindor is a place I would happily adventure around in again and again.
And there you have it. My top 15 (ish) favorite books that I read in 2022.
I am definitely looking forward to reading a lot of sequels and continuing series next year!
What about you, dear Reader? Have you read any of these books? Of the ones you haven’t read, which ones are you most intrigued by now?
What were your favorite reads of 2022?