As always, there are many books I want to read in a year and 2021 is no different. In 2020 I read 49 books and this year that number may decrease a little as I am now working full-time rather than being an MA student, but there are still lots of books I want to get through.
The Burning God by R. F. Kuang
I have read the first two books in R. F. Kuang‘s The Poppy War trilogy which are The Poppy War and The Dragon Republic. If you read my reviews for them you will know that I loved them and can’t wait to finish the trilogy.
I pre-ordered The Burning God but have only just gotten round to starting it. It’s pretty good so far, if a little slower than the others. But it’s hard to make accurate judgements after only 20% of the fantasy book.
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
The first three books in Brandon Sanderson‘s epic fantasy series, The Stormlight Archive are incredible. The Way of Kings was a fantastic introduction to the world, characters and promised a lot of future action and adventure.
Words of Radiance was just as fast-paced as The Way of Kings and it is certainly one of my favourite fantasy books of all time. The third book, Oathbringer, was a little slower and may other readers found it to be lacking in some areas. I agreed to an extent but it is still well worth the read and it has not made me any less excited to read Rhythm of War.
Read all of my Brandon Sanderson book reviews HERE.
Malazan, Malazan, Malazan!
I started this incredible series by Steven Erikson last year and fell in love with everything about it. I have reread the first book and found I enjoyed it even more.
Gardens of the Moon is a brilliant introduction to Malazan, Book of the Fallen. The next two books, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice only increase in scale and wonder. I don’t know why I put the fourth book, House of Chains, down, but it will certainly be picked up again.
The plan is to continue rereading books 2 and 3 before moving onto the rest of the series.
Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
Initially, I struggled to see what fantasy readers saw in Jim Butcher‘s urban fantasy series, The Dresden Files, but after finishing a few entries I fell in love with everything to do with it. The comedy is brilliant, the characters are loveable and real, and the mystery is nostalgic and fun.
Proven Guilty is book 8 in The Dresden Files and my fantasy book reviews for books 1-7 are listed below for you to check out. This series is amazing and even if you don’t like urban fantasy much (as I don’t – I am more of an epic fantasy reader), the worldbuilding grows in the later books and the epicness explodes.
Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1)
Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2)
Grave Peril (The Dresden Files #3)
Summer Knight (The Dresden Files #4)
Death Masks (The Dresden Files #5)
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files #6)
Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)
That is the list of fantasy books I want to read in 2021. I will undoubtedly find more massive tomes to read, but for now I want to focus on these series that I have previously begun and loved so I want to finish them and enjoy those world.
What books are you excited to read this year? Let me know down in the comment section or on Instagram!
