Welcome to Book Devourers Anonymous. Please pull up a chair. This is a safe space of no judgement.
I know we all tried our best to pace ourselves and make it last, and then This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me simply took the reins and happened to us. Intentions were noble, but a Horde can’t change its spots.
Your comments tell me we collectively have a serious case of book hangover. Whether you’ve tried rereads, continuous relistens, or have reached the point of “I tried two other books and neither of them took” confessions: you are not alone.
The cure prescribed is hair of the bookmark that bit you: another story, recommended by a fellow Devourer who understands exactly what we are missing.
Maybe it’s the intricate political games, the dangerous people making spectacular decisions, the found family, the competent heroes. Maybe it isn’t high fantasy or portal fantasy at all, and it doesn’t even have any dukes, but it has the same immersive feeling we’re yearning for as escapism.
Bring your suggestions and requests in the comments below, and let’s get each other through the w*it.
A few gentle guidelines
We’ve run enough of these threads now to know they work better with a little structure.
Please remember that the CTRL+F shortcut is your friend for checking whether your recommended author or title has already been mentioned. Here’s how to use the search on your mobile.
- Keep it recent. We have a wonderfully well-read Horde, and previous threads have given our beloved classics a thorough airing. This time, please stick to books released in the last decade. Everyone already knows of the fabulous Tamora Pierce, Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey. Let’s make room for discovery.
- One recommendation per person. A focused comment is so much more useful to people than an intimidating wall of text. One book, a series, or an author. If someone’s already mentioned your pick, a +1 reply is more useful than a new thread.
I have already removed 10 comments that broke this rule and the post has barely been live for half an hour. 1 book, 1 author or 1 series, please.
- Stay on topic. If someone’s asking for something specific, such as a particular feel, a genre, triggers they want to avoid, please try to match that.
The comments are yours. Help a Hungover Horde: recommend your book cure!
Transcendent Green by Mati Ocha.
LitRPG that’s very light on mechanics.
A miscalculation puts Earth in the way of another planet’s ascension, and the entities in charge of all that assume it will probably destroy humanity due to lack of maturity as a species. Drama ensues.
The magic system rewards community over individual leveling, and it leads to some of the most emotional scenes I’ve ever read. I’m not a crier, especially for joy, but this series moved me to tears.
Main character is a Scotsman with a kitten, primary support character is a Scottish lady with a claymore (the sword). Major found family vibes. Not really funny, but relatively light. Minor romance with zero on-screen intimacy.
Not a book, but finally watched my first C-Drama, Pursuit of Jade on Netflix per IA’s recommendation, and am completely obsessed. Only thing that cured my TKWNKM hangover. Of course, now I need to cure my POJ hangover!! I know IA did a post on C-Dramas and K-Dramas a while ago, but I can’t seem to find it (Mod R plz help!)
Yes, Pursuit of Jade has me in a choke hold right now. It’s so good, even though I was confused by a lot of the political stuff.
OMG. Loved Pursuit of Jade😄! It’s made history with its popularity.
Splendid Match is a new cdrama. Not quite to the level of POJ but good.
For something that’s a ton of fun with good action, humor, and endearing characters, which are all things I love about HA’s writing, Jim Hines’s Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse series is great (Terminal Uprising is the first book). Sci-fi, set after an apocalypse nearly wiped out humanity, where the human janitors of a space-ship have to save the galaxy. I’d also rec Hines’s other adult works (I haven’t read his middle-grade books, but I really liked his adult fantasy), but the Janitors series is great to cure a book hangover 😀
*Terminal Alliance is the first book. Uprising is #2.
Oh, this reminds me I need to read book two. Book one was a lot of fun.
+1
Bookwise, Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden (Bear and the Nightingale, the Girl in the Tower, Winter of the Witch), are really really good. Historical medieval Russian fantasy, kick-ass female character, high stakes plot, with an intriguing slow burn romance (it’s definitely not a romance but the sideplot is there!) Similar to Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver.
The 10 book series by Delemhach starting with The house witch git me over my tkwnkm slump.
Its 3 trilogies and 1 stand alone and follows the Ashowan family. Its a fantasy series with a cozy vibe.
The audiobooks are also very good
+1000 The audiobooks are fantastic.
+1 Yes Delemhach is one of my favorite authors.
I’ve also enjoyed Delemhach’s books
+1 Fantastic interconnect trilogies with a Kraken trilogy to come.
“The Firebird Chronicles” by T.A. White. I love all her series but this is my favorite. It is an ongoing series with the most recent book release this past January.
1. Rules of Redemption (2019)
2. Age of Deception (2020)
3. Threshold of Annihilation (2020)
4. Facets of Revolution (2022)
5. Trials of Conviction (2023)
6. Echoes of Insurrection (2026)
+1
+ whatever number we’re at for The Firebird Chronicles by T.A. White.
Except series! The Broken Lands series and Dragon Ridden are fun too. She’s also posted a serial on her site for side character GUS AND WILL be publishing that Firebird novella soon
Excellent series
+1 I love all of her books. I also recommend the Aileen Travers series, a very different urban fantasy featuring vampires.
Excellent series
+1 came here to say this. Currently re-reading and it’s totally helping with Maggie hangover. It had the world building, found family and witty dialogue that fits right in with House Andrews.
+1000. Amazing serie and can’t wait for the next one. Brilliant world building and character development.
+1000 only frustration is the series is still being written too.
I meant Firebird Chronicles by T.A. White.
The romantic fantasy book series that I was able to get into after this Kingdom is from Helen Scheuerer called Legends of Thezmarr. It has four main novels and two prequels (a short story and a full-length novel) in addition to a spin-off trilogy called The Ashes of Thezmarr. Found on Kindle Unlimited.
I recently got this series, haven’t read it yet but I’m glad you recommended it here. Hopefully I’ll enjoy it too 😊
Yes! I second this one!! Love her books
Cinder House by Freya Marske is the most original Cinderella retelling I’ve read in years. I devoured it in one sitting, and was unsurprised to see it up for a Hugo this year. It packs a lush fantasy story into a compact page count.
It was really good!
+1
Autumn Dawn – Convergence series, she has other series as well.
I suggest “Five Broken Swords” by Mai Cortland. 5 con artists set out to steal a crown and kill a king….This story has multi-
POV that balance violence with humor and empathy. The plot twists keep coming. I was never sure who was being conned. It is a very fun story.
Sue Wilder – Faded Lands series – Malice Moon and Wicked Wind so far.
Not a portal fantasy, but I am fighting my Maggie hangover with the Saint of Steel series by T Kingfisher.
I looked for T. Kingfisher before I posted my comment, and then we both recommended the same books a minute apart. (Saint of Steel/Paladin series is the same thing, for those not familiar.)
+1000
Exactly what I’m doing.
+100 Anything by T. Kingfisher is great.
+1
I love everything I’ve read by T. Kingfisher! I also enjoy her kids books written as Ursula Vernon. ^_^
T. Kingfisher’s books set in the Temple of the White Rat. Start with the Clocktaur Duology, then Swordheart (the sequel comes out later this year,) and then the four books out so far of the Paladin series. This strokes the same neural pathways that IA does, and they all stand up to multiple rereads.
I’m so glad Daggerbound is coming out this summer! +1 to all of this
+1! There’s something similar about the writing style to me – really clean prose, descriptive but not overwrought, good balance between small, personal detail and larger scale worldbuilding. T. Kingfisher is one of the few other authors whose book releases go in my calendar.
+1 yes!! T Kingfisher (these series) 😁
agreed, I read the first ine and then devoured the rest.
+1! esp Swordheart (and I presume Daggerbound) if you are in the mood for romance, snark and effortless worldbuilding. Also, this may not be for you, but I loved Kingfisher’s The Twisted Ones which is a cozy horror Appalachian folklore girlfriend caper featuring a a stinky doofus of a coonhound. Gives a whole new meaning to being a “ride or die” friend. Doesn’t just pass the Bechdel test, Kingfisher writes like that concept doesn’t exist. High creep factor, low gore and only a few disturbing images (like much of Kingfisher there is one really horrible scene but it is critical to the story and pays off).
Love the Paladin series. I need to go back and read the Clockwork books, which I didn’t realize I needed to read first! I discovered T. Kingfisher when I read Nettle & Bone, which I recommend. I just finished Wolf Worm, which I did not really enjoy, tbh.
What got me out of this particular slump were the two Captain Kit novels by Chloe Neill
– The Bright and Breaking Sea and
– A Swift and Savage Tide.
They are magical Napoleonic war naval adventures about a steadfast and (a bit) cheeky sea captain and her crew that gets settled with a veteran duke and go on missions by the Queen.
For me the way the main character is principled, but resourceful, stern but kind and very protective of her crew pulls strong parallels with Maggie and several other IA main characters.
+1
Less than a year old (just), but I devoured “The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association” by Caitlin Rozakis yesterday afternoon as it was raining and I couldn’t go and garden!
I stumbled on it looking for teaching/school related stories in the fantasy genre (and having devoured the Naomi Novak already mentioned, not going to recommend that one again!) and it’s refreshing to see it from the parents perspective…
Essentially, the mother is the POV character, and her five year old has been recently bitten and become a werewolf – cue move to a magical kindergarten (albeit it with subsequent school years also included), with a vampire who trained/wrote the Montessori system when it was first developed; a mysteriously retired headmaster who the new head doesn’t come up to the same level (according to members of the PTA), and a desire from the mother to make her mark – she’s a competent accountant who is taking a career break to sort daughter Aria’s werewolf-ness and naturally becomes the PTA treasurer!
Naturally joining the PTA is only the start of the adventure – cue town-ending prophecies, potentially poisoning other children by accident with chocolate at a pot-luck, and a talent show that brings the roof down…
Definitely from the parents viewpoint, so no lessons for the children etc. and as 5-year olds, they’re present but not main characters.
As someone who loves competent hero/heroine, I loved all of our Authorlords works, plus Modesitt, Weir etc. already mentioned, so this was a new author to try, and I’m happy to recommend it to the horde immediately -it’s refreshing, enjoyable, and I’d love to know if PTAs are really that cut-throat in the US – the one at my own school seems positively tame by comparison.
Now I just need to find a fantasy school/education book from the teachers perspective and I’ll have completed the set – student, parent & teacher!
There was one mentioned in this thread.
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh – magical boarding school, as told by the teacher in charge, I came across this in an earlier post😃
Brill thank you both I must’ve missed that – I’ll go and check it out!
I’d love to know if PTAs are really that cut-throat in the US – the one at my own school seems positively tame by comparison.
I read the book to be able to answer your question, Tom, and am glad I did — good reco!
That horror is not an American thing as such. Certainly that wasn’t my experience, whether in an American upper-middle class, suburban public primary school (kindergarten-6th grade) or in PTAs in a church preschool in Germany (ages 3-7 years) or the private and expensive American-curriculum International School of Brussels (preschool-12th grade). Basically, as with all mostly-female environments, the interpersonal dynamics depend on whether the founding Queen Bees are competitive bitches or happily cooperative.
Both in Brussels —where American mothers set the tone, but the second largest population, for some reason, was Japanese — and in the suburban American public school, the mothers had a high proportion of professional women who had either retired permanently to rear their children or had paused their careers, so were highly trained and professional in their dealings with one another and with the teaching staff. No drama, no games. The German preschool was also no-drama, because that’s how German housewives roll, bless ‘em. Also, that was just teacher-led mom-and-kids activities on Wednesday afternoons, not parent-led support for the teachers and classrooms; I offered to help the way we Americans do, which confused the headmistress utterly — “If we need that kind of thing we will engage a full time aide at standard wages,” she told me.
Not really any of that craft nonsense, either: both schools had a parent-run publishing group that turned the kids’s stories into little printed, bound books that they could illustrate and keep or give as gifts, to encourage them to write; the American school parents had also got a grant from Toyota to stock and provide lesson plans for a science lab after some of our engineer-moms noticed a 6th grade class was being taught direct current/indirect current physics wrong, so the parents (the PTA moms at that time included engineers, doctors, nurses, an architect/city planner, a number of CPAs, a research lab technician, and a sculptress) persuaded the principle (headmistress) to let the parents teach all the science units in a dedicated lab classroom instead, while the teachers concentrated on keeping their students in order. At the same school I was in a subcommittee with a master gardener and a house husband-former Eagle Scout that inventoried and took care of a five acre nature preserve (woods, meadow, vernal equinox breeding pond, bird houses) that the PTA had financed and installed; we collected a thick binder of lesson plans that met the state’s curriculum goals for each grade and subject, allowing the teachers to take advantage of a special resource not available to most schools without any extra effort on their part. The inventory had a computer data base of about 250 animals, plants, and fungi with key information and photos taken on site by the time my younger daughter moved up to the higher school.
Jessie Mihalik. Butt kicking heroines, brooding not-heroes and royal politics in space. Always a comfort read for me.
+1!!!
+1
+1
Yep!
I met Martha Wells at Cosine. Great lady and love her books. However, she is second to my love of your books. I love reading the snippets on your blog . I am concerned that some of Hugh’s have disappeared from the previous blogs. Is there hope that this indicates another book about Hugh?
Judicator Jane by Brian Rouleau. A Literary Role Playing Game adventure. Seven novels in the series so far, with the 8th due out in September. Jane wakes up in a desert in another world and gets to assign status points to different attributes and she chooses to put all 630 of them on luck.
While I love isekai stories, I am not a big fan of LitRPG ones, but Judicator Jane holds its own and is worth a read.
‚Stars Die‘ by Jenny Schwartz starts the Caldryn Parliament Series.
An underdog who becomes a powerful wardkeeper for a parliament that governs a wide sector of the universe, murder mystery, found family, political intrigue, magical worldbuilding. Leadership. And you get a whole lot of Jenny Schwartz‘s backlist to dive into.
+1000 on this. Was going to be my recommendation as well.
W*aiting for the next book!
+1
Absolutely love the Caldryn Parliament series and cannot wait for the next. +1 from me as well!
+1 yes, w*iting for the next one. Love her books!
+1
bonus: she has other, finished series that are great too
I was going to say Caldryn Parliament too. Like everyone else, I’m waiting for the next book which is coming out around the end of June. But Anna mentions other series just above, and since Caldryn Parliament is already mentioned, I’ll add that I’m currently reading Schwartz’s Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist books, and liking them a lot. Hopefully this doesn’t violate the one-series-rule, since Caldryn Parliament was already “taken”. I’m on the fourth book of five in Xeno-Archaeologist, and it’s supposedly a complete series, so almost done.
Totally love her backlist as well
I’ll recommend the “Demon Accords” series by John Conroe! Heaven and Hell, Elves and Aliens. Magic and Action aplenty!
+1.
I wish we had this blog posting earlier. I read alot of different stuff. I saved Theo of golden to read after highly anticipating it. I dragged myself to the end. So I reread tkwnkm. I then read or dnf 8 more books before I was back to normal. I never had such a hangover before. Needs a warning label I think.
p.s. Libby only lets you hold 40 books. I had to make a new tag, want to read. thanks for the suggestions!
I went for a reread of Sebastien de Castell’s greatcoats series. No serious romance but I love swordplay, intrigue and the dark and witty humour of this author’s books.
I love the Greatcoats. And Sebastien de Castell’s newest book Our Lady of Blades (set in Greatcoats world) just dropped today. According to the info it has the same work count as TKWNKM, so will keep me entertained.
A tainted cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – fab fantasy murder mystery
Definitely agree with this. The blurb says it’s an Agatha Christie knock-off, but it’s really much more Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin, at least in the first book – the author says so himself in the notes at the end. The second book does have some allusions to Christie and other golden-age mysteries, but you don’t need to follow mysteries to enjoy it from a fantasy perspective. There’s a third book coming out in August.
edit: “knock-off” was the wrong word choice on my part for sure. Not a knock-off, a nicely done pastiche…
Ooh, I got a fabulous series that was brand new to me. I got the first two books for Christmas and I have now read the 8 book main series, 5 book spin off of one character, the first book an another 4 book spinoff and the first book in a 3rd 4 book spin off of another character. The Series is called the Queen’s Chair by Chloe Garner. The first book is called The Queen’s Chair.
The author has a very interesting take on monarchy, women’s roles and magic elements. Clearly, it got me and I look forward to trying her other series types once I am finish with this one.
Love Chloe Garner—but started her Sci-Fi first! Carbon Chronicles, which is crazy original world building. Love bet characters too! Gotta try her fantasy next
Rachel Neumeier just released Bereket, which is book 12 of her Tuyo series.
Neumeier’s books always have a strong moral theme. The protagonists are people who make the effort to think about right and wrong, and try to make the best morally just decisions they can in complicated situations.
If you like romantic subplots Marag is another book in the Tuyo series that can stand alone. I’ve reread it several times.
+1 (or 2?) for Rachel Neumeier!
Tuyo is wonderful (and Marag is probably my favourite single book in the series), and I can recommend her Black Dog series in urban fantasy as well.
Artifact Space by Miles Cameron (3+ books in the series)
Military/trading sci Fi with a great character set and AI and the story is just so good
So hopefully this is allowed. I cured my hangover with a Royal Road web serial called Super Supportive. It’s does have a teenage MC, but doesn’t read as YA. Set in a world where humanity traded a small portion of the population into servant contracts in return for advanced magical technology. The servants are selected randomly and are given a rank and class which makes them different levels of super heroes. These heroes are strictly controlled and segregated on their own island continent and are only allowed off under contract with specific governments. In addition they can be summoned for pretty much any reason by the alien magic users that created the agreement, including to fight a mysterious chaos. It is a LitRPG, and really slow burn power progression, but the writing is fantastic and it has amazing emotional highs and lows.
+1
I just finished The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst and it felt similar to but distinctly different from our own Innkeeper. It’s more YA, it’s a standalone (I would assume), and it has a cozy, single home feel over a galactic spanning mystery.
I’ve liked her other cozy fantasies, and this one was good enough to get me out of my funk.
+1
+1
+1
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst is also lovely!
so many good books here!
My rec is for a series called A Tale of Stars and Shadows by Lisa Cassidy. A grief-stricken military warrior dealing with the death of her partner is send on bodyguard duty to a foreign country under odd pretexts. She finds her way personally and politically through the four books, relearning to trust her intuition and the people around her. If you like political intrigue you’ll love these – I consider myself well versed in keeping track of characters and their motivations, and I was still thrown off by several twists.
+1 I loved the story lines and plot twists
+1
My all time favourite pick:
*Beware of Chicken by casualfarmer*
It is magical, hilarious and I love the POVs. This will definitely help with the hangover. I’ve never had one like this from any other HA book, ever.
❤️❤️❤️
I agree. It’s always mentioned in blurbs for other authors new books. Great series.
I think no one has mentioned Patricia Briggs latest, Blind Date With a Werewolf. It’s a series of related stories revolving around one of her minor characters. I liked it.
+1
However, you almost need to read pretty much all the Mercy Thompson series to understand why these dates were set up. Otherwise the person who set them up was interesting to find out.
Try Patricia Briggs older stuff like Wolfs bane and masks, sianim books, and her Solsenti/ raven mage books. I enjoyed them more so then her mercy Thompson series which is good just I lost interest. I feel like I unfortunately out grow book series sometimes which is sad.
Love wall of Patricia BRIGGS WORKS
Oooo! This one is on my list! Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite authors.
Agreed Patricia Briggs Mercy Tompson and the Alpha & Omega series are great!
Mercy Thompson series is one of my top 5 series but unfortunately been around awhile so I don’t know if I would consider it recent. I can’t recommend anything because I can get away from my favorites that are 15-20 years going 😂
+1. She writes Asil so wonderfully.
For countless years I have searched for anything new by Patricia Briggs. I have read everything, and hope she keeps writing, so I can keep reading. This goes double for Ilona Andrews!
Australian pick, Touchstone series by Andrea Host. Starts with Stray. An Australian 17yr old walking home from school finds herself in another world, ends up joining a team of psychic space warriors. Competence fic, found family, romance, and even a pet.
+1 from me really enjoyed this series
+1 so underrated!
I will also recommend her other books. Touchstone is a great intro. My favorite book of hers is Pyramids of London. Amazing alternate world building, and some of my favorite characters of any books.
The City Between series by W R Gingell (on KU) Aussie urban fantasy, starts with Between Jobs.
+1
++all in the series, excellent fun but also lighthearted humor for dismal times
+1
Sarah Painter’s “The Crow Investigations” series. Book 10 just came out. She also has other series and I can believe I just found her! Highly recommend!
*can’t
+1 Love this series.
Nathan Lowell Wizard series. I had 1 book signed at Cosine. I stayed up all night to read the current 2 books in the series. I want to tell him to hurry up with the third book. I not going to bother him because I want to restrict his creativity.
Would you mind sharing the title of the first book in this series? Having a hard time finding it. Thanks.
@Kayjay – the first book is The Wizard’s Butler. 2nd is The Wizard’s Cat. I started the audio of the first one today and it’s quite soothing.
The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes is helping me get past the dreaded book hangover. Several books in the series with an interesting take on vampires and other paranormals.
Love this series as well. His Supers series is also amazing.
Stay for a Spell, Amy Coombe. Its very cosy, and written for book lovers.
Just finished this book, very cozy vibes and got me out of a reading slump.
The Checquy series by Daniel O’Malley. The first one came (The Rook) out a little over 10 tears ago anf the fourth (Rowal Gambit) has just been published. Set in a secret British government agency with the responsibility for dealing with paranormal ‘incidents’. Strong characters and a dry wit that really speaks to my sense of humoue.
The first of these, The Rook, is just spectacular — and a great audiobook!
Hell’s Library trilogy by A.J. Hackwith, I love this trilogy.
New Mark Lawrence series (Book of the Ancestor) called The Academy of Kindness. First book is Daughter of Crows, just out and lots of fun.
I definitely recommend Rachel Gillig’s duologies, The Shepherd King – One Dark Window; Two Twisted Crowns – and The Stonewater Kingdom – The Knight and the Moth; book 2, The Knave and the Moon, comes out in September.
Loved the writing, the stories, the fmcs, the surrounding characters (Bartholomew…)!
Medieval gothic fantasy, perfect reads while awaiting for Maggie’s and Breach Wars second books.😘
+1
+1 I absolutely devoured these books. And the first book of her other series. I loved the magic system and the story lines.
Victoria Goddard’s (www.victoriagoddard.ca) The Hands of the Emperor. The main character is a country (islander) bumpkin at the imperial court but that doesn’t do justice to the gorgeous complexity of the world he inhabits, especially how fiercely he holds onto his culture.
Also this is a doorstopper of a book. And there are seeeeeeeequels and spin-offs! Multiple!
Wonderful books. She is a great writer!
+1
I love this book. The complexity, the subtle things that are said and unsaid, the cultural differences and emotional depth, just wow. It all begins with this (description from Amazon):
“A simple act of friendship can change the course of history.
Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god.
He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person.
He has never once touched his lord.
He has never called him by name.
He has never initiated a conversation.
One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday.
The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy.
The acceptance upends the world.”
+1
Yes this is the author I wanted to recommend. And def start with the hands of the emperor. And because not only is the book looong but most of her other books are intertwined there is a loooot of reading material.
The Hands of the Emperor is a great book, and one that you can never fully recapture the joy of reading for the first time. Highly recommended!
+1000! absolutely delightful and having 59 cousins is a bonus
I found The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett to have incredible world building. It is fantasy/mystery so a bit different but just as engrossing. There are two books out now and the series finishes in October.
So good!
a dragon riders guide to retirement by Julia huni. cozy fantasy if that’s a thing? found family. low stakes but lovely characters. romance but plot would still just about hold together without the romance. it was a great palate cleanser. I then went on and read all her other books and enjoyed them too. number of different series
Starside by Alex Aster. It’s basically a quest with lots of monsters and action. Like TKWNKM, it ends on a not-quite-cliffhanger. The very last sentence of the book, the FMC delivers the best closing one-liner I have ever read!
So for something completely different… I have been enjoying Heated Rivalry and other similar type books. (M/m hockey romances)
Yesssss +1 there are some interesting drama wave clips available too but the subscription is expensive. I fell down the rabbit hole of m/m romance Saturday because I was bored. No regrets.
A more SciFi recommendation – Columbas Day by Craig Alanson
Rip in Time series by Kelley Armstrong. protagonist is a detective that ends up in Victorian Edinboro. very nice read.
https://a.co/d/06mY5C4D
I’m going to suggest an obscure author, Julie Midnight!
Found this absolute gem of an author on wattpad of all places, and she’s finally self published the first four books in her Monstrous Hearts series.
Alice goes through some serious stuff, and the magic in this world is very interesting. There’s some spinoffs that I hope get published someday too, they are that good. Highly recommend
(1) Wolf’s Wife
(2) Wolf’s Bane
(3) Wolf’s Kin
(4) Shadow’s Kiss
I recommend a series by Mackey Chandler, that begins with the book Family Law.
Read April first, Family Law ties in later.
The Everlasting, Alice Harrow – 5/5!
Doh – autocorrect Alix, that is!
+1. Braintwister but it pays off.
Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop
I was able to pull out of TKWNKM book hangover reading Lauretta Hignett “Welcome to Midlife Magic” Series. I have since read several of her other series because the strong FMC, fab MMC, great support characters, and literal laugh out loud moments throughout. If you try her other series and meet Dwayne, he will make you want a pet goose.
For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn. Fair warning it is spicy in parts.
+1000! I have read and/or listened to it three times since I bought it in January of 2025, and each time I enjoyed it as much as the first time! You will laugh and you will cry, guaranteed!
Absolutely, this book……!
+1 million! This is the only book that had me laughing and crying multiple times while reading in recent memory.
I was coming here to recommend his!
Contracts & Cats by Toni Binns (Subtitle: MEOW: The Magical Emporium of Wares)
Our lovely MC is hired to run what seems to be a combination bookstore and coffee shop. There are rules:
Do Not Upset the Cat
The Cat is Always Right
Do Not Go Behind the Counter
Do Not Upset the Cat
This is important. You do NOT want the cat mad at you.
Michelle Manus’ Guardian series on Audible is very addictive
In my post TKWNKM phase I found the Collegium series by Jenny Schwartz. The first book is “Demon Hunter”, which I found on Hoopla. A fun paranormal romance series in an alternate earth with magic, weres, and demons. Their are 6 books in the series that felt like novellas, for quick fun reads.
Ben Aaronovitch, Rivers of London series. Truly delightful. Crime and magic, thrill and humour. Great ensemble. The Audible reader is magic.
+1
+1
A giant +1 for this series, it’s so engaging and I loved the world building and the scientific approach to magic.
+1
The Sunbolt Chronicles by Intisar Khanani. Her Dauntless Path series is also amazing.
+10 yes such an underrated series! I like Sunbolt so much, and it’s so good, and yet so few have heard of it.
Her writing is very reminiscent of Tamora Pierce
A song to wake a thousand sorrows by Michelle Manus. It’s the first of the duology but it’s incredible and I can’t believe there aren’t more reviews for it
I recommend ‘The Phoenix Feather’ series (4 books) by Sherwood Smith. I’m really terrible at summarizing, so here is what Amazon says:
“In the grand tradition of martial arts fantasies, The Phoenix Feather begins twenty-five years after a pair of lovers ran for their lives from an angry prince and washed up on an island where they adopted new identities—and found themselves blessed by an omen promising great things, a single golden phoenix feather.
Their eldest child, a natural martial artist like his father, seems destined for those great things. The second son, an artist and a dreamer, has no desire for greatness—he wants to be left alone to paint. And the youngest, a daughter, used to wearing her brothers’ castoffs and trotting at their heels, is the least promising, always scamping her studies in favor of sword lessons and play.
All three vowed to keep their parents’ dangerous secret. But in this first volume, Fledglings, the family learns that sometimes children must follow their own paths…”
It has adventure, romance (slow burn), flying swords, pirates, political intrigue, and so much more. Slow to start, but worth it.
I loved this series too!
Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibanez
I have a love hate relationship with the Libby app. It seldom has authors I search for (currently have 54 on the Notify Me If Library Ever Gets This setting). But it does force me to branch out into other things.
This book was a surprise. Set in an alternate of renaissance Italy, where magic wars with church. Slow enemies to friends with a couple of series twists. Even a man-in-the-garden type character
Nuns in space! Lina Rather’s series, Our Lady of Endless Worlds, follows the Sisters of the Order of St. Rita as they travel around space helping people by doing things like performing marriages, baptisms, dealing with medical issues, etc. Because of the distances, they are allowed to perform rites previously limited to priests.
Several decades earlier, the Four Systems had revolted against governance from earth and won. Now, Earth is trying to regain control. The books show how the political issues affect the sisters’ and their work, and how their faith (or lack of it) affects everything they do.
It’s also fun watching them deal with a living spaceship.
There are currently 2 novellas:
Sisters of the Vast Black
Sisters of the Forsaken Stars
I recommend the Empire of Stars series by Melissa J Cave. The first book is Traitor Son. Complex world, found family, rich side characters, tons of political intrigue. Much more spice. Heroine is not like Maggie, however! Ophele is painfully shy and does not really gain confidence until later in the series.
The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating (and other war crimes) by Tiffany Hunt. Humor, snark, and sarcasm. Also, a woman who claims her power.
Loved it!
Sarah Hoyt: No Man’s Land: Volume 1 (Chronicles of Lost Elly)
Really long — she had to break it into three books, released two weeks apart last fall. Two more volumes are promised. And since she is self-published, there isn’t the wait to fit the publisher’s marketing schedule.
I bought it because I really enjoy the author, despite being skeptical about the premise, but she exceeded expectations. Heroics, found family, very unexpected love, baking. Also the writer who sent me here as a book reco, so I am forever grateful.
The blurb, because I’m not good at describing stories:
Sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.
On a lost colony world, mad geneticists thought they could eliminate inequality by making everyone hermaphrodite. They were wrong. Catastrophically wrong.
Now technology indistinguishable from magic courses through the veins of the inhabitants, making their barbaric civilization survivable—and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Kayel Hayden, Viscount Webson, Envoy of the Star Empire—Skip to his friends— has just crash-landed through a time-space rift into the middle of it all.
Dodging assassins and plummeting from high windows was just the beginning. With a desperate king and an archmagician as his only allies, Scipio must outrun death itself while battling beasts, traitors, and infiltrators bent on finishing what the founders started: total destruction.
Two worlds. One chance. No time to lose.
MaySage is a wonderful prolific author. I recently read her newest series To the Cruel Gods and enjoyed it immensely. Laugh out loud banter and great cast of characters. They are written in duets which was a plus for me.
I am a big fan of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs. Modern day with magic. Might seem like a better next read for Inkeeper fans than for Maggie fans, but it somehow has the same “tough world with people making it right” vibe to me. A unique magic system, interesting exploration of family bonds, really bad bad guys, intersecting plots, tragedy, danger, and a bit of romance.
+1, really enjoyed this book as well. also, great title!
If you liked the Innkeeper Chronicles, check out the Kennedy Rain series by Sandy Williams.
I am a huge fan of a portal fantasy, and I have been absolutely spoiled with the sheer amount of transmigration books that Seven Seas has published under their danmei selection. Thrice Married to Salted Fish quickly catapulted to the top of my favorites list thanks to the slow burn romance underscored by the transmigration aspect…it made me cry so unexpectedly, but it was genuinely so very touching. The final volume of the English translation is set to be published later this year.
As an aside, after devouring TKWNKM along with the rest of the horde, I went back to my roots to read from The Edge through the Innkeeper Chronicles and remember just why I fell in love with Ilona & Gordon’s writing in the first place. I can’t tell you how many times these books have saved my life and given me hope again over the past 15 years of reading them on the blog and in print. I’m so happy that Maggie finally got her time to shine after starting from a seed of an idea here and blossoming under all of our encouragement and love for the imaginations of our beloved author duo. I’ve grown up with your books and my whole world is irrevocably changed by them in the best way. Truly these stories keep me going each day and it is a gift and a treasure to be a part of the BDH. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for that, and a thousand congratulations for every success y’all have found with Maggie and her own beloved author’s world. All of my love to Mod R for your years of dedication to the blog as our most cherished BDH standard bearer. Also, happy belated mother’s day! May you enjoy the relaxation and contentment y’all deserve for everything you do.
+1 on Thrice Married to a Salted Fish. Can’t wait for the next 2 books to come out.
I also really enjoyed Seven Sea’s The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish by Xue Shan Wei Hu. All 4 books are out.
When Li Yu falls asleep reading a webnovel about a ruthless, mute tyrant falling in love with a dainty male concubine, he doesn’t expect to wake up inside the world of the novel–especially not as a fish!
Li Yu soon finds himself adopted as Prince Jing’s pet carp, tasked by a less-than-helpful Magic System with preventing the prince from becoming a cruel tyrant. If he can accomplish this mission, Li Yu will regain his human form. Yet how can he succeed from inside a fish bowl?!
Well said, Diana Prince!
The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher.
The series started many years ago and it’s taken several years for him to get back to it but the lates novel (Twelve Months) and novella (Outlaw) are entirely worth the wait and read.
+1 !!! 🙂
Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles Book 1) by T.A. White has everything I feel like BDH would like. World building, powers and ethos. I think you’d all gobble up the whole series.
I’ve also greatly enjoyed this series.
+1
+1
+1
+1
The Poison Daughter – Sheila Masterson
From Amazon KU description, a stand alone novel:
To err is human. To avenge is Divine.
Every person Harlow Carrenwell kisses dies immediately, and that’s the way she likes it. The poison-lipped youngest daughter of Lunameade’s magical founding family has used her power to annihilate their opposition.
Her first husband is in the ground. Her new betrothed is next.
But the merry widow has a secret. When she’s not acting as an assassin at her parents’ whims, she moonlights as a vigilante for abused women in their walled-off city.
Meet a man. Lure him in. Kill him with a kiss. Until one night Harlow kisses a mark and he doesn’t die.
Worse, her invincible partner in passion is her new betrothed, Henry Havenwood, and now he knows about her double life. Instead of selling her out and bringing the rival families to blows, he does something much more sinister—whisks her away to wed in his wild mountain fort.
Harlow doesn’t trust Henry, but the only way to protect her family and the city of Lunameade is to figure out what his family is planning.
Cursed with a husband she can’t kill and trapped in a fort miles of vampire-infested woods from home, Harlow’s survival requires her to do the impossible: Make the man who knows she’s a killer fall in love with her anyway.
This was so good I couldn’t put it down.
The last quarter of this book will tear your heart out. It’s definitely one of the most gripping books I’ve read in a long time. My only issue is that it’s almost like they tied a great fantasy novel and a bdsm/kink erotica together. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. I can love some heavy spice, but it has to work — and I wasn’t sure it always did. I also resent that I can’t recommend it to some people, because they’d find it very off putting. BUT, IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT, IT IS FABULOUS, INCREDIBLY GRIPPING STORYTELLING.
+1 extremely well written. I want a sequel. Also the plot twists and character development was phenomenal.
Impact winter audiobook is mindblowing. It’s an amazing production, with crazy good actors including Holliday Granger (Cormoran Strike series) and Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones). Pretty much the gold standard for me when it comes to audiobooks.
The storyline is all about this cataclysmic event that plunges the world into darkness. Vampires take over with the few surviving humans in hiding.
And the first season is free on prime and youtube.
Honestly, I’d highly recommend it.
This is season one trailer, the whole vibe is so good..
https://youtu.be/79×63-Gbmxg
I’ve been enjoying the Practical Guide to Socery series by Azalea Elllis. The first book is A Conjuring of Ravens.
I have been searching and searching. Without the old, wonderful true authors, I would be lost. I try to read so many new authors to support them, but how can the poor people compare to Ilona Andrews? They have some good ideas, but poor development. The characters have promise but turn into cardboard. Tropes are like AI quicksand instead of sailing on the Sea of Ingenuity and Creativity.
AI is NOT A MUSE!! We desperately need true Muses, editors, and publishers to step back into the fray.
So, I am Finally rereading Maggie for the first time. I really tried, BDH!
I decided to write this cold turkey. I thought, “If I can’t remember an author or book title without looking it up, then it isn’t BDH quality.” Everything that comes to mind is either HA or older that ten years. Now, to read the comments. Hopefully I can +1 or find new treasures.
Thank you, thank you, Mod R, for understanding.
I really love Michelle Diener and her Series “Calling the Change”, its Fantasy Romance mixed with Aliens. It has a strong Heroine and great World building.
Oops, the Series is called “Sky Raiders”, Calling the Chane is a Book Title in the Series.
+1! Yaassss… her Class 5 series is one of my favorites. And don’t even get me started on The Rising Wave!
For political intrigue, murder mystery, and k-drama lovers, read Sophie Kim’s The God and the Gumiho.
+1 loved this book
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren. Romance with a very funny start, also is pretty steamy and sweet.
Mark of the Fool, by J.M. Clarke. There’s 10 books, and I believe they’re all in Kindle Unlimited. It’s pure fantasy, no isekai, but a really good series. An ancient evil comes back to a land, and the MC recieves one of the 5 heroic marks… but instead of being useful, he’s marked as the Fool.
I highly recommend The Artificer series by Marcus Cass. This portal progression fantasy takes place in an alternate Russia. Interesting magic system. Book 9 is due out this month. Each book completes a challenging artifact, and there’s an ongoing plot thread. Some humorous moments. A very enjoyable read.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. A YA fantasy book, about found family but still very different from Maggie. It is about an Earth where magical children are housed away from the normals in “orphanages” and overseen by a soulless bureaucracy. Sweet and funny and it’s free this month on Kindle Unlimited; I picked it up because I heard it has been optioned for a TV series by Warner Animation.
Oh, and I meant to say, it has won all kinds of awards! There’s a sequel, too.
+1 for the first book, but I didn’t love the sequel so much. I don’t know if he’s gonna write any more books in the series.
The Unconventional Heroes Series (And Side Stories) by L. G. Estrella – very entertaining series. Helped with my withdrawal symptoms. With a dragon, ninja rats, kung fu cat, pyro elf, a necromancer and shadow master in the picture … what more can you ask for?
+1
For court intrigue in a world with magic, JD Evans’ Mages of the Wheel series is beautifully written and imagined. First book Reign & Ruin.
Yes Yes Yes
+1
+1
Demon Overlord’s Retirement Plan
Book by M H Foster
This series is really funny. The inner monologue had me laughing out loud. I offer this as a third choice as the Murderbot and Dungeon Crawler Carl series as book suggestions are already taken!
Yes this was hilarious and the recent in the series was a brilliant addition
Had to read this while alone, due to my also frequently laughing out loud, just like @Elizabeth above. +1
Two more books in the series out now for a total of three, and there’s pretty clearly another coming, based on the not-too-awful “hill-hanger” (rather than a nasty “cliff-hanger”) at the end of the latest one.
Major bhajan series and dust knights by Catherine Asaro. The down deep city and inhabitants are written about so superbly. Tech , noir , some romance , strong fmc, strong emotions one of my favourite series to re read.
Love the Major Bhajan character and her efforts to improve the people of the Down Deep.
+1
Matt Dinniman’s “Dungeon Crawler Carl” series is my latest obsession. First book, Ch 1 you are like… wait what?!? Also there’s an amazing talking Cat!! 🙂 There are several books and they are all HUGE. Happy reading!!
The Sunbolt Chronicles by Intisar Khanani. This first book is called Sunbolt. It’s an entertaining YA series about a young thief / hidden mage who is a member of a resistance movement. It seems like it will has many common tropes, but is interesting and unexpected, worth a read!
+1 indeed, some lovely surprises!
Priestess (Gods of Tintar) by Kara Voorhees Reynolds
The Space Janitor series by Julia Huni is wonderful.
I really loved this book too!
I don’t know if I am repeating it but Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness was thrilling , a richly woven story with history and romance and of course witchcraft . I loved her descriptive narrative that took you through the ages .
The netflix series the books were based on, was also pretty good 🙂
The series Discovery of Witches came after the books.
+1
+1
John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga that was released in 2021.
It’s Vikings and norse gods inspired!
It took a while to get into it but after that whee!
+1 Absolutely brilliant on audio
I don’t think this has been mentioned yet, but I just finished the audio version of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. My bf took me to see the movie and I loved it so I decided to give the book a go.
The Chronicles of St Mary’s by Jodi Taylor. Not pure fantasy, per se, but they feature time travel (with a decent amount of editorializing…ha!), really well written characters, and a lot of hilarious, dry British snark. I’ve reread them nearly as many times as I’ve read all of Ilona Andrews’ books, which is saying something!
+1 yes yes yes! One of the funniest series I’ve ever read, Lots of great historical content, Characters are so endearing, and the author is so talented. Could not recommend more.
+1!
+1
Godswar: A Comedic Urban Fantasy (The Many Travails of John Smith Book 6) Kindle Edition
by Chris Tullbane
I love the whole series and am in the process of rereading all the books after reading the latest book
Anything written by Nalini Singh. She has several series out as well as some stand alone mysteries. I am as passionate about getting her new books as I am about any from House Andrews.
+1
+1 Guild Hunter series (last book came out this month) & Psy-Changeling series
Pursuit of Jade by Tuan Zi Lai Xi. About a pig butcher who found a dying man who turned out to be a famous warlord.
+1
The Inkeeper Series from Ilona Andrews. Sweep of the Blade is my favorite but read them all in order. They’re wonderful!
I’d like to suggest ‘Midlife Recorder’ by Linzi Day. Set in Gretna Green, on the Scotland England border, it is a story of Niki, a woman still recovering from the deaths of a manipulative husband and of her only living relative, her grandmother. She discovers that her grandmother was the custodian of a Gateway into the lost kingdoms of the Celtic peoples and that she is expected to succeed her. Very well written with strong characters and a sense of humour, this is an entrance into a fascinating and well thought out world where Niki faces not only challenges from the rulers of those worlds but also her own struggle to discover her true self.
I love this author, waiting patiently for Half an Orange the next in the series
Yes, I knew this author and series had to be here! +1(000). Highly recommended.