Best Fantasy of 2025
Including The Devils
Place of birth: Nillambe, Kandy
I have not attempted to write an earlier review of the Mortal Instruments series simply because I had nothing nice to say. While I adored Clockwork Angel and, despite the stark similarities between Will Herondale and Jace Lightwood, I still preferred the former to the latter. Will’s superiority complex seemed out of place and ridiculously ...
8.5/10
I just finished Gwenda Bond’s Woken Gods. Yes, it’s about gods and yes, they have awakened!I’m talking all the gods you could possibly imagine, especially the ones whose names you cannot pronounce and the ones you did not even know existed. Now try to imagine the chaos!Being a fan of Rick Riordan I naturally felt ...
8.0/10
My Vampire Creator told me this: "Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?’ I didn't then, not really.Julie Kagawa’s vampires do not glow in the dark.Isn’t that enough?No, fine then here’s more....
8.3/10
Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living - one without massacres and torn throats and bonfires of the fallen, without revenants or bastard armies or children ripped from their mothers' arms to take their turn in the killing and dying. Once, the lovers lay entwined in the moon's secret t...
9.6/10
So, Artemis Fowl’s last stand?When I read the first Artemis Fowl book, I was maybe twelve years old. At the time, rushing through it, I didn’t understand much, only that this was a new kind of hero, one that did not always think about others and do what he did to benefit anyone other than himself.Over time, this kind of...
4.0/10
Nobody leaves Osiris. Osiris is a lost city.She has lost the world and the world has lost her…Rising high above the frigid waters, the ocean city of Osiris has been cut off from the land since the Great Storm fifty years ago. Most believe that Osiris is the last city on Earth, while others cling to the idea that life still s...
7.5/10
At first glance, Jay Kristoff's new Japanese Steampunk novel almost looks too good to be true. Japanese Steampunk?! I really didn't know what to make of it. Being someone who has read manga since 5th grade and a constant Japanese related addict, I wasn't sure how to accept a westerner's interpretation of the Asian world, simply b...
8.0/10
‘It was just another normal morning in space,’ aboard the floating house aptly named Larklight, orbiting good, old earth like your nosy, next door neighbour. It was also normal that the gravity generator within the house was malfunctioning for the umpteenth time and Arthur Mumby, our narrator with plenty of wit and bucketloads of res...
9.0/10
Philip Reeve’s imagination is something I hold in high esteem. And what could make the deal sweeter than the amazingly intricate illustrations from the talented pen, or pencil, of David Wyatt – who happens to be the favoritest of illustrators in this or any other universe!Larklight, the first book in the outer space adventures...
9.0/10
As of today, until I come across something equally enjoyable, Fever Crumb is my most favourite book!That’s a pretty big commitment coming from someone who treats fantasy novels as an extent of her own being, but it is true. I am completely blown away by Philip Reeves’ first book in the prequels to the famous Mortal Engines qua...
9.7/10
It’s a Cinderella story set in a post-apocalyptic future and the Cinderella in question is Cinder Linh; the best mechanic in New Beijing who is also a… wait for it… cyborg! An interesting read? I most definitely think so!Amazon.com describes the book thus. “Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Bei...
8.7/10
“While the day belongs to the humans, the night belongs to yokai, supernatural creatures that thrive on human fear.”This is not the beginning of a book based on Disney’s Monsters Inc, rather the opening lines from the manga (Japanese comic), written by Hiroshi Shiibashi. It is one of my favourite, lesser known manga&rsqu...
9.0/10
The one thing that Percy Jackson has, that makes him stand out among the many, dashing modern fantasy heroes is his wonderful sense of humour. I had forgotten this because the last Rick Riordan book I read did not feature Percy, but the rather brooding Jason Grace. The opening lines of The Son of Neptune, the second book in The Heroes of Olympus...
8.9/10
In my previous review of The Clockwork Prince’s predecessor, The Clockwork Angel, I left no doubt that while I don’t like The Mortal Instruments; Clare has won me as a fan of her brilliantly written prequels about the Nephilim in The Infernal Devices. Clockwork Angel was a pleasing read of contemporary fantasy and I liken it to the w...
8.5/10
Lost Voices is a dark, heart-rending entwinement of the power of music and the ethereal beauty of mermaids, fleshed out by the cruel tendencies of a human heart.If I had to pick one word to describe Sarah Porter’s brilliant creation, it would be, ‘beautiful!’ Painful, yes! Full of the untold darkness that could envelope ...
8.9/10
What made The Princess Diaries such a resounding hit is exactly what makes this new story of a mermaid’s quest for a human fiancé a must read series: the quirky, independent, kick-butt narrative complete with a widely used fish terminology of the heroine mermaid, Princess Waterlily.Lily is living with her Aunt Rachel, on land...
8.6/10
Frankly, after the Twilight bomb, I have tried my best to steer clear of ‘Young Adult Fantasy,’ which has become another term for ‘Sappy Supernatural Hokum.’Despite all the hype that surrounded Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I studiously avoided it, kept my eyes lowered, even though the blue and g...
9.0/10
Recently, modern spin-offs of classic fairy tales have become a major hit with both the young and old. Why? Because no matter how old you are, you can’t ever leave behind the joys of childhood and the tales your mum or dad read to you as you fell asleep.The first modern spin-off of a fairy tale that I read and loved was the famous E...
8.0/10
After reading the blurb on the back of Cassandra Clare’s The Clockwork Angel, my first reaction was – Oh no! Not again!Why? Because it reads, ‘…Drawn ever deeper into their world, she [Tessa Gray] finds herself fascinated by – and torn between – two best friends…’Seriously,...
7.5/10
Artemis Fowl was the first fantasy I read that was not about the green eyed, charismatic orphaned wizardling. I was probably around twelve and frankly I didn't understand a thing! So I did what most kids my age would do, I went on to read Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident. I didn't understand that either, but I loved Captain Holly Sho...
9.0/10
Including The Devils
Including Hell Bent
Including Babel, Fairy Tale
Including She Who Became the Sun, The God is Not Willing, A Marvellous Light and The Shadow of the Gods
Including The Unspoken Name, Age of Empyre, The Once and Future Witches and The Trouble with Peace
Including A Brightness Long Ago, The Raven Tower, The 10,000 Doors of January and Beneath the Twisted Trees
Including Circe, The Ember Blade, The Fall of Gondolin and The Poppy War
Including The Fall of Arthur, The Stone Sky, Godsgrave and Tarnished City
Including All the Birds in the Sky, Nevernight, Wrath and Fellside
Including The Hollow Boy, Ancillary Mercy, Half the World and Ruin
Including The Slow Regard of Silent Things, Fool's Assassin, Words of Radiance and The Oversight
Including Emperor of Thorns, The Shining Girls, The Republic of Thieves and The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Including Some Kind of Fairy Tale, King of Thorns, The Wind Through the Keyhole and The Killing Moon