Every year I put together an article talking about the best science fiction and fantasy novels I’ve read over the last twelve months (here’s 2021’s article), and this year is no different – welcome to my Best SFF Books of 2022 article! Over the years I’ve tweaked how I approach this task, and this year I’ve decided to keep it nice and simple. No honourable mentions, no exhaustive top 20, just the 10 books that I’ve enjoyed reading the most in 2022. As usual, I’ve restricted myself in this to books published in 2022, so you won’t find any old classics here (or even books published only a year or two ago) – just great books that were released this year. The only criteria I went by were that they had to be SFF books (or SFF/horror crossover) – whether aimed at adults or a YA audience – and they had to be books that I enjoyed so much I would wholeheartedly recommend them.
So without further ado, here are my top 10 SFF books of 2022 – note that I’ve listed these in the order I read them, rather than any kind of specific ranking.
Braking Day by Adam Oyebanji
A brilliant tale of deep-space travel upon the generation ship Archimedes, I’m actually tempted to say that this is the best book I’ve read all year (despite reading it way back in March). The premise is fantastic – a generation ship making preparations for finally slowing down as it approaches its destination, tensions rising within the stratified crew, and one young officer worrying that he’s going mad as he starts seeing impossible things. It’s a fascinating story full of wonderful characters exploring what life might be like for those who have only ever known the constraints of a starship. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a dichotomy of beauty and terror as I did reading Oyebanji’s portrayal of space and the fragility of life on board the Archimedes, but the world building is so clever and so vibrant that I still sort of wish I could experience it for myself! It’s also just a really smart plot, and if you have any interest in space-set sci-fi then I really can’t recommend this enough.
Check out my review of Braking Day
Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings
Another fantastic space-based sci-fi novel, this takes a very different approach featuring accidental time travel, corporate bureaucracy, a huge history nerd, and some very unexpected – and unwilling – heroes. I loved the sense of hopefulness that runs throughout this story, which really sets it apart from a lot of space opera (although there’s plenty of danger, with stakes that are both personal and wider-reaching), and likewise the clever approach Hutchings takes to time travel. Forget the usual timey-wimey cliches, this is a smart approach to the subject that keeps things nicely focused on the characters and the dilemma they face, becalmed inside some kind of deep-space rift. Somehow Hutchings manages to balance four point of view characters and give each of them plenty to do as well as rich, intriguing back stories to explore, and all told there’s a beautiful mixture of personal drama, big questions, and endearing warmth.
Check out my interview with Ren Hutchings discussing Under Fortunate Stars
Check out my review of Under Fortunate Stars
Equinox by David Towsey
I can’t think of many ideas in fantasy novels that have gripped me as much as the concept of day and night siblings in Equinox – a world where every body plays host to two personalities, one of which is awake during the day and the other during the night. With that as the backdrop, this is a tale of day/night brothers Christophor (a witch hunter) and Alexsander (a musician), who travel to a small town when Christophor is tasked with finding and stopping a witch whose magic is having some fairly gruesome effects. This is a pretty dark and grisly book in places, with some great world building and creepy magic, but it’s the complexity and intriguing implications of the day/night siblings that really makes it sing. Christopher and Alexsander are fascinating characters, each aware of the other but never able to actually meet, but the ways they interact are just so interesting! If you have any interest in horror-tinged fantasy, I really can’t recommend this enough.
Check out my interview with David Towsey discussing Equinox
Check out my review of Equinox
Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The third Locked Tomb book was supposed to be Alecto the Ninth, but it ended up being Nona the Ninth instead (Alecto is still to come), and while this bonus novel is undoubtedly weird – what else would you expect – I’m so glad to have read it. I really can’t say too much about it without risking spoilers (honestly, writing my review of this was HARD), but suffice to say it features some familiar characters in unexpected ways, and in Nona herself introduces a character who’s strange even for this series, but utterly adorable and absolutely fascinating. I can see how this might not appeal to readers who just want answers, but the way I see it is that I’m all in on this series – the more the merrier, and any chance to explore its world and its characters in greater depth, and unexpected ways, is very welcome. I still have a lot of questions, even after reading this twice, but now I’m even more excited to read Alecto!
Check out my review of Nona the Ninth
Against All Gods by Miles Cameron
I feel like maybe I’ve gone off ‘epic fantasy’ a bit in recent years, but – perhaps swayed by one of the coolest titles I’ve come across in a long time, or maybe because I’d been meaning to read something by Cameron for ages – I took the plunge with Against All Gods, and absolutely loved it. This is epic fantasy mixed with historical fiction, in a Bronze Age-inspired setting full of scheming gods and unwilling heroes, which sees a rash ‘young’ god kill the wrong mortal and set off a chain reaction that pushes a group of mortals into taking a stand…which may or may not be exactly what another god wanted. It’s a pacy, gripping plot full of action and excitement, in many ways a classic ensemble fantasy story, but the depth of the world building and the depth of Bronze Age influences that inform the setting really help make this stand out. It reads like vintage fantasy crossed with a love letter to real-world history, in the best possible way, and I loved it.
Check out my review of Against All Gods
Mindwalker by Kate Dylan
I don’t read as much YA fiction as I should, because it tends to be a lot of fun, and Mindwalker is exactly that – it’s a breathless blast of action-packed sci-fi fun, but beneath the surface it’s also deceptively dark and genuinely powerful. It’s the story of 18 year-old Sil Sarrah, whose training and high-tech mods – all provided by a definitely-not-dodgy corporation – allow her to take control of field agents’ minds and help them out of sticky situations. The only problem is, sooner or later she knows those same mods are going to kill her. And when things go awry, and she ends up on the run from her own people, she starts to gain a new perspective on what her life is really like. It really is a lot of fun, but there are some properly dark themes here as well, asking questions about choice and consent, about over-reliance on technology, and about the dangers of unchecked capitalism. Come for the tech and the snark, stay for the great characters and the difficult, intriguing questions.
Check out my review of Mindwalker
Priest of Crowns by Peter McLean
I included book three in Peter’s War for the Rose Throne series – Priest of Gallows – in last year’s Best of SFF article, and I’m not even slightly surprised to be including the fourth and final book in this year’s post. This series is incredible, and while Priest of Crowns definitely doesn’t offer a happy ending, it does provide exactly the right conclusion, full of danger and tension and, most of all, a lot of blood. After all that’s gone before, after Tomas Piety’s rise from military priest and gangster to Queen’s Man, governor and knight, this is really the end game. Determined to safeguard his country from the looming threat of war and the fearful presence of Dieter Vogel, Tomas has to decide how far he’s prepared to go, while questioning who he can trust and who – or what – he really wants to be. I spent most of the book wound tight with nerves over what was going to happen to all of my favourite characters, and while I won’t give any spoilers I will just say that this is a bleak, powerful ending. I honestly can’t recommend this series enough!
Check out my interview with Peter McLean discussing the War for the Rose Throne series
Check out my review of Priest of Crowns
The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard
Sapphic space opera featuring pirates and mind ships, a beautiful Vietnamese-inspired setting, and a complex, utterly believable romance, The Red Scholar’s Wake is a fantastic story and a brilliant example of what science fiction can be. Forget the usual technology and grand world building that space opera often focuses on, this is much more focused on character drama and cultural observations, exploring the unconventional relationship that terrified scavenger Xich Si and grieving mind ship Rice Fish struggle to build as their worlds shift around them. The politics and realities of life as a pirate are endlessly fascinating, but the dynamic between Xich Si and Rice Fish is what this book is really about, exploring an utterly compelling power dynamic that brings the two of them together regardless of the physical differences between them, but also sets paradoxes that at times seem insurmountable. Whether you’re a fan of de Bodard’s Xuya series or not, if you enjoy thought-provoking science fiction this is absolutely one to get hold of.
Check out my review of The Red Scholar’s Wake
Even Though I Knew the End by CL Polk
I love a good novella, and with its 1940s Chicago setting mixed with angels, demons, blood magic and secret societies, this is a fantastic example of the format. It really leans into the ‘40s noir vibe, with the main character – Helen Brandt, a sort of magical private eye – telling her story in a rough and ready first person, and bringing this world to evocative life. It starts off with Helen begrudgingly on the trail of the deadly White City Vampire, but before long begins to dig into her past and her relationships (both familial and romantic), and the deal she made with the devil which is about to come due. It packs a lot into a small space, zipping through the plot and cleverly, efficiently building up a vivid world and compelling characters, all sharp style and deceptive darkness. On the one hand I’d love to read more about this setting and these characters (and some readers might wish this was a full novel), but on the other hand the novella constraints are a big part of what makes this work – it’s concise, and focused, and just a great little read.
Check out my review of Even Though I Knew the End
Leech by Hiron Ennes
This was a real surprise standout for me, a book which sounded interesting on paper but turned out to be something very special and very, very weird. Part gothic horror, part psychological/creature feature/body horror, and completely and utterly bizarre, it’s set in a strange world where a single gestalt entity has taken over the bodies of every single medical professional, calling itself The Institute. When one of its bodies dies in a bleak, snow-shrouded chateau, the replacement it sends finds itself cut off and alone, caught up in a battle against an unexpected competitor – a new parasite, that’s as tenacious as it is terrifying. With Peter Fehervari’s Dark Coil the closest comparison I can think of, it’s a story told in hauntingly beautiful prose that explores its setting and its ideas with single-minded clarity and integrity, building up a palpable sense of creeping dread and taking things in genuinely unexpected directions. It’s so strange, so creepy, and so unbelievably good, but very difficult to accurately describe without giving spoilers!
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There you go – those are the ten books that stand out to me as my favourites from 2022. Looking back at these and writing up a few more thoughts on each has reminded me just how much I loved all 10 of them. They really are fantastic reads! If you haven’t already read them all, I’m hoping I’ll have persuaded you to pick up at least one or two of these. Do let me know in the comments below, or over on Twitter, what your favourites were in 2022!
By the way, if you’re a Warhammer fan you might have noticed that I haven’t included any Black Library books on this list, but don’t worry. I thought I’d keep BL and non-BL books separate, so check out my Best of Black Library 2022 article to find out which Warhammer books I enjoyed the most this year.
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