20 Genre-Defying Fantasy Books You Won’t be Able to Put Down

20 Genre-Defying Fantasy Books You Need to Read

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I emotion Gideon the Ninth, mostly due to the fact that of however good it blends each these antithetic genres. It’s inherently a abstraction opera. But necromantic magic is precise important, and it has elements of fearfulness and enigma too. The publication follows the eponymous Gideon, an accomplished swordswoman who is recruited by her nemesis Harrow successful bid to go 1 of the Emperor’s trusted necromancers. Gideon is present Harrow’s cavalier, adjacent though they hatred each other’s guts. Now they person nary prime but to enactment unneurotic if they privation to unearth (and survive) the mysteries of the First House.

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We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

Moving connected to an unthinkable publication that is told successful an unconventional format — a archetypal idiosyncratic plural narrator! But that’s not the lone happening antithetic astir Barry’s novel. It besides mixes humanities fabrication with magical realism to archer a communicative astir a sports team. We Ride Upon Sticks follows the 1989 Danvers High tract hockey team. They’re connected an unthinkable winning streak — and could perchance triumph the authorities championship. Danvers High is located successful what utilized to beryllium Salem village. And arsenic it turns out, the acheronian forces that helped their forebears mightiness beryllium the cardinal to winning the full thing.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

The Spear Cuts Through Water is simply a fantastic Russian doll-esque caller that tells a communicative wrong a story. It besides mixes phantasy and literate fabrication to make a ace unsocial and epic adventure! The publication chiefly follows the communicative of a trapped deity whose quest is to extremity the tyrannical reign of the Moon Throne. In bid to bash that, 2 warriors named Jun and Keema assistance her flight her prison. Over the adjacent fewer days, the 3 of them embark connected a travel successful hunt of the deity’s state — and a mode to get escaped of the royal household for good.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

She Who Became the Sun is 1 of those books that someway has precise small magic involved, yet it’s undoubtedly a phantasy novel. It besides delves into literate and humanities fabrication arsenic it reimagines the emergence of real-life Emperor Zhu and the instauration of the Ming dynasty successful China. The communicative follows a miss who was destined for nothingness portion her member was destined for greatness. When helium dies though, the miss has a burning tendency to survive. So she decides to instrumentality his sanction and his fate.

The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter

This is simply a acheronian phantasy caller with an municipality setting. What’s more, it besides has elements of fearfulness and a bully ol’ fashioned enigma astatine its core. The Helm of Midnight begins erstwhile a squad of thieves bargain the deadly disguise of Louis Chabron. He was a legendary serial slayer who terrorized the metropolis a agelong clip ago. The occupation is that this disguise is imbued with the powers of Chabron, which means that the murders person started again. It is up to Krona Hirvath and her squad of Regulators to find this insatiable slayer earlier helium takes adjacent much lives.

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith

If there’s a publication that you can’t acceptable into a circumstantial mold, it’s decidedly Build Your House Around My Body! This communicative mixes truthful galore antithetic genres — from magical realism to enigma and horror. Plus determination are immoderate literate and humanities fabrication elements thrown successful for bully measure. It each comes unneurotic to overgarment a vivid representation of Vietnamese past and folklore arsenic it follows 2 women whose fates are inexplicably linked, adjacent though they spell missing decades apart. 

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

Next is different municipality phantasy publication that has immoderate fearfulness and mystery/thriller elements thrown in. The Library of the Dead follows Ropa, a shade talker who speaks to Edinburgh’s dormant for a living. When 1 of them whispers astir a child’s disappearance and of a mysterious fig who is bewitching children, Ropa takes it upon herself to investigate. But Edinburgh is afloat of acheronian corners and deadly secrets — which Ropa volition person to look if she wants to find the missing kid and whoever took him.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Did idiosyncratic inquire for a paranormal phantasy that has the bleak benignant of neo-noir? Well, that’s the genre-defying magic of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s novels! Certain Dark Things plays with antithetic conventions of vampire lore to make an wholly unsocial communicative acceptable successful Mexico City. The publication follows Domingo, a thoroughfare kid whose beingness is everlastingly changed erstwhile helium runs into the unsafe vampire Atl. She’s connected the tally from the rival vampire clan, and she ends up teaming up with Domingo to get retired of the city. Let’s conscionable anticipation they marque it retired alive.

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Folklorn is simply a literate household saga that delves heavy into Korean myth. The communicative follows Elsa Park, a particle physicist who is moving from her family’s ghosts. Thanks to her mother, Elsa knows the women successful her household are cursed to repetition the communicative lines of their ancestors. So erstwhile calamity strikes and the spectral pistillate comes backmost to haunt Elsa, she goes backmost home. There she’ll yet larn the information astir her household among her mother’s acheronian handwritten stories.

Dwellers by Eliza Victoria

Dwellers is simply a acheronian phantasy caller that has immoderate precise beardown elements of enigma and suspense. It mightiness not premix tons of antithetic genres, but it surely comes unneurotic to make thing wholly new! The communicative follows cousins who beryllium to a clan of dwellers — radical with the quality to inhabit the bodies and lives of others. This time, they person taken the bodies of brothers Jonah and Louis. The occupation is, an wounded has near them trapped wrong the brothers’ house. And things get much analyzable erstwhile they find the dormant assemblage successful the basement.

The Library astatine Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Now The Library astatine Mount Char is decidedly 1 of those dark, WTF-did-I-just-read benignant of phantasy books. It’s dense connected the horror, with a small enigma thrown in. But it’s inactive undoubtedly a enactment of fantasy. The communicative follows a pistillate named Carolyn. She had a mean childhood, up until the infinitesimal a antheral she calls Father took her in. Father took her and a clump of different orphaned children to his past Library, wherever helium taught them antithetic branches of his god-like powers. The occupation is, Father conscionable went missing and his Library is up for grabs. There’s a warfare coming, and whoever controls its powerfulness volition fundamentally go the caller God.

When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

When We Were Birds is simply a magical emotion communicative astatine its core. But it’s besides a enactment of literate fiction, positive a transgression subplot woven in. The communicative follows Yejide and Darwin, who some person a unusual narration with death. Yejide is the latest pistillate successful her household to instrumentality up the mantle of reaper — helping the dormant transverse into the underworld. Darwin connected the different broadside is simply a sedate digger who was taught by his parent to debar immoderate enactment with death. The 2 of them conscionable by their city’s largest and oldest cemetery, and that’s wherever their communicative begins.

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

It’s beauteous communal for abbreviated communicative collections to blend each kinds of genres to archer the astir magical and genre-defying stories, which is decidedly the lawsuit with Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny. This Korean postulation successful translation uses elements of fantasy, sci-fi, and a bully magnitude of fearfulness to speech astir the cruelties of the modern satellite — specifically focusing connected capitalism and the patriarchy. All 10 stories are rather surreal and unsettling, and they volition astir apt haunt you agelong aft you decorativeness them.

Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

Next, this genre-defying phantasy novella does an unthinkable occupation of reimagining existent humanities events with a fearfulness twist! In Ring Shout, Clark reimagines the Ku Klux Klan arsenic literal demons, who benefited by the 1915 merchandise of The Birth of a Nation. More almighty than ever, this deadly radical is trying to bring Hell to Earth. Only Maryse Boudreaux and her chap absorption fighters basal betwixt them, arsenic they combat bony and nail to nonstop the demons backmost to Hell. Let’s conscionable anticipation Maryse, her trusty sword, and her friends tin halt the Klan successful time.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

Moving connected to Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland, which is simply a unusual premix of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and mystery. The communicative follows a young large miss named Vern. She escaped from the lone beingness she’s ever known wrong a cult-like compound and headed into the forest. There, she gave commencement to twins. But the compound refuses to fto her spell — truthful Vern has to go thing much successful bid to support her caller family. To recognize what is happening to Vern, she’ll person to look to the past and to the future. Only past volition she larn the truth.

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is simply a acheronian phantasy caller afloat of fairy tales that toes the enactment with romance and gothic horror. The communicative follows Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, an heiress joined to a student who believes successful fairy tales. They thought they would unrecorded happily ever after, and Indigo asked lone 1 happening of her caller husband. That helium didn’t pry into her past. He was blessed to oblige, but everything changed present that Indigo’s aunt is dying. Because of that, the mates spell to Indigo’s puerility location wherever each her secrets volition dilatory unravel arsenic her groom is forced to take betwixt world and fantasy.

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado

Next comes different abbreviated communicative postulation that you mightiness not deliberation of arsenic fantasy, and a idiosyncratic favorite! Machado uses elements of fantasy, sci-fi, comedy, and fearfulness to archer these incredibly haunting stories astir women and the unit inflicted upon their bodies. All 8 stories successful Her Body and Other Parties are unusual and unsettling — afloat of doppelgängers, ghostly prom dresses, and unwanted houseguests. But they’re besides incredibly archetypal and unneurotic they signifier a large enactment of genre-defying fantasy.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

Three Parts Dead is simply a amusive municipality phantasy caller with immaculate steampunk vibes and a execution enigma astatine its core. The communicative follows Tara, a lawyer with a precise important task. She has to assistance bring her lawsuit backmost to beingness earlier the metropolis descends into chaos. That’s due to the fact that her lawsuit is Kos, the deity who rules implicit Alt Coulomb. Without Him, the exertion that powers His metropolis volition neglect — and its citizens volition surely riot. But past Tara discovers that Kos was really murdered, and that’s erstwhile things get truly complicated.

Saturnalia by Stephanie Feldman

Our past genre-defying phantasy publication of the time is Saturnalia. This publication has a dystopian setting, and elements of thrillers arsenic good arsenic immoderate eco-horror. In this novel, the Saturnalia carnival has go a meaningful vacation for Americans. Especially for our protagonist Nina. It’s been 3 years since she near the elite Saturn Club, and yet Saturnalia is inactive a cruel reminder of the nighttime that changed her life. This year, she’s brought backmost into the fold erstwhile a subordinate of the Saturn Club (and her lone friend) calls Nina and asks for her help. Unable to decline, Nina dons her blackest formal and goes to the biggest enactment of the twelvemonth — wherever she’ll person to face her past if she wants to person a future.