The Best Standalone Fantasies to Read Right Now
Since starting at Book Riot, I’ve found myself reading more and more out of my comfort zone. So much so that my comfort zone has readjusted. I’ve picked up more romances, a bigger variety of graphic novels, and have started reading more nonfiction. When it comes to reading fantasy, though? Baby. Fantasy and I go way back. It’s one of the genres that I have liked since I started reading independently, and that I still love and read a lot of.
One thing about fantasy writers, though, is that they can be a little, let’s say long-winded. Now, I love spending as much time in my favorite fantasy worlds with my favorite fantasy characters, so I’m not complaining, but many fantasy writers have the reputation of being what kids these days would might call literary yappers, with storylines that stretch over hundreds of pages and several books.
That’s why standalone fantasy books come in so clutch. Because yes, I want to escape into a world totally different from my own, or maybe not totally different, but with some interesting magic shaking things up, but no, I don’t have like 10 years to sit and wait for a sequel.
If you similarly want a little fantastical razzle-dazzle but want to be in and out, the books below will take you through musical deals with the devil, a journey with ancient Mexican gods in Jazz Age Mexico City, and there are even some philosophical musings set against a dark academia setting.
Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
In a bid to avoid eternal damnation, Shizuka has made a deal with the devil to deliver seven violin prodigies’ souls. She’s just heard her final candidate, runaway trans girl Katrina, when she crosses paths with retired starship captain and refugee Lan in a donut shop. The three women’s lives become intertwined in this novel, which has been likened to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, and also has Faust teas, naturally.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
I read this around the time it first came out in 2015 (which was 10 years ago…ugh). I remember it being one of the most out-there books I’d ever read, both in its creativity and its cruelty. I enjoyed it, but kind of thought it was a bit of a niche read. Years later, its 66,000+ ratings on Goodreads tell me that there were many others who got just as effed up (in a good way) by this as I did.
We follow Carolyn, who remembers what it was like to be human before she and a dozen other children were adopted by someone who they would call “Father.” They learn early on that Father is strange — he can do seemingly impossible things like call light from darkness and raise the dead. He also has a library that holds the knowledge for power over all creation. Growing up under Father can be terrible, though. He raises his adopted children according to ancient Pelapi customs and enacts exceedingly harsh punishments when disobeyed. But now, Father — who the siblings have theorized is actually secretly God — is missing, and with him gone, there’s a vie for Father’s library and the power it holds. This book kind of warped my little brain.
Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk
Every once in a while, I come across books that feel so perfect for me. Even Though I Knew the End is one such book, with its ’40s setting, warlock private eye, endearing queer romance, and deals with demons. Years ago, Elena sold her soul to save her brother. Now, with mere days left before she’s dragged to hell, she’s offered a job that, upon completion, would mean she can keep her soul and stay with the woman she loves. She only has three days, though, to catch Chicago’s most notorious serial killer and save herself.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Right off the bat, you should know this is giving Mexican folklore and Jazz Age.
Now, it’s 1920s and we’re in Mexico, where Casiopea Tun is little more than a servant in her grandfather’s house. One day, she discovers a curious box in his room and opens it, accidentally freeing the Mayan God of Death, Hun-Kamé. The romance that manifests during the journey they take to return Hun-Kamé to his rightful throne is juxtaposed against vivid descriptions of the Mayan underworld and skirmishes with those that oppose his return. This had me in a chokehold.
Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
This retelling of “The Tempest” is an updated (at the time of its 1988 release) and Southern iteration of the Shakespearian tragicomedy.
George and Cocoa’s relationship is the focal point of this story, and each chapter changes perspective so we have complete depictions of who they are as people — their past and present. Cocoa brings George to meet her family off the Georgia coast. There’s Abigail and the titular Mama Day, who is the last in the family to have the magic touch. There was so much in this book that was pleasantly familiar to me, but make no mistake, it will have you sobbing at the end.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
This has been described as Rebecca meets Mexican Gothic (another fab standalone fantasy), and is about Beatriz trying to get right after the Mexican War of Independence. Her father, General Hernandez, is executed as a result of the war, and Beatriz is desperately trying to reestablish her security when widower Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes to her. He’s handsome and monied, so she says “yes.” Let’s call this “when securing the bag goes wrong part 999,” because when she gets to his estate, she starts having terrible dreams, the housekeeper is putting magical symbols on the kitchen door, and maybe worst of all is the Don’s sister is gaslighting her (the gall). She starts to suspect that the former lady of the house was murdered, and it’s her ghost that haunts the halls, and the only person she can trust to help her unearth the truth is a priest who practices witchcraft.
The Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
This reminded me of another fantasy book that changed the game for all the books I read after it (but that isn’t technically a standalone): Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko and Sergey Dyachenko.
Its dark academia setting proves to be a perfect backdrop for its subtly philosophical leanings. In it, Lennon Carter is invited to take the entrance exam for the mysterious Drayton College because of her innate gift of persuasion—which can be used on people and matter alike. Once she passes the test and gains entry to the school, she finds that the moss-covered campus, with its smartly dressed students, is the only place she’s ever felt like somebody. And her alluring adviser, Dante, is kind of enjoyable, too. The history of the college itself, though? Unnerving. As is her mentor’s connection to it and the role those in charge plan for her to have in it.
What book do you recommend for this task? Let’s chat in the comments!
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