Best Fantasy Books of 2014

Below you will find a list of the fantasy books published in 2014 that we enjoyed most. Click on a book title to read the full review.

  5. Queen of the Dark Things by Robert Cargill

    Queen of the Dark Things by Robert Cargill book cover

    C. Robert Cargill delivers a gritty, globetrotting sequel that deepens the mythic stakes of his world. Wizard Colby Stevens, haunted by his past, must navigate a landscape where folklore is literal and lethal. The novel stands out for its masterful blending of disparate mythologies, from Australian Aboriginal lore to European fairy tales. It is a world where magic feels ancient and heavy with debt. While the pacing is faster than its predecessor, it maintains a sombre, mythic weight. Cargill explores how stories shape reality and the terrifying price one pays for tampering with the fundamental dark things.

  6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel book cover

    Emily St. John Mandel offers a refreshing, hopeful take on the post-apocalypse. Twenty years after a flu pandemic collapses civilisation, a travelling troupe of actors and musicians performs Shakespeare for the small settlements that remain. The novel moves between the "before" and "after," weaving together the lives of characters connected to a single actor. It focuses on the idea that "survival is insufficient" - that humans need art, beauty, and memory to truly live. It is a beautifully written, melancholic, yet ultimately optimistic story about what we choose to preserve when everything else is gone.

  11. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

    City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett book cover

    Robert Jackson Bennett's "The City of Stairs" is a masterful "Divine Noir" that redefines the genre. Set in Bulikov, a city where the gods were murdered and their reality-bending miracles have become dangerous "stairs" to nowhere, it follows diplomat-spy Shara Thivani. The book is fantastic because it treats magic as a forensic puzzle and a geopolitical scar. By blending a tense murder mystery with deep themes of colonialism and theology, Bennett creates a world that feels ancient yet startlingly original. It is a brilliant, brainy investigation into what happens when the "impossible" becomes a crime scene.

  33. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

    The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison book cover

    Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor is an absolute breath of fresh air in modern speculative fiction. Rejecting the bleak, blood-soaked violence of grimdark, the novel offers a deeply affecting story centred on fundamental human decency. Maia, the half-goblin youngest son thrust onto the imperial throne following a tragic airship crash, is a wonderfully quiet, compassionate protagonist. Addison crafts an intricate, ritual-bound court filled with subtle political intrigue, steep traditions, and formidable lonely stakes. It is a slow, richly textured, and melancholy narrative that ultimately triumphs as a hopeful masterclass in empathy, personal growth, and integrity under extreme pressure.

  35. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

    The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell book cover

    David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks is an ambitious epic that brilliantly blends literary fiction, existential horror, and secret psychic warfare. The story follows Holly Sykes across six interlocking novellas, spanning her youth in 1984 to old age in a climate-ravaged future. Mitchell shifts perspectives across decades to reveal an eternal battle between soul-stealing Anchorites and reincarnated Horologists. Even with fascinating side detours - including a wonderfully boorish author - Holly's emotional journey keeps the sprawling narrative anchored. It is a dense, deeply rewarding masterpiece that delivers incredible philosophical depth and expansive scope for anyone who loves high-concept fantasy.