Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, in which we all talk about a bookish topic and have fun making lists. This week we’re looking at what we’ll be reading this spring.

I have a delightful combination lined up: rereads of old favourites with the Gentleman Bastards and Tolkien; some group reads I’m literally dancing with excitement about, and an array of short fiction to fit in between. Most of it is backlist rather than new releases, which doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

Long form

The Privilege of the Sword – Ellen Kushner

Our Riverside Read-along continues next Sunday, and I am terribly excited to find out what this one’s about. A lady swordsman, evidently, but I’m not reading the back because spoilers. Join us for livetweets, tea and flailing.

 

The Fate of Vultures – Jessica O’Toole

Ambitious epic fantasy with a librarian framing device. Ooh! Usurping kings, necromancers and genocide have soaked Prenitia in blood. Telena discovers the past through her brother’s books – but do the ancient stories have a more pressing relevance?

 

The Passage – Justin Cronin

This has been on my TBR for long enough that reading Station Eleven spoiled me for it – I didn’t know it was anything other than an apocalypse novel. Given that’s one of my favourite things, I’m really looking forward to the read-along kicking off on March 21st.

 

Half-off Ragnarok – Seanan McGuire

Urban fantasy isn’t usually my thing, but I do like the Price family and their Aeslin mice. I’ve been sat on this instalment until I needed some good fluff, and with more international travel planned, I suspect this will help me through the jetlag.

 

Between Two Thorns – Emma Newman

Faeries. Split worlds. Court intrigue. Arranged marriages. Kidnappings. Dislocated souls. There’s enough ideas here to make a taste stew, and with book 4 due this summer it’s time to play catch up.

 

Short form
The Terracotta Bride – Zen Cho

I love Zen Cho’s short fiction and how gorgeous is the cover art? Very, that’s how. A tale of first love, bad theology and robot reincarnation in the Chinese afterlife. I cannot wait.

Bloodchild – Octavia Butler

It’s hard to call a work Butler’s masterpiece because she was so damn talented, but this multi award-winning story of symbiosis and sacrifice is a strong contender. A young boy carries the hope of an alien race. It will kill him to save them. I’ll keep my hanky handy.

The Best of Apex Magazine

Apex have excellent taste and this features the best of their first 6 years. A Veil wipes the experiences of war from soldiers’ memories. A witch faces down God and the devil to save a soul. A swaying dance crosses the galaxy to transmit a message. Short story heaven.

 

The Changeling Sea – Patricia McKillip

This was a SantaThing gift, and I’m looking forward to it – I loved The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. McKillip has a gift for original fairytale and this tale of a grieving girl who hexes the sea is full of promise.

 

This list is the tip of the iceberg. My latest reading dilemma was to pick between this little set of beauties (I’ve gone with The Silmarillion because I’m enjoying Middle-Earth so much).

What will you be reading this spring?