Mike Brooks makes the list for The Black Coast with its interesting world-building and unusual plot focus. I wouldn’t usually turn to epic fantasy for studies of social integration, and I loved it (helped along but never overshadowed by the royal princess turned underworld queenpin, ‘dragons’ and subverted prophecies). However, I found the sequel a bit of a mess so I am awaiting to see if the final volume brings it all back together for me.

Space search and rescue, corporate conspiracy, found family and a competition collide in the Neo-G novels, the first of which left me longing for more time with the crew of the Zuma’s Ghost. For all the action thrills, this is heavy on character and relationships and I loved every beat – I’m looking forward to catching up on the second Neo-G novel this year. In the meantime, there are two further space opera trilogies in Wagers’s back catalogue I can dip into. That’ll do nicely.

I had been meaning to read The Space Between Worlds for a while, but it was a Subjective Chaos nomination that pushed me into it. Another tense corporate conspiracy, I loved this for digging into concepts of privilege, identity and redemption across literal and metaphorical parallel worlds. It’s a gripping read that got our nod for Best SF of 2020 and leaves me keen to see what Johnson writes next.

Camilla Bruce’s debut came highly recommended and snared my attention from the first page: a cheeky second-person address and the promise of an unreliable narrator ‘setting the record straight’ was irresistible. I liked this all the more for being both a pitch black fairytale and a secret history of surviving abuse. I can’t wait to read Bruce’s second novel due out later this year.

Anticipation is a dangerous game, and I was thirsty for The Unbroken well ahead of its March release. Not to worry – CL Clark’s colonial world-building, conflicted characters and oh-so-messy relationships were everything I’d hoped for. I am gasping for the sequel to see what future treacheries and compromises await – and whether the toxic colonial legacy can be unpicked.

She Who Became The Sun was possibly my favourite of 2021’s sapphic trifecta: measured in pace, laser-focused on character, epic in scope. I loved how this unpicks gender and patriarchy and fate; and the fragility at the core of steely antagonists who tower over their contemporaries. Shelley Parker-Chan knows exactly what she’s doing, and the result is beautiful on page and in the mind’s eye.

Yes, I made it to 2021 before I picked up my first Joanne Harris book. I’ve had several on the shelf for years, having enjoyed hearing her speak on panels – but somehow I never got round to reading any until Orfeia – a faerie reimagining of a Greek myth – was the bite-sized read that fit my mood. It won’t be the last – I loved the depiction of the Fae and am looking forward to reading both the Loki novels and more bite-size retellings.

An early 2021 debutante who caught my eye, Joshua Philip Johnson impressed with unusual world-building and unapologetically difficult characters. The Forever Sea was wild and ambitious and if not entirely successful, it did more than enough to convince me that this is an author whose work I want to follow.