Let’s start with a historical novel that is burning a hole on my shelves with its combination of setting (London), period (post-Roman) and characters (sisters ignoring social strictures to study magic and smithing). Pure catnip to me, and it says a lot about what 2022 has been that I haven’t actually read it yet.

A former Subjective Chaos Kind Of Nominee, Unholy Land is a time-travelling murder mystery and a series of alternate histories (some of which must be averted). Lavie Tidhar has been on my list of authors to read for ages, and this sounds fascinating and – with its themes of walls and border control – entirely on point.

Red Country is a Western-style revenge thriller, which makes it about as far from my wheelhouse as I can get these days. Although I own a copy from my Joe Abercrombie phase, I suspect it will continue to be a book that makes other people happy (and that I will now be happier for leaving unread).

I loved The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and having been saving up When The Tiger Came Down The Mountain for no particularly good reason, I should just read it! What’s not to love about a cleric telling stories to tigers to prevent themselves being eaten in another study of the distinctions between truth, history and damn good stories.

On my list of modern classics, I’ve got China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F McHugh. In a future dominated by US decline and Chinese ascendance, a young gay man must find his place in society. From the cyberpunk Eastern seaboard to the bleak Arctic and a farming community on Mars, this promises to deliver all sorts of intriguing ideas and settings.

I’m way more excited to tackle This Dreaming Isle, an anthology of horror and dark fantasy inspired by the British landscape. With stories by Jeannette Ng and Catriona Ward, I’m all in; plus I’ll get to read a heap of new-to-me authors as a bonus. I’ll be tackling this next month as part of my 2022 anthology project.

Erin Morgernstern is back with The Starless Sea, a love story to storytelling that promises an array of fantastical settings and characters that sound irresistible. That said, it took literally the entirety of The Night Circus to win me over – I loathed the romance element – but I want to sail The Starless Sea.

It’s difficult being an orphan with scales and tentacles, so it seems like a miracle when Jackson is offered a home at Macquarie’s, a place as unusual as he is. The Kraken Sea by E Catherine Tobler is a dark fantasy of finding a place and finding one self that has been on my shelf for far too long!