2024 is at a close, and Iowa City Public Library Staff reflected on some of the literary highlights of the year, voting for new favorites in a variety of genres. In this list, you'll find the staff picks for Science Fiction and Fantasy released in 2024. "I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons" by Peter S. Beagle was the standout title among staff, earning the greatest number of votes for this genre.
I'm afraid you've got dragons
Beagle, Peter S., author.
SCIENCE FICTION Beagle Peter
Dragons are common in the backwater kingdom of Bellemontagne, coming in sizes from mouse-like vermin all the way up to castle-smashing monsters. Gaius Aurelius Constantine Heliogabalus Thrax (who would much rather people call him Robert) has recently inherited his deceased dad's job as a dragon catcher/exterminator, a career he detests with all his heart in part because he likes dragons, feeling a kinship with them, but mainly because his dream has always been the impossible one of transcending his humble origin to someday become a prince's valet. Needless to say, fate has something rather different in mind...
A sorceress comes to call
Kingfisher, T., author.
SCIENCE FICTION Kingfisher, T.
A dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic. Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn't have any doors between rooms--there are no secrets in this house--and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don't force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers. When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother's next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother's plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.
The ashes & the star-cursed king
Broadbent, Carissa, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Broadben Carissa
In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She's left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn. Raihn's own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside. When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom-and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she'll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father's greatest secrets. But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power-and the devastating love that could be her downfall.
Big time
Winters, Ben H, author.
FICTION Winters Ben
The New York Times best-selling author of The Quiet Boy returns with a speculative, corporate espionage thriller that takes the adage "Time is money," and makes it literally, frighteningly so.
Nine Tailed
Lee, Jayci, author
FICTION Lee Jayci
An enemy on her tails, an innocent at her side, and a dangerous power within her that could destroy them all. Jayci Lee melds Korean folklore with modern Americana in this fiery new series. Sunny Cho aspires to be the dullest, least interesting person in any given room, which can be challenging for a nine-tailed fox spirit. So she drifts from city to city--staying clear of any and all attachment--and keeps her fox buried deep inside her. It is better this way. She would rather live as half of herself than risk losing control of her terrible powers. Ethan Lee, a friend she left behind eight years ago, is a brilliant and distractingly hot PI. When he tracks her down and asks her to help him find his brother's murderer, Sunny knows her uneventful life is about to be turned upside down.Traversing the mortal realm and the world of gods, Sunny and Ethan discover their quest is much more dire than mere vengeance, and their friendship might be...more. An ancient evil is stirring, and Sunny is faced with an impossible choice: save the worlds from annihilation or claim the love fated by the heavens.
Someone you can build a nest in
Wiswell, John, 1981- author.
SCIENCE FICTION Wiswell John
A creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance-from the perspective of the monster-by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell.
The briar book of the dead
Slatter, Angela, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Slatter Angela
Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations. The Briar family of witches run the town of Silverton, caring for its inhabitants with their skills and magic. In the usual scheme of things, they would be burnt for their sorcery, but the church has given them dispensation in return for their protection of the borders of the Darklands, where the much-feared Leech Lords hold sway. Ellie is being trained as a steward, administering for the town, and warding off the insistent interest of the church. When her grandmother dies suddenly, Ellie's cousin Audra rises to the position of Briar Witch, propelling Ellie into her new role. As she navigates fresh challenges, an unexpected new ability to see and speak to the dead leads her to uncover sinister family secrets, stories of burnings, lost grimoires and evil spells.
The bright sword : a novel of King Arthur
Grossman, Lev, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Grossman Lev
The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, full of duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings, The Bright Sword is a story about power and hope, and the struggle for the soul of England between the new Christian God and the old gods of fairy. But most of all it's a story about flawed men and women full of strength and pain who are looking for a way to reforge a broken land, in spite of being broken themselves.
The familiar
Bardugo, Leigh, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Bardugo Leigh
In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position. What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen--and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor. Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the lines between magic, science, and fraud are never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive--even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
How to become the Dark Lord and die trying
Wexler, Django, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Wexler Django
Davi has done this all before. She's tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she's rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she's killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she's been defeated every time. This time? She's done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that's who she needs to be. It's Davi's turn to play on the winning side.
The warm hands of ghosts : a novel
Arden, Katherine, author.
SCIENCE FICTION Arden Katherin
During the Great War, a combat nurse searches for her brother, believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise, in this historical novel with a speculative twist.
"I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons" was ranked the Best of Science Fiction / Fantasy by ICPL Staff for 2024.
- Becky