The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 10 List. (More info on this at the end of the post.)

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Between January 1^st, 2019 and June 30th, 2019, I’ve read and reviewed 61 books (33.6k pages). So far, it’s been an incredible reading year. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. The rules are:

• Rereads don’t count.
• One book per author.
• The book listed here are not exclusively published this year.

Do note that although this time there’s a rank to this list, I highly recommend every book listed below because I loved all of them immensely and they received a rating of 4.5 (rounded up on Goodreads) or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here we go! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)

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10. Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #3) by Mark Lawrence

Publisher: Ace (US) & Harper Voyager (UK)

“Holy Sister is an incredibly powerful and satisfying conclusion to one of the best trilogy I’ve ever read.”

9. The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War Trilogy, #2) by Rebecca Kuang

Publisher: Harper Voyager

“With The Dragon Republic, Kuang has proven that her debut wasn’t a one-hit wonder, further establishing herself as the new rising queen of fantasy.”

8. Kings of Ash (Ash and Sand, #2) by Richard Nell

Publisher: Self-published

“Kings of Ash is an utterly magnificent sequel that made the already great Kings of Paradise pale in comparison.”

7. The Hod King (The Books of Babel, #3) by Josiah Bancroft

Publisher: Orbit

“The Hod King is a marvel that stitches immersive fantasy escapism, pulse-pounding steampunk adventure, and accessible literary prose into one tremendously impactful penultimate volume.”

6. Priest of Lies (War for the Rose Throne, #2) by Peter McLean

Publisher: Ace (US) & Jo Fletcher Books (UK)

“Exhilarating, continuously riveting, and magnificent . . . one of the most engrossing grimdark books I’ve read up to date”

5. Recursion by Blake Crouch

Publisher: Crown (US) & Pan Macmillan (UK)

“Crouch’s narrative was utterly unputdownable, the harrowing events displayed were enormously impactful, and I absolutely loved every moment of reading this vivid magnificence. I can vouch with certainty that Recursion broke a new milestone for me by becoming the first sci-fi standalone to be included in my ‘favorites’ shelves with a full 5/5 stars rating.”

4. The Poison Song (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, #3) by Jen Williams

Publisher: Headline

“The Poison Song is relentlessly intoxicating and stupendous; Williams has landed an utterly satisfying and bittersweet ending to The Winnowing Flame Trilogy.”

3. The Blackest Heart (The Five Warrior Angels, #2) by Brian Lee Durfee

Publisher: Saga Press

“Durfee has created a majestic sequel that exhibited his gleaming crystallization of pure storytelling skill. The Blackest Heart will definitely be included in my annual Best Books of the Year list; it deserves a crowning achievement for character-driven epic fantasy.”

2. A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3) by George R. R. Martin

Publisher: Bantam (US) & Harper Voyager (UK)

“Excluding the fame he gets from the TV series adaptation, if you’re ever in need of an evident proof on why George R. R. Martin has become one of the legendary fantasy authors of our time, A Storm of Swords is the answer.”

1. The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story by M. L. Wang

Publisher: Self-published

“To say that this book was thrilling is an understatement. I’m not joking. The Sword of Kaigen is one of the most intense books I’ve ever read. I gritted my teeth, I clenched my fist, and I was constantly breathless. Wang knows how to write catastrophic elemental magic and implement extraordinary heart-hammering scenes very effectively… If you’re a fan of The Poppy War, read it. If you’re a fan of military fantasy, read it. If you’re a fan of high fantasy, read it!”

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Honorary mention to three amazing books I finished last year but published this year that definitely would’ve made this list longer and harder to rank:

• Never Die by Rob Hayes

Publisher: Self-published

“Glorious, heroic, inspiring, brutal, at times hilarious, but most of all incredibly unforgettable.”

• The Gutter Prayer (The Black Iron Legacy) by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan

Publisher: Orbit

“Mind-blowingly stellar in every respect. . . Fantasy readers, be wise and buy this book, because there’s simply nothing like it.”

• A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone, #2) by John Gwynne

Publisher: Orbit (US) & Pan Macmillan (UK)

“A Time of Blood is an irresistible jaw-dropping sequel that shows the importance of Gwynne’s role as an ever-burning bright star in modern fantasy.”

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So there you have it. It’s quite crazy that my best book of the year so far was actually the third book that I finished this year. Honestly speaking though, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that The Sword of Kaigen is my book of the year so far, I don’t even know if I’ll find a book better than it for the remaining of this year. I’ve been praising and shouting about this book non-stop across all my social media platform for the past six months and I will continue to do so. For literary agents and traditional publishers, if you’re reading this post, read the book and, assuming the author wants to, sign her up; trust me that a standalone high-fantasy book as masterful as this comes across our lifetime probably only once or twice.

Now that I’m done talking about my book of the year so far, please, if there’s a book on this list that you haven’t read yet, you need to fix that ASAP. There are still approximately 50 books I plan to read before this year concludes, definitely expect the list to expand by December. Thank you again to every author who let their stories out in the world for me and every other readers to read! 🙂

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A few things regarding the artist behind the featured image of this list. Not only Felix is one of the best rising artists in the industry, but he’s also one of the kindest people to talk and collaborate with. If you’re in need of an awesome-looking artwork for your book cover, blog header (Novel Notions’ header image is his work too), or anything SFF related, you really can’t go wrong with choosing him as your artist. Seriously, check out his portfolio on ArtStation!

To Felix: Thank you very much! I truly love and appreciate the artworks you provided for Novel Notions! 🙂