Best Books of 2018

The books I rated highest from my 2018 reading.

1

Starship Grifters

by Robert Kroese

As funny as Hitchhiker's Guide. Robert Kroese's comic timing is perfect and the plot actually holds up.

A-
2

Children of Time

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The most original first-contact story I have ever read. The spider civilization is a genuine achievement.

B+
3

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

by Mark Sullivan

Mark Sullivan's WWII novel is the best historical fiction I read this year. Based on a true story, which makes it hit harder.

B+
4

Senlin Ascends

by Josiah Bancroft

Josiah Bancroft's Tower of Babel is unlike any other fantasy setting. The escalating weirdness works.

B+
5

City of Brass

by S.A. Chakraborty

S.A. Chakraborty's djinn history is rich and original. One of the best fantasy debuts of the decade.

B+
6

Knight's Shadow

by Sebastien de Castell

The second Greatcoats novel is as good as the first. De Castell knows how to write a hero.

B+
7

Jade City

by Fonda Lee

The Green Bone Saga begins with a Godfather-style fantasy that is unlike anything else in the genre.

B+
8

The Powers of Earth

by Travis Corcoran

Travis Corcoran's hard sci-fi is politically thoughtful and technically grounded. A serious libertarian future.

B+
9

The Grey Bastards

by Jonathan French

Joe Abercrombie meets Sons of Anarchy with orcs. Rough, but the world has real energy.

B+
10

Blackwing

by Ed McDonald

Ed McDonald's grimdark debut is grim even by genre standards, but the world has genuine depth.

B+