My favourite reads in 2024, part one: novels

Year 2024 has officially ended, and so has my reading year. I wrote my last review on the New Year’s Eve, which isn’t to say we didn’t celebrate at all, but we were at home and I had time for reading. The last book I read was Solo Leveling vol 3 by Chugong & Dubu, a very good manhwa series I picked on Tappytoon, but which I’ve been reviewing based on published volumes.

I read 207 books last year, of which 64 were novels and 143 mangas, not including ongoing webtoons that I haven’t reviewed. Most of the mangas were review copies and not all were that memorable, but I’ve mostly reviewed them on Goodreads and not here. Some gems among them too, though, and I’ll be going through those in part two.

Of the novels, quite a few were Chinese serialised danmeis. They’re not always very good books, but they are entertaining and belong among my favourites. Two of the series were concluded last year, Thousand Autumns by Meng Xi Shi and Guardian by priest, both of which were very good. The latter has a TV adaptation too, which I talk about here.

Twelve novels stood out this year. Here they are in the order I read them. Click the link on the book name for the full review.

He Who Downed the World by Shelley Parker-Chan. It concluded the Radiant Emperor duology, and while it didn’t hit me like the first volume, She Who Became the Sun, the year before, it was excellent queer retelling of real historical emperor.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet started a wonderful fantasy mystery series, Shadow of the Leviathan. Everything works, the unique world, the mystery, and especially the wonderful characters.

Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo is a great debut. It’s an UF mystery set in modern Seoul, and follows a detective who can see the spirits of living and dead.

Cascade Failure by L.M. Sagas is an excellent sci-fi debut. Set in deep space, it follows a ragtag crew trying to save the universe. I also read its follow-up Gravity Lost. It was good too, but not quite as impressive as the first book.

Death in the Spires by K. J. Charles is a wonderful historical mystery set in early 20th century Oxford. It has a lovely queer romance and an unconventional ending for a mystery.

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler is a western version of more typically Asian isekai genre, where the character is transported from the modern world to a fantasy world. The main character has died thousands of times trying to save her new world, only to reborn. This time, she’ll be the bad guy.

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis is another great debut. An evil wizard had lost his memory and decides to turn a new leaf. It doesn’t go entirely smoothly. A fun read. 

Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee is YA sci-fi set in a unique universe where peoples’ worship upholds gravity. Two competing systems of faith create conflicting gravities, between which the main character has to choose.

Primal Mirror by Nalini Singh has to be on the list too. I love Psy-Changelling series and this addition to the long series was a bit better than the couple of previous ones.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is one of her fantasy retellings. It’s a great, gothic tale set in a slightly fantastical world, complete with an undead horse.

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo is a short fantasy homage to a city loved by a demon. It doesn’t have much of a plot, yet it was impossible to put down. I also read her The Brides of High Hill, an interesting gothic novella set in ancient China.

And lastly, The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap, historical novel set in the early 19th century Edinburgh where anatomic schools are in great demand of dead bodies, giving rise to a macabre industry of body-snatchers.

All in all, an excellent, varied list of books that kept me happily reading the whole year. Stay tuned for the manga edition of my favourite reads last year.