This week: Best of the Decade in Fantasy Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
The end of the year and getting to 2020, we take a typical look back at some of the top listed fantasy books published from 2010 until end of 2019. |
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2019 has ended with it goes not just the end of the single year but takes us now out from the 2010's and into 2020. Like most ends of the year or the very starting of a new one, it has been a good time to reflect on the past year(s). It is common to think back on everything accomplished, both good and bad while also preparing for what we might see in the future. One practice often done in many fields is to create best of lists. Music does it the most as many radio stations have been playing best of lists. Some might just be the best of 2010 but others have gone further back, including a large number of songs to encompass that of a decade. Books can be viewed in a similar light.
There are a few lists if you search for the best books of the decade and that includes lists created based on specific genres. Goodreads has a number of lists but they aren't the only options. One site is simply called bestfantasybooks.com as the entire site is devoted to listing the top books of the genre. They have a specific list where one of the editors of the site have listed the top 25 best fantasy books published since 2010 until 2015 (was posted years ago). Another one, pastemagazine.com, has posted their picks for the best 30 of the decade (2010-2019) picked by the main editor and general staff. There are many others out there too and the opinions do vary though some books can be found on many lists, just in different ranked positions.
Let's consider the two lists. Both have a slightly different criteria as well as total number of books posted. From bestfantasybooks the criteria is based on a single particular editor who put together the list based on books published in the range of years that they found to be the most significant. They only included books and series published in 2010 to 2015, which didn't include series where one of the later books was published in the time time frame. So there is a slight varience as that cut out books like those by George RR Martin or any from The Wheel of Time series, though the author who took over the last books of that series had one of his other creations make their list. Paste magazine had a similar reasoning behind their list just with a slightly bigger staff involved, picking the top 30 based on their personal opinions of the best fantasy for the decade but they included books in series with a limitation of one book per author could make the list except for one particular exception in relation to co-authored book and one the author put out on their own.
Like music lists from different radio stations, there are a couple overlapping books that ended up on both lists. The Magicians, which also became a tv series, was on both lists but it ranked in very different positions as it came out on top for bestfantasybooks but ranked near the end of the list for Paste.
Here are the top five from each site:
Best Fantasy Books .com
1. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
2. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
3. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
4. The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie
5. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Paste Magazine
1. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
2. Circe by Madeline Miller
3. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
4. The Wise Man's Fears by Patrick Rothfuss
5. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
These are just samplings of lists as there are going to be many different opinions as what counts the best fantasy or speculative fictions novels whether it's just for 2019 for if it's for the entire decade. Check out the lists and see what you think in comparison to the editors. Have you read any of the books on the list? What would you consider to be the best of the decade? Consider the many options and let us know. Maybe even make up your own list. And get ready for the books that will come next now that we have made it to 2020.
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Have you read any of the books from the lists or plan to read any in the future?
Last month, for the fantasy newsletter I discussed setting stories in a school.
Comment by Santeven Quokklaus 
While schools are an interesting setting, since Harry Potter, they are being done to death in fantasy. Magic schools, fighting schools, schools to read language, rune schools... I have read so many of them. And then, in a more urban fantasy setting, so many YA novels have a majority of action at schools nowadays, not out of the school system. I think this is because a lot of youngsters only interact face to face with others at school (the out of school interactions are online), but it does mean schools are becoming cliché. In my opinion. Sorry.
- That is a good point. The magical school has particular uses that can feel overplayed with the popularity some of the series gained. Though it's also something we can't completely avoid, at least those of us that write characters in a school age range. Just depends on how much focus is involved in the setting and how the author writes it. And adults had school at one point so it could come up even if it's not the central setting. Thanks for sending in the comment.
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Fantasy: January 01, 2020 Issue [#9943]
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