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Science Fantasy Hidden Gems

Solid, well-rated Science Fantasy books that fly under the radar — less hype, more discovery.

  1. 1 The Book of the New Sun
    The Book of the New Sun
    The Book of the New Sun #1
    Gene Wolfe
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.24 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est. This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator

    QuestComing of AgeOutcast Hero
  2. 2 The Sunlit Man
    The Sunlit Man
    Brandon Sanderson
    · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    From the #1 Kickstarter campaign of all time—#1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson adds to his Cosmere universe shared by Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive with a new standalone novel that combines fantasy and science fiction. Illustrated by Ernanda Souza, Nabeste Zitro, and kudriaken. Running. Putting distance between himself and the relentless Night Brigade has been Nomad’s strategy for years. Staying one or two steps ahead of his pursuers by skipping through the Cosmere from one world to the next. But now, his powers too depleted to escape, Nomad finds himself trapped on Canticle, a planet that will kill anyone who doesn’t keep moving. Fleeing the fires of a sunrise that melts the very stones, he is instantly caught up in the struggle between a heartless tyrant and the brave rebels who defy him. Failure means a quick death, incinerated by the sun…or a lifetime as a mindless slave. Tormented by the consequences of his past, Nomad must fight not only for his survival—but also for his very soul. Note from Brandon: I sincerely believe that books don’t live until they’re read. While I would write even if no one were reading—it’s who I am—I thrive because I know the stories are being brought to life by all of you. In this, stories are a special kind of art, particularly when written down. Each of you will imagine this book, and its characters, a little differently—you will each put your own stamp on it, making it yours. I don’t believe a story is quite finished until that has happened—until the dream in my head has become a reality (even if briefly) in yours. And so this book is yours, as they all are once you read them. Thank you so much for bringing life to my work, and to the Cosmere.

    Cursed CharacterQuestSurvival Journey
  3. 3 Tress of the Emerald Sea
    Tress of the Emerald Sea
    Brandon Sanderson
    · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride. The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death? Note from Brandon: I started writing this in secret, as a novel just for my wife. She urged me to share it with the world—and alongside three other secret novels, with the support of readers worldwide it grew into the biggest Kickstarter campaign of all time. I’m excited to present this first book to you at last: a different type of Brandon Sanderson story, one I wrote when there were no time constraints, no expectations, and no limits on my imagination. Come be part of the magic.

    Coming of AgeQuestPirate Fantasy
  4. 4 Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
    Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
    Brandon Sanderson
    · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson—creator of The Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn Saga, and countless bestselling works of science fiction and fantasy—comes this gripping story set in the Cosmere universe told by Hoid, where two people from incredibly different cultures must work together to save their worlds from certain disaster. Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society—but she longs for even a single day as a normal person. Painter patrols the dark streets dreaming of being a hero—a goal that has led to nothing but heartache and isolation, leaving him always on the outside looking in. In their own ways, both of them face the world alone. Suddenly flung together, Yumi and Painter must strive to right the wrongs in both their lives, reconciling their past and present while maintaining the precarious balance of each of their worlds. If they cannot unravel the mystery of what brought them together before it’s too late, they risk forever losing not only the bond growing between them, but the very worlds they’ve always struggled to protect. Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (novella) Oathbringer Dawnshard (novella) Rhythm of War The Mistborn Saga The Original Trilogy Mistborn The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Wax and Wayne The Alloy of Law Shadows of Self The Bands of Mourning The Lost Metal Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man Collection Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (with Janci Patterson) Other novels The Rithmatist Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook fo

  5. 5 The Alloy of Law
    The Alloy of Law
    Mistborn Era Two
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.38 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the Mistborn series is a heist story of political intrigue and magical, martial-arts action. Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Kelsier and Vin have passed into the realm of history and myth, and the world of Scadrial is on the verge of modernity. In the frontier lands known as the Roughs, the old magics are a crucial tool for those who establish order and justice. One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, tragedy has driven Wax back to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties of the head of a noble house. But when a gang of Allomancers turn to train robbery and kidnapping, Wax will soon learn that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

    HeistPolitical Intrigue
  6. 6 Shadows of Self
    Shadows of Self
    Mistborn Era Two
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.40 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON BEHIND THE COSMERE 300 YEARS AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE MISTBORN TRILOGY **** Join the hunt for a mysterious assassin The criminal elite of Elendel were invited to an auction - which became a massacre, when an unknown assailant slaughtered everyone in attendance. Now Wax and Wayne, both able to use magic, both lawmen from the rough and ungoverned frontier territories, are on the case. All the clues suggest the killer is a rogue kandra - a secretive, almost mythical, figure who acts from the shadows - called Bleeder . . . and that the governor is her next target. Bleeder, and the conspiracy behind the killings, has to be stopped . . . before the city is plunged into chaos. **** FANTASY DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN SANDERSON: 'Highly recommend to anyone hungry for a good read' ROBIN HOBB 'Epic in every sense' GUARDIAN 'Sanderson is the most immersive fantasy writer I've ever encountered' BEN AARONOVITCH 'All the explosive action any adventure fan could want' LOCUS

    QuestPolitical IntrigueAnti-Hero
  7. 7 The Lost Metal
    The Lost Metal
    Mistborn Era Two
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.61 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Return to #1 New York Times bestseller Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn world of Scadrial as its second era, which began with The Alloy of Law, comes to its earth-shattering conclusion in The Lost Metal. For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organization the Set—with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders—since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. When Detective Marasi Colms and her partner Wayne find stockpiled weapons bound for the Outer City of Bilming, this opens a new lead. Conflict between Elendel and the Outer Cities only favors the Set, and their tendrils now reach to the Elendel Senate—whose corruption Wax and Steris have sought to expose—and Bilming is even more entangled. After Wax discovers a new type of explosive that can unleash unprecedented destruction and realizes that the Set must already have it, an immortal kandra serving Scadrial’s god, Harmony, reveals that Bilming has fallen under the influence of another god: Trell, worshipped by the Set. And Trell isn’t the only factor at play from the larger Cosmere—Marasi is recruited by offworlders with strange abilities who claim their goal is to protect Scadrial...at any cost. Wax must choose whether to set aside his rocky relationship with God and once again become the Sword that Harmony has groomed him to be. If no one steps forward to be the hero Scadrial needs, the planet and its millions of people will come to a sudden and calamitous ruin. Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (novella) Oathbringer Dawnshard (novella) Rhythm of War The Mistborn Saga The Original Trilogy Mistborn The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Wax and Wayne The Alloy of Law Shadows of Self The Bands of Mourning The Lost Metal Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man Collecti

    Morally Grey HeroReluctant HeroEnd of the World Stakes
  8. 8 Rhythm of War
    Rhythm of War
    The Stormlight Archive #4
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.54 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    The eagerly awaited sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from epic fantasy author Brandon Sanderson After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar's crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move. Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin's scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength. At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

    War Between KingdomsRebellionAncient Evil Awakens
  9. 9 Words of Radiance
    Words of Radiance
    The Stormlight Archive #2
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.76 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Return to the world of the Stormlight Archive as the Alethi armies have finally breached the tower city of Urithiru. Shallan Davar travels to the Shattered Plains to find proof of her missing betrothed, and Kaladin continues his transformation from slave to soldier to something far greater.

    Coming of AgeQuestWar Between Kingdoms
  10. 10 Edgedancer
    Edgedancer
    The Stormlight Archive
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.35 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    From Brandon Sanderson comes a short novel of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive (previously published in Arcanum Unbounded). Three years ago, Lift asked a goddess to stop her from growing older—a wish she believed was granted. Now, in Edgedancer, the barely teenage nascent Knight Radiant finds that time stands still for no one. Although the young Azish emperor granted her safe haven from an executioner she knows only as Darkness, court life is suffocating the free-spirited Lift, who can’t help heading to Yeddaw when she hears the relentless Darkness is there hunting people like her with budding powers. The downtrodden in Yeddaw have no champion, and Lift knows she must seize this awesome responsibility.

    Cursed CharacterComing of AgeDivine Magic
  11. 11 Dawnshard
    Dawnshard
    The Stormlight Archive
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.54 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    From Brandon Sanderson—author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive and its fourth massive installment, Rhythm of War—comes a new hefty novella, Dawnshard. Taking place between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War, this tale (like Edgedancer before it) gives often-overshadowed characters their own chance to shine. When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akinah, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn't fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea. Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn's pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin: Akinah. With the help of Lopen, the formerly one-armed Windrunner, Rysn must accept Navani's quest and sail into the perilous storm from which no one has returned alive. If the crew cannot uncover the secrets of the hidden island city before the wrath of its ancient guardians falls upon them, the fate of Roshar and the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.

    QuestMagical ArtifactsPower at a Cost
  12. 12 The Way of Kings
    The Way of Kings
    The Stormlight Archive #1
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.70 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

    Coming of AgePolitical IntrigueWar Between Kingdoms
  13. 13 Warbreaker
    Warbreaker
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.39 · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    Two sisters—Vivenna and Siri—are princesses of Idris, a kingdom at the edge of war with Hallandren. When plans change, sheltered Siri is sent to marry the God King of Hallandren instead of her prepared sister. Both women become entangled in a world of gods, magic, and political machinations beyond their understanding.

    Political MarriageWar Between KingdomsPolitical Intrigue
  14. 14 Elantris
    Elantris
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.05 · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    Elantris was the magical city, home to beings who could perform feats of wonder. Then the magic failed. The city fell into ruin, its inhabitants transformed into shambling wrecks. Now Prince Raoden, struck by the Shaod, is thrown into Elantris to die—but instead he must find a way to restore both the city and himself.

    Cursed CharacterLost HeirReluctant Hero
  15. 15 The Emperor's Soul
    The Emperor's Soul
    Brandon Sanderson
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.47 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    WINNER, 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novella! From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Emperor’s Soul showcases a fascinating magic system as the clock ticks down for a condemned criminal. When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create—to Forge—a new soul for the emperor in less than one hundred days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. She is confined to a tiny, dirty chamber, guarded by a man who hates her, spied upon by politicians, and trapped behind a door sealed in her own blood. Shai’s only possible ally is the emperor’s most loyal councillor, Gaotona, who struggles to understand her true talent. Time is running out for Shai. Forging, while deducing the motivations of her captors, she needs a perfect plan to escape… -------------------- “Sanderson proves to be an exceptionally talented writer in the pages of this book. Complex as some of the background is, he never gets bogged down filling in details for the reader. Instead we learn everything we need seamlessly as the story unfolds. His prose is lyrical without ever getting in its own way … His characters are fascinating and fully realized. … The Emperor’s Soul is one of those rare high fantasies that feels fresh and is filled with a sense of wonder.” —Charles de Lint, Fantasy & Science Fiction -------------------- A note from the publisher: Brandon will send a free copy of this ebook to anyone who purchased the Tachyon Publications trade paperback. See the title page in the ebook preview for details.

    QuestPolitical IntrigueMagical Artifacts