Underrated Sci-Fi and Fantasy Gems You Shouldn’t Miss

If you’re looking for a little grimdark to hold you over while George R.R. Martin finishes up The Winds of Winter, The Broken Empire Series is just the ticket. Brutal and relentlessly harrowing, the series tells the story of Jorg Ancrath, a prince who was driven from his home following the murder of his brother and mother. The Broken Empire charts his volatile quest for revenge.

This lesser-known but no less engrossing piece of The Riftwar Cycle chronicles Mara of Acoma’s rise to the most powerful woman in Kelewan. With no shortage of the sort of adventure and intrigue that drew fans to the Riftwar Cycle, The Empire Trilogy is well worth a look.

Heroes Die centers on Caine, known as the Blade of Tyshalle in the land of Ankhana and considered one of that world’s deadliest combatants. Back on Earth, he is simply Hari Michaelson, a man who, despite his fame, remains stuck in society’s rigid caste system — that is, until the disappearance of his estranged wife catapults him into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

He’s drawn comparisons to Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, and China Mieville — if you aren’t familiar with newcomer Indra Das yet, you should be. His debut novel, The Devourers, is a seamless and surreal blend of Indian folklore and legend, weird fiction, and adventure. It centers on a professor in Kolkata, India who sets about transcribing a collection of documents recounting the saga of an otherworldly race that spans centuries.

This imaginative adventure centers on a world long abandoned by its Creator, a world that was once home to an ancient and powerful race. A young man named Rol who was raised in a fishing village, but who may be descended from that ancient race, stands accused of witchcraft. He is driven from his village and begins an epic journey that will forever change his life.

The Second Sons Trilogy takes place on the world of Ranadon, where there is no night thanks to the two suns that shine on the planet. Featuring an expansive cast of characters, the story largely centers on Dirk, the second son of the Duke of Elcast, as he navigates the shifting alliances, intrigue, and palpable dangers that mark life beneath Ranadon’s unrelenting suns.

The thought-provoking Tamir Triad trilogy from Lynn Flewelling deals primarily with the hostilities between the fantasy nations of Skala and Plenimar. The series presents the ancient rivalry through the lens of Tamir, a prophesied queen who, through magical intervention, grew up as a boy named Tobin in order to avoid the wrath of her uncle — a king who has murdered all women in the royal line to ensure the succession of his only son.

This fascinating novel is a challenging and thought-provoking exploration of the nature of good and evil. The novel follows a Jesuit priest and linguist who leads a scientific expedition to make contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. What initially begins as a mission of hope devolves into a horrifying debacle through a series of misunderstandings. A beautiful and profound read.

Set against the backdrop of post-apocalyptic Paris, the Dominion of the Fallen series imagines an arcane war waged for the soul of the City of Light. The novels focus on the great Houses struggling for dominion over Paris and the three people — a young but powerful magician, an alchemist, and a naïve fallen angel — at the center of the conflict.

Karen Lord has drawn favorable comparisons to SFF heavyweights like Ursula K. Le Guin and China Mieville, and The Best of All Possible Worlds makes it abundantly clear why. An alien race loses its homeland in an unprovoked attack and is forced to settle on a new world among a foreign species and culture. Soon after, a man and woman from these clashing societies are drawn together to save what’s left of their vanishing cultures. The Best of All Possible Worlds is equal parts love story and character study, exploring the ever-timely issues of culture, social change, and assimilation.

This epic fantasy from author Michelle West follows the intricate tale of the battle for control of the most powerful of the ruling Houses of Essalieyan Empire, House Terafin. The series is told largely from the perspective of Jewel Markess, a remarkable young woman whose visions may be key to saving the realm and all that she knows.

In this provocative and poignant novel, Elizabeth Moon imagines a near future free of disease and genetic defects. The protagonist, a high-functioning autistic man named Lou, was born too early to reap the medical breakthroughs that so greatly impacted the society around him. When he is offered an opportunity for an experimental cure, Lou must decide whether he will still be himself if cured, and if the world will still be as he knows it.

Inspired by Native American myth and legend and infused with magical realism, Susan Power — a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe — creates a decades-spanning tale of broken families, romance, violence and redemption centered around a North Dakota reservation.

In this underappreciated page-turner, a group of five teenage orphans are ushered into a strange building. It has no walls, no ceiling or floors. Instead it is filled with endless flights of stairs that all lead towards a strange red machine. House of Stairs is a slow burn, but it is nonetheless thought-provoking in its layered exploration of social dynamics.

The Gone-Away World is a hilariously incongruous mix of post-apocalypse, kung-fu, buddy comedy, and war story — and it works. Centering on an unnamed narrator and his best friend, the story sends the martial arts-trained duo on a perilous mission to stave off world domination in a wasteland populated by ninjas, pirates, and (of all things) mimes.

Brendan Vetch has a peculiar gift — an innate ability to connect with the agricultural world. It is a gift that has isolated him throughout his life — until he receives an invitation to serve as gardener at the magical school of the wizard Od. But there may be more to Od’s invitation and Brendan’s powers than he could ever imagine.