With 2026 underway, January is the perfect time to look ahead and make plans. I’m excited for the coming year, for new work that is due to come to fruition, and for opportunities to create, share, and discuss. With events on the horizon, the calendar is looking healthy.
My to-read list is looking healthy too, and I look forward to sharing titles, some of which I’ve been itching to get to for some time now, while others landed more by accident. Oftentimes we stick with authors we know, but it’s always exciting to branch out and discover someone new. And if you’re looking for inspiration, here are two fantasy reads from authors I would highly recommend.
The Green Man’s Heir
By Juliet McKenna
Daniel Mackmain is a man with a secret. He keeps to himself, a lone traveller moving from place to place, picking up work as he goes. But when a girl is murdered, the Derbyshire police take a closer look at this wandering man, and Dan realises that the murder involves the hidden world he was born into. And so begins a contemporary fantasy rooted in ancient myths and British folklore.
The main character’s perspective appealed to me from the start. I appreciated his deep connection with trees and woodland, places he seeks for respite and times of peace while whiling away the hours, carving; an artistic pastime tightly ingrained with identity and heritage. And I appreciated his contemporary voice and straight-forward approach to life, blending easily with the feel of ancient wildwood in his bones, since he is the son of a dryad. Following Dan’s encounter with the police, where he was fortunately able to give an alibi, a dryad appears to him. It is only the second time he has seen a dryad, the first was upon seeing his dryad mother. These unexpected sightings provide charming reference to folklore, trees and nature, and intrigue that kept me wanting to know more.
I adored the main character’s backdrop, with a childhood whereby he could see what other children could not – scavenging boggarts, and rainbow-winged sprites. The blend of fantasy/folklore/murder mystery definitely worked for me, supported by a main character with a well-defined voice and strong persona able to lead the way as we delve deeper. It brings a whole new meaning to the idea that you can’t run from yourself, or change yourself; you are you, no matter how far you go or how hard you try to hide.
I loved the growing significance of the dryad, Tila, who presents in this world out of a desire to be on her own. Dan wants to talk to her, to get to know her, to discover more about his heritage. It’s also possible she saw the murder, and Dan is keen to gather any information she might have. But dryad’s are a race who live in the present, looking as far as the next season, and care nothing for the past. The intrigue of this ethereal character, combined with our growing understanding of the complex backdrop of the murdered girl, made for an intriguing plot, amid magic, adventure, and the well-carved voice of a main character whose feet remained rooted in the mundane, while his sights were ever drawn to mysterious other realms.
A magical read.
Sorrowland
By Rivers Solomon
Vern had always been ravenous, a hunger that forced her to flee the compound of Cainites in want of something, though she knew she’d never find it. Broken free with an uncanny strength, she retreats to the woods for sanctuary from the deeply religious grip of the compound, Blessed Acres where she was raised, and where her husband, Sherman, is sermon: a marriage designed to contain her. Her child is born free, against a backdrop of howling wolves. Her son is a hungry creature much like herself, who she names, Howling. Soon after, following a suspicious encounter with chasing wolves, his twin, Feral, is born. Vern decided, if the boys asked about their father, she would tell them their father was Lucy, her childhood friend who left the compound before her, a friend she never forgot, who could have been her mate.
The characters are intricately woven, offering haunting depth that left me intrigued to know more of their inner landscapes. I adored Vern’s wild nature, opting for freedom no matter what, birthing alone in the woods, fearless in her endeavours to raise her sons. Her viewpoint also offers fascinating insight into intersex identities and gender politics, as well as broader power dynamics, inclusive of racism and marginalisation featuring as compelling themes. And from a retrospective lookback at childhood observations, insidious corruption is revealed, from the compound she fled for the wild outside, and inside. Vern’s body is changing, gradual, mesmerising, metamorphosis, that also indicates that she is ready to confront the past and fight for survival, for herself and her family’s.
Compelling narrative delivers a haunting story, journeying through a complex world of motherhood, love, betrayal and lies, and an inner power that refuses to lie dormant. Fearing she is ill, Vern is forced to leave the harsh woodland sanctuary, in a desperate hope she might a friend she never forgot. But the hauntings are real, and the truth is closer than she first imagined. A wonderfully powerful read.
What are you reading?
