Beneath A Thousand Skies

Hello,

2025…was a year. A year that is ending today. So it feels like the perfect time to look forward, and back as Hogmanay gets underway and then gives way to a whole New Year. 2026 is I hope, a year of rebuilding – the blog, my writing, and hopefully onwards to some other new horizons; and there’s already some exciting stuff on the horizon.

Thank you to everyone who has read and supported the blog in a turbulent, and I’ll see you all in 2026 – with more books and reviews.

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But, to kick of this post I’m looking at some of my most anticipated books in Fantasy (separated between trad and indie), non-fiction and Manga. I have limited myself to nine of each here (not least to keep the gallery in balance), but these are the kinds of lists that just continue to grow and grow, especially with the help of other bloggers.

Fantasy (Indie)

Fantasy (Traditional)

Non-Fiction

Manga

(The rule here was volume 1s, as there are plenty of ongoing ones that I am eagerly waiting for volumes of)

So there we are, my most anticipated books for next year. Some of the indie ones are not 100% confirmed, but I’m hopeful – and I will wait patiently (well impatiently, but I will wait) for them them. There are many more I am looking forward to, and others that I will discover along the way.

2025 was not my best reading year, not in terms of the quality of books, but in terms of reading in general. I have been really bad at carving out time, and so tired, that some days just sitting and playing a game rather than fighting with words has been easier. I have plans in place to change that in the New Year.

However, I still got to read some brilliant books.

Runners up for my favourite of the year are:

Three very different books, and one that’s not even out until next year. All three authors are favourites. Liminal Monster (review) is a beautiful, complex and dark meditation on grief, and creativity and many other things and is one I plan to reread in the near future. The Dead Man (still to be reviewed) was a delight, I don’t think I will ever get tired of reading about Mennik Thorne (or worrying about him) and this was a wonderful peek before the main series. The Curse of Dragon Tail Island (out next month) is just a delight all round, and left me with an almighty book hangover and I can’t wait to read it again in January (possibly with a rum to hand).

My book of the year for 2025 though is The Siege of Druine. Months on I find myself returning and returning to this story, to the tension, the stakes, and of course to the wonderful characters of Debell’s Isyr series. I have loved every single book in this series, but this one I think is my favourite because when you are reading it you are 1000% percent there in the events, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the next attack; and it lingers, makes you think and feel.