Books by R. F. Kuang
“It follows the story of a young man who is brought to Oxford from China. He is brought there to learn this magic, along with several other people from various backgrounds from around the British Empire, all brought in to use their powers to further the Empire. Over time, he begins to turn against this. It turns into this beautifully written anti-colonial narrative that’s also imbued heavily with magic, as well as people’s interpersonal relationships, and then the history of the time. It’s really well done.” Read more...
The Best Historical Fantasy Books
P. Djèlí Clark, Novelist
“The Poppy War is about 19th and 20th century Chinese history, in a fantasy world. We’re imagining what it would be like if Chairman Mao was a teenage girl in a medieval fantasy setting. It begins very un-grimdark-ly, in this Harry Potterish magical school. Our hero Rin is taken off to this school, where she is ridiculed by most of the other people because she’s from the peasant class…She’s writing about the experience of someone who is trying, genuinely trying, to save her country and liberate it from colonialism. By the time you get to the end of the trilogy, there are armies which are being sponsored by foreign powers, who are coming into her country. She writes about the experience of China during the Second World War; she writes horribly about the Nanjing Massacre, and about the violence that was inflicted on China in the 19th century by Europe, and then in the 20th century by Japan. But she’s also writing about the resistance to it, generating the need for extreme action. Her character Rin is not an Aragorn or Harry Potter-like ‘decent person’. She’s driven, she’s violent, she’s not a pleasant character.” Read more...
Anna Smith Spark, Novelist
Interviews where books by R. F. Kuang were recommended
Historical Fiction Set in China
China’s dramatic landscapes, rich culture, and tumultuous political history serves as a rich seam for historical novels. Here, we’ve drawn together a list of recommended titles, selected by and discussed with Five Books interviewees over the years.
The Best Grimdark Fantasy, recommended by Anna Smith Spark
Grimdark fantasy is cynical about the righteous and the good – but it brings fantasy into line with historical reality, says author Anna Smith Spark. She explores why we want to read about flawed people doing terrible things, and introduces her top five choices: stories that charge gleefully beyond the bounds of sanity, offer a shock treatment for anxiety, and above all provide an honest mirror to reality.
The Best Mythopoeic Fantasy, recommended by Samantha Shannon
Fantasy writers often create vivid, intricately detailed worlds in which their stories unfold. Rich mythmaking of this kind often features alternative religions, languages and cultures, and is known among fans and scholars as ‘mythopoeia’. Here, Samantha Shannon—author of the internationally bestselling The Bone Season sequence—recommends five of the best mythopoeic fantasy books.
The Best Fantasy Novels of the Past Decade, recommended by Sylvia Bishop
The winners of the Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards are chosen by fans each year. They cover both fantasy and sci fi, and the best novel spot for each is highly prestigious. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop takes a look at the fantasy winners of the last decade, offering rich pickings for fans of magical worlds that are beautiful, absorbing and strange.
The Best Campus Novels
Life in an academic institution can be a curiously intense experience. As a result, the hot-house atmosphere of a university campus or boarding school presents a fitting backdrop for novels exploring ambition, power dynamics, crushes, and sexual crises. Here, we’ve pulled together a list of campus novels that have been recommended on Five Books over the years, via our interviews with literary scholars, bestselling authors and book prize judges.
The Best Historical Fantasy Books, recommended by P. Djèlí Clark
Historical fantasy books intermingle real history with counterfactual and speculative elements. P. Djèlí Clark, historian and Nebula Award-winning novelist, talks us through his top five magical re-imaginings of past eras, taking us from fourteenth century Russia into the Washington D.C. of the Roaring Twenties.
The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2023: The Hugo Awards, recommended by Sylvia Bishop
The Hugo Awards, first presented in 1953, were originally known as the ‘Science Fiction Achievement Awards.’ But, in practice, their shortlists encompass speculative fiction as a whole, including fantasy—and is considered one of that genre’s most prestigious prizes. Here, Sylvia Bishop offers an overview of this year’s nominees in the ‘Best Novel’ category, which represent the most popular sci-fi and fantasy books of 2023.
Award-Winning Novels of 2023, recommended by Cal Flyn
The enormous variety of new, beautifully-blurbed books being published every month presents an agony of choice for the casual reader. Luckily, literary prize shortlists offer a shortcut to discovering some of the best novels of the year. Here, Five Books deputy editor Cal Flyn offers a helpful round-up of the award-winning novels of the 2023 season and a few notable runners-up. Read more fiction recommendations on Five Books
