Books that made an impact pt 2 - 2024

Hello and happy almost-New Year! Time to finish up this list to juuuuust squeak in to 2024; I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to hear my thoughts.

Another ‘didn’t qualify for this list but you should buy it anyway’ shout out to A Reluctant Spy by David Goodman - I got to read it aaaaaages ago but it’s out now and even got a glowing review from the CIA. If that doesn’t convince you to pick it up then I don’t know what will!

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is showing up on a lot of favourites list, and with good reason. It’s my favourite of all things - a genre mash-up - that handles both sides with deft aplomb. The fantasy world is rich and unique and the mystery aspect is compelling and twisty, and the characters are perfectly chosen and written. This has really demonstrated how to combine genres in the best possible way, something I hope we are able to do with some of our upcoming projects.

Limelight and other stories by Lyndsey Croal: Another short story collection, this one focusing on near and far-future science fiction, and specifically the influence of technology on society. The writing is great and the stories are moreish, but what really struck me is the delicate way they lead the reader on an emotional journey from start to finish. This is an especial strength of collections, but a good lesson to learn for any length work.

Asunder by Kerstin Hall: Another book that manipulates the heartstrings beautifully. Asunder is awash with headless dog taxis, giant spiders, evil sea anenomes and living shadows, but at its core it’s a story of trauma and grief and it never loses sight of that even as it takes you on a fantasy roadtrip of your dreams. That grounding makes it bittersweet and epic and is something I want to achieve in our work, always.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S Beagle: God, this book. Just go read it, right now. And then come back and exclaim with me that Beagle was only 29 when he wrote it, and yet it’s full of profound musings about age and humanity and love that are just utterly, utterly beautiful. It’s anachronistic and meandering and makes no sense and yet it’s absolutely perfect. Not sure what exactly I’m taking from this for our personal practice except that words are beautiful and stories are vital, but isn’t that the most important thing?

We Are All Ghosts in the Forest by Lorraine Wilson: Look, this book has all the catnip for E: maybe-sentient forests, an emotionally withdrawn protagonist, technological weirdness (digital ghosts, anyone), cats and BEES. But really it hit hard because it’s deftly written and never neglects the humanity of this near-future dystopia. It’s easy to lose sight of the woods for the trees when you’re drafting (pun intended) but Ghosts reminds me to mind the forest - dangerous and alive - that will be here after we’re all long gone.

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed: A late discovery of 2024, this is a remastered novel originally published in 1996. It feels like a book of today, however, exploring themes of surveillance, censorship and humanness in an increasingly technology-dominated world. It asks questions like: what does it mean to be human? What is love? And where does the whale fit into all this? I feel like a broken record at this point but that grounding of a big message in a very human story is what made this one of my last-minute picks for this list.

Extremophile by Ian Green: This is a punk tale in aesthetic, approach, and message. It challenges you to place yourself in the Green, the Blue, or the Black, and trumpets a song for hope in every chapter. It’s easy to write a book extrapolating from where we are to where we might be - it’s a lot harder to do so with any optimism. It’s worth holding onto, however, and Extremophile reminds me that a message of hope is never wasted.

The Cipher by Kathe Koja: If I had to pick a favourite read from 2024 it would be this book, I think. It’s certainly the one I’ve talked about the most, the one I’ve shouted about to friends, the one that squats in my brainmeats muttering dark and twisted things. Having written about 15 other incredible books I can now see that the thing that makes a book resonate with me most is a story with epic emotional scope grounded in a very human story, and nothing has hit that note for me quite like The Cipher. It’s also weird and gross and surreal and poetic and I loved every grotty, twisted word of it.

Anyway, that’s the list, and if you’ve read any of these books and have thoughts on them please share! Thanks for reading our newsletter, I promise we’ll get better at posting regularly next year (maybe).

Don’t forget to pre-order The Needfire and have an incredible Hogmanay, wherever you are!