TOP PICK
The Just City
When the goddess Athena gathers philosophers and scholars across time to build Plato's Republic on the island of Thera, the experiment in ideal living collides violently with human desire, free will, and the presence of Socrates himself. Jo Walton builds a world that is simultaneously rigorous and deeply strange — a fantasy that doubles as philosophy without ever losing its pulse. If you've ever wanted a novel that makes you argue with every page and still can't put it down, this is the one to read this week.
MUST READ
Teeth of the Gods
Set in a frostbitten world where magic is drawn from human suffering and political betrayal runs as deep as the winter cold, this novel follows a healer forced to become something far more dangerous in order to survive. Forest writes with surgical precision — every scene earns its place, and the magic system carries genuine moral weight that lingers long after the final page.
HIDDEN GEM
The Tiger's Daughter
Told entirely through a letter written by one legendary warrior to another, this debut epic draws on Mongolian and Chinese mythology to weave a love story and a war story into something that feels genuinely unlike anything else on the fantasy shelf. Rivera's prose is lush and deliberate, and the world she builds — one where demons walk the steppes and two women rewrite history — rewards every page of patience it asks for.
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