[Editor’s Note: This is a month late. My fault.]

It’s been another tumultuous year, but science fiction and fantasy books, games and shows have been there to get us through once again. Here’s a look back at my year in SFF. Anything mentioned here has my personal recommendation.

These books and other products weren’t necessarily published or released in 2021, but that’s when I read, played or watched them, so they count for this article as far as I’m concerned!

(Disclaimer: I won’t be including books I reviewed this year, as I’ve already written about them. I did not receive review copies of any of the books or other products mentioned here, except for the games mentioned in the Current Review Pile.)

SFF Novels

The crushing existential dread of a worldwide pandemic, and mounting fears of climate change, have at least got me back into reading for pleasure, as well as for review. (Though I usually enjoy the books I review too!) Here, in no particular order, are some books that stood out to me this year.

The Ice House (The Honours #2) by Tim Clare (2019)

Initially set in Norfolk in 1935, The Honours starts out as a cosy, though sharp-edged, character study of an angry girl living as a guest in an odd stately home, alongside her ill father and fretful mother. The protagonist, Delphine, is like a paranoid, militant, female Just William and her adventures are very readable.

By the start of the second novel, this series has morphed into a weird portal fantasy, complete with strange creatures, grey morality, body horror, a grim though vibrant world full of injustice, and a set of truly nasty, manipulative and persistent villains.

All the Murmuring Bones by A. G. Slatter (2021)

[Content warning: child death.]

A worthy entry into the micro genre I’ve decided to call Coastal Gothic (alongside Monstrous Heart by Claire McKenna and some of the stories from This Dreaming Isle edited by Dan Coxon). Miren O’Malley’s family were once very rich and powerful, due to an unspeakable bargain made with a ruthless power of the sea. That bargain has not been fulfilled for some time and the O’Malleys have fallen into decline.

Miren must find her own path, as various relatives and criminals seek to use her as a pawn in the game to reclaim the O’Malley’s bloody legacy. Featuring a determined heroine, all manner of creatures from European folklore, dark family secrets, murders, magic and a dash of romance.

(Let me know if you’ve found any other examples of Coastal Gothic, they must be out there.)

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune (2020)

A big wholesome gay hug of a book. Linus Baker is a conscientious but unquestioning case worker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. His job is to confirm magical children are being looked after properly in the orphanages where they live.

Bullied, unappreciated, lonely, his life can only get better when everything he knows about the world and himself is upended by his latest job—investigating an island orphanage that houses, among others, a were-dog, a slime-boy and a child who may be the Anti-Christ.

This book is full of sorrow and sweetness, including a quiet romance between two damaged but good-hearted men. This book was recommended by another blogger on this very site. Which is why I picked it up!

The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by N. K. Jemisin (2020)

Sometimes, cities come to life and choose a human to be their avatar. But there are creatures from other dimensions who see these awakened cities as the source of untold destruction and seek to kill them as soon as they rise. New York has just awoken, but its transformation is not complete, now five New Yorkers have been chosen to embody the five boroughs, if they cannot work together then all of New York, and perhaps the world, may be doomed.

You know that scene in a book or film, where all the dangerous people—assassins, gunslingers, martial artists, gangsters, are hanging out in an inn or bar? And they’re all sitting there thinking they’re so tough? Then the protagonist walks in, and all these dangerous people go silent, drop their eyes and start trying really hard to blend in with the wallpaper? The way that badass walks into the room is the way Jemisin writes. She writes with humanity and joy, with wry affection and simmering rage. She writes with wild abandon and effortless style and throws words around like punches. I’m glad to have finally found out why she has set the SFF world on fire.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (2021)

Jessamyn Teoh is moving from the USA back to Malaysia, a country she barely remembers. It’s a difficult time for her—jobless, cooped up with her overbearing family, missing the girlfriend she hasn’t dared to tell her parents about. But when her dead grandmother starts talking to her, things go from bad to worse.

The characters Cho write feel deeply real and deeply human, consequently the gods and ghosts they must deal with appear incredibly real too, even prosaic. Not quite horror and certainly not a pulpy urban fantasy adventure, this reads like a very personal meditation on family, culture-shock, identity, and the perils of the past.

Children of Time (Children of Time #1) (2015) and Children of Ruin (Children of Time #2) (2019) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

By my 20s I’d already largely abandoned sci-fi as being far less engaging than fantasy. But I still make the occasional exception and I’m really glad I made one for the Children of Time series. It’s a glorious, horrifying, fascinating, epic, evolutionary opera spanning vast gulfs of time and interstellar space.

Humanity has all but destroyed itself just as it had begun to explore the stars and experiment with uplifting other species. These books chart the hundreds, and thousands of years of evolution as new civilisations emerge.

One book deals with a species descended from portia spiders, another deals with uplifted octopuses, both species are on a collision course with the remnants of humanity, with extinction on the line. You might be surprised by who you end up rooting for!

It’s also worth giving an honourable mention to Tchaikovsky’s Cage of Souls (2019), a far future weird fantasy reminiscent of Jack Vance’s seminal Dying Earth series. It’s witty, curious, and inventive.

The Witness for the Dead (The Cemeteries of Amalo #1) by Katherine Addison (2021)

Addison returns to the world of The Goblin Emperor. This story follows the often-stony path of Thara Celehar, a priest dedicated to honouring the dead. He can commune with the recently dead and sets out to right whatever wrongs concern them.

As the blurb says, this leads him into “a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice”. Thara is painfully dutiful, and endures quite considerable suffering at the hands of those less noble than himself, as he deals with murderous undead, family disputes, angry playwrights and political enemies.

Addison exults in elaborate, beautiful language, melancholy scenes and small moments of kindness in a rich but often unkind world. Few novelists can match the sheer depth of culture she packs into her novels.

The Devil’s Blade by Mark Alder (2020)

Based very, very loosely, on the life of Julie d’Aubigny—17th Century opera singer, swordswoman and bisexual icon. In this version of history, Julie falls foul of a cult of aristocratic satanists and makes a deal with the Devil to gain the sword skills she needs to avenge herself upon them.

It’s difficult for a cis man to write a female protagonist convincingly and Alder doesn’t always nail it perfectly, in my opinion, but that’s only a slight quibble. Overall, this book is a fun romp through 17th Century Paris, full of action, tragedy, cunning schemes, wicked decadence, and scenery chewing villains (including a poetic, petty, beautiful, seething Devil).

I particularly loved the stately sedan chair chase scene, where the pursuers acknowledge they could get out of their own chair and run faster than the panting footmen carrying their quarry’s chair, but they don’t want to ruin their shoes.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (2020)

Piranesi is almost alone in an immense ‘house’ made of ruined buildings and great statues and full of shifting water. He does not remember our world, or his true name, and is content to scratch out a living amongst the endless halls, helped by occasional gifts from the Other, his only human visitor. But another visitor has entered the house and their presence will cause Piranesi to question the foundations of his reality, catapulting him towards a deadly confrontation.

Well, it’s very different to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. That book was sprawling and magical and festooned with footnotes about curious happenings and faerie politics. Piranesi is very self-contained, with a tiny cast, mostly consisting of skeletons (not the ambulatory kind, either), and very little in the way of magic. It still retains that sense of scholarliness, and deep consideration of human nature which makes Clarke’s writing so absorbing. And there really isn’t anything like it.

Here’s a few highlights from other kinds of media, because they deserve our love too.

Graphic Novels

The Sandman series written by Neil Gaiman (1989 – present)

One of the greatest comic series of all time, The Sandman chronicles the fate of proud Morpheus, AKA Dream of the Endless, a being beyond gods, who rules all the lands of the human unconscious (and that of any other creature that dreams).

I reread The Sandman series this year, including Overture (2015), an incredibly lush and strange coda to The Sandman series. It explains why Dream could be caught by a mortal magician and, if the Endless are siblings, who are their parents?

Worth tracking down for the art alone. And just for the writing. And for the chance to spend years pondering the different perspectives and trying to unpick all the layers beneath the story’s surface.

Look out for The Sandman TV series, coming to Netflix sometime in 2022, probably.

Video Games

Disco Elysium from ZA/UM (2019)

One of the greatest CRPGs (computer role-playing game) I’ve ever played. The worldbuilding is stupendously original and absorbingly detailed. The writing is funny, introspective and infuriating by turns. The scenery and soundscape are an artist’s dream.

Convince yourself you’re a rockstar. Internalise Communism. Seek cryptids, which may not exist. Wander around with no trousers on. Die from embarrassment. Investigate a possibly cursed shopping mall. Sing karaoke. Argue with multiple aspects of your own personality at once.

Podcasts

Dissecting Dragons with J. A. Ironside and M. E. Vaughan (312 episodes as of posting)

Fantasy authors J. A. Ironside and M. E. Vaughan debate and discuss a huge range of topics pertaining to the intermingled worlds of fantasy, mythology, folklore and history. They particularly like faeries, magic, martial arts, Celtic Mythology, troubled relationships, gothic settings, well written heroines and a hundred and one other things I don’t have time to expound upon here.

This podcast has been a great source of reading recommendations and real aid to my writing this year, both of reviews and of fiction. (It’s why I checked out All the Murmuring Bones.) With 312 episodes and counting, covering topics ranging from cannibalism to goblin markets and magical McGuffins to the role of violence in fantasy fiction, no lover of SFF needs to be alone in their own head for the foreseeable future.

The Midnight Library with Miranda Merrick and Mr. Darling (52 episodes as of posting)

This podcast is presented by Miranda Merrick, who certainly isn’t a witch, whatever gave you that idea? Miranda lives in the Midnight Library, a beautiful gothic building deep in a dark forest surrounded by cemeteries and swamps, somewhere in the USA. She greets her hapless guests and regales them with dark tales from history, mythology and folklore. Miranda is ably assisted by Mr Darling, who certainly isn’t werewolf, whatever gave you that idea?

A really professional production, with a great soundtrack and a hypnotic cadence, The Midnight Library shares stories of poisonous mushrooms, bog bodies, vampires, mediums, demons, automatons and more.

Stories of guests of The Midnight Library being eaten, poisoned, cursed, vanished, beheaded or transformed are, surely, exaggerated.

Femsplained with Diana and Avalon (76 episodes as of posting)

Two queer, non-binary feminists explain different geeky topics to each other and to you. The hosts, Diana and Avalon, have a lovely cosy energy together, but are very happy to put the world to rights. Listening to them is soothing, entertaining and informative.

Topics range from Dragon Age to Wheel of Time, from gender identity to accessibility in LARPing, and from the perils of the first time RPG publisher to the elusive high of the school book fair. Rare anime, weird dating sims and the curious phenomenon of Lonely Girl 15 also make an appearance. Guests include Queer Arcana, a queer D&D drag act, and Nuance Vivian of Fast Times at D&D High. Sexual themes are discussed, including playing Marry, Shag, Kill with a wide variety of fictional characters. (Mr Tumnas does better than you might expect.)

For All Nerds with DJ BenHaMeen and Tatiana King (500 episodes as of posting)

“Multicultural Maestros” DJ BenHaMeen and Tatiana King discuss up-to-the-minute news in geek culture, with a keen eye on the latest controversies to rock the worlds of fandom, all from the perspective of people of colour. It’s a clever, funny, geektastic podcast.

I’ve particularly been following their reviews of the new Marvel TV shows and films, as well as Lovecraft Country. Their discussions are incredibly in depth, sifting through comic book references I never would have spotted in a million years. They talk through very sensitive topics of race, gender, sexuality, representation, subjective morality and more, always managing to have a lively but respectful debate and keep the conversation fun, despite the weight of the subject matter.

(Just don’t try to memorise all the nicknames the presenters give themselves each episode, you will go mad.)

Tabletop RPGs

There’s a whole article’s worth of supplements and RPGs I got to read this year, but not so many I got to play, or run, besides those I’ve already reviewed. Here’s a couple though.

MÖRK BORG by Ockult Örtmästare Games and Fria Ligan (Free League) (2020)

What if Doom Metal fans made a fantasy world? Well, they did, and MÖRK BORG is the result—a twisted, tongue in cheek, apocalyptic artpunk hellscape.

The world is dying, and you are the sort of vile scum that dare to pick through the ruins. Perhaps you’ll find some way to avert the End written in the Calendar of Nechrubel, to defy the prophecies of the two-headed basilisk He. Perhaps you’ll simply scrape together enough treasure to live out your final days in relative comfort. More likely you’ll be stabbed to death by a possessed doll, turned into a goblin, killed in a fall or dissolved in acidic sludge.

MÖRK BORG combines simple, OSR-style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_School_Renaissance rules with a minimally described but deeply evocative world and incredible art. Take on such awful guises as the Fanged Deserter, Pale One, Wretched Royalty or Dead God’s Prophet. Venture forth into such delightful destinations as The Valley of the Unfortunate Undead.

This game is simply put, a lot of grim, grisly, chaotic fun.

Vaesen: Nordic Horror Roleplaying by Fria Ligan (Free League) (2020)

I’ve only played this game briefly, but I loved the concept, and the system seems pretty easy to pick up and play.

Set in 19th Century Sweden, this game follows characters that can see the Vaesen (supernatural creatures such as imps, ogres and werewolves).

The country is in flux, technology and civilisation are on the rise and the old ways are being forgotten. The Vaesen are restless, sensing their territory dwindling around them.

This is a great, atmospheric game steeped in Scandinavian folklore, and should have something to offer even the most jaded of urban fantasy fans.

TV Shows

WandaVision (2021, TV-PG)

A new direction for Marvel, this series served up a whole heap of quirky weirdness, with a lurking undertone of manipulation, conspiracy and deep psychological damage. It was the perfect show for our times!

It also taught me more than I ever expected to know about American sitcoms old and new. It’s curious how certain genres almost become a kind of fantasy in themselves, because of how their tropes distort reality.

Also, shoutout to the superhero battle that makes meaningful use of the Ship of Theseus paradox.

Invisible City (Cidade Invisível) (2021 – present, TV-G)

Drawing heavily on Brazilian folklore, itself a mix of African, European, and South American beliefs, this urban fantasy tale offers a fresh (to the European viewer) take on the magical creatures said to live amongst us—a one-legged trickster, a fire-headed warrior, a witch who can turn into butterflies, and more.

It’s a dark tale of tragedy, murder, deceit, ghosts, corruption and manipulation. It’s full of shades of grey, with a cast of flawed and haunted individuals just doing their best to get by.

Arcane (2021, TV-14)

I’m only partway through this, but it deserves a shoutout for its intricate, magi-tech world, savage emotional beats, awesome soundtrack, neon colour palette and swaggering, explosive action.

[Editor’s Note: Arcane contains ALL THE FEELS AND WILL DESTROY YOU. A must watch!]

Films

These aren’t necessarily Oscar bait, but they are fun!

The Suicide Squad (2021, R)

Suicide Squad (2016), the sort of but not really prequel to The Suicide Squad, was pretty awful. The Suicide Squad is a lot of fun.

We’re treated to an anxious and furious performance by Idris Elba, who is at the top of his game. Margot Robbie continues to rock as lovable villainess/anti-hero Harley Quinn, and we really get to see why she’s considered dangerous enough to join a super-team. New (to the big screen) characters like King Shark manage to charm as well.

It’s a film with heart and humour, even as it treats its cast as disposable cannon fodder.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021, PG-13)

This starts out as an urban-focused martial arts film with shades of family drama and comedy. Simu Liu and Awkwafina share a goofy chemistry and charisma as they battle through martial arts minions and high-flying acrobatics.

By the end it’s a full-on fantasy film with demons, dragons, archers, shifting forests and alien tigers. Quite beautiful.

[Editor’s Note: You don’t need to watch previous Marvel movies to watch and enjoy this film.]

Kong: Skull Island (2017, PG-13)

Yes, I’m late to the party, I only checked this out to get context for Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). But I ended up kind of liking this film more. It’s just about the artsiest mainstream monster film I’ve seen, beating out Cloverfield pretty conclusively. It’s a moody meditation on war and its costs, and the importance of not getting mired in revenge and hatred. It’s use of colour is quite wonderful. And you get to see a giant gorilla punch a helicopter!

[Editor’s Note: This movie is PG-13? I would have bet money it was R. o.0]

And finally, looking into 2022

Current Review Pile

I did receive free digital copies of these RPG books, in return for honest reviews.

Haunted West by Chris Spivey (2021)

A truly titanic Weird West RPG, 800 pages long, all of which are dedicated to returning to their rightful place all the people who were written out of the history and mythology of the Wild West.

Not going to lie, this one’s going to take me a while to finish.

Age of Sigmar: Soulbound – Champions of Death by Cubicle 7

A guide to playing undead minions of the God of Death in Age of Sigmar: Soulbound (or those rare undead who manage to rebel against their tyrannical overlord).

Doctor Who: The Roleplaying Game – Second Edition by Cubicle 7

The latest version of the RPG following everyone’s favourite time-travelling alien genius.

Possible Future Reviews

They Came from Beyond the Grave! by Onyx Path Publishing

The spooky, campy, 60s – 70s horror cinema sequel to They Came from Beyond the Grave! the RPG of 50s sci-fi B-movies. It’s not out yet but I’m planning to check it out when it hits the streets. I’m also keeping an eye on Masks of the Mythos, a supplement for Scion that adds in the option to be descended from Cthulhu Mythos deities.

Current TBR and Am Reading Piles (Not planning to review these, but you never know. Also in no particular order.)

Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings (2019)

A bleak, fascinating solo RPG where you play through the centuries-long life of a vampire, most likely surviving long enough to forget both your mortal life and everyone and everything you ever loved. (Or you might eat them, then forget them.) The book itself is a gorgeous artefact that looks like it was assembled over years from all sorts of materials.

Heart: The City Beneath RPG by Rowan, Rook and Decard

The sequel/equal to Spire, this RPG chronicles driven and doomed individuals as they delve into a reality-warping subterranean landscape. The writers are as searingly original as ever, and the Heart is full of weird, wonderful and horrific (mostly horrific), places to explore. Fight an angel made of blood and viscera. Travel with your own Death. Hunt monsters until you become one. Let a colony of arcane bees hollow out your body and turn it into a living hive, which comes with a surprising number of benefits.

The Gutter Prayer (The Black Iron Legacy #1) by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan (2019)

A grimly inventive tale of ghouls, thieves and mages caught up in an ancient and horrible conspiracy.

Ahab’s Return or The Last Voyage by Jeffrey Ford (2018)

A newish book by one of my favourite authors. Ford reimagines the tale of Moby Dick and its aftermath, as Ahab, who did not die battling his nemesis the great white whale, returns to America and tries to reunite with his lost family. It’s sure to be full of wondrous sights, cunning allusions and literary skill.

Mordew (Cities of the Weft #1) by Alex Pheby (2020)

A young boy struggles with a burgeoning power and a twisted destiny in a rotting city full of deceit and excess life.

I’m partway through this book. I’ve used the word original a lot in this article. But there really is nothing quite like Mordew. Gormenghast meets Oliver Twist is just the jumping off point. This is a world where a whole city can be permanently under siege from giant birds. Where creatures that seem human can form out of river-muck and stumble into town to begin their lives. Where ghosts haunt decaying clubhouses and bridges can be made of glass. Where flesh is malleable, dogs can talk, and a child may be two people at once. It is a city where a god died and where humans may become godlike.

I paused my reading of Mordew because the angry young protagonist did a Bad Thing, and I needed some time to cool off enough to carry on with his story. (He knows what he did.) I will return to it, and I urge you to check it out, if you haven’t already.

Have a great 2022 everyone!

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What were your highlights in media in 2021? Let us know in the comments!

Best of 2021 list will be up on Monday! 😀

Title image background by Engin Akyurt.