Top Twenty Favourite Series (2023)

It’s that time of year again, where I rank my top favourite series, trilogies and duologies by the nebulous qualities of ‘what I like’.

These series will be exclusively speculative fiction in nature, and I must have read at least two books in the series before it can make the list.

Like last time, this list is in order of least to most favourite, but really I love all these series, and any could move above the others if my feelings change. And there are so many other series and books that I really enjoy too! These are, for me, the best and most enjoyable.

Not too many changes this year as I haven’t progressed many series, but hindsight is shifting some entries in the list around, especially lower down the list, and one new entry has beaten the odds to get a top ten spot.

You can find last year’s list here: Top Twenty Favourite Series

Top Twenty Favourite Series (2022)

It’s that time of year again, where I rank my top favourite series, trilogies and duologies by the nebulous qualities of ‘what I like’.

This time, the list is expanding! Last year there were a couple of series that didn’t quite make the list that I kind of wish did. This year there’s relatively little movement in the top ten, and I’m finding it less palatable to cut things off at ten. There’s too many great series that I want to highlight!

These series will be exclusively speculative fiction in nature, and I must have read at least two books in the series before it can make the list.

Like last time, this list is in order of least to most favourite, but really I love all these series, and any could move above the others if my feelings change. And there are so many other series and books that I really enjoy too! These are, for me, the best and most enjoyable.

You can find last year’s list here: Top Ten Favourite Series

Book Review: The Discord of Gods

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The Discord of Gods is the fifth and final book in the A Chorus of Dragons series. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous books. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

The end times have come.

Relos Var’s final plans to enslave the universe are on the cusp of fruition. He believes there’s only one being in existence that might be able to stop him: the demon Xaltorath.

As these two masterminds circle each other, neither is paying attention to the third player on the board, Kihrin. Unfortunately, keeping himself classified in the “pawn” category means Kihrin must pretend to be everything the prophecies threatened he’d become: the destroyer of all, the sun eater, a mindless, remorseless plague upon the land. It also means finding an excuse to not destroy the people he loves (or any of the remaining Immortals) without arousing suspicion.

Kihrin’s goals are complicated by the fact that not all of his “act” is one. His intentions may be sincere, but he’s still being forced to grapple with the aftereffects of the corrupted magic ritual that twisted both him and the dragons. Worse, he’s now tied to a body that is the literal avatar of a star – a form that is becoming increasingly, catastrophically unstable. All of which means he’s running out of time.

After all, some stars fade – but others explode.

The Discord of God’s by Jenn Lyons is the explosive finale to her Chorus of Dragons series. The final stage is set as godlike powers come into play, with the stakes being the fate of the souls of almost everyone in the world.

Book Review: The House of Always

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The House of Always is the fourth book in the A Chorus of Dragons series. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous books. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

What if you were imprisoned for all eternity?

In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed.

The Eight Immortals have catastrophically failed to stop Kihrin’s enemies, who are moving forward with their plans to free Vol Karoth, the King of Demons. Kihrin has his own ideas about how to fight back, but even if he’s willing to sacrifice everything for victory, the cost may prove too high for his allies.

Now they face a choice: can they save the world while saving Kihrin, too? Or will they be forced to watch as he becomes the very evil they have all sworn to destroy.

The House of Always by Jenn Lyons is an ambitious and mostly successful penultimate entry in the Chorus of Dragons series. Lyons capitalises on the readers familiarity with the characters to tell a tighter story that forces them to confront their own mistakes.

Book Review: The Memory of Souls

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The Memory of Souls is the third book in the A Chorus of Dragons series. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous books. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

THE LONGER HE LIVES
THE MORE DANGEROUS HE BECOMES

Now that Relos Var’s plans have been revealed and demons are free to rampage across the empire, the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies—and the end of the world—is closer than ever.

To buy time for humanity, Kihrin needs to convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual which will strip the entire race of their immortality, but it’s a ritual which certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the messengers.

Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to the king of demons, Vol Karoth, is growing steadily in strength.

How can he hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all?

The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons is an explosively good sequel that takes almost every element of the previous two books and turns it up to 11. The characters especially shine in this middle entry of A Chorus of Dragons.

Book Review: The Name of All Things

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The Name of All Things is the second book in the A Chorus of Dragons series. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous book/s. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

You can have everything you want if you sacrifice everything you believe.

Kihrin D’Mon is a wanted man.

Since he destroyed the Stone of Shackles and set demons free across Quur, he has been on the run from the wrath of an entire empire. His attempt to escape brings him into the path of Janel Theranon, a mysterious Joratese woman who claims to know Kihrin.

Janel’s plea for help pits Kihrin against all manner of dangers: a secret rebellion, a dragon capable of destroying an entire city, and Kihrin’s old enemy, the wizard Relos Var.

Janel believes that Relos Var possesses one of the most powerful artifacts in the world―the Cornerstone called the Name of All Things. And if Janel is right, then there may be nothing in the world that can stop Relos Var from getting what he wants.

And what he wants is Kihrin D’Mon.

The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons lives up to the promises of the first book, delivering an epic story that intersects and continues the story. The eccentric narrative style and convuluted history and identities of the characters may put some people off, but for me it just adds to the charm.