Pile by the Bed’s Top 5 fantasy books for 2022 are Babel, The Stardust Thief, Book of Night, Siren Queen and Jade Legacy – with five honourable mentions.

Pile by the Bed reviews Jade Legacy the final epic book in Fonda Lee’s Godfather meets martial arts fantasy Geenbone Saga. Recommended.

Pile by the Bed lists the top five fantasy novels of 2019 (with three honourable mentions)

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Jade War by Fonda Lee, second book in the Green Bone trilogy.

Fantasy novels have traditionally been built on a medieval model. Even where there are no elves or dwarves or orcs, there is always plenty of swords and horses. This goes to Asian-based fantasy also, often based on mythology it will be full of bows and arrows and dragons. Urban fantasy seeks to move away from these tropes and locate fantasy in more of a contemporary frame. There are plenty of great authors working in urban fantasy – writers like Ben Aaronovitch, Neal Gaiman and Angela Slatter. And now, joining them, from a more Asia-centric approach is debut author Fonda Lee.  Jade City is set in a fantasy but recognisable Earth. It centres around the island of Kekon where the indigenous inhabitants are able to harness locally mined jade to give them a range of powers. Use of jade is dangerous and training is required to effectively harness and control the power. The island itself is only a generation after the inhabitants successfully repelled an occupying force through guerrilla action, and still the eyes of the two great powers of the world are on Kekon.  But this is not a story of that global conflict. Jade City focusses on the power struggle between the two top criminal gangs – the No Peak Clan and…