Top 10 Books Of 2023

What power can bruise the sky? Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera's rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her. When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited—not in love, but in a tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves. But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters? The New York Times bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy comes to a stunning conclusion as—from the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond—humans, chimaera, and seraphim strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy.

Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy. It was not his war. On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe started down a path that could only end in fire. The galaxy remembers him as a hero: the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a monster: the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives—even the Emperor himself—against Imperial orders. But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier. Fleeing his father and a future as a torturer, Hadrian finds himself stranded on a strange, backwater world. Forced to fight as a gladiator and navigate the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, he will find himself fighting a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.

The second novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe continues down a path that can only end in fire. Hadrian Marlowe is lost. For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin. He has not succeeded, and for years has wandered among the barbarian Normans as captain of a band of mercenaries. Determined to make peace and bring an end to nearly four hundred years of war, Hadrian must venture beyond the security of the Sollan Empire and among the Extrasolarians who dwell between the stars. There, he will face not only the aliens he has come to offer peace, but contend with creatures that once were human, with traitors in his midst, and with a meeting that will bring him face to face with no less than the oldest enemy of mankind. If he succeeds, he will usher in a peace unlike any in recorded history. If he fails...the galaxy will burn.

The third novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe continues down a path that can only end in fire. Hadrian has been serving the Empire in military engagements against the Cielcin, the vicious alien civilization bent on humanity's destruction. After Hadrian and his Red Company achieve a great victory, a cult-like fervor builds around him. However, pressures within the Imperial government scared of his rise to prominence result in an assassination attempt, luckily thwarted. With the Empire too dangerous to stay, Hadrian and his crew leave for a massive library on a distant world. There, he finds the next key to unlocking the secrets of the Quiet: a set of coordinates for their origin planet, unnamed and now lifeless. Hadrian's true purpose in serving in the military was to aid his search of a rumored connection between the first Emperor and the Quiet, the ancient, seemingly long-dead race linked to so many of Hadrian's extraordinary experiences. Will this mysterious lost planet have the answers?

Set in an alternative Edwardian England, this is a comedy of manners, manor houses, and hedge mazes: including a magic-infused murder mystery and a delightful queer romance. For fans of Georgette Heyer or Julia Quinn's Bridgerton, who'd like to welcome magic into their lives . . . Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world. Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor – but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.

Aufeinanderprallende Imperien, verbotene Liebe und eine längst vergessene Königin, die dazu bestimmt ist, ihr Volk zu retten – Tahereh Mafis Auftakt einer epischen, romantischen Trilogie, inspiriert von der persischen Mythologie. Für die ganze Welt ist Alizeh eine entbehrliche Dienerin, nicht die lange verschollene Erbin eines alten Dschinn-Königreichs, die gezwungen ist, sich offen verborgen zu halten. Der Kronprinz Kamran hat die Prophezeiungen gehört, die den Tod seines Königs vorhersagen. Doch er hätte sich nie vorstellen können, dass das Dienstmädchen mit den seltsamen Augen, das Mädchen, das ihm nicht aus dem Kopf geht, schon bald sein Königreich – und die Welt – erschüttern würde. Perfekt für Fans von Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi und Sabaa Tahir: Dies ist der explosive erste Band einer neuen Fantasy-Trilogie der New-York-Times-Bestsellerautorin und für den National Book Award nominierten Autorin Tahereh Mafi.

Οι πολλές ζωές της θεωρητικής φυσικού Έλσι Χάναγουεϊ την έχουν επιτέλους προλάβει. Την ημέρα, είναι έκτακτη καθηγήτρια, μοχθεί διορθώνοντας εργαστηριακές ασκήσεις και διδάσκοντας θερμοδυναμική, με την ελπίδα να εξασφαλίσει μια μόνιμη θέση. Τις υπόλοιπες ώρες, η Έλσι αναπληρώνει τον ανύπαρκτο μισθό της προσφέροντας τις υπηρεσίες της ως ψεύτικη κοπέλα, αξιοποιώντας την άριστα καλλιεργημένη ικανότητά της να ευχαριστεί τους άλλους, ώστε να ενσαρκώνει όποια εκδοχή του εαυτού της χρειάζεται ο πελάτης. Ειλικρινά, είναι μια αρκετά καλή δουλειά — μέχρι που το προσεκτικά κατασκευασμένο σύμπαν της Έλσι καταρρέει. Γιατί ο Τζακ Σμιθ, ο εκνευριστικά γοητευτικός και μελαγχολικός μεγαλύτερος αδελφός του αγαπημένου της πελάτη, αποδεικνύεται πως είναι ο ψυχρός πειραματικός φυσικός που κατέστρεψε την καριέρα του μέντορά της και υπονόμευσε τη φήμη των θεωρητικών παντού. Και ο ίδιος Τζακ βρίσκεται τώρα στην επιτροπή προσλήψεων του MIT, ακριβώς ανάμεσα στην Έλσι και τη δουλειά των ονείρων της. Η Έλσι είναι έτοιμη για έναν ολοκληρωτικό πόλεμο ακαδημαϊκής δολιοφθοράς, αλλά… εκείνα τα μακρόσυρτα, διεισδυτικά βλέμματα; Το ότι δεν χρειάζεται να είναι τίποτε άλλο πέρα από ο αληθινός εαυτός της όταν είναι μαζί του; Μήπως η έλξη που ασκεί πάνω της ένας πειραματικός φυσικός θα την δελεάσει τελικά να εφαρμόσει στην πράξη τις πιο προσεκτικά φυλαγμένες θεωρίες της για την αγάπη;

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time. The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success—not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is. If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone. But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire. Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom. But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike. Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both.

Dávný svět magie už neexistuje. Jeho hrdinové jsou mrtví, jeho síně jsou v troskách a na jeho velké bitvy mezi Světlem a Temnotou se zapomnělo. Pamatují si je jen Správci, kteří drží svou staletou stráž a přísahali, že budou chránit lidstvo, pokud se Temný král někdy vrátí. Šestnáctiletý přístavní kluk Will je na útěku, pronásledován muži, kteří zabili jeho matku. Když mu starý sluha poví o jeho osudu bojovat po boku Správců, Will je uveden do světa magie, kde musí trénovat, aby sehrál zásadní roli v nadcházející bitvě proti Temnotě. Zatímco Londýnu hrozí návrat Temného krále, znovuzrození hrdinové a padouši dávno zapomenuté války začínají rýsovat bojové linie. Když však mladí potomci Světla a Temnoty vstupují do svých předurčených rolí, probouzejí se stará spojenectví, stará nepřátelství i staré lásky. Will musí stát po boku posledních hrdinů Světla, aby zabránil návratu osudu, který zničil jejich svět, a tomu, aby zničil i ten jeho.