LordTBR’s Top Reads of 2025 (in no particular order)

December 22, 2025 by David W Leave a Comment

Below, you’ll find my favorite novels, novellas, and manga that I’ve read in 2025.
Each title has a link to purchase or wishlist, as well as a short blurb (except manga) to tantalize your eyeballs.

Novels

Night of the Long Knives is a tale on grief, addiction, and the horrors that visit us when the silence is loudest. Jones juggles conspiracy theories, cults, serial killers and more in this superb example of his writing craft. Earthling Pub NEVER misses.

Anji Kills a King is a prodigious, unputdownable fantasy debut; The Rundown meets Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief in this whirlwind adventure that yearns to be devoured. Leikam is going to make a ton of Top Reads of 2025 lists – guaranteed.

Dark, moody, and tantalizing, Grave Empire is yet another example of how Swan is one of the finest fantasy writers going right now. Fans of Empire of the Wolf will devour this. Those who are new to the Empire are in for an absolute treat.

Skyrim meets John Gwynne’s ‘Of Blood & Bone’ in this complex and brutal epic fantasy tale. Akers wastes no time dropping you right into the trenches, only allowing subtle opportunities to come up for air before throwing you right back to the wolves.

Martin by way of Sapkoswki, Greathouse’s new epic weaves a wonderfully engrossing story guaranteed to capture the attention of fantasy fans everywhere. Looking for a new chonky epic fantasy to lose yourself in? Look no further.

The Bone Raiders is a relentlessly cheeky, ofttimes unserious, and undisputedly rip-roaring bit of fantasy that can only be written by Jackson Ford. Badass female protagonists, found family, and giant lizards – what more do you need? Add this one to your TBR. I fully guarantee you’ll be entertained.

A monumental, unyielding, and gut-wrenching sequel to one of the best debuts I’ve ever read. Palmer turns up the volume to 11 in his masterwork norse-influenced epic fantasy with A Chorus of War.

A devilishly good read, Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils is a rib-tickling, blood-soaked adventure that could very well be his best yet. If you are a fan of The First Law series, you’ll feel right at home w/ this cheery lot. This is THE fantasy book to read this Summer.

Horizon Zero Dawn meets Hiroyuki Takei’s Shaman King in M. H. Ayinde’s spellbinding science fantasy epic; ancestral summoning, engrossing storytelling, and expansive world-building make this debut one you won’t want to miss.

Jester by Tim Carter is a sharp-tongued, cozy-laden fantasy story covered in muck, ridiculous politics, and heaps upon heaps of the undead. If you are a fan of Travis Baldree, Nicholas Eames or J Zachary Pike, this is right up your alley – or latrine. If I had to liken our protagonist, I’d say Shelly is Tyrion Lannister – constantly underestimated and unwanted (if we are being honest), yet has the brains to befuddle all. Book comparison – Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief meets Ben Hatke’s Nobody Likes a Goblin.

Epic is as epic does, Children of the Gods by S. A. Klopfenstein sidles up alongside the Cahills and Quaintrells of the world to give readers a vast new world full of magic, rebellion, and of course, DRAGONS. While the cover screams READ ME, the interior backs it up wholeheartedly.

Hammerfall by Rob J. Hayes reads like a love letter to the offspring of John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga & SMS’s God of War Ragnarök. It is a brilliant standalone in Hayes’ God Eater Saga that is sure to satiate lovers of Norse mythology or those who simply want a great story.

The Book of Fallen Leaves by A. S. Tamaki is a masterfully composed, brutally enthralling fantasy epic with notes of Martin, Clavell, and Inoue. Tamaki’s debut is already a 2026 Book of the Year contender in my eyes. Bookmark it.

Gut-wrenching and compulsively devourable, Dogged will make you laugh, it’ll make you’ll cry… it’ll make you want to tear a wizard limb from limb. Fletcher is an ace storyteller.

An ambitious, blood-soaked dark fantasy debut with notes of Gentleman Bastards, Berserk, and Lovecraft. An all-consuming tome.

Special Shoutout

If Gearbox’s Borderlands & Croteam’s Serious Sam franchises had an LSD-infused weekend bender and threw whatever monstrosity it created into a livestreamed D&D crawl, you might sniff what DCC really is.
It’s insane. It’s hysterical. It’s a larger-than-life experience that I cannot recommend enough, especially if you are a gamer. Highly HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobooks narrated by the incomparable Jeff Hays.

Novellas

Anna Smith Spark meets Band of the Hawk in this grimdark gut-punch of a novella; it absolutely SLAPS. For fans of Anthony Ryan and Joe Abercrombie, An Inkling of Flame cements Z.B. Steele as an author to watch out for.

The crème de la crème of novellas, Kill All Wizards mixes sarky humor, succulent prose, and resplendent action to tell one of the best stories I’ve ever laid eyes on.

BLAME! meets Claymore with a drop of Ghosts of Tomorrow in what could be my favorite novella of 2025. Read Kordov now and thank me later.

In the Shadow of Their Dying mixes the best of Michael R. Fletcher’s Manifest Delusions & The Obsidian Path w/ Anna Smith Spark’s brutally gorgeous prose from Empires of Dust to create what I consider the preeminent cowritten story. It’s gritty, vicious, and grimdark AF, and I want more.

A S Colworth’s Empire‘s End (Dreams of the Fallen #0.5) might be one of the best fantasy novellas I’ve ever read – up there with the Ryan Cahill’s of the world. A fast-paced, riveting read that exemplifies why a novella can be JUST AS impactful as an 800-page tome.

Raw, unflinching, and emotionally devastating, The Last Gasp of Midnight left me broken. Riley shows off his writing chops by weaving a seamless story about a man and his son into a 47-page muddy, bloody, and brutal fight scene.

The things we do for love… A gateway drug of a novella, Protocol of Valor will have you clamoring to binge Wolff’s entire Legacy of Boulom series.

Emotionally taxing and raw, Liminal Monster will drive a stake into your heart long before you turn the final page.

Noah’s Ark meets Hugh Howey’s Wool in Bill Adams’
Unlucky Evens, Cursed Odds – a philosophical sci-fi tale that can be read during an extended lunch hour when, you know…, work can just wait, man. Perfect for fans of Edward Ashton.

The Sound of Starfall by Scott Palmer is a novella that just hits every single note perfectly; a gritty, dark fantasy story that sets the stage for Palmer’s debut series – one that I know will resonate with all of the “grimdark” lovers out there.

Manga

Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei

Kingdom by Yasuhisa Hara

Record of Ragnarok by Shinya Umemura

Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu

Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono

Gachiakuta by Kei Urana

Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa

About David W

Believer, Hubby, Girl Dad. Owner/CEO of FanFiAddict. Works a not so flashy day job in central Alabama. Furthest thing from a redneck and doesn’t say Roll Tide. Enjoys fantasy, science fiction, horror and thrillers but not much else (especially kissy kissy).

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