Tom Bookbeard’s Top Reads of 2025

Here we are again, another year, another wonderful library of books. My apologies for a lack of reviews from me this year; my reading time has been limited as I’ve had a kickass podcast, two anthologies, an audiobook, and that damned sky pirate novel I keep promising to finish, all taking up my spell slots. Still, there’s always time to read and so there’s time to post about my top reads of 2025.

And boy, do I have a glut of fantastic books to pick for my top reads of 2025, huzzah!

A post-apocalyptic pseudo-western written by one of the brains behind Xena: Warrior Princess. I enjoyed the sharp chapters. You could tell the author wrote for a TV show, it made for a seriously bingeable trip through a desolate world where everything stored in the Cloud is lost, plunging humanity back centuries. Plus, Deirde the MC is a complete and utter badass protagonist. It would’ve been disappointing if she wasn’t, right?

Holy moly this was a whodunnit that left me salivating. Poisonous pies, wise-cracking skulls, nefarious (and not-so nefarious) necromancy. This one’s a winner winner, poisonous pie dinner. I reviewed this one for FanFiAddict here:

Review: Silence of the Dead, A Fantasy Murder Mystery

I’ll just go ahead and copy paste from my Goodreads review:

This book serves as a reminder to not neglect your TBR. As reviewers, we love the shiny and the new future releases so much that it’s easy to forget that we’re sitting on a real gold mine of indie talent already. So, as for this being my TBR reminder, Where Blood Runs Gold was a dropkick in the teeth.

Where Blood Runs Gold is a sweary, violent, gruesome, disgusting, bloody, seriously great weird-western and I loved it. You can read my review here:

Reviewing the Weird Western “Where Blood Runs Gold” by A.C. Cross

That review has links to other reviews. It’s an SEO goldmine baby.

Seems harsh not to include both titles …

Tim Carter triumphed in the SFINCS contest with Majordomo, and deservedly so, it’s a poignant and touching novel that handles caring for a loved one with dementia. Plus, the main character is a kobold.

Tim’s novel, Jester, also crossed my TBR. Same feel as Majordomo only this time a goblin protagonist is against the odds when the undead horde approaches. Dave reviewed that one here:

Review: Jester by Tim Carter | FanFiAddict

Both titles are so, so good. I’m not even going to spoil these for you, just pick them up and book some time off work.

I will argue that this dips its toes into the weird western genre on account of that one scene … And hey, I tell you every time I read a weird western that I love weird westerns, what else do you want from me?

The Sisters Brothers is pure class. Eli and Charlie’s dialogue is a joy to behold. The dichotomy of the pair – Charlie dangerous and psychotic, Eli dutiful and sensitive – is the page turner here. The audiobook with William Hope is superb.

I’ll share Pippin’s review of this one: Review: Blood of the Kami by Baptiste Pinson Wu | FanFiAddict

The newest series in the Wuniverse and an author who is making great strides in the indie fantasy scene. With nods to his other works (*cough* Zombie Samurai *cough*) for Wu fans this is a fun read with monsters and myths aplenty. Slightly more YA than his more historical works but it’s a tonal switch that pays dividends.

I loved this. Full of Monster Hunter energy.

I was a busy beard judging for the Secret Scribes SFINCS allocation but this was my standout favourite of the initial batch. Marsh’s hazy amnesia Sci Fi is great, both on land and in orbit. Moving and harsh, always great.

Review: Caye Marsh’s Post-Apocalyptic Sci Fi “Station in the Sky”

Truth be told I have been binging this entire series on audiobook this year (I’m about to start book #4). I was always a fan of hardboiled detective fiction, particularly Raymond Chandler. This series tickles that detective fiction fancy and then some by adding fantasy into the mix.

Doug appeared on The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse to talk about the series. Ever the professional, you can see me swigging a beer right at the start too.

Douglas Lumsden investigates The Four Beardsmen of the Bookpocalypse

To close off this eclectic list of mine, I present to you The Legend Liminal by Ren Hutchings. I penned a few thoughts about this on Goodreads:

Ren Hutchings is a liminal space lover and I am now a convert. Much like her debut novel, Under Fortunate Stars, The Legend Liminal is set in a claustrophobic temporal space only LL favours a highway and a campervan as its setting.

What LL offers in its 70 pages is a poignant look at grief. Its characters forced into a compact world devoid of people (and sell-by dates) offers time for reflection. The story feels like a floating sadness everybody has refused to fully acknowledge until now. It appears when you’re trapped inside liminal space there’s really no more hiding.

It’s been a wild year for the book scene. With the rumbling threat of AI staining the publishing horizon it has been so fulfilling to find some reprieve in the 2025 TBR. So, that’s another year of top reads under the belt. If you’re still here, there’s one final top read I would like to share, if I may.

The Secret Scribes published their first anthology this year. Dream come true for yours truly, my short story Cold Mutiny is included! If you like sky pirates and a myriad of bitesized fantasy, you’ll be supporting some incredible indie authors by reading!

Get your copy here!