I think there is something admirable about managing to contain a sci-fi or fantasy story into a contained, single story.
As much as I LOVE a Robin Hobb style epic or a Dungeon Crawler Carl series with 10+ books and a world that is never-ending, sometimes it's satisfying to read one book and be done, complete with that story in a way that feels satisfying (sometimes devastating). Even better when you know you aren't waiting an undetermined number of years for Book #2 or #3 (or #6) to arrive (looking at you George R.R. Martin...no rush though).
Working in the bookstore I am often recommending standalone reads to people who are maybe a bit stuck for what to choose next, or looking for something different to their usual. I also have to give credit where credit is due - my husband Edd is the huge Fantasy and Sci-Fi reader in our whare, so often these are ones that he has read first and knows I will enjoy.
If you're in a reading slump or looking for a new story that will take you somewhere special but also land you right back home at the end, I've got you sorted. Here are some of my top picks!
For Time-Traveling Lady Knights: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
This is one I am reading right now thanks to my husband Edd loving it but knowing I would love it even more thanks to it's absolute dreamy romance plotline between our two protagonists - Sir Una Everlasting, a young orphaned girl who became a knight, and Owen Mallory, a failed soldier and scholar who is enamoured with her story. This is a time tangled story of love and loss, and the way history is told and remembered. I'm not even half way in yet but I am so in love with the prose and the characters and I just have no idea how it's all going to tie together at the end (BUT IT WILL!). If you like more literary leaning fantasy with a decent dose of romance at it's heart, and don't mind some time-twisty action - this will be right up your alley.
For Fantasy Standalones with a Hint of Horror: Anything by T. Kingfisher
I love T. Kingfisher and it brings me so much joy that I have so much of their backlist still to enjoy however Hemlock & Silver is an excellent standalone fantasy novel that includes both a touch of romance, as well as a decently scary mirror magic/monster system that I still get creeped out by. This novel is inspired by Snow White, but think darker and in a whole new way. We have a healer and her guard, both tasked with treating Snow, the daughter of the King, as well as a dark realm beyond the magic mirror that may just hold the key.
Next up for me from T. Kingfisher with my slight obsession for anything botanical horror leaning is Nettle & Bone, the story of a princess who is trying to save her sister, as well as the more recent Wolf Worm, where animals are acting strange on an estate in North Carolina where an illustrator hired by a parasitologist is about to uncover monstrous things going on. Both standalones, both look truly excellent and perfect for me. I love that T. Kingfisher is always crossing genres and subjects and each standalone novel feels both completely unique and also uniquely theirs.
For Dark Academia Rebellion and Politics: Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang
This book hurt me deeply and I'm not okay about it but also require that everyone else become hurt too so that you can empathize with me. The world building in this was top tier but the characters are what have stuck with me long after finishing. In Blood Over Bright Haven we have the first woman to ever have been admitted to the High Magistry and the University of Magics and Industry who is given a janitor for a lab assistant. Once a nomadic hunter from outside the utopian industrial city, the janitor finally has a chance to learn more about this society that decimated his tribe. It's politically tense, full of action but also slow, gripping realizations and uncovering's of secrets that will rock you to your core.
It's a story about truth and power and the way we can use our positions and be driven by morals or by greed. Somehow in this one, succinct novel we explore themes of prejudice, love, faith, vengeance, legacy - like, how?! It's an incredible feat of storytelling and perfect if you loved Babel by R.F. Kuang.
“All those jobs involve people, and I’m terrible with people. Magic is the one area where I can shut myself in a room with my books and my thoughts and come out more powerful than I went in. It doesn’t matter how big, or strong, or pretty you are in magic. It doesn’t matter how much people like you. With my fingers on the keys of a spellograph, if I can just think hard enough, I’m the most powerful person in the world.” - Blood Over Bright Haven
For Remarkable World Building: The Brandon Sanderson Standalones
It's hard to talk about great fantasy without mentioning Brandon Sanderson, and he really does have not only some epic series but also some really wonderful standalone stories. One of my go-to recs for both YA readers as well as adults is Tress of the Emerald Sea. It's a great example of how wonderfully creative Sanderson's world building is as well as his tightly controlled plot that is surprising and so effective in it's execution. The world of Tress of the Emerald Sea is INSANE. You have spore oceans and a voyage that is Princess Bride in style, with Tress leaving her home of simple pleasures to find the Sorceress of the Midnight Sea. But the spore oceans? Those are next level. Read it just to discover those and read the descriptions because they are epic.
I also loved Yumi and the Nightmare painter, a completely different style of story but another wonderful standalone fantasy with unique world building, a little romance, and two characters trying to work together to save the world from disaster. The magic system is exquisite and the romance is one of his best done ones in my opinion.
Either of these two books would be great introductions if you're new to Sanderson - they are both set within his universe of the Cosmere, but are complete standalones and display his prowess as a fantasy writer at the very top of his game.
For a Taste of Dungeon Crawler Carl: Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman
If you haven't read Dungeon Crawler Carl yet I'm flabbergasted but also kind of impressed (you can read all about it here!). Maybe you need a taste of Matt Dinniman's unique brand of storytelling to get you hooked? Or maybe you've read all 8 DCC books that are out so far and you need something to tide you over? Operation Bounce House is for you!
The story takes place on a family ranch on New Sonora where Oliver and his colonist friends are just trying to manage the agriculture bots and maybe play some music together in their free time. Unfortunately for them, the colossal Apex Corporation are charging bored people (most kids) back on Earth to design their own war machines that they can pilot from home to help remove the colonists from New Sonora and have fun while doing it. What follows is astory about impossible odds and fighting back against those who wish to eradicate them, and it's a really rather timely read but also super fast-paced and heaps of fun.
“Lulu had asked "How can you tell when they're right or wrong?" He'd Chuckled. "That's easy. Usually if the party they're blaming is weaker than them, then they're making it all up. If the party they're blaming is stronger...well, that's when you really gotta pay attention to why they're complaining.” ― Operation Bounce House
For the Most Expertly Done Devastation: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
This and Blood Over Bright Haven. Both are top tier and both left me permanently scarred. I have Marnie as well as Edd to blame for this one, but it's also one of the most PERFECT books I have ever read. Ever. From the first to the last page - and it's somehow Shen Tao's debut?!
The Poet Empress is the story of a young rice farmer who becomes concubine to the terrifying Prince Guan Terren. To survive she must become the most dangerous person in the empire, and to save the nation she will have to write a forbidden poem. The magic system in this is excellent, but the plot and the way I had NO idea the entire time how it was going to play out or what was coming next, that's what makes this such an incredible standalone fantasy novel. It's just ridiculously good and I cannot wait to see what Shen Tao does next.
For Science Forward Sci-Fi: Anything by Andy Weird
Another author that does not really need my promotion skills but for standalone sci-fi that leans hard on the science side, Andy Weir is where it's at. Obviously we've all read and loved Project Hail Mary (ily Rocky!), but if you enjoyed that and haven't also read The Martian you should! Yes there is no adorable alien (spoiler) but it's got all the same things I loved from PHM like the realistic science, the survival side of one man struggling to get home, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Artemis is my less favourite one of the three, but it's great if you're into a thriller/mystery more than a survival story as it takes place in the lunar city of Artemis where a high-stakes heist is happening, with the future of Earth at stake. It's another fast paced, standalone read, and I hope Weir continues to play with different sci-fi genres like he did here!
For Literary Genius: R.F. Kuang's Babel and Katabasis
Babel R.F. Kuang has two incredible standalone fantasy stories for you - both with different sub-genre angles and really inventive storytelling. Katabasis is such a fun one to introduce people to (especially if they have ever been in Academia!). It's about two PhD students at Cambridge University who are forced to go down into Hell to try and retrieve their supervisor. It plays with Hell in such interesting ways, exploring different interpretations and visualizations in a way that made me want to learn more (start a PhD?). As always Kuang is able to tie into her stories a lot about diversity and the way that the academic system in the west shuts certain people out or traps them in.
Similar themes are also explored in Babel which is my favourite book of hers, another standalone academic fantasy but this time set in an alternate version of 1800s Oxford University. Babel is incredible because of it's translation magic system as well as it's focus on imperialism and racism. Robin is also just such a fascinating character, and the plot of the entire novel is paced and planned out so incredibly well that I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
Standalone novels I haven't read yet (but intend to):
Oh where do I even start?! A few of the standalone fantasy novels that I have on my TBR are The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean. The Poison Daughter by Sheila Masterson is a standalone romantasy that customers keep raving about so I'm definitely keen to read that one too! I also have a copy of The Maiden and her Monster by Maddie Martinez sitting at home waiting ever so patiently, and it sounds amazing - an atmospheric dark sapphic tale inspired by Jewish folklore and maybe even a little botanic horror-y??
For standalone sci-fi on my TBR I have Daniel Kraus' lated, The Sixth Nik, after loving Angel Down which one him the most recent Pullitzer Prize. Edd loved Scion and after not having read anything else by James Islington, this cyber-punk thriller could be a good introduction! Of Monsters and Mainframes I have on my radar based purely on the title and cover (I judge them all). Adrian Tchaikovsky is a sci-fi writer who I have only read once, with his standalone novel Service Model being a recent sci-fi highlight, so I'm excited to try out some more of his soon!
