In addition to the Locus Recommending Reading List, the other thing I do a lot of reading for each year is the Crawford Award. That is for a first fantasy book. This year it has been won by RF Kuang’s widely lauded The Poppy War. That’s hardly a surprising winner, but those of us involved in the process had many spirited discussions about other books, some of which have not had so much publicity. The short list is well worth checking out as well. Here it is:

• The Black God’s Drums, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)
• The Breath of the Sun, Rachel Fellman (Aqueduct)
• Armed in Her Fashion, Kate Heartfield (ChiZine)
• Half-Witch, John Schoffstall (Big Mouth)
• Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

I should also add that it was an absolute pleasure to work with Mimi Mondal. I have learned so much about India and the Indian literary scene from her.