We can all agree that November was the month for a bunch of amazing Asian YA. And October was pretty great too…and September…honestly the Asian rep has been killing it this fall and I am IN LOVE.
I’ve read so many new favorites recently, and they make me all happy and bubbly, I can’t wait to share them with you too! And it’s not just that they have good rep. It’s that these are truly amazing books and I loved their stories and characters (but I also loved seeing myself represented in them too!)
So anyways, this month I have 5 recommendations of Asian fantasy novels that you should 100% check out, and I based them all off of…not so Asian books. To keep you from waiting too long, let’s dive right in, and hopefully you fantasy fans out there will find a new great read!
If you liked The Thief, then you’ll love Shadow of the Fox!
Hands down, I did not expect to love Shadow of the Fox as much as I did. It was just so…endearing? Heart-warming?
I loved the quest/hero’s journey style story, which is where Megan Whalen Turner’s classic fantasy, The Thief comes in with Gen & his quest-like journey. And like Gen, Yumeko is also wildly smart and wily and cunning, especially as she’s half yokai. Her character was one of my favorites, and I can’t remember loving a character in a long time as much as I loved Yumeko.
There are so many reasons you should pick this up, but honestly, just do it for the sheer enjoyment reading this book will bring you!
If you liked The Hunger Games, then you’ll love Empress of All Seasons!
This is obviously a comparison that has been made before, but what can I say?!
The rooms in Empress of All Seasons remind me so much of The Hunger Games (notably, some of the game in Catching Fire) as there are different rooms that feature one of the seasons, and deadly trials to survival and figure out the riddle within the room.
The competition is fierce in this book, and anyone who likes the sound of books feat. competition and a solid hint of romance, along with some female independence, needs to pick this up!
If you liked , you’ll love The Star-Touched Queen!
Can I just say that it took me forever to find an adequate comparison for The Star-Touched Queen? Because this is such an awesome book with such a lush writing style that it took me forever to find something that was even somewhat close to the amazingness of Rosani Chokshi!
The Star-Touched Queen had such a lush and vivid writing style just like Caraval, but it didn’t jump into purple prose and there are so many endearing characters! I love the lil’ horse sidekick and so much about this book, I totally recommend you check it out! *squeezes book to chest with happiness*
If you liked To Kill a Kingdom, then you’ll love Forest of a Thousand Lanterns!
It’s pretty obvious where the comparison lies, but both have some viscious main characters, and they’re retellings.
Although To Kill A Kingdom doesn’t focus on a sea witch (that would be Sea Witch), I think it’s a better fit for FOTL in just sort of the darker atmosphere! (Also I haven’t read Sea Witch yet.)
Xifeng is such an awesome main character, and although To Kill a Kingdom is more starts out evil and becomes less evil, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is pretty much the reverse with Xifeng starting out okay and progressively getting more evil. It’s positively chilling.
I definitely recommend Forest of a Thousand Lanterns to anyone looking for a darker, somewhat villainous read!
If you liked Game of Thrones, then you’ll love Descendant of the Crane!
I just finished Descendant of the Crane like, less than two weeks ago, and I’m SCREAMING ABOUT IT. Can it be April already so I have more friends to go AHHH with?
Because it is SO AMAZING, and the politics in it are fantastic (and not boring). The traditional comp title is Game of Thrones, but since I know nothing about the books or TV show, I get to make my own comp!
And I think Shadow and Bone is fitting in the way that Alina and Hesina (and some other characters) both have to make a lot of decisions that might not benefit themselves or the people close to them *cough cough cough Joan* but might be the good for society as a whole! There’s so many complex elements to Descendant and it was such an amazingly layered read.
What Asian fantasies have you read & loved & would recommend?
This is awesome! I really want to start some comparison lists, like this one! They’re so helpful to readers.
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yes! I always love hearing how they help, and this is definitely a great way to style your rec posts!
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Aaaaggh these books sound amazing and I cannot wait to read them! WHOO ASIAN FANTASIES
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YESSSS OMG I HOPE YOU LOVE READING!!!
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These all sound amazing – counting down the days until I can read them all!
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ahhh, thank you so much!!! most of these are already out so yay for that! it’s the worst sometimes finding book recs and realizing it’s not published LOL
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I am hoping for some under the Christmas tree 😀
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I love most of the books that you recommended on this list, Vicky! I am still basically head-over-heels for Empress of All Seasons because YAAAAS female independence! I just really love how it ended that I want to give it a standing ovation every single time it is praised. I’m definitely looking forward to the remaining 3 that I have yet to read. 💚
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YESSSSSS the ending was so great although I wish we got a sequel
although nvm it was kind of heartbreaking maybe a sequel would have killed me
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That’s an interesting comparison of Shadow to The Thief. I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Thief book, but the next two are awesome. I have a lot of these Asian fantasy books on my TBR. Awesome list 🙂
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both of them felt very questy to me, which is how I made the comp! I hope you enjoy reading, thank you!
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I love love love Asian fantasy, and this rec post makes me so happy! I’m excited to read Empress of All Seasons, but there have been some mixed reviews though. Happy reading !❤
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yeah, Empress is a little bit lower YA and I feel like some people didn’t like that a bit? but I really enjoyed reading + found it to be such an awesome read, so I do hope you enjoy if you pick it up!
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I loved The Star-Touched Queen! It’s the first time I ever read a book where the main character looked like me, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
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yessss! it was such an amazing read and I love all the representation in it!
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Thank you so much for all of the wonderful recommendations! I have to say, I’m very curious about Empress of All Seasons, it sounds quite good! 🙂 I’m also SO curious about Descendant of the Crane, but to be completely honest, the GoT comparison scares me. I only have the image in mind of how… well, violent and bloody GoT can be and I’m afraid that this book is like that in that way? Since you’ve read it, are there any particular trigger warnings I should be aware of in that book? If you remember, of course!! 🙂 ❤
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I’ve never watched/read GoT, but I personally don’t think DotC is very graphic, if it helps! there’s a little bit of blood and killing, but I would say not as much as Six of Crows, even. it talks about genocide + discrimination etc. as sooths (people w/ a certain type of magic) are discriminated against & that’s a big part of the novel, but it’s nothing so bloody and graphic as GoT in my opinion! (hope this helps!)
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This REALLY helps, thank you so much for answering and everything Vicky! ❤️ I don’t really like it when it gets a bit too graphic and bloody, so I’m glad that’s not the case and that I will be able to give it a try 😀
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Out of all these, I only read THG and Empress of All Seasons, which I both loved! All of the other are on my TBR though. I can’t wait to read them next month or sometime next year! 😍
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omg I do hope you end up loving reading!!!
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Great post, love! I definitely agree that Asian rep in YA fantasy has been doing awesome lately! I have had the Star Touched Queen on my tbr forever, and I totally agree that Shadow of the Fox was amazing! It’s honestly one of my favorite reads for the year so far! TKAK is amazing as well, and I can’t wait to read Descendant of the Crane! ❤
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yessss! and omg, you NEED to pick up The Star Touched Queen. it’s so lush an amazing I hope you love it!
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I loved To Kill a Kingdom, so I’m gonna have to read your Asian suggestion for it. 🙂 Thanks for this awesome list o’recs.
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Yes! Of course, so glad you enjoyed!
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love this book… in my wl ❤ ❤
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awww yay!
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Thank you so much for these recommendations!!! I had all of these on my TBR already but Star Touched Queen, but I am now even more excited to read these after your rec!
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oooh, you have to add it! it’s a bit of a backlist read, but one I loved and definitely worth your time! I hope you enjoy reading, Kaleena!
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Thank you for the recommendations! I’ve enjoyed the ones on the list I’ve read & I can’t wait for Descendant of the Crane!
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YES! I hope you love Descendant of the Crane, it is so fantastic and amazing!
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I hadn’t heard of Descendant of the Crane before, but I need it ASAP! It sounds fantastic?? Whyyyy is April so far away rip
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OMG YOU NEED IT IT IS AMAZING AHHHH
read it read it read it
april is far but it will fly by in a breeze and totally be worth it when you can read it!!!
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