Phil Gilvin's 3 favorite reads in 2023

In my reading choices, I tend to concentrate on YA, climate fiction, and sci-fi, because that’s what I write. But I also have a long-standing love of whodunnits, and I thought I’d try this one, set in London in the immediate aftermath of the Great Fire in 1666.

I’ve often found that “historical” mysteries get a bit carried away with the history aspect, but not so with The Ashes of London. The character development was rich, the pacing perfect, and the mystery truly intriguing. I also got a great feel for the dangerous political forces at play at the time.

I raced through the book in a few days, which was really quick for me! 

This is one that’s often recommended in the “best climate fiction” lists, and I can see why. 

Set in a depressed area of Appalachia, the story hinges on the arrival of a huge number of monarch butterflies, whose annual migration pattern has been disrupted, and the effect this has on the local community.

But worked into the main story are some important, closely observed messages: how climate change feels insignificant to people who are struggling to cope, how journalists and others can promote climate change denial, and how scientists need to get angry.

As with other Kingsolver novels like The Poisonwood Bible, the characterisation is closely-observed and highly believable. A rich and rewarding read.

All right, I’m a sucker for fantasy too. Dragonflight was a novel well before it was a video game; I first read it in the 1970s, not long after it was first published, and I think it was the first proper fantasy I’d come across.

Fifty years later, I thought I’d reread it, and I have to say, I was astonished.

I’ve read lots of fantasy novels in the intervening years, some of them very good, and I’d expected that Dragonflight would seem a little jaded by comparison. I found the reverse was true. This is a rollicking tale, with the worldbuilding so well written that the reader can just accept it, and move on to the next surprise.

Lessa, the protagonist, comes a hell of a long way by the end of the novel, and although it’s relatively short at 80k words, the pace and the balance seem perfect. Well worth a read!