Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun.
2021 was a such a great year for discovering new authors that I’ve managed to squeeze two Top Ten Tuesdays out of this theme. A few weeks ago, I did a “top debuts of 2021” list so this week it’s new-to-me authors who are not debuts! Some of these are authors who I absolutely binged this year, or ones who’ve I’ve only read one book and am now looking forward to diving into their backlist at some point.
Genevieve Cogman
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: Adult
I received THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY for my birthday in 2020 (which is at Christmas) and then binged my way through the seven books that were out in January. The series ended in December 2021 with THE UNTOLD STORY.
This series is just the most bonkers fun, with a multi-verse of world, a Library stabilising it by stealing important books, dragons trying to impose order and Fae bringing chaos as they follow narrative archetypes. Plus assorted plots, traitors, and mishaps for Librarian Irene to navigate.
Marie Brenan
Genre: Fantasy Age Range Adult
Early in 2021, I read Marie Brenan’s co-written THE MASK OF MIRRORS (with Alys Helms under the pen-name M. A. Carrick). It is a twisty political fantasy about a people with more secret identities than a room of superheroes in a richly drawn world that made me want more books from them.
Luckily I could fill the wait to book 2 with Marie Brenan’s solo Lady Trent series, starting with A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS. I buddy read this natural philosophy and anthropological take on dragons and ancient history with a friend over the summer and it was wonderful!
Megan O’Keefe
Genre: Sci-Fi Age Range: Adult
Any time I was asked in 2021 for a book with a great example of a midpoint reveal that completely upended the entire experience of reading the book I pointed them towards Megan O’Keefe’s VELOCITY WEAPON. It is an absolute stunner of a reveal in an action-packed series about space travel and the politics that occurs when it’s controlled by a few.
The nice thing about starting a series in the year is wraps up is that there isn’t long to wait to between instalments. This trilogy ended in June, and they’re all reasonably chunky books, so they occupied a fair bit of the first half of the year.
Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller/Mystery Age Range: Adult
I’d heard of Ruth Ware before but as someone who’s never been all that fond of mysteries, I’d never paid much attention to her books before. However, the wintry mystery ONE BY ONE was the December 2021 pick for my book club and I loved it!
It was a really twisty mystery that used the cold, avalanched-in setting to great effect. I loved how the tension was slowly, consistently upped by both the deaths and clues, but also the physical conditions getting progressively trickier.
Katherine Addison
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: Adult
Another author I discovered at the start of 2021, I loved THE GOBLIN EMPEROR, a low-magic political fantasy about a half-goblin suddenly gaining the throne after his family dies. I then read her THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS, a wonderful paranormal re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes stories.
After that, a companion to THE GOBLIN EMPEROR arrived, THE WITNESS FOR THE DEAD. At the time of writing, a direct sequel to that has been announced, THE GRIEF OF STONES, though it’s not yet had a UK publication announced.
M. L. Rio
Genre: Dark Academia Thriller Age Range: Adult
Dark Academia has been a narrative style I’ve seen about for a bit, but I finally dipped a toe in with IF WE WERE VILLAINS. This book is just brilliant, full of Shakespeare as drama students get tangled in a web of ambition, jealousy, and bad decisions.
I loved seeing how the book took the famous Shakespeare scenes that the characters have to act out for their course and turned them into another way for the interpersonal drama to bubble out. It gave an additional layer to those scenes as the characters had to fight to stay in role despite all the emotions.
Natasha Pulley
Genre: Historical Fantasy Age Range: Adult
Natasha Pulley is one of those authors whose books could be sold under fantasy but are considered close enough to “general fiction” to be sold there as “speculative.” I have very little interest in general fiction, so I’ve never picked up her things before because they weren’t marketed as fantasy.
However, THE KINGDOMS one was marketed as such on Netgalley, so I tried it and loved this time-slip alternative history take on the Napoleonic Wars. I will be trying out her others at some point now!
C. L. Polk
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: Adult
C. L. Polk is one of those authors that I was vaguely aware of but, because none of their previous books had been published in the UK, I’d never read any. However, THE MIDNIGHT BARGAIN did get a UK publisher and I loved this romantic fantasy.
It is a feminist tale about men suppressing women’s power for fear of what it might do to unborn children, rather than trying to find a way to make it safe to wield magic and bear children. It’s about finding your own path and defying a world that wants to shut you in a box.
P. Djèlí Clark
Genre: Fantasy Age Range: Adult
P. Djèlí Clark is one of those authors where the definition of debut comes into focus. A MASTER OF DJINN, published in 2021, was technically his full-length novel debut, but as he’d published several novellas and short stories before, I’m going to say that doesn’t make him a 2021 debut author, and so can fit on this list.
This novel, set in the same universe as some other short stories and novellas, is an alternative history where djinn roam, turning 1912 Cairo into a technology, steampunk powerhouse. But someone is agitating…
Elle McNicoll
Elle McNicoll’s debut, A KIND OF SPARK, made a big splash in 2020 (and was announced as the winner of the 2020 Waterstones’ Children’s book of the Year in mid-2021.) It took me until the end of 2021 to read it, and I have her 2021 and 2022 release of my “I plan to read this year” list.
This book is a wonderful, thoughtful portrayal of autism (and the closest I’ve seen to something matching my overload-induced panic attacks) and the othering that happens if someone isn’t “normal.” The link to the witch trials was also great.
What non-debut authors did you discover last year?
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 
Our book group read the Rio book. It reminded me so much of one of my favorite-of-all-time reads, The Secret History.
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I believe that was one of the comps, and I’ve now got THE SECRET HISTORY to try after loving IF WE WERE VILLAINS
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The Invisible Library sure sounds interesting!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-new-to-me-authors-i-discovered-in-2021/
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It’s so so bingeable!
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The Invisible Library has been on my TBR for a while. Hoping to finally read it this year. Happy reading! My TTT https://readwithstefani.com/2021-reading-year-in-review/
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Thank you – hope you get around to it soon – they are great!
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I got too confused with The Invisible Library to continue past the first book, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ve seen so many people rave about If We Were Villains, I really need to try it one of these days.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/25/top-ten-tuesday-352/
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With IF WE WERE VILLAINS you may need to push through the start (I loved it from the go, but a friend with similar taste who ultimately loved it had to push through the start as they found the characters too unlikeable to get in until the body was found)
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Oh good to know, thank you!
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I read The Midnight Bargain last year and loved it! It was actually short-listed for an award in Canada (where the author is from), which brought it to my attention.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/10-authors-i-discovered-in-2021/
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Award lists can be great publicity!
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