Ten Lesser Known Books

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday is about listing books that you have picked up – or avoided – because of the hype around them. I fall in neither group — I’m a little wary of Hyped Books, so while I add them to my TBR, but save them for a later day. Instead, it’s the lesser known books which catch my eye… hoping to find some hidden gem perhaps?

So — here’s a list of some obscure books that I really think deserve a lot more love! Er, you may have seen these recommended around these parts before…

1/ The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce

This series deserves to be better known! It’s GOTHIC to the core, deliciously dark with clever plotting. Recommended if you like: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin / The Chronicles of Narnia / The Ancient Mariner. Fair warning: it has a bittersweet ending. The Ancient Ones forsook the world, and the evil magic of the witches has caused the planet to become a barren, perilous desert. But change is here, for the witch’s sons have just kidnapped a human slave.

2/ Brood of Bones by A.E. Marling

Hiresha, an elder enchantress of Morimound City, has been called in urgently. All the women in Morimound, both young and old, have become pregnant but also dying — simultaneously. Hiresha is the only one who may be able to stop this dark magic. It’s available as a free audiobook on Scribl, and is all kinds of awesome. I liked it so much, I immediately purchased the other ebooks in the series. 

3/ Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton

Full review here. Two alchemists try to raise a dead magician who may know how to make the Seramarias Stone. Two women on the run from a vengeful fairie halfling and her troll minions. A secret glassmakers guild plans to raise a submerged Atlantis-like island. A half-mad, drug-addicted Zorro-like vigilante risks all to expose black magic cartels. And that’s just the beginning.

4/ The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

Wells is better-known for Murderbot, but Death of the Necromancer is no less and can be read as a standalone too. It’s complex but a total roller-coaster — Nicholas Valiarde’s mission for revenge becomes a flight from a rabid monster raised by a necromancer who seems determined to destroy the kingdom of Ile-Rein. I would call this steampunk and demonstrates the enormous writing range that Wells has.

5/ The Black Spectacles / The Problem of the Green Capsule by John Dickson Carr

Don’t be fooled by this unprepossessing title. Carr is the master of bizarre, sinister plot set-ups. Has Marjorie really poisoned all those children in her village in cold blood? The detective don’t want to rely on witnesses, who wear highly subjective lenses aka “black spectacles”… If you’ve run out of Dame Christie’s adventures, look to Carr!

6/ The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Saaski is a changeling and all the villagers know it. As the superstition and cruelty in her village grows, there is only one way out – she must find a new home for herself. A beautiful book, full of longing for people to belong to and an otherworldly eeriness.

7/ Idylls of the Queen by Phyllis Ann Karr

An obscure but brilliant retelling of the murder of Sir Patrise from Arthurian lore. Is there a crustier grumpier character than Sir Kay in Arthurian lore who could investigate whether Queen Guenevere did it? Full of teeth gnashing villains, old running family feuds and anti-heroic knights.

8/ Quest for a Maid by Frances Mary Hendry

In 1280s Scotland, King Alexander died in mysterious circumstances, and his 7-year old niece – the “Maid of Norway” – becomes one of the candidates to the Scottish throne. The Maid is shipped off to England, but there is a shipwreck and she dies of food poisoning. Sounds like a political conspiracy, and ALL true! Hendry adds a supernatural bend to these historical events and adds a redemption arc for the villain. Very fascinating tale, with a Middle Grade/ YA leaning.

9/ The Stone God, The Night Blade by Erin Kellison

Unexpectedly good Urban Fantasy! A bunch of alien beings have been chained to earth due to an ancient trap designed to kill them. One of them is the Messenger God who has just woken up from centuries of cursed sleep, and his reluctant descendant must help him take revenge. Such amazing characters and amazing fight scenes! If you’re running out of Urban Fantasy reads, this action-packed, tightly plotted Techno-Mythology series would be a very good choice.

10/ Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

A snarky and hilarious medieval age diary from a super snarky girl set for the marriage block. We are talking England in the medieval 1290s. Catherine is approaching the marriageable age but she just wants to be free. Now, if only her odious family would listen… Seriously, I just died laughing over this coming of age book. I do want to watch its recent TV adaptation too!

What say you? Do you have a similar approach to Hyped versus Lesser Known Books? How does this week’s Top 10 Tuesday work for you?