A post up for you today of the best self published books I’ve ever reviewed on Spells & Spaceships.
I have so much love for indie press books too, although today’s post is purely on self published books, where the author has taken care of everything themselves.
I have a lot of admiration for the resilience and hard work of these authors and am always determined to highlight self published books that excel. Self published books can be just as good and sometimes a lot better than many trad-published books.
I thought a top 10 would be relatively easy but it was incredibly difficult to leave out some amazing books; going through my reviews has reminded me just how much I loved these books (and how I really must continue the series ASAP where applicable!) I have compiled my list based on pure personal enjoyment and lasting impression which is of course subjective. I bottled it and couldn’t decide on the top 4, so instead I’ve listed them in alphabetical order.
Without further ado, here is my list of my personal top 10:
An Altar on the Village Green by Nathan Hall
This was such an awesome book, inspired by Dark Souls games. Really dark, very different to most other fantasy I’ve read, with some creepy horror elements and particularly atmospheric.
This should be talked about a lot more than it is, though whenever I mention it I usually have a few reviewers pop up to talk enthusiastically about their experience with it.
Cunning Folk by Adam L. G. Nevill
A creepy folk horror that really appealed to me. What scares some people won’t scare others but this really tuned in to my personal taste for horror.
An isolated house with creepy neighbours and woodland rituals. This gave me the chills and I found it really well written.
Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar
An amazing, thought provoking book inspired by the middle-eastern conflicts of the middle ages, featuring death, destruction and a lot of darkness.
It is full-on Grimdark so won’t be for everyone but I became completely immersed in the setting. Any fan of Grimdark simply has to read this.
Kingshold by D. P. Woolliscroft
A high fantasy featuring a wizard sick and tired of the royal court’s corruption and wrongdoings. He decides to brutally murder the king and queen at the start of the book, leaving a succession crisis.
This is a traditional fantasy with plenty of twists and the author’s own take. Parts made me laugh out loud though the book isn’t a comedy, the author just has a great sense of humour. There are monsters, pirates, magic, fantasy races. It’s a lot of fun but also quite a hefty book with plenty of worldbuilding and depth. The series is certainly underappreciated and definitely deserves more readers.
Litany of the Destroyer by Chaz Lebel
My biggest self published surprise. I accepted a review request from this author with a caveat of no promises for when/if I’d get round to it; I already had a lot on and the book basically had no reviews, seemed quite ambitious from an author I’d never heard of before and to my discredit, I didn’t want to commit to something I wasn’t really sure about. Out of curiosity, I flicked through a few pages on my kindle app while waiting on the kettle to boil or waiting in line for stuff. I became hooked.
This is not only one of the best self published books I’ve read, but one of my favourite books I’ve read overall. Horror themes permeate medieval France and the author really has the historical research nailed. Not only was it authentic, but he wrote a really engaging page-turner that was in equal parts historical fiction, horror and mystery.
Sea of Souls by N. C. Scrimgeour
Wind and sea swept Scotland is the inspiration for this folklorey nautical fantasy featuring selkies and naval empire.
This is one of those books where you can feel the weather, smell the salt of the sea and feel the emotions of the characters involved. I wish I could have read this in a cabin by the sea for full immersion but I was already transported there by the words alone.
Sledge Vs The Labyrinth by Nick Horvath
A freight train of brutal, testosterone filled aggression that I absolutely loved. In a world where TV shows, books and movies feel like they’re shying away from the traditionally masculine action hero, an anti-hero (Sledge) with parallels to John Wick, Marv from Sin City and Rambo smashes his way through the pages to get to the bottom of threats to his ex girlfriend coming from shady dark web game called the Labyrinth.
This book isn’t mindless violence though. Beneath the blood spattered facade is an intelligent, well-written story that keeps you on the edge of your seat every single chapter.
The Everspring by Joshua Gillingham
Nordic mythology and folklore are steeped in the pages of the Everspring in which we continue the journey of a band of troll hunters. Joshua Gillingham really has a flair for creating his own tale here, which mirrors the beauty and wonder of Nordic storytelling.
This is apparent in the Everspring to an even greater extent than the very solid first book, The Gatewatch. Both books are suitable for younger readers and have that same quality the Hobbit does, in that it is perfectly accessible for younger and older readers.
The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson
One of the first adult fantasy books I read and still one of my favourites. This is now published through Orbit but was originally self-published when I read it, later winning the SPFBO in 2020.
The book reads like a game of D&D in some respects with some really interesting and novel plot devices, not least the magnificent twist at the end that 90% of people definitely didn’t see coming, whether they tell you they did or not!
Hall of Bones by Tim Hardie
It’s a bit wrong of me to include a book on this list that I haven’t actually finished yet, but I got 75% through and then had so many reading obligations pile in at once that I’ve had to pause it temporarily to get to some review requests and other planned reading.
However, I already know that it’s going to be in this top 10 list. If something catastrophic happens in the last 25%, I’ll change it for something else, but I can’t see that happening!
This is a fantastic Norse-inspired fantasy with lots of twists and turns. Something exciting is always happening and alliances are being forged.
Honorable Mentions
I really wanted to include Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire, a fantasy about Mennik Thorn, a second-rate mage who gets caught up in things far bigger than himself. This was incredibly fun and entertaining.
Voice of War by Zack Argyle was another fantasy I had a lot of fun with. If I’d have got into it quicker, I’m sure it would have made the top 10. One of the best audio narrations I’ve listened to.
Bailuchien by Rebecca Crunden was a short story about 2 young girls surviving in the woods, with some dark moments that really felt like reading an ancient folklore tale.
For reasons unknown to myself, I’ve not really been interested in picking up a sci-fi book recently and perhaps this has a bearing on my list, but the best indie sci-fi has been Stellar Instinct by Jonathan Nevair. It’s a spy-fi space thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. Book 2 will be the first sci-fi I pick up when I get back into the mood.
Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill may come as a surprise omission by his many readers; I really enjoyed the book and I’m told the series gets even better over time. The books I’ve included in the top 10 are quite unique and at the time I felt it was a great read but quite similar to some other books. So it could easily have gone into the top 10 on another day or if I’d read it earlier on in my reading journey.
For historical fiction, The Druid by Steven A. McKay was brilliant too, and I need to pick up book 2 ASAP.
There are many more books I loved that I haven’t mentioned above, you can always check out my Goodreads profile to find other books I reviewed and my overall thoughts.
I hope you enjoyed the list and perhaps even discovered something new to read.
