15 great fantasy and science fiction books from 2020 you may have missed

5. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Since we’re talking about unique reads, I’d be remiss not to bring up Harrow the Ninth. Unlike some of the other books on this list, the sequel to Tamsyn Muir’s 2019 debut Gideon the Ninth actually got quite a lot of hype, so much so that it would feel dishonest to assemble a list of great 2020 books and not include it.

If this is the first time you’re hearing about these books, or you haven’t read them, I’ll try to give you the closest thing to a spoiler-free rundown as I can manage. The first book in Muir’s The Locked Tomb series followed the necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus and her cavalier Gideon as they compete in a tournament of sorts, rife with murder, mayhem and mystery. The winner of the tournament ascends to become a lieutenant to a god-like necromancer Emperor…if they survive.

This series is often described is as “lesbian necromancers in space.” This is a spot-on description…but it also doesn’t come anywhere close to scratching the surface of this series. Gideon the Ninth was a brashly fun book filled with dirty jokes, humor, and darkly gothic world building. Harrow is a very different sort of book that spends a large amount of time and energy dealing with the fallout of the previous entry…and how it’s effected the mind of its titular character.

I’ve seen a few reviews online describe this book as a “puzzle-box,” and that phrase has perhaps never been more aptly used than here. There are multiple timelines being explored here, ad nothing is as it seems. The book brings the idea of the unreliable narrator to a whole new level.