This year included some standout books, and it was hard to narrow down our list of the best fiction of 2015! Some of the most-hyped fiction didn’t live up to the buzz (we’re yawning at you, The Girl on the Train), while other excellent books didn’t get as much praise as they deserved. But we’re going to fix that now with our picks for the best fiction of 2015. If nonfiction is more your thing, see our best nonfiction of 2015 list, too.

The Fair Fight by Anna FreemanThe Fair Fight
Author: Anna Freeman
If you liked The Crimson Petal and the White or Emma Donoghue’s historical novels, step right this way for a knock-down, drag-out tale of an 18th-century female boxer. Born in a brothel, Ruth is too plain and stocky to be a prostitute, and resigns herself to a hard life of servitude — until George Dryer sees her potential as a bare-knuckle female pugilist. Meanwhile, upper-class Charlotte, disfigured by smallpox and therefore off the marriage market, lives a stifling life as a shut-in, tormented by her alcoholic brother’s mind games. It’s hard to imagine how these characters might cross paths, but when they do, all of their lives will be changed forever. If you’re tired of the drawing-room simpering of Jane Austen’s society misses, this will give you a vastly different perspective on the same historical period.

 

 

 

Fool's Quest by Robin HobbFool’s Quest
Author: Robin Hobb
Fair warning: this is the second book in a trilogy, which is the latest in a series of several trilogies about this group of characters, so Farseer newbies should definitely not start here. Lifelong friends Fitzchivalry Farseer, a retired royal assassin and royal bastard, and the Fool, a possibly-not-human being with powers to see and change the future, continue their double revenge quest. The Fool, broken by captivity and torture, wants to bring down his religious order for meddling in the fate of the world — but their latest scheme is to kidnap Fitz’s own daughter, who may possess the same future-altering powers. This is a great series, but you should begin at the beginning with Assassin’s Apprentice. We’ll meet you back here.

 

 

 

Jaguar's Children cover (183x276)The Jaguar’s Children
Author: John Vaillant
Known for his award-winning journalism and nonfiction, John Vaillant opened 2015 with his first work of fiction. The Jaguar’s Children tells the story of Héctor, a young Zapotec from the Mexican state of Oaxaca who’s trying to sneak into the US with his friend César. Unfortunately, the empty water tanker that was supposed to transport them across the border has broken down somewhere along the Sonora-Arizona border. Left to die in the desert heat, trapped inside a pitch black water tank with several other unlucky immigrants, Héctor tells how he ended up in this terrifying situation. In his wide-ranging narrative, we learn of his upbringing in rural Oaxaca and how the interface between the modern world and the traditional world of his ancestors has led to numerous casualties. This thought-provoking and often horrific tale deftly combines ethnography, mythology and magic to create a uniquely visceral experience. You can read a complete review here.

 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR MartinA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Author: George R. R. Martin, Illustrator: Gary Gianni
Before you freak out, THIS IS NOT THE NEXT BOOK IN THE GAME OF THRONES SERIES. Whew. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way… this is actually three novellas that take place a century before the Game of Thrones series, back when the Targaryens still held the Iron Throne. Ser Duncan the Tall is a young and naive, but brave, hedge knight who travels the kingdoms with his squire Egg, aka Aegon Targaryen. With over 160 new illustrations (by the artist who drew the Prince Valiant comic strip for many years), this will be an entertaining addition to the GRRM collector’s library, and will tide you over until the actual next book in the Game of Thrones series comes out.

 

 

 

the MarvelsThe Marvels
Author: Brian Selznick
Don’t be intimidated by the hefty weight of this 672-page book — half of it is pictures. The first, illustrated half tells the story of the Marvels, a family of actors whose careers spanned from 1766 to 1900 at London’s Royal Theatre. There’s no dialogue, but collages of news clippings, playbills, and other ephemera explain the rise and fall of several generations of Marvels, as well as their glamorous and gossip-filled personal lives. In the second, all-text half, 13-year-old Joseph runs away from his boarding school to find his Uncle Albert. But when he does, Joseph is surprised to find that his uncle is a grouchy eccentric who runs his lavishly decorated Victorian mansion like a museum. Joseph is fascinated by the Marvels and the possibility of his family’s connection to them, and Uncle Albert knows all the family secrets… but he’s not telling.

 

 

 

The Nightingale by Kristin HannahThe Nightingale
Author: Kristin Hannah
I bet every book club in the world has read this one by now… but since I’m not in a book club, it took me a while to get around to this WWII tale of sisterhood. It’s 1939, and in a small village, Vianne sees her husband Antoine off to war. When Germany occupies France, soldiers move into the village, and a German captain moves into Vianne’s home. To protect her daughter, Vianne must keep the Germans happy, but the village sees her as a collaborator. Meanwhile, Vianne’s headstrong 18-year-old sister Isabelle is desperate to find a purpose in life and prove herself worthy of their emotionally distant father’s love. When she joins the French Resistance, Isabelle knows she has found her life’s work — but will her reckless risk-taking endanger Vianne and her daughter? Since we know who won WWII and Vianne is the narrator, it’s not exactly suspenseful, but the fast-paced adventure keeps the story moving and the emotions high.

 

 

SevenevesSeveneves
Author: Neal Stephenson
If, like me, you’ve been a little disappointed by Neal Stephenson’s last couple of books, this apocalyptic sci-fi epic will be a real pleasure. When the destruction of Earth’s moon starts a countdown clock ticking, international groups work together in a last-ditch effort toward humanity’s survival — a genetic ark in outer space. Naturally, disaster strikes, and only a handful of viable humans survive, the “seven Eves” of the book’s title. Five thousand years later, this tiny group has grown to a population of several billion, and they’re finally ready to try reinhabiting Earth. But are they prepared for their ancestral planet to be utterly transformed? Stephenson uses plausible extensions of present-day space technology to create a believable and thought-provoking work of speculative fiction that’s not afraid to tackle the big questions.

 

 

 

Water Knife coverThe Water Knife
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Anyone who has ever lived in the Southwest will relate to this speculative fiction tale of drought and wars over water rights. In this story set in the near future, water has become increasingly scare and the lengths people will go to in order to control what remains know no bounds. Climate deniers are likely to hate this look at a grim future in which nothing was done to address climate change and the world went to hell as a result, but for the rest of us it’s a fascinating, albeit depressing, look into the ways people cope in a world gone dry.  Author Bacigalupi gives us a strong pair of central characters as a bonus, keeping us invested in this story of parched land and desperate measures.

Stephanie Perry
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