SFF180 ⚔️ Anticipated Fantasy 2025

[@saintdonoghue]

At the start of the video: anxious. At hearing “No Romantasy”: a sigh of relief

[@SFF180]

It had to be said, Steve!

[@saintdonoghue]

@@SFF180 It had to be said, yes, but it means more coming from you. Nobody - absolutely nobody - can accuse you of being close-minded!

[@robbedford8118]

I get pitched a lot books to review and Romantasy "genre" that is a keyword i also totally avoid

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

yay thank you for NON Romantasy recs!!

[@PeachyBeins]

Omg yes! It's so hard to find non romantasy fantasy recs these days. I even made a goodreads list of 2025 fantasy and specifically said NOT to add romantasy and guess what happened? 🙃

[@EmilyPaxman]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - Pardon the formless screaming, but THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HIGHLIGHTING MY BOOK!!!!! It's so exciting to hear people talking about my novel, after years of dreaming about it. I hope you and your viewers have as much fun reading Death on the Caldera as I had writing it! - Emily Paxman

[@SFF180]

My pleasure, Emily! Looking forward to it. 😊

[@salty-horse]

Another notable release on January 14 is Waterblack, the conclusion to the Cities of the Weft trilogy by Alex Pheby.

[@SFF180]

Yes indeed.

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

Death on the Caldera looks really good too! Just added that one to my list.

[@ElleKayEm]

Fantasy is my most anticipated of your most anticipated! Doubled my list from from the first two! Agree with you about This Is How You Lose the Time War, but I've liked both authors' separate work.

[@devlyn873]

Excellent video! Lots of interesting sounding upcoming releases there!

[@joshramirez7]

Thanks for the three lists, weekly reading hangouts, and of course the great artwork! Happy New Year!

[@SFF180]

Happy New Year to you as well!

[@annettes5623]

I’ve got my goodreads up, ready to add so many things to my TBR! Love these videos, I added so many books I’ve never heard of from your horror list, my wallet is crying already haha

[@UnicornHunterbooks]

So many of these books sound great! I’m tired of Romantasy too, mainly because I like fantasy romance and not romantic fantasy, and I can’t tell them apart if they’re put in the same marketing category.

[@moeshalabi7205]

Thank you for your videos, Thomas! They are a treasure trove. Not good for my wallet, but great for my soul.

[@SFF180]

I am here to chew bubblegum and destroy wallets.

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

the library saved me $2k in these last 6 months! 😅 edit: to be fair, I do still purchase books for my collection. but using the library helps me be much more selective with my curation.

[@jason198146]

Definitely a lot to look forward to this year! Always down for more from Guy Gavriel Kay😁

[@Chance.Dillon]

Love the list-just found the channel… Shameless plug of July 20, 2025 Mercy: Tears of the Fallen by Chance Dillon (WHATTTT) Gotta say these sound amazing. I’m particularly looking forward to Joe Abercrombie’s newest work as cliche as that is to say. Cheers and thanks for taking the time to make this video to get me AMPED up for the year.

[@SFF180]

My pleasure. And congratulations on the book!

[@robmatheny2412]

Cool shirt!!

[@kellswitch]

I am way more of a scifi fan, but this year there are six on this list I am looking forward to AND a few that I am going to remember to get as gifts for a friend.

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

Looking forward to A Spell for Change. I recently read The Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis and really enjoyed it. Historical Fantasy is one of my favorite genre blends!

[@aleidadiaz2261]

Thank you for putting this together. Looking forward to you reviews! Happy new year 🎉

[@karenbird6727]

Great video Thomas!

[@danielleoliver1734]

I can’t wait for Juliet Marillier’s The Amber Owl at the end of February

[@mastersal4644]

I remember that UF mmbp - ouch! But I am looking forward to this list. Bright spot of the year. I would like to see a sequel list separately - like which series are worth continuing in your view etc. Fantasy is plagued with extremely long series

[@SFF180]

Thanks for the idea.

[@cmmosher8035]

May be i am just a bitter old man but the romamntasy vs high fantasy dialogue reminds of when horror stopped being poppular and suddenly it was really hard to get me favourite genre. It sucks but tastes and trends change and evolve.

[@cactcab]

Awesome job! Looking forward to your review of Richard Swan’s first trilogy. With Grave Empire featuring shark throwing merpeople should Sharknado be in the mix with the other stories mentioned?

[@bookreviewskill]

Hey thanks so much for the shoutout!

[@SFF180]

My pleasure and congratulations again!

[@ChantaalReads]

Thanks for all three anticipated videos, there have been quite a few I missed. Ban the fascists, save the books!

[@SFF180]

It’s my pleasure. Grateful for the support.

[@Chris-Huntley]

Of your three lists fantasy is the genre I have the hardest time finding books that speak to me. Too many books without much original to speak of, too many still about good vs evil, The Chosen One.

[@jryan217]

Did you read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke? That is another one that is so hyped like This Is How You Lose The Time War but that one, too, bored me for the majority of the book. I just kept hoping for something to change my mind at some point and it never happened.

[@Chris-Huntley]

If I still read physically I would love Orbit for their paperbacks.

[@sorenkrane]

Clicked so fast!

[@KevinGriffin-b2s]

I didn't enoy this is how you lose the time war either. I wanted to. It's full of things i like but it just didn't click with me.

[@someokiedude9549]

Apparently China Mieville is putting out a new book? It doesn't even have a name or release date except 2025. I can forgive you for leaving it out.

[@SFF180]

Yeah, I need something just a bit more solid before I can commit to inclusion. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@TheShadoth]

Literary kudzu...

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Once was Willem sounds interesting. Unfortunately I know a guy named Willem and he is a bit of an ass.

[@jryan217]

I really did not like This Is How You Lose The Time War! It bored me and I do not understand all the hype.

[@TexasPelican]

Romantasy needs to go pronto! Yuck!

[@SFF180]

I don’t think romantasy fans shouldn’t have their books. But I just don’t like it when a single subgenre can dominate an entire publishing category! I mean, there should be something for everybody out there, shouldn’t there?

[@tamsmartin1]

Exactly, I don't mind a bit of romantasy spliced here and there. Some of it is well written, fun and definitely appealing. But there is currently an excess of romantasy and with this comes, I suspect, writing to order and this leads to uninspired work as well as just the pure overwhelming inundation of romantasy when you are just looking for fantasy quest reads.