10 Obscure Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels That You Need To Read

You may have heard of the phrase "high-concept science-fiction", most often used by nerds of the internet to describe their favourite Rick and Morty episode and giving many forms of fiction more credit than they are really worth. In truth, the phrase is apt for many works of fiction out there, but what is unique about this novel is that it liberates that term and applies it to an altogether more challenging genre – high-concept fantasy.

Taking a leaf from the likes of the Game of Thrones series, the novel focuses on the perspectives of an ensemble of characters; Achamian, an aging mage doomed to wander the world under the banner of arcane espionage, Esme, his on-again-off-again lover who begrudgingly maintains her lifestyle as a prostitute, Cnaiur, a barbarian with a chequered past dealing with a chance encounter that sends him tumbling further and further into madness, and finally Kellhus, a monk with the gift of a silver tongue and an agenda beyond the understanding of any of those he enthralls into his schemes.

Written in parts as a philosophical treatise and in others as a historical text while maintaining a grandiose sense of world-building, this novel combines many of the more tried and tested tropes of fantasy with some totally unique concepts that shake up the genre as a whole.