10 best spicy Asian fantasy novels, ranked
Fantastic locales inspired by the landscape of Asia. Magic. Mayhem. Murder plots. A healthy dose of main character on main character mackin’. If you’re looking for Asian fantasy with some serious spice, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the 10 best spicy Asian fantasy novels, ranked.
10. Girls of Paper and Fire
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Egan is the story of Lei, a member of the persecuted Paper caste, the lowest ranked in her society. She lives far away in a remote village with her father, haunted by the memory of her mother who was kidnapped by the forces of the king a decade before. Now the king’s guards are back, and it’s her they want. Taken to the king’s palace, she’s trained to be a concubine. However, it’s hardly the king’s affections she desires. She falls in love with a fellow trainee named Wren, and soon the pair decide to topple an entire kingdom. If your boo isn’t down to commit regicide for you, is it really love?
9. The Two Pearls of Wisdom
Here’s a pearl of wisdom for you: read this book. The Two Pearls of Wisdom by Allison Goodman centers around a young hero named Eon, a magical warrior known as a Dragoneye, who can control the power of wind and water. But Eon has a dark secret. Eon appears to be a young male warrior but he is actually Eona—a woman in disguise. Because women are forbidden to study magic, Eona has kept her identity concealed. Fair warning, the first novel in this series is more world-building and plot. If you want spice, you’ll have to make it to the second book Eona: The Last Dragoneye. Trust me, it’s worth it.
8. The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War is the story of Rin, a young warrior from nowhere who rapidly ascended the ranks of her nation’s cutthroat military academy to become one of its top students. Through vigorous training and a healthy dose of psychedelics, she becomes a master in the art of shamanism. Such a master, in fact, that half her jealous classmates are plotting her downfall. If that wasn’t hard enough, she’s also got a major crush on her mentor, Atlan.
7. Shadow of the Fox
Julie Kagawa’s Shadow of the Fox is inspired by Japan’s Shinto mythologies. It’s the tale of a girl named Yumeko, who is half fox spirit. Yumeko’s life with her adoptive family was good for a while until demons came and killed them. On the run from malevolent spirits, Yumeko chances upon a samurai named Kage Tatsumi who is on a quest to retrieve an ancient scroll with the power to summon a dragon. The pair form an uneasy alliance, which slowly but surely blossoms into love. Mild on spice, but heavy on romance.
6. The Ghost Bride
Now a Netflix series, The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo is the story of Li Lan, a young Chinese woman living in colonial Malaysia who dreams of a respectable marriage. Considering her dad just fumbled the family fortune, odds are, it isn’t going to happen. That is until the wealthy Lim family shows up and asks Li Lan to be a ghost bride to their dead son. It’s an uncommon practice where a woman is married to the recently deceased to calm their restless spirit. On the one hand, it means Li Lam is set for life. On the other, getting married to a ghost might cause a whole host of problems from the underworld. Lucky for her, some of the underworld’s denizens are really hot.
5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan is the story of Xingyin, who has the mixed bag life circumstances of growing up on the literal moon. On the one hand, she’s the daughter of the moon goddess herself and got to grow up in the heavens. On the other, she now has to go on the run because her mom made the poor life decision of stealing the elixir of immortality from the Celestial Emperor himself. She must find a way to save her mother. Step 1: learn archery. Step 2: learn magic. Step 3: try not to fall in love with the Emperor’s son. She’ll struggle with that one.
4. The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is the story of two rival kingdoms: one worships dragons, and the other fears them. As it turns out everyone in the “fear” camp was right, as an ancient dragon known as The Nameless One has risen from its slumber to end the world. Queen Sabran of the West is tasked with producing an heir that can destroy the dragon, but that’s going to be hard, considering shadowy assassins are trying to kill her at every turn. Luckily, she has her trusted magical handmaid Ead to defend her. What starts as a relationship bound together by duty soon deepens into romantic love.
3. Jade City
Jade City by Fonda Lee is the first of the Green Bone Saga. An urban fantasy inspired by Hong Kong gangster films, Jade City is about two rival crime families vying for control of the jade market on the island of Kekon. While the novel mainly focuses on power dynamics and the plotting of the families, both sides of the conflict feature couples with fierce bonds of love. As for spicy scenes … trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
2. The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu might not be a “novel” in the traditional sense but I’m sure the copious amounts of spice between its two beautiful male main characters will make up for it in your eyes. It’s a xianxia fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology that centers around the two aforementioned hotties, one of whom has just been reborn as a magical martial arts user known as a cultivator. Cultivator Wei Wuxian’s use of the dark art of demonic cultivation has caused him to fall from grace in the eyes of other magic practitioners, especially Lan Wangji, a rival from another clan. These two bitter enemies team up to take on dark powers that threaten the world, and soon warm up to each other in the process. Like, really warm up. Hot up. Inferno up. The spice is legit.
1. Iron Widow
Neon Genesis Evangelion meets Handmaid’s Tale? This is the dystopian sci-fi fantasy genre bender I didn’t know I needed! Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao takes place in a world where pesky giant alien invaders lurk beyond the Great Wall of China. To defeat the invaders, boy-girl teams are sent to pilot Chrysalises, giant robot mechs that run on human life. Most of the time, the girl ultimately dies due to mental strain, but 18-year-old Zetian discovers that she is a rare Iron Widow, a female pilot able to power Chrysalises by sacrificing her male co-pilot. The trouble is that Zetian is starting to warm up to her co-pilot Li Shimin, and the pair might just turn their giant robot’s back on the Great Wall to take down the oppressive society they live in from the inside.
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