1. Read an award winner.
If you like fantasy here are several awards that are good sources for finding outstanding novels, short stories, or anthologies.
- The Nebula Awards are presented each year for the best science fiction or fantasy published in the United States during the previous year. Browse Nebula Award winners in our collection.
- The Hugo Awards are presented each year by the World Science Fiction Society. Browse Hugo Award winners in our collection.
- The World Fantasy Awards are presented annually by the World Fantasy Convention to writers of fiction. Browse World Fantasy Award winners in our collection.
- The Ignyte Awards are presented by FIYAH Literary Magazine and are intended to celebrate excellent Speculative Fiction written by people of color.
2. Borrow e-books, downloadable audiobooks & movies.
Here are some short cut links to easily borrow materials online with your IndyPL library card. If you have never borrowed from Libby before, Libby directions and a Libby video tutorial are available, as well as Overdrive Support. If you have never borrowed from Kanopy before, you can get Kanopy directions.
- OverDrive Fantasy Fiction e-Books & Audiobooks
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Filmss Streaming Movies from Kanopy
3. Get reading recommendations from Library staff.
Click on a featured booklist to get reading recommendations or see all our staff fantasy book lists.
Staff Picks 2024- Best of Sci-Fi/Fantasy
2024 is the year of subverted tropes and plot lines. Fantasy villains wake up with amnesia to grapple with their crimes (Dreadful), magical girls must grapple with purchasing decisions (A Magical Girl Retires), a scholarship student destroys the academy (The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain), and adults must return to their fantasy worlds (The Lost Story).
Of course, if you’re looking for something entirely original, there’s plenty of that too! A cannibalistic demon makes an Indian food documentary (Rare Flavours), a woman is trapped in the body of a wooly mammoth (Tusks of Extinction), and futuristic reality show sees couples raising virtual babies for the chance to have a real child (The Family Experiment).
Looking for speculative horror? Check out our suspense list!
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4. Make a Selection from these authors.
Joe Abercrombie
Piers Anthony
Elizabeth Bear
Anne Bishop
Olivie Blake
Paula Brackston
Patricia Briggs
Terry Brooks
Jim Butcher
Rachel Caine
Jacqueline Carey
Gail Carriger
Zen Cho
Genevieve Cogman
Zoraida Cordova
Stephen R. Donaldson
Neil Gaiman
Nicole Glover
Terry Goodkind
Laurell K. Hamilton
Deborah Harkness
Charlaine Harris
5. Use your Library card to login to Novelist Plus.
On Novelist Plus you’ll find reading recommendations, read-alikes, series lists, reviews, and lists of award-winning books. There are several fantasy categories to choose from including:
6. Subscribe to the Fantasy newsletter from NextReads.
Receive fantasy reading recommendation in your inbox monthly. Book suggestions are linked to our catalog for easy requesting. It’s FREE! See a ample issue or Subscribe to NextReads!
7. Find a book discussion near you!
You are invited to join in one of our many in-person or online book discussions that take place several times each month. In our book discussion groups we read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books. We express our opinions (both likes and dislikes!) with other avid readers in the city.
- Event: Soulful Pages Book CLub
- Date & Time: Monday, January 26, 6:00pm
- Location: Central Library
- Description: You’re invited to join the Soulful Pages Book Club for a rich, candid, and thought-provoking discussion of Clarence A. Haynes’s powerful novel, “The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery”.
- Register Here
- Event: Adult Book Discussion at Beech Grove – Chatterbooks
- Date & Time: Monday, January 26, 6:30pm
- Location: Beech Grove Branch
- Description: Join other adults as we discuss this month’s chosen book
- No Registration Required.
- Event: Adult Book Discussion at Irvington
- Date & Time: Monday, January 26, 6:30pm
- Location: Irvington Branch
- Description: The book to be discussed is “Girl Waits with Gun” by Amy Stewart. Adults are invited to this monthly book discussion program that is free and open to everyone!
- No Registration Required.
Need help?
Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.