Top Five Wednesday | First in a Series

Hello! Welcome to another Top Five Wednesday! This week's Top Five Wednesday is my top five favourite book that are the first in a series. Basically, what would I recommend as a fantastic first book. I've deliberately chosen to only include books where I enjoyed the rest of the series too, but there are definitely some great first books that I've read where the sequels weren't as good. I've also got a few honourable mentions at the end of the list with pretty popular books that are also great!

1. Malice by John Gwynne

I read this book and the entire Faithful and the Fallen series last year, and it became one of my favourite fantasy series of all time. This high-fantasy series follows quite a large cast of characters in a world which has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed in battle. But now giants stir anew, the very stones weep blood and there are sightings of giant wyrms. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. Corban is a young boy who longs to be a warrior, and when he saves a wolf cub, his life starts to change. This series has everything I love in fantasy series: elemental magic, animal companions, dragons, and a found family. I highly recommend this series to absolutely everyone, but this first book definitely sells the series so well.

2. Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Vicious is the first book in the Villains series (originally a standalone but now it's potentially going to be a trilogy). This is a contemporary book with a sci-fi twist where people are able to become superheroes (aka an Extraordinary) but cheating death. We follow two anti-heroes, Victor and Eli, who start off as college roommates, but ten years later, one is in prison and the other is hell bent on eradicating all other super-powered people. I loved all of the characters in this book despite their flaws and the powers in this book were so interesting. I also adored the way the book goes between the past and the present to tell the story. This is easily the best book I've read by Schwab and I highly recommend this as an introduction to her books.

3. Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

This is a book that really surprised me. I actually got it as an arc in an Illumicrate box years ago and it was genuinely the best book I've ever had from them. It's a YA sci-fi where 10 intelligent teenagers are recruited to earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe. We follow Emmett Atwater who isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family. This is a fantastic book and it gave me Hunger Games-esque vibes with the competition, but the characters are all so amazing. The writing is fast-paced and it's so easy to read this in a day. This is a seriously underrated book and it also makes a great introduction to sci-fi books if you're new to them.

4. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Gentleman Bastard series is another high fantasy that follows Locke Lamora, an orphan turned thief, on the mysterious island of Camorr. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game, or die trying. This is another book that alternates between two timelines so so well. It also has an amazing found family with the Gentleman Bastards. Locke is witty and the humour throughout is paired so well with the almost grim-dark world. I absolutely adored this first book, and while I do think it's the best book so far, there are many more to come, and the sequels are still truly great. Fair warning though, you may cry when reading this.

5. Stray by Rachel Vincent

This is a bit of a different type of book to the ones I usually recommend. The Shifter series is an urban fantasy that primarily follows Faythe, an all-American grad student, and one of the few female werecats left. With the ability to shift into a huge black leopard, she is hunted by Strays (werecats without a pride) who are trying to find another female werecat. This brush with danger was all her Pride needed to summon her back. This book and this series is definitely not perfect, but it is quick-paced, easy to read, and has very unique characters. If you enjoy a good urban fantasy with a romance aspect then I highly recommend this series. The first book is the longest but I think I read it in one sitting because it was so addictive. Definitely pick this up if you want something fun and quick. I haven't read these since 2015 but just talking about them is making me want to pick them up again.

Now for some honourable mentions!: 

• Eragon by Christopher Paolini (my favourite dragon book so far, but the series does go downhill after the second book in my opinion).
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (I don't think I need to explain this one to anyone)
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (another very popular YA book)
• House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (everyone knows who SJM is at this point but I think this is easily the best book she's written so far, although the sequel wasn't fantastic).

So, those are my top five first book in a series! Let me know what your Top Five are below, or if you have a blog post then link it! Just in case anyone is new to this, Top Five Wednesday was created by Lainey (Gingerreadslainey on YouTube) and is now run by the Goodreads Group so that people can share more of their favourite (or sometimes least favourite) books in an interesting way. The people in the Group create weekly topics each month so Bloggers and YouTubers alike to discuss books. The group can be found here! And if you want to see more of my previous Top Five Wednesday Blog posts, you can click here!