Fantasy is the genre of infinite possibilities. It's where dragons exist, kingdoms float in the sky, forests whisper secrets, and entire civilizations are built around impossible magic systems. There are, quite literally, no limits to what an author can imagine.

There is a very specific kind of nonfiction book that manages to feel like fantasy without sacrificing an ounce of academic rigour and veracity. Tyrants and Traders is that book, and the kind you can read in one sitting.

Most world history is written from one vantage point and then generalised outward, the West explaining the world to itself. Out of Chaos, Jon Wilson's new book out on August 27th, is the first text I have read that genuinely resists that gravitational pull.

This book is a coming of age novel of the very best kind, filled with the sorrows and joys, the ups and downs of life.

There are plenty of books that promise to reinvent the murder mystery genre. Few actually do. Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi (2020) is one of the rare exceptions: a novel that doesn't simply tell a mystery but examines why mysteries work in the first place.