Feeling tired or overwhelmed at the thought of another big chonk of a book?
Reset your reading with one of these six books under 200 pages…
Bloodchild
Octavia E. Butler
Pages: 31
Bloodchild is a sci-fi (sci-fi horror?) that really got under my skin! Some will read it in under half an hour but it sticks with you much longer.
If you haven’t read anything from legendary author Octavia E. Butler or want to read something a little different that will really make you think, I’d especially recommend it. You can read my full review here.
Years ago a group known as the Terrans left Earth in search of a life free of persecution. Now they live alongside the Tlic, an alien race who face extinction; their only chance of survival is to plant their larvae inside the bodies of the humans.
When Gan, a young, boy, is chosen as a carrier of Tlic eggs, he faces an impossible dilemma: can he really help the species he has grown up with, even if it means sacrificing his own life?
A Dead Djinn in Cairo
P. Djeli Clark
Pages: 43
I haven’t read this one but I have my eye on it to read when I get chance. The setting of an alternate Cairo in 1912 is enough of a starting point to get me intrigued without even hearing anything else.
Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and plot that could unravel time itself.
The Fall
Ryan Cahill
Pages: 95
The Fall is such an exciting and action packed read made of 4 POV chapters, serving as the perfect introduction to author Ryan Cahill’s ongoing Bound and Broken series. I read it in a couple of hours and was left seriously impressed.
You can read my full review here.
The Order have watched over the continent of Epheria for thousands of years. But there are those who believe The Order has had its day. That it is corrupt, indulgent, and deceitful – that it is ready to fall.
The City of Ilnaen is on fire.
Dragons fill the skies.
Traitors fill the streets.
The Fall is a prequel novella that takes place four hundred years before the events in Of Blood and Fire – book one in The Bound and The Broken series.
The Citrine Key
L. L. MacRae
Pages: 119
You can read The Citrine Key for FREE just my signing up to the author’s newsletter here! L. L. MacRae’s Dragon Spirits series is one that looks really cool and you can find more about it with my author interview.
A stolen artefact.
An ancient dragon.
One man’s final chance.
Life-long thief Apollo Tamlin has been marked for execution. When the mage Queen Surayo offers him a pardon, he doesn’t ask questions – any task she has is better than a walk to the gallows.
Succeed, and not only will it preserve peace in his homeland, but Apollo can rebuild the life he’s ruined.
Sent to a distant continent to feed a stolen artefact to an ancient and powerful dragon spirit sounds simple, but things quickly start going wrong. His companions are not what they seem, the dragon would rather eat him, and the artefact displays its own magic – throwing the entire mission into peril.
The First of Shadows
Deck Matthews
Pages: 143
I was amazed that so much worldbuilding, great characters and interesting plotlines could be squeezed into a novella until I read The First of Shadows. It made me realise just how high quality a novella can be.
Check out my review over here
Saga Volume 1
Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Pages: 176
There’s a good argument for a shorter graphic novel taking longer to read than its more wordy counterparts, if you take the time to appreciate the art of each individual piece (of which every part is stunning here) but you can certainly breeze through a graphic novel a little more quickly and use less of your own brain power and imagination to do so at times.
Saga was recommended to me by a number of bloggers and I’m so glad I picked it up as I absolutely love it and am currently onto Volume 4.
The Science Fantasy Space Opera type feel gives plenty of opportunity for inventive races, colourful worlds and outlandish plot lines. It’s also got a whole lot of heart, too.
The artwork is honestly just stunning and I advise anyone to at least five volume 1 a try and see what they think! I weirdly (to me) think I’ve developed a crush on one of the main characters, Alana. I’m aware she’s a cartoon, but just… I think I’m in love?
And just to put this out there, Saga is most definitely not for kids!
When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.
From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.
Love any other reads under 200 pages, or found one here you like the look of? Let me know!
Spells and Spaceships 
I definitely want to read something by Octavia E Butler! Also love Saga!
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A Dead Djinn in Cairo has my attention. Thank you for this much needed list
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My pleasure!
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