Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly task that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing their top books that have a weather event or weather-related word in their title (i.e. wind, storm, flood, frost and more). This was a pretty interesting topic and it is one I had a lot of fun pulling together as it forced me to look at some of the more obscure novels that I have read. I eventually managed to work out a full list of novels that qualified, although it turned out to be a somewhat harder challenge than I imaged and I possibly ended up with too many books where “Storm” was the defining title word. Still, I am pretty happy with the final result and each of the entries below are quite exceptional.
Honourable Mentions
Before the Storm by Christe Golden
Season of Storms by Andrzej Sapkowski
Top Ten Tuesday:
In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan
The first entry on this list was a very easy one with In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan. One of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022, In the Shadow of Lightning is an addictive and clever introduction to a new fantasy world where battles are fought using magical glass. The weather event in the title is referring to the man character, who goes by the monicker “the Lightning Prince” and the many shadows that cover his life. A highly recommended read for those looking for a new fantasy series.
Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill
The next book I want to highlight is a fantastic and very fun Warhammer 40,000 novel that sees a literal storm of iron descend on a fortress in the form of the infamous Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines. A clever and dark siege novel, Storm of Iron is an outstanding read and one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels.
The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden
One of the easiest inclusions for this list had to be The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden which is the third book in the Tomorrow series. I have a lot of love for this iconic Australian young adult series, and The Third Day, The Frost is probably my favourite book in the series, especially is this is where things get particularly dark for the protagonists. The weather themed title has a lot of meanings to the plot, as well as being a reference to Shakespeare and I was very glad I got to highlight this excellent book here.
Queen of Storms by Raymond E. Feist
I had to feature one of the latest books from one of my favourite fantasy authors here with Queen of Storms. The second book in The Firemane Saga, Queen of Storms is a very cool read with some bloody surprises hidden in its centre.
Star Wars: The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott
Probably one of my favourite books so far from the High Republic range of Star Wars fiction, The Rising Storm is an exciting and complex read, and the title refers to the catch phrase and motifs of the insidious antagonists.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
I feel this is going to be a popular entry for many fantasy fans participating in this Top Ten Tuesday as The Name of the Wind is a pretty iconic and bellowed novel for very good reason. The first entry in Rothfuss’s exceptional Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind is such a damn good novel and the catchy title refers to a key magical concept that sees the protagonist harness the ability to control wind.
The first epic book in one of the best urban fantasy series out there. The title Storm Front refers to intense weather magic that is being used as a clever murder weapon, and I have so much love for this epic book.
We Are Blood and Thunder by Kesia Lupo
A brilliant debut where the title refers to an unnatural storm surrounding a doomed city.
Warriors of the Storm by Bernard Cornwell
A bold and fun inclusion in one of my favourite historical fiction series.
Usagi Yojimbo: Seasons by Stan Sakai
Now I may be slightly cheating with Seasons, however, as the name refers to the four different seasons featured throughout the book which results in distinctive weather and landscape shots for the story, I felt it was very appropriate to feature here.
Well, that is the end of this list. As you can see there are some fantastic novels out there that uses weather-based terms in their titles, and there honestly some very interesting usages for it throughout fiction. All the above novels are wonderful and highly recommended reads, and I had an incredible time reading them. Let me know which books with weather-based phrases or terms in the title you have enjoyed the most in the comments.
The Unseen Library 