Our borg Best of 2025 year-end round-up continues today with the Best Books of 2025.  If you missed them, check out our 10th annual selections for the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2025 here, the Best in TV 2025 here, and the Best Movies of 2025 here.  We wrap up our annual awards with our additions to the borg Hall of Fame tomorrow.  We reviewed more books we recommended to our readers this year (and started or previewed even more), and some even made it onto our favorites shelf.  We don’t publish reviews of books that we read and don’t recommend, so this shortlist reflects only this year’s cream of the crop.  So let’s get going! 

Best Book, Best Manga/Manhua, Best Action Read, Best Sci-fi Read, Best Series – Yan, Volume 2 by Chang Sheng (Titan Manga).  The best action choreography you’ll find in any comic series today.  A powerhouse ensemble of super-powered characters that could inhabit their own universe like Marvel or DC.  It amps up the storytelling like a grand comic book crossover.

Best Sci-Fi Novel, Best Tie-in Novel, Best Borg Book – Alien: Seventh Circle by Philippa Ballentine (Titan Books).  Packed with suspense and innovative takes on Weyland-Yutani and its influence years before, during, and after the events of Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie.  Count this as one of the best.  It’s great science fiction storytelling.

Best Book Design – Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, illustrated by MinaLima (Harper).   The ultimate, stunning presentation of the novel that launched the science fiction and horror genres, complete with interactive elements. 

Best Fantasy Read – The Gryphon King by Sara Omer (Titan Books).  A sweeping historical epic bolstered by some of the finest worldbuilding since Curtis Craddock’s Risen Kingdoms series.

Best Book on the History of Film/TV Industry – TCM’s Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood’s Untamed Era 1930-1934 by Kim Luperi and Danny Reid (Running Press Adult).  A fascinating chronology of four years of film that unveils auteurs putting on the big screen genres, tropes, relationships, and conflicts that still might not have been addressed as openly since.  Mob movies, sex and violence, race, horror, comedy, taboos, and more–it’s TCM’s most insightful look at cinema yet.

Best Fandom Book – Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History 50th Anniversary Edition (Wizards of the Coast).  A comprehensive and authoritative look back at nearly 50 years of gaming, storytelling, and artwork.

Best Non-Fiction Read, Best Science Read – Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America by Peter Wohlleben and Jane Billinghurst (Greystone Books).  Balances the zen of experiencing the forest with the science behind trees.

Best Science Reference Book – Saving Nature One Yard at a Time by David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth (Countryman Press).  A good starting point to begin to take personal responsibility to protect the planet this year, with action items anyone can tackle with not a lot of effort or money. 

Best Retro Read, Best Horror Book – Anno Dracula: One Thousand Monsters by Kim Newman (Titan Books).  One of Newman’s talents is weaving in everyone and every relevant and curious element of an era in a way that is both immersive and spectacular.  The reader’s only challenge is to try and keep up while marveling at his elegant prose, his understanding of language and dialect, and incorporation of an astonishing range of elements from each new culture and setting.

Best Previously Published Book Re-Release/New Edition – The Wind in the Willows, new paperback edition, by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by David Petersen (IDW Publishing).  The best edition of this classic work.

Best Art Book – The Art and Making of Ultraman Rising by Drew Taylor (Titan Books).  An exciting step into a franchise built over 60 years, filled with sci-fi giant characters kids of all ages will love, courtesy of, in part, Industrial Light & Magic of Star Wars and Jurassic Park fame.

Best Cookbook – The Comic Book History of the Cocktail by Dean Kotz and David Wondrich (Ten Speed Graphic).  A surprisingly historical and engaging look at the intersection of history and alcoholic creations, and a window into the people behind all the concoctions and libations that men and women have sought out in times of both depression and celebration.

Best Video Game Tie-In – Sea of Thieves: The Art of Piracy (Titan Books).  A springboard for those who have yet to step into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean, Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey, Long John Silver, and the legion of nonfiction and fiction books on pirates.

Best Sci-Fi Tie-In (Nonfiction) – Star Trek III: The Search for Spock–The Making of the Classic Film by John and Maria Tenuto (Titan Books). Featuring rare and previously unseen production art and some new interviews, this photograph-filled chronicle will be a fun addition to your Star Trek library.

Best Crime Novel – Baby, It’s Murder by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (Titan Books). Spillane and Collins going out with a great big bang–actually several.  The humor is edgy, the action is big, the story is personal, and the finish is satisfying.  

Best Graphic Novel (fiction), Best Horror Graphic Novel, Best Comic Art – Edifice by Andrzej Klimowskio (SelfMadeHero).  A stunning, gorgeous, creepy story you won’t soon forget.  Runner-up for Best Horror Graphic Novel – Fishflies by Jeff Lemire (Image).  Another good read from Lemire.

Best Graphic Novel (nonfiction) – Remember Us to Life by Joanna Rubin Dranger (Ten Speed Press).  An important work.  Eye-opening are the parallels of the early events of World War II to political movements in America in 2025.  Runner–Up – Girl Rebels by Laurent Hopman et al.

Best Sci-Fi Comic Book Series, Best New Comic Series – The Twilight Zone (IDW Publishing).  Only three “episodes” in and it’s the next best thing to Rod Serling rising from afar to present us with new stories of the classic series.

Best Sci-Fi Graphic Novel – Starfinder: Angels of the Drift by James L. Sutter and Edu Menna (Dynamite).  From the retro-future, colorful spacecraft to the costumes of the characters, to the alien designs of the planetary armies, Menna has created something new here–a great mix of sci-fi tropes and imagery.

Best Fantasy Graphic Novel, Best Supernatural Graphic Novel – Downlands by Norm Konyu (Titan Comics).  A suspenseful journey into the past and back again.

Best Fantasy Comic Book Series – The Seasons by Rick Remender and Paul Azeceta (Image Comics/Giant Generator).  What you see is not what it appears to be.  A disconcerting vibe is infused with Hayao Miyazaki’s pretty world in Spirited Away, which is of course hiding a much darker world only moments away. 

Best Comic Book Writing, Best Adventure Graphic Novel – Kraken by Shannon Eric Denton and David Hartman (Titan Comics).  A great adventure tale that piles on the tropes.  The next original fantasy world.

Best Comedy Book, Best Humor Comic – Hägar the Horrible: The First 50 Years by Dik Browne (Titan Comics). An epic, 480-page trip back through more than a thousand strips that read like they haven’t aged a day since 1975 when they first were picked up by King Features Syndicate and could be read in every town in America.

Best Historical-Inspired Graphic Novel – Caesar’s Spy by Jean-Pierre Pécau and Max Von Fafner (Titan Comics).  A great read for students of ancient history and fans of Conan-type fantasy adventures.  The artwork is intricate, evocative of ancient art, and simply stunning.

Best Dystopian Read – System Preference by Ugo Bienvenu (Titan Comics).  Bienvenu doesn’t pull any punches or use any kind of subtlety in previewing the coming oblivious world allowing artificial intelligence to take over every aspect of humanity until it erases all evidence of human history and the ability of rational thought itself. 

Best Roleplaying Game (Indie) – Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass (1985 Games).  A detailed, imaginative expansion for anyone wanting to lean into anime fantasy fun and play, highly recommended for gamers new and old.  Runner-Up – Teatime Adventures (Snowbright Studio).  A laid back RPG of kindness for tough times.

Best Roleplaying Game (Mainstream) – Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Delves (Wizards of the Coast).  The best of a good year for D&D, all about the dragons, a showcase of adventures set in each of ten lairs and its colorful, good or evil, occupant.  Not just a new adventure but full of new options to enhance roleplay.

Best Board Game – La Fleur (Dux Somnium). An easy to learn, gorgeous game, and ambiance plus fun rounds and interesting subject matter all work together.  Runner-Up – Welcome to the Hellfire Club board game.

Thanks for reading our reviews in 2025!

Come back tomorrow as we add new members to the borg Hall of Fame.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg