POISON

I don't usually dig books with even a whiff of the metafictive, but this one I can still recommend with a clear conscience. Chris Wooding hasn't quite reached his peak as a novelist (and that's a good thing), but he is clearly a master of the otherworldly setting. Who else could write about a giant spider's lair and make you forget Tolkien ever existed? This tale of a bad-tempered swamp girl who goes head-to-head with the King of Phaerie is even more evocative than The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray. Turn the page and you'll swear you heard some bones cracking right behind you.