Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke & The Bookish that allows book lovers to geek out about their best reads. This week’s topic is known as a “rewind” which means we all get to pick our category. I’ve chosen:

Top 10 Obscure Series in My TBR Pile!

It’s important to note my definition of obscure, here: it’s any series that I’ve never had anybody request or refer to in my ten years of bookselling experience, nor have I ever seen them in my blog feed. Despite that, these books somehow found their way to my shelf anyway and have all managed to survive at least five library purges. Unheard of doesn’t mean not good. 6 out of my top 14 favorite fantasy books of all-time could have easily been in this list ten years ago.

Here’s some title overviews:

#1 Aurian: To the city of Nexis, where Magefolk rule uneasily over a race of mortals, a young girl named Aurian comes to learn the magic arts. Her dormant powers are coveted by the corrupt Archmage, who intends to possess her. When she rejects him for a mortal, the enraged Archmage plans his revenge.

#2 Orphans of Chaos: For Amelia and her friends, the strict English boarding school she lives in is all she has ever known.  The sprawling estate, bordered by unknown territory on all four sides, is both orphanage, academy, and prison.  The school has a large staff, but only five students, none of whom know what their real names are, or even how old they are. Precocious and rebellious, all five teenagers are more than just prodigies.  Amelia can see in four dimensions.  Victor can control the molecular arrangement of matter.  Vanity can find secret passageways where none existed before.  Colin is a psychic.  Quentin is a warlock. And, as time goes by, they’re starting to suspect that none of them are entirely human . . .

#3 The Glasswrights’ Apprentice: A mere glasswrights’ apprentice must uncover an elusive brotherhood whose deadly venom reaches out to stain the heart of her guild, the heart of her family — and the heart of her king….

#4 Path of Fate: In the land of Kodu Riik, it is an honor to be selected by the Lady to become an ahalad-kaaslane-to have your soul bonded with one of Her blessed animals, and roam the land serving Her will. But Riesil refuses to bow to fate-a decision that may have repercussions across the realm…

#5 Son of Avonar: Magic is forbidden throughout the Four Realms. For decades, sorcerers and those associating with them were hunted to near extinction. But Seri, a Leiran noblewoman living in exile, is no stranger to defying the unjust laws of her land. She is sheltering a wanted fugitive who possesses unusual abilities-a fugitive with the fate of the realms in his hands…

#6 Touched by Venom: Desperate to find Waivia, Zarq and her delirious mother flee through the underworld of their land – from the Zone of the Dead to a sanctuary for outcast dragons, through discovery and persecution. Consumed with the desire for revenge, Zarq develops a taste for the highly addictive venom drawn from the dragons she has been taught to revere, and sinks into a realm of bizarre magics. Here, influenced by the divine grace of dragon memories, Zarq glimpses possibilities of revenge and social revolution. But to achieve them, she must defy not just the sexual taboos and patriarchal conventions of her society, but the Emperor who rules her nation.

#7 The Sword: Two men. One is a prince of royal blood. The other is a half-breed, part human, part elf. But the part that is human is also royal.Two women. One is a princess, pampered and protected. The other lives in the forest, the leader of a band of rebels. She too has elven blood. This is their story — the tale of love and hate, courage and cowardliness, and magic both dark and light.

#8 Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe: Halcyon Blithe, being a young man of good breeding and lineage as well as endowed with those qualities and abilities of a sorcerous nature and wishing to fulfill his full potential, is ready to assume his proper place in the world. He aims to seek his fortune among those who tend and sail the awesome nautical juggernauts-the dragonships. With this in mind, Blithe gladly accepts his rank as Midshipwizard and becomes a member of the crew who man the dragonships-vessels which harness the bodies and strength of living dragons with seafaring technology. Combining elements of Hornblower with Harry Potter, and Robert Louis Stevenson with Robin Hobb, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe is a nautical tale rich in magic and intrigue. A tale set against a panorama of fantastic naval battle as we follow the career of a young midshipwizard as he moves up through the ranks of His Majesty’s Navy

#9 Swords of Riverside: Welcome to Riverside, where the aristocratic and the ambitious battle for power in the city’s ballroom, brothels and boudoirs. Into this alluring world walks Katherine, a well-bred country girl versed in the rules of conventional society. Her mistake is thinking that they apply. For Katherine’s host and uncle, Alec Campion, aka the Mad Duke Tremontaine, is in charge here—and to him, rules are made to be broken. When Alec decides it would be more amusing for his niece to learn swordplay than to follow the usual path to marriage, her world changes forever. Blade in hand, it’s up to Katherine to navigate a maze of secrets and scoundrels and to gain the self-discovery that comes to those who master: the privilege of the sword.

#10 Stardoc: Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil leaves Earth and accepts a position as a physician at Kevarzanga-2’s FreeClinic. Her surgical skills are desperately needed on a hostile frontier world with over 200 sentient species–and her understanding of alien physiology is nothing short of miraculous. But the truth behind her expertise is a secret which, if discovered, could have disastrous consequences between human and alien relations..