Hello all. I am back with some more fantasy series(?) to recommend (or not), but before I jump into all that I want to do a quick catch-up of the series that I mentioned last time (besides the ones I quit reading):
Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy: I really enjoyed the 2nd novel in this trilogy, Siege and Storm, which introduces a very fun and charismatic character. The third novel kind of lost me at points and was harder for me to enjoy than the others, but overall a good series and a nice change of pace if you are used to reading traditional medieval fantasy.
Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor: Holy Sister, the final part of this series, might have been the strongest of the three. Lawrence’s writing got more assured with each new book in the series and the characters continued to grow and reveal new facets of themselves in interesting ways. I have picked up The Girl and the Stars, the first book in a series set in the same world as The Book of the Ancestor, and I can’t wait to read it.
Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive: I read the 2nd novel in this series, Words of Radiance, and a novella, Edgedancer, and they are both great and this series is great and gosh if you even kind of like fantasy you really owe it to yourself to read these books.
Enough of all that; let’s talk about some new books.
Series: Poppy War Series by R.F. Kuang
Books read (so far): The Poppy War
How many books are there in the series? Three. The last one, The Burning God, was released last November.
What is this book’s deal? This is a very dark, realistic take on war in a fantasy world—yes, there is magic and deals made with the gods and whatnot—but the most surprising thing is just how dark this book got. Kuang is a scholar of Chinese history, and so it is no surprise that the book is based on the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The story follows a young girl named Rin who manages to get into a very prestigious school, and while that seems like enough of a set-up for a novel, the book really moves at a fast clip, leaving behind entire plot threads and characters for large swaths of the book. I wasn’t sure what to make of this when I read it, but I do appreciate the world that it has built.
Magic? You say there’s magic? Well, yeah! But not in any way that I have really seen before. Only some people can do magic, and it has a pretty hefty cost, involving making deals with literal gods in order to perform magical feats. Still, if you have the magic, you can do amazing—and horrific—things with it.
Well, should I read it? It is definitely worth reading, but be forewarned that the book is dark and it does not shy away from that. Rin is also a very specific kind of character that I have not really seen represented in fantasy literature before, and that will either be exciting or off-putting for you as a reader.
Image from Penguin Teen
Series: Gumiho by Kat Cho
Books read (so far): Wicked Fox
How many books are there in the series? Two. The Gumiho duology also includes Vicious Spirits.
What is this book’s deal? This book is a real-world fantasy set in modern-day Seoul. There are K-dramas, video game cafes, and fox demons who suck out the energy of men so they can live forever! Just normal, everyday things! In this story, Miyoung is half-gumiho (aka fox demon) and half-human. She bumps into a young man named Jihoon, and their stories intertwine as they face off together against the rest of the world...and maybe fall in love?
Magic? You say there’s magic? Miyoung has the basic kind of magical abilities you might expect of a gumiho—super strength, healing, etc. She can also suck the energy out of a human and in fact she needs to do this to maintain her vitality. There are some other fantasy creatures lurking in the pages as well, as well as human shamans, who each have their own goals and desires throughout the story.
Well, should I read it? The set-up of the story is interesting, and was interesting to me mostly because of its modern setting. It is so fun to read about life and culture in Seoul, and Cho does a great job making the characters and the setting come to life. At moments the story is cliché, but it also took several turns that I was not expecting, and the road to a “happily ever after” was much windier than I thought it would be. I am not sure I will read the sequel, but if the idea of fox demons and YA love stories interests you, then you should definitely check it out.
Series: Okay, this isn’t, technically, a series yet...but! It’s really good!
Books read (so far): Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
How many books are there in the series? Just Hench, but the author has said she is working on a sequel.
What is this book’s deal? What if you were a temp worker for a villain who got laid off because Superman broke your leg into several pieces? That is the premise, more or less, of Hench. And that is really just a jumping-off point. I don’t want to get too much into specifics because the book is really, really good, but I’ll say this: if you at all like the superhero genre, you should read this. And maybe even if you don’t. If you’ve ever thought that Bruce Wayne should spend more time as a philanthropist than as Batman, then Anna is the protagonist you have been waiting for.
Magic? You say there’s magic? Not really, but there are superheroic and -villainous powers of many kinds and stripes, and Zina Walschots does a great job making hero and villain names that sound plausible without just swiping names from already established characters. The display of powers is the expected—super speed, super strength, etc. But there are also some characters’ powers that are new and fresh and make the world feel more alive.
Well, should I read it? Yes. This was a true joy to read, and I zipped through it pretty quickly. The writing is great, and Anna is a character, as has been written about a bunch already, with a truly untapped well of rage that it is interesting to be inside the head of.
Series: The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik
Books read (so far): A Deadly Education
How many books are there in the series? Three. The second one, The Last Graduate, is coming out this September.
What is this book’s deal? Wizard school. Boy wizard who wants to save everyone. Trouble just getting to graduation. Sound familiar? Think again. This story is set at The Scholomance, a school for young wizards, but our protagonist is not Orion Lake, the aforementioned hero. Instead, it is Galadriel, or El to her friends (if she had any friends), a dour junior who just wants to make it out of the school alive.
Magic? You say there’s magic? Indeed. The system that Novik has crafted here is brilliant and instantly creates real stakes for whenever magic is used. There is not an infinite well of magic for these wizards to draw from. Instead, they have to harness mana which can either be created by exercising or doing a menial task or harvested from the life energy of nearby creatures (including other humans). Of course, harvesting mana from people is frowned upon, so while incredible magical feats are possible, they are rare. It’s a brilliant magic system and learning more about it throughout the book was a real treat.
Well, should I read it? Definitely. El is a great protagonist, the kind who you fall in love with even as she makes potentially dumb decisions. The other characters are fleshed out and feel like real people, and the stakes always feel real and not manufactured. The teens act like teens, just with the ability to rend the world apart—if they can get enough mana to do so.
Series: The Merciful Crow Series by Margaret Owen
Books read (so far): The Merciful Crow
How many books are there in the series? Two. The Faithless Hawk came out last August.
What is this book’s deal? In this world, everyone is separated into different castes at birth, from the royal Phoenix caste to the lowly Crow caste. The world is beset by a plague, and the Crows are the only caste unaffected by it, so they have to travel the world picking up dead bodies and taking them out so that the plague does not devour the entire community. We follow Fie, a future chief of her clan, as the Crows take a job for the Queen of the realm. And, of course, things are not quite what they seem with this job.
Magic? You say there’s magic? Each caste has its own special magic that it can perform, and Crows can use all of that magic, if they are a witch and they have access to the teeth of someone from that caste. It is an interesting (and kind of macabre) magic system that makes sense for this world and leads to dramatic complications as Fie learns to hone her magical abilities.
Well, should I read it? Well, I’ll be honest. I did not finish this novel. It presents an interesting world, filled with magic and intrigue, but it didn’t quite hook into me as much as I would have wanted. There is a love story that seems predictable and while the story is not completely predictable, it does feel a little like a story you might have read before. If you like birds or are interested in a dark-fantasy world, then this might just be the book for you. If that doesn’t sound like you, then this book is for the birds.
