Using icons and magic, Angel Mages can call angels to perform various tasks. Each realm is devoted to and guarded over by an archangel. The kingdom of Ystara was forsaken by its angel, Pallenial, and the inhabitants were forced to run or turn into beastlings with no memory of themselves as they were. Generations later, in the neighboring land of Lutace, the powerful Liliath awakens from a self-imposed sleep as though it were only a day later. She is a skilled magic user as well as an icon-maker with one goal: to return to Ystara and bring back the broken angel Pallenial. In order for her plan to succeed, she needs four descendants from Ystara and the magical connection between them. Henri, Simeon, Agnez, and Dorotea are strangers to each other yet each felt a pull to one another. They became fast friends and companions on the trek to Ystara. Unfortunately, the same element that brought them together may succeed in separating them forever.
Characters are diverse and females are in less “traditional” roles. The story was complete but hopefully Garth Nix will set more stories in the angel mage world.
King Ferdinand of Puerto Leones has consolidated power over all neighboring countries until almost all are bowing to his might. Except the rebels from the abolished kingdom of Memoria; those who wield forbidden magic. Ren is part of the rebels in the Lynx Unit under the command of Dez, her lover and defender. Her magic is the kind that allows her to take away memories; she spent her early days as a pawn for King Ferdinand turning rebels into husks of themselves with no memory or will of their own. Though she escaped she cannot shake her past.
When Dez is captured by the cruel Bloodied Prince Castian, heir to the crown, Ren infiltrates the castle to finish his task of locating the powerful mind-altering weapon about to be unleashed on them all. She falls back into her former life feigning illness to avoid the inevitable task of clearing the minds of innocent victims while she desperately tries to find the weapon. While searching for clues, she finds support in the most unexpected places and preconceived judgements shattered.
Plenty of twists make this book hard to put down. The characters are multi-dimensional with various motivations and personalities. This epic political fantasy will appeal to fans of Sarah Maas, Marie Rutkoski, and Renee Ahdieh. Looking forward to the sequel.
Gene has writer’s block. He can’t think of anything to write about; nothing is inspiring. And then he overhears chatter about the school basketball team and its chance at competing in the state competition. Gene has no interest in basketball but decides to learn. He works it out with the coach to follow the team on their journey. As the season goes on he becomes much more involved with the boys than he ever expected.
Each chapter looks at a different player and showcases the diversity of the team. Not every black kid has the same backstory, skills, or ambition or are even African-American. Gene shows each boy with all his warts and his glories. He also intertwines his reluctance to feature the disgraced former coach until he realizes that the man deserves to have his story told.
This graphic novel is autobiographical and shines a light on Yang’s creative process as well as his family. The tale is followed by an Epilogue to set facts straight from creative license. His fans, sports-oriented readers, and emerging writers will enjoy the book.
I waited too long to write this review and so did not have access to the preview copy for more details to include. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy.
Genie Lo is finding that being the Divine Guardian of the Kingdom of California is more work than expected, especially since she doesn’t even want the job. So is being the captain of the volleyball team, making time for her best friend Yunie, and spending time with her boyfriend, Quentin, the Monkey King. Genie is overwhelmed and when her mother gets sick, she reaches the end of her rope. She doesn’t know who she is, what she wants, or where she wants to go.
She goes on a previously planned weekend trip to Yunie’s cousin at a local university. It is not at all what she expected.
If I had to say what the biggest difference was between the high school scene and college, it would have been the amount of facial hair on the guys. I mean, this was like a lumberjack meetup being held on a crab fishing boat.
And…
By the time I reached the end of the hall I was fairly convinced that the only way college students could communicate was by taking turns explaining reality to each other.
Genie leaves the party and is outside when Ao Guang, Guardian of the Eastern Sea shows up in the swimming pool next to the dorm. Now it appears that she has no other options but to travel interdimensionally to another plane and face the invisible monster, Yin Mo who has just defeated the great general and his army. On the way, she has to travel with a former enemy and to prove that her friend, the goddess Guanyin is worthy to take the place of the Jade King and rule the Divine Heaven.
This sequel has some great lines and scene-stealing minor characters. Genie and Quentin are going through some relationship adjustments as they mature. Genie is growing as a person and realizing that there is not one path and that her limits might be self-imposed. Recommended for readers who enjoy humor with their fractured-mythology stories.
I read this as a proof copy for NetGalley. Here is my review: Sage is quite observant, brutally honest, and totally unfit for marriage according to those around her. Instead she is apprenticed to the local matchmaker and tasked with not only keeping an eye on the girls during their travel to the main city, but also to recommend which eligible bachelor would make a good match. Her astute observation skills catch the notice of an attractive soldier/captain and soon she is recruited to spy for the soldiers too. As the journey progresses, danger increases, and her heart has difficulty staying out of the matching pool. The only complaint I have is that the title does not really reflect the story.
Update: I enjoyed the rest of the series but once again, I didn’t like the title. Every time I see the title, I struggle to remember the series because it just doesn’t fit!
The Traitor’s Circle: The Traitor’s Kiss, The Traitor’s Ruin and The Traitor’s Kingdom
Hilari Bell – Fall of a Kingdom
The kingdom of Farsala has enjoyed peace and prosperity for so long that it doesn’t see the danger rising next door. Three young people do see the prospect of war and try to prepare Farsala against the immovable political structures. Each of the three heroes have a unique voice and perspective throughout the series. The story is supposedly based on a Persian legend and definitely brings this culture alive.
The Farsala Trilogy: Fall of a Kingdom, Rise of a Hero, and Forging the Sword
Holly Black – The Cruel Prince
Jude and her sisters were taken to the Faerie world after her step-father murdered her father. Now at seventeen, Jude wants to earn a place in the Faerie world in spite of her significant handicap of mortality. She finds her human ability to lie an advantage to her new position as spy. Now if only her staunchest enemy, the crown Prince, would just get out of her way.
Holly writes awesome “faeries behaving badly” urban fantasies. This trilogy is just her latest.
The Folk of the Air: The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, and The Queen of Nothing
Kristin Cashore – Graceling
A “graceling” is one who was born with a special talent – baking bread that never burns, calming any animal, the voice of an angel – and are noted because of their two different colored eyes. Katsa’s grace is the ability to kill. As the king’s enforcer, she is feared across the land yet she hides a double life working for justice. When she is sent to rescue a kidnapped king, she meets Po and her world gets upended.
The other two books in this “series” focus on different characters and time periods in the same world but this first one was my favorite.
Series: Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue
Cinda Williams Chima – The Warrior Heir
Imagine the War of the Roses is not between British royal families but between two magical houses competing for leadership of the Weir, or magical world. Jack lives with his hippy mom in a little town in the middle of nowhere and his only ambition is to be on the soccer team. When he tries out for the team, he blasts by the rest of the players with strength and energy he has never had before. The only thing that is out of the ordinary is that he forgot to take his daily heart medicine. And now everything is out of the ordinary because he is one of only two surviving Warriors destined to duel to the death, this year.
Series: The Warrior Heir, The Wizard Heir, The Dragon Heir, The Enchanter Heir, and The Sorcerer Heir
Cinda Williams Chima –The Demon King
Former street gang leader Han is trying to live a straight life taking care of his mother and sister. After confronting three privileged young wizards, he ends up with the amulet of the long-dead demon king. And he knows the wizards will be after him to get it back. Princess Raisa has returned to court after three years of freedom running in the mountains with the clans of her father. Court life is stifling when she realizes her mother plans to marry her off.
I LOVE this series. The world is so intricate and the characters are plenty complicated, even the minor ones. This is definitely a re-read.
Series: The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, The Gray Wolf Throne, and The Crimson Crown
Honestly I would read anything that Chima writes. Her characters are diverse, complicated, and compelling. Her worlds are easily imagined and complete. And she always surprises.
My nephew’s girlfriend asked for some book recommendations to read while quarantined during this COVID-19 pandemic. I think others might also want some suggestions so I decided to resurrect my blog and publish a few different lists. I am starting with my one of my favorites, YA fantasy series. These also appeal to adults but are marketed to teens. So if you are looking for adult titles, this isn’t your list. And since there are so many great authors out there, I will split up the post and cover a few authors a day with a final pdf on the last post.
These are the first books in their series. Some are duologies, others much longer.
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
While traveling to marry the emperor, Mariko’s entourage is attacked and all are left for dead. Mariko manages to get away and joins the band of bandits she believes is responsible for the attack. Sequel is Smoke in the Sun.
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Every night a girl is married to the young king and every morning, she is killed. When Sharhrzad’s best friend is one of the girls, she volunteers to be the next bride in order to get close enough to kill him. Sequel is The Rose and the Dagger.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The color of your blood determines your class: those with silver are the rulers over those with red. When the red-blooded Mare is discovered to have some of the powers of silver-bloods, she is drawn into the palace, the princes, and all of its intrigue. Series includes Red Queen, Glass Sword, King’s Cage, and War Storm. To be upfront, I’ve only read the first of this series but I’ve included it because my students really like it.
The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad
Fatima lives in a city of immigrants living cooperatively under the safety of the Ifrit, a race of djinn committed to order and reason. When her friend and mentor dies, Fatima is filled with a unfamiliar power that may threaten the peace she has known. This is actually a one-off! Great to read a story that actually ends.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
When common soldier Alina demonstrates unusual powers, she is whisked away from her best friend, Mal, to the city to be trained by the Grisha, the magical elite who serve the king. This series has a Slavic/Russian setting and folktale background. Pretty unique when it was written (2012). Series includes Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Kaz Brekker selects a team of criminals, each with special skills, to break into a fortress within the ice palace of an enemy kingdom. Set in the same world as Shadow and Bone, this duology features others with Grisha skills. Sequel is Crooked Kingdom.
Caledon’s father swore a blood oath to the queen of Renovia and it has passed to him. It will continue through his line until the oath is completed. The queen’s daughter, Lilac, has been raised by retired soldiers in a rural village and has taken the name Shadow. She has some magic but is not highly trained; she also has a crush on Caledon. When he is thrown into the worst dungeon, she makes plans to rescue him and tag along on his real mission. Together they travel to the neighboring kingdom, Montrice, to find those who are plotting war against Renovia.
The world-building is incomplete as this is the first of a series. Plenty of questions are left open, particularly the queen’s motives. Definitely for a less sophisticated reader (middle school) as it is fairly predictable. There is high-class flirting, and most likely off-page sex (a young reader wouldn’t catch it) and no swearing.
Teen Harley Quinn arrives at her grandmother’s apartment only to find out that grandma has died. The apartment manager, Mama, takes her on and envelops her into his lovely group of drag queens (and surrogate moms). She enrolls in the local high school, makes friends with a passionate activist, Ivy, and enemies with the local little-rich-boy, John Kane. Harley soon finds her friends at odds with the wealthy Kanes who are destroying the neighborhood by tearing down homes, including Harley’s, and building towers. Harley has a history of violence and retribution, is easily agitated, and has not yet figured out angels from devils. She gets roped by with the enigmatic Joker not realizing he is one of the devils her mother warned her about and manages to get herself in so much trouble that she is forced underground.
As I am not familiar with the Batman universe, I did not know that “historically” Harlequin was the Joker’s girlfriend until they had a falling out. In this rendition of the story, Harley was never friends with the Joker and quickly becomes his enemy. She is a complicated character with a weird vocabulary (booger is often repeated) and a firm sense of loyalty and willingness to fight for what she perceives as right. The title will appeal to younger teens as well as adult graphic novel readers and Gotham fans.
The ruling Ashlord class ride Phoenix horses – ones that burn up every night and rise again with the sun the following day. A talented rider can add substance to create horses that are tireless, or fighters, or always catch their fallen riders. These horses helped the Ashlords to squash the other classes that live in their Empire- the Longhands who reject the gods and the Dividians who came to raid the land. The Ashlords rule with a tight hand and look forward to The Race every year. A race between riders of all classes. A race that outlaws killing another but not disabling riders or polluting the ashes of the horses. The race this year includes the favorite, a daughter of two former winners; a Longhand riding to start a revolution; and a poor Dividian with a talent for alchemy. Each of these three think they know how to win but as the race begins, they find out they know very little at all.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy of this book.
Rule in the kingdom of Sheridan is not transferred by blood but by a magical tattoo that appears on the one named with the king’s last breath. Coin is one of the Nameless who live by theft and con; the people so low they don’t even have names. Yet the magic tattoo burns on her shoulder and is verified by the late king’s daughter. She knows all about surviving in the streets but nothing about living through the politics in the Royal class. She just wants to last long enough to find out why young Nameless are disappearing from the streets and to rescue her best friend from the gallows. She can use her new magic and old swagger to run the ultimate con and perhaps make a difference in the lives of those she loves.
