Siavahda's Blog, page 83
August 3, 2021
Bonus Post: 7 of My Favourite Upcoming Book Covers
I do what I want, and today I want to make two lists of beautiful book covers. M’kay? M’kay.
These are, as the title suggests, books that are not out yet, but that still have incredible covers that ought to be celebrated!
In no particular order, then…
Forging a Nightmare by Patricia A. Jackson Representation: Black MC
Published on: 23rd November 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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Unknown to Humanity, the descendants of Fallen Angels live among us. After millennia of living in anonymity, a serial killer has discovered their secret and has marked them for death. FBI Agent Michael Childs is brought in to investigate a series of grisly murders in New York City. The only link between the victims is they were all born with twelve fingers and twelve toes, known in occult circles as the Nephilim, a forsaken people.
A break in the case leads to Marine Corps sniper Anaba Raines who is listed as killed in action in Syria. Michael finds the hardened soldier alive and well, but no longer Human. After getting too close to the truth, Michael refuses to be an unwitting pawn in a 3000-year old vendetta. With the killers closing in, he is forced to confront his own unique heritage or die. Only Anaba can save his life, but at a terrible cost – her freedom.
This masterful cover art was created by Daniel Kamarudin, and honestly, even if I hadn’t already been sold based on that premise, I would absolutely be grabby hands for this book on the cover alone!
Tangleways (The Trifold Age, #2) by Andrea K. Höst Representation: Several queer MCs, queernorm world
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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Book 2 of The Trifold Age.
---
The extravagant by-product of a sibling feud.
The laboratory of a genius studying gods.
The toy of a wealthy eccentric.
Ned's new school.
Tangleways.
Lord Fennington's experimental school, built on the old Tangleways estate, had been set for monumental failure. Folly Fennington's ability to throw an excellent party had convinced few parents to entrust their children to his theories on education...until the Queen herself had endorsed the school by allowing her daughter to attend.
Among the crowds of ambitious students anxious to scrape acquaintance with the royal heir, all Eluned Tenning wants is to keep her head down, work quietly on her portfolio, and support her sister's romance. Not such an easy goal when Eluned's sister is in love with Princess Celestine, her brother is determined to uncover every secret of the estate's chequered past, and the newspapers are full of stories about the Tennings' slightly-vampiric aunt.
When the success of the school is threatened by a spate of petty vandalism, Eluned finds herself at the centre of a complicated web of friendship and rivalry. Wanting to fit in will not keep her safe from jealousy. Kissing. Mystery.
Or a midnight barking.
There’s no release date yet, but I can be patient. Andrea K Höst is a self-published author who is genius enough to get Jullie Dillon to illustrate most of her books, which is, as you can see, a truly excellent call. The cover for Tangleways, the second book in Höst’s Trifold Age series, is definitely one of my favourites!
We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo Representation: Queer MCs, Queer MCs of colour
Published on: 7th June 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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The first book in a dark fantasy YA duology by the author of What Big Teeth, about the power and danger of stories and the untold costs of keeping magic alive, perfect for fans of Aiden Thomas and Marie Rutkoski.
In River City, where magic used to thrive and is now fading, the witches who once ruled the city along with their powerful King have become all but obsolete. The city's crumbling government is now controlled primarily by the new university and teaching hospital, which has grown to take over half of the city.
Moving between the decaying Old City and the ruthless New, four young queer people struggle with the daily hazards of life―work, school, dodging ruthless cops and unscrupulous scientists―not realizing that they have been selected to play in an age-old drama that revives the flow of magic through their world. When a mysterious death rocks their fragile peace, the four are brought into each other's orbits as they uncover a deeper magical conspiracy.
Devastating, gorgeous, and utterly unique, We All Fall Down examines the complex network of pain created by power differentials, even between people who love each other―and how it is possible to be queer and turn out just fine.
I fell in love with this cover so fast that I preordered the book before reading the blurb! That should tell you all you need to know about how I feel about it. Artist Corey Brickley is the genius behind the gorgeous illustration, and I would like a print of it for my wall, please!
So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens Representation: M/M
Published on: 29th March 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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Carry On meets Arthurian legend in this funny, subversive young adult fantasy about what happens after the chosen one wins the kingdom and has to get married to keep it…and to stay alive.
Arek hadn’t thought much about what would happen after he completed the prophecy that said he was destined to save the Kingdom of Ere from its evil ruler. So now that he’s finally managed to (somewhat clumsily) behead the evil king (turns out magical swords yanked from bogs don’t come pre-sharpened), he and his rag-tag group of quest companions are at a bit of a loss for what to do next.
As a temporary safeguard, Arek’s best friend and mage, Matt, convinces him to assume the throne until the true heir can be rescued from her tower. Except that she’s dead. Now Arek is stuck as king, a role that comes with a magical catch: choose a spouse by your eighteenth birthday, or wither away into nothing.
With his eighteenth birthday only three months away, and only Matt in on the secret, Arek embarks on a desperate bid to find a spouse to save his life—starting with his quest companions. But his attempts at wooing his friends go painfully and hilariously wrong…until he discovers that love might have been in front of him all along.
Clearly someone knew a good thing when they saw it, because Sam Schechter was hired to create the cover art for Luken’s previous book – and now for their next book as well! Which, I think you can see why!
A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee Representation: Chinese cast, sapphic MCs, F/F
Published on: 7th September 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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Two intrepid girls hunt for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in this YA remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island.
1826. The sun is setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Xiang has grown up with stories about the Dragon Fleet and its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Dragon Queen, all her life. Xiang desperately wants to set sail and explore—mainly to find her father, a presumed dead crew member of the Dragon Fleet. Her only memento of him is a pendant she always wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewelry.
But the pendant's true nature is revealed when a mysterious girl named Anh steals it, only to return it to Xiang in exchange for her help in decoding the tiny map scroll hidden inside. Rumor has it that the legendary Dragon Queen had one last treasure—the plunder of a thousand ports—hidden away on an island shrouded in mist that only can be seen once in a blue moon.
Xiang is convinced this map could lead to the fabled treasure. Captivated with the thrill of adventure, she joins Anh and her motley crew off in pursuit of the island. But the girls soon find that the sea—and especially those who sail it—are far more dangerous than the legends led them to believe.
The premise is amazing, and personally I think the cover by Feifei Ruan more than lives up to it! This is another I preordered without reading the blurb. Because that right there??? Is honestly all I need to know.
The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke Representation: Cast of colour
Published on: 18th January 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads
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Orphaned as young women, Celestia and Izara De Malena find themselves land rich but destitute, with only a failing rainforest acreage, Celestia’s perfect manners, and Izara’s nascent magic to their aristocratic names. With the last of their money running out, they enact a dangerous plan—using a spell she doesn’t fully understand, Izara summons the Lady of the Seraphine and demands a favor: a husband for Celestia, one rich enough to enable the De Malena sisters to keep their land. But a favor from the river goddess always comes at a cost . . .
Now, five years later, rumors of war and disease are spreading, Celestia’s husband has been called away on a secret mission for the Emperor, and the Lady of the Seraphine is back to collect her due. Izara will be forced to leave the academy where she has been studying to become a mage; Celestia will be pulled from her now-flourishing farm while newly pregnant with her first child. Together, they must repay their debt to the Lady—embarking on a mission that will put them on a collision course with Celestia’s husband, the Emperor, and a god even more powerful than the Lady of the Seraphine.
Gorgeous, compelling, and utterly captivating, The Beholden follows Celestia and Izara as they journey from the lush rainforest to a frozen desert on an impossible quest to find a god who doesn’t want to be found and prevent the end of the world.
This book had many things going for it even before I saw the cover; I’ve loved Clarke’s work before, any book published by Erewhon Press automatically goes into my shopping cart, and it has a great premise. But artist Kristina Carroll created an absolutely breathtaking cover to finish it all off, and I genuinely can’t stop staring at it. So beautiful!
Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross Published on: 2nd November 2021
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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Perfect for readers of The Hazel Wood and The Night Circus, this lush and layered story about magic and the captivating power of dreams is delivered with acclaimed author Rebecca Ross’s signature exquisite style.
A curse plagues the realm of Azenor—during each new moon, magic flows from the nearby mountain and brings nightmares to life. Only magicians, who serve as territory wardens, stand between people and their worst dreams.
Clementine Madigan is ready to take over as the warden of her small town, but when two magicians challenge her, she is unwittingly drawn into a century-old conflict. She seeks revenge, but as she secretly gets closer to Phelan, one of the handsome young magicians, secrets begin to rise. Clementine must unite with her rival to fight the realm’s curse, which seems to be haunting her every turn.
I don’t know if Dreams Lie Beneath would ever have pinged my radar if I hadn’t been following the cover artist, Annie Stegg Gerard, for years. Gerard is rightly known for her exquisite fantasy paintings, and I have all her books – you can bet I’ll be snatching up this one as well!
And there you have it: 7 more gorgeous covers to covet. Hope you enjoyed!
The post Bonus Post: 7 of My Favourite Upcoming Book Covers appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
(Slightly More Than) 10 of My Favourite Book Covers
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!
This week’s theme was beautiful book covers, and I have spent…way longer than I probably should, picking which ones to feature! Not just because there are so many beautiful covers in the world to choose from, but because I wanted to pick covers that were as beautiful as the stories they stand for; covers that were backed by stories that were worthy of them. There’s something very magical about storytelling, and very magical about creating visual art, and I wanted covers where those things go together. Perfect stories + perfect covers = perfect match.
I ended up finding quite a few.
Raybearer (Raybearer, #1) by Jordan Ifueko Representation: Cast of colour, major asexual character, secondary sapphic and achillean characters
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Goodreads
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Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
Raybearer went directly onto my Best of the Decade list when I read it last year, and I’m very sure Redemptor is going to as well when it comes out later this month. The artist Charles Chaisson has created freaking masterpieces here – with the added benefit of containing so many gorgeous references to the world of the books! No word of a lie, I could stare at these for hours.
Water Horse by Melissa Scott Representation: Bi MC, M/F/M polyamory/group marriage, M/M, queernorm culture
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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For the last twenty years, Esclin Aubrinos, arros of the Hundred Hills, has acted jointly with Alcis Mirielos, the kyra of the Westwood, and the rivermaster of Riverholme to defend their land of Allanoth against the Riders who invade from Manan across the Narrow Sea. He has long been a master of the shifting politics of his own people and his independently-minded allies, but this year the omens turn against him. The Riders have elected a new lord paramount, hallowed servant of the Blazing One, a man chosen and fated for victory.
The omens agree that Nen Elin, Esclin’s stronghold and the heart of Allanoth, will fall when a priest of the Blazing One enters its gates. Esclin needs a spirit-bonded royal sword, a talismanic weapon made of star-fallen iron, to unite the hillfolk behind him. But the same vision that called for the sword proclaimed that Esclin will then betray it, and every step he takes to twist free of the prophecies brings him closer to that doom.
I was going to pounce on Water Horse anyway, because I will never not-pounce on a Melissa Scott book – but if I hadn’t been going to, the cover would have sold me! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen painted water that so much looks like it’s in motion – the sense of movement and presence coming out of this is just incredible to me. You can practically hear the water. And this is very far from a one-off: Eleni Tsami‘s work is just spectacular.
You can see the full wrap-around illustration for the Water Horse cover here on Tsami’s insta. It is very worth checking out!
Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers, #1) by Nicki Pau Preto Representation: Cast of colour, secondary M/M or mlm
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Goodreads
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I had a sister, once…
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.
I promised her the throne would not come between us.
Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.
But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.
Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.
Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.
From water to fire! The Crown of Feathers trilogy by Nicki Pau Preto unequivocally has some of the most gorgeous covers to ever grace the printed page, and the inestimable artist Kekai Kotaki is the one responsible for those stunning illustrations. Just look at them!!! Even if the books didn’t have an incredible premise (PHOENIX RIDERS?!) I would have bought them for the covers alone.
Elfland (Aetherial Tales, #1) by Freda Warrington Representation: Minor gay character
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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Rosie Fox is a daughter of the Aetherials, an ancient race from the Spiral—the innermost realm of the Otherworld—who lives secretly among us. Yet she and her kind are bereft of their origins, because on Earth, in a beautiful village named Cloudcroft, the Great Gates between worlds stand sealed.
Her parents, Auberon and Jessica, are the warm heart of Cloudcroft and of Rosie’s loving family. But on the hill lives the mysterious, aloof Lawrence Wilder, Gatekeeper to the inner realms of Elfland. Tortured by private demons, he is beset by trouble on all sides: his wife has vanished and his sons Jon and Sam are bitter and damaged. Lawrence is duty bound to throw open the Gates every seven years for the Night of the Summer Stars, a ritual granting young Aetherials their heritage, their elders vital reconnection to their source. Lawrence, however, is haunted by fears of an ever-growing menace within the Spiral. When he stubbornly bars the Gates, he defies tradition and enrages the Aetherial community. What will become of them, deprived of the realm from which flows their essential life force? Is Lawrence protecting them—or betraying them?
Growing up amid this turmoil, Rosie and her brothers, along with Sam and Jon Wilder, are heedless of the peril lurking beyond the Gates. They know only that their elders have denied them their birthright, harboring dark secrets in a conspiracy of silence.
When Sam is imprisoned for an all-too-human crime, age-old wounds sunder the two families…yet Rosie is drawn into his web, even as she fears the passions awoken in her by the dangerous Wilder clan. Torn between duty and desire, between worlds, Rosie unwittingly precipitates a tragedy that compels her to journey into the Otherworld, where unknown terrors await. Accompanied by the one man most perilous to her life, she must learn hard lessons about life and love in order to understand her Aetherial nature…and her role in the terrifying conflict to come.
I have loved many books whose covers are illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft, especially the many books of Patricia McKillip, but I first encountered her work on the covers of Freda Warrington’s Aetherial Tales trilogy, so they have a special place in my heart. Not only are they beyond breathtaking, they include so many details that are of vital importance to each story – for example, the cover of Elfland features, in the background through the doorway, a Stonehenge-esque circle of standing stones. I doubt you can make them out at this size – I did use the most high-res images of each cover I could find, but they get shrunk down, alas. I encourage you to google Craft, or follow the link to her website, and study all her magnificent pieces at your leisure.
The Cloud Roads (Books of the Raksura, #1) by Martha Wells Representation: Bi MC, matriarchy, queernorm culture, M/M in later books
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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The first three books of Martha Wells’ Raksura series were actually illustrated by two different artists – The Cloud Roads by Matthew Stewart, who unsurprisingly won a Chesley Award for that piece; and The Serpent Sea and The Siren Depths both by Steve Argyle. To be honest, I really think he should have won some awards too, don’t you?
Range of Ghosts (Eternal Sky, #1) by Elizabeth Bear Representation: Central-Asian-coded cast
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Goodreads
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Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather's throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.
Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.
These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.
Donato Giancola is the artist behind the mind-meltingly beautiful covers for the Eternal Sky trilogy by Elizabeth Bear. I am very sad that I don’t have hard copies of these, but at the same time, kind of grateful I only have the ebooks; would you ever be able to drag yourself away from these covers to read the books inside them??? I think not!
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope by Patrice Caldwell, Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, Ibi Zoboi, Danielle Paige Representation: Black MCs, Black queer MCs
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Goodreads
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Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic.
Evoking Beyoncé’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs, have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that centers Black women and gender nonconforming individuals. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between. Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn shine brightly. You will never forget them.
Authors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi.
I absolutely HAD to include the illustration side-by-side with the finished cover, because it’s just glorious, isn’t it? This cover art is by Ashe Samuels, who also created the incredible cover art for volumes 1 & 2 of Power and Magic, which are amazing anthologies of queer witch comics. But give me a minute, I’m just gonna…sit here and stare at this masterpiece for a while.
A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan Representation: Asexual-coded MC
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one's life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .
All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.
Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.
If you claim you don’t love the covers for Marie Brennan’s Lady Trent series, then you are just Wrong. Todd Lockwood has been creating incredible art for years, and he’s well-known for his dragons, but I think his art style + the Lady Trent premise resulted in something really extra-special. I adore how the covers have been framed as scientific drawings, complete with labelling and size references! They look like they’ve come straight out of a naturalist’s sketchbook – a naturalist who’s also an extremely talented artist. I want prints of these to hang up all over the house!
Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) by Tamsyn Muir Representation: Lesbian MC, sapphic secondary character, queernorm world
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads
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The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.
Of course, some things are better left dead.
Although the covers for both of the Locked Tomb books are stunning – and I’d bet hard money that the covers for the rest of the series will be incredible as well – the one for Gideon the Ninth is a stand-out for me. It’s another case, I think, of an amazing artist – Tommy Arnold – having a great concept to work with. But although Muir is the one who came up with Gideon’s sunglasses and swagger, Arnold is the one who brought her to life for the cover, and he did a fucking fabulous job. The smirk! And dear gods, it looks like a snapshot of a battle scene; the sense of movement is incredible. I keep expecting it to come to life like an illustrated gif. I think Gideon would be incredibly pleased with her portrayal!
Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1) by Jacqueline Carey Representation: Bisexual MC, secondary M/M, F/F, queernorm culture
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.
Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.
The Kushiel Universe by Jacqueline Carey is an exquisitely beautiful series, so it’s only appropriate that, when Subterranean Press decided to make extra-special editions of the first trilogy in the series, they turned to . Above, in order, are the artworks Nguyen created for Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, and Kushiel’s Avatar; below them are the full wrap-around illustrations. Nguyen has created many, many incredible pieces over the years, and plenty of other book covers, but maybe I’m a little bit biased, because these are my very favourites of hers. And can you blame me?!
And there we are – 10 examples (even if most of them were sets!) of my favourite book covers! Can you choose a favourite out of these? Because I really can’t.
The post (Slightly More Than) 10 of My Favourite Book Covers appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 1, 2021
Must-Have Monday #45!
This week I have FIVE releases to present to you – one of which isn’t even SFF!
Monkey Around by Jadie Jang Representation: Chinese-American mc, cast of colour
Published on: 3rd August 2021
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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The debut novel from Jadie Jang is an action-packed urban fantasy delivering a bold new take on the Monkey King in San Francisco - complete with murder and mayhem!
San Francisco has a Monkey King - and she’s kinda freaked out.
Barista, activist, and were-monkey Maya McQueen was well on her way to figuring herself out. Well, part of the way. 25% of the way. If you squint.
But now the Bay Area is being shaken up. Occupy Wall Street has come home to roost; and on the supernatural side there's disappearances, shapeshifter murders, and the city’s spirit trying to find its guardian.
Maya doesn’t have a lot of time before chaos turns up at her door, and she needs to solve all of her problems. Well, most of them. The urgent ones, anyhow.
But who says the solutions have to be neat? Because Monkey is always out for mischief.
I was able to read an arc of this, and you can read my review here, but the short version is that it’s a really diverse urban fantasy, with bonus points for thinking outside the usual boxes. It’s a fun read, and I’m hoping it’s the start of a series because I need to know what happens next!
Shallow Waters by Anita Kopacz Representation: Black MC
Published on: 3rd August 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Goodreads
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“Spellbinding...A captivating debut.” —
Harper’s Bazaar
In this stirring and lyrical debut novel—perfect for fans of The Water Dancer and the Legacy of Orïsha series—the Yoruba deity of the sea, Yemaya, is brought to vivid life as she discovers the power of Black resilience, love, and feminine strength in antebellum America.
Shallow Waters imagines Yemaya, an Orïsha—a deity in the religion of Africa’s Yoruba people—cast into mid-1800s America. We meet Yemaya as a young woman, still in the care of her mother and not yet fully aware of the spectacular power she possesses to protect herself and those she holds dear.
The journey laid out in Shallow Waters sees Yemaya confront the greatest evils of this era; transcend time and place in search of Obatala, a man who sacrifices his own freedom for the chance at hers; and grow into the powerful woman she was destined to become. We travel alongside Yemaya from her native Africa and on to the “New World,” with vivid pictures of life for those left on the outskirts of power in the nascent Americas.
Yemaya realizes the fighter within, travels the Underground Railroad in search of the mysterious stranger Obatala, and crosses paths with icons of our history on the road to freedom. Shallow Waters is a nourishing work of ritual storytelling from promising debut author Anita Kopacz.
I really don’t know much about this one, but I do know a little about the goddess Yemaya and I’m fascinated by the idea of her living as an immortal human. Really interested to see what Kopacz does with that premise!
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould Representation: Sapphic MCs, F/F, secondary M/M
Published on: 3rd August 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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Courtney Gould’s thrilling debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places―and people―you didn’t expect.
The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won't stay hidden any longer.
Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more secrets buried here than they originally let on.
Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.
I read this one early too, and while I didn’t love it, I think a lot of other readers will! Small town + missing kids + the Return of The Queers = plenty of small-town nastiness even before things start getting spooky. And they do get plenty spooky. Also, one of the main characters has dads who hunt ghosts on tv, and I will never stop loving that detail!
The Soulless by Kate Martin Published on: 3rd August 2021
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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I love stories that really mess with and explore more biblical angels and demons, but I admit I really have no idea what to expect from Soulless, since I couldn’t find any early reviews. But I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll be good (and that the ‘mother of all demons’ is Lilith!)
Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly Published on: 7th September 2021
Goodreads
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"You shall never have a penny of my money. Leave me alone or I will shoot you dead!"
1924. After six months in Hollywood, young British widow Emma Blackstone has come to love her new employer, glamourous movie-star Kitty Flint - even if her late husband's sister is one of the worst actresses she's ever seen. Looking after Kitty and her three adorable Pekinese dogs isn't work Emma dreamed of, but Kitty rescued her when she was all alone in the world. Now, the worst thing academically-minded Emma has to worry about is the shocking historical inaccuracies of the films Kitty stars in.
Until, that is, Rex Festraw - Kitty's first husband, to whom she may or may not still be married - turns up dead in her dressing room, a threatening letter seemingly from Kitty in his pocket.
Emma's certain her flighty but kind-hearted sister-in-law has been framed. But who by? And why? From spiteful rivals to jealous boyfriends, the suspects are numerous. But as Emma investigates, she begins to untangle a deadly plot - and there's something Kitty's not telling her . . .
This gripping first in a brand-new series from NYT-bestselling author Barbara Hambly brings the sights and sounds of Hollywood to life and is a perfect pick for fans of female-fronted historical mysteries set in the roaring twenties.
Every so often, I do dip my toes outside of only beloved SFF, and Hambly is one of the few authors I will follow into any genre. Scandal is the start of a new historical mystery series, this time in 1920s Hollywood, but honestly, the premise really doesn’t matter to me; Hambly’s prose is so beautiful that I’ll read whatever she writes, no questions asked!
And that’s it! Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #45! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 31, 2021
In Short: July
This month I had a two week holiday from work (although the hubby and I stayed happily in our apartment rather than going anywhere, because we aren’t inconsiderate asshats like SOME who crossed the border for a FOOTBALL GAME and brought Delta back with them, no I am not bitter) and I think it shows!!! I got so much reading and reviewing done. And although I’ve had some trouble the last few days, for most of the month my fibro’s been behaving itself. MUCH YAY!
Read
I finished TWENTY books this month!!! Even if a few were novellas, they count. HEE.
And they were such GREAT books, too!!! Almost everything I read ended up being excellent – Three Twins at the Crater School was a soothing escapist delight; God Eaters was a beloved reread and the first book the hubby and I chose for our new buddy-reads thing, where we read the same book at the same time (we’re now reading The Last Sun and he loves it and I am SO HAPPY); Artifact Space was the first sci fi from one of my favourite authors and was clever and warm with fantastic attention to detail; The Philosopher’s Flight was wonderful and I can’t believe I didn’t discover it until this year; The Past Is Red was flawless and hopeful and biting all at once; Nightbitch came out of NOWHERE to completely blow me away; The Vanished Birds was beautiful and poignant and I cried; The Blacktongue Thief was a middle finger to grimdark and I am HERE for it; The Hands of the Emperor was 1000 pages of beautiful heartwarming utopia-building via a brilliant imperial socialist; and Desdemona and the Deep was another reread, but I could read Cooney’s prose for ever and ever and be happy.
Anyway: the next step is writing up reviews for them all! That’s probably gonna take me a little while…
Books Reviewed
I got SO MANY reviews written this month!!! Immensely helped, I think, by the aforementioned two week holiday. And I’m extra happy because almost all of them were ARCs, and I love getting to cross ARCs off my to-do list. (My Netgalley score is now 92%! I AM SO DELIGHTED!)
Books DNF-ed
I was incredibly excited for Destroyer of Light – it was originally on my list of most-anticipated releases of 2021, but I had to strike it off after I got a look at the arc. So much heavy-handed into-dumping, appalling dialogue, prose that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be streamlined or purple and therefore see-sawed wildly between both… Not to mention the continuity errors and contradictory worldbuilding… No thank you!
Lakesedge was another that was hyped as being edgy and properly dark, but can’t pull it off. Not to my satisfaction, anyway. I think I’m just going to stop trying to read YA, unless it’s a book from an author I trust. I am so tired of and frustrated with the simplistic prose that is endemic to so much YA Fantasy. Not all of it, but most of the books that come my way, at least. Blegh!
ARCs Received
I checked my email every few hours for WEEKS hoping to get approved for Midnight Girls – and then I did!!! I AM SO EXCITED I CANNOT EVEN!
Wake of the Phoenix was one I was cautiously interested in, but didn’t request until another reviewer described it as Baru Cormorant, but gay instead of lesbian. I was so excited by that I didn’t really think: the cover heavily implies that the setting draws more from Europe than the East Asia/Polynesia/Africa settings that the Baru series moves between. From what I’ve read so far, the only things the books have in common are queer main characters and political elements to the plot… Which are such non-specific characteristics I don’t think it makes all books that contain those elements comparable.
That being said, Walk is not a bad book (so far, anyway) and is playing with a few of my favourite tropes. We’ll see how it goes!
I haven’t started The Cat Who Saved Books yet, but I liked the excerpt of Starless Crown enough to request it. So far I adore our blind mc and can’t stand our thief mc, so. It could go either way at this point.
ARCs Outstanding
I’m steadily whittling away (hacking away?) at my backlog of arcs! I have none due for August, so I’m hoping to finish a good number of them in time for September. The All-Consuming World in particular is blowing my fucking mind.
On the other hand we have The Actual Star, which is also amazing but is massively frustrating me by using Spanish and Belize Kriol without English translations – could you not have included a translation in footnotes, for example? It’s not a minor annoyance; I’ve struggled with languages my whole life, and being suddenly jolted out of the prose by dialogue I can’t understand keeps reducing me to tears.
The book is incredible, and my problem isn’t the use of Spanish and Kriol. I love it when a movie remembers that German-speakers wouldn’t conveniently speak English if there are no English speakers present! …But the movie always includes subtitles for us monolingual peasants.
I really hope the finished copy includes the equivalent of subtitles. Because this is making me so miserable and frustrated that a big part of me wants to call it quits, and that’s stupid because this book is amazing in every other respect.
…I’ll save the rest of my thoughts about it for my eventual review!
Rec Lists & MiscI posted my list of Unmissable Fantasy & SciFi of 2021! (July-Dec) at the start of the month! I think that was it, though.
Looking Forward
August is a bit of a slower month for me, but there are still plenty of releases I’m ridiculously excited about! ESPECIALLY REDEMPTOR OMFG. But we’re also getting The Forever Place, the sequel to one of my favourite superhero stories ever, You First, and Barba Hambly is starting a completely new series (not SFF, but one can’t have everything, and honestly her prose is so gorgeous I would still snap up her books if she started writing flat-out horror). Then there’s Faeries of the Faultlines (which I included in a Must-Have Monday post incorrectly – I was so disappointed when I found out it was not, in fact, releasing that week, but it IS coming out in August and that’s not so far away!) and We’re Here, a collection of the best queer speculative fiction 2020 from Neon Hemlock Press (I am looking forward to seeing how it compares with Far Out edited by Paula Guran, which is a collection of ‘recent’ queer SFF short stories from bigger names and bigger presses). After the Dragons is one of my most-anticipated of the freaking YEAR, and I’ve already read In The Watchful City and adored it utterly. Which leaves us with the fab art and dorky characters of Punderworld, which I suspect I’m going to fall head over heels in love with!
It’s gonna be another good month, is what I’m saying here.
May it be so for all of us!
The post In Short: July appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 28, 2021
You’ll Grieve When It’s Over: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, Black gay love interest, Chinese-American secondary character, Black secondary character, M/M or mlm
Published on: 21st September 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
ISBN: 1250217342
Goodreads
Under the Whispering Door is a contemporary fantasy with TJ Klune's signature "quirk and charm" (PW) about a ghost who refuses to cross over and the ferryman he falls in love with.
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.
Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.
But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.
When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this absorbing tale of grief and hope is told with TJ Klune's signature warmth, humor, and extraordinary empathy.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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~it’s okay not to be okay
~All The Feels
~fear the Manager
~what happens if you’re a better person as a ghost than you ever were alive?
If you’re reading this, you belong to one of three groups; either you’ve been following Klune’s work for a while, or you’ve read The House in the Cerulean Sea, or you’ve never read any of his books at all. How you should approach Under the Whispering Door varies depending on which group you’re in.
If you’ve read two or more of Klune’s books, you don’t really need to be here; you don’t need me to tell you that Under the Whispering Door is excellent, because by now it should be obvious that everything Klune writes is excellent; and you don’t need me to warn you to brace yourself for some serious Feels because again, you already know that everything Klune writes is packing hardcore Feels. Stock up on soft things to squeeze very hard during intense moments, handkerchiefs, and your preferred brand of chocolate, and you’re good to go.
If you’ve only read The House in the Cerulean Sea, then here is what you must know: yes, Under the Whispering Door has the same soft whimsy that so thoroughly captured your heart in House. It is present in the cheerful strangeness of the teahouse’s architecture. It is present in The Bunny Costume. It is present in the baffling, and yet somehow perfectly correct, placement of the eponymous Door.
But the gentleness of Under the Whispering Door is of a different kind to the gentleness in House. House is a snuggly, hopeful book, just a tiny bit silly, a lot of fun, and intrinsically optimistic. It is a feel-good book. It has lots of important things to say, but when you turn the final pages, you close the book not feeling overwhelmed, but glowing and comforted and a bit steadier on your feet.
The gentleness of Under the Whispering Door is a merciless gentleness. This is a book that wraps you up in a blanket, not to make you feel cosy, but because that is what we do when things hurt. This is a book that holds your hand, not to be friendly, but because we all need a hand to hold when we’re facing death and grief. This is a book that does not tell you it’s going to be okay, because nothing about death is okay. There is sweetness, and there is peacefulness, and there is a lot of laughter, but it is fundamentally a different kind of book than House.
You need to know that, because if you go in expecting a book just like House wearing a different dress, you’re going to be disappointed. And you’ll miss how beautiful Under the Whispering Door is, just because it doesn’t look like what you wanted.
And if you’re in the camp that has never read a Klune book before…this might just be the perfect place to start.
Wallace is not an especially nice person when we first meet him, but rather than being frozen as he was, he lives and grows far more in death than he ever did while he was alive. Gone from a big-shot lawyer to a ghost confined to a very strange tea-shop, it’s pretty understandable that he freaks out a little. But he doesn’t have to go through the Door upstairs until he’s ready.
He’s not ready yet. That’s okay.
He’s also surrounded by an incredible cast of characters; Hugo, who owns the tea-shop and is a ferryman, responsible for helping ghosts be ready to move on; Mei, who is a reaper, someone who collects the deceased and brings them to a ferryman; Nelson, Hugo’s deceased grandfather; and Apollo, who is the sweetest ghost-dog to ever haunt anyone. Klune always rocks when it comes to characters, and Under the Whispering Door is no exception; this is not a fast-paced story, but it’s a quietly powerful character-driven one, and it works. It doesn’t happen instantly, but the way the characters come together, how they form a family, is just beautiful. The way they play off each other seems so natural that it becomes difficult to remember that Wallace is a new addition to the family, rather than having been there from day one.
What we see of the workings of the afterlife is a mixture of eerie and whimsical; Klune strikes just the right balance while neatly sidestepping issues of religion, giving us enough pieces to make it clear that there is a system behind everything…without trying to explain what that is. Which I think is the right approach; Klune isn’t trying to explain death away, never tries to challenge the fear and mystery that is intrinsic to it. This is a book about coming to terms with what death is, and death is scary and mysterious. There’s no getting around or away from that, and Under the Whispering Door doesn’t try.
That’s why there is no way for this book not to hurt. It hurts, because Klune is just too damn good at tapping into emotion, at making us feel. And this time, we have to feel things about something none of us really know how to deal with, something we’re all scared of, something that hurts.
And that’s okay.
There are rom-com elements, but this is not a romantic comedy. There is plenty of heart-break, but this is not a tragedy. There are one or two things which are horrifying, but this book is definitely not horror. It’s about regrets and loss and yearning, love and family and tea. It’s about how it’s okay to not be okay. It’s about opening your heart up even when it hurts. It’s about grief.
It’s a beautiful story. It is going to hurt your heart, more than once.
But it’s very, very worth it.
The post You’ll Grieve When It’s Over: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 27, 2021
10 Books I’d Want On a Desert Island
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!
Today’s prompt was Books I’d Want With Me While Stranded On a Deserted Island. Back in May I made a similar list of 8 books for Imyril’s spin on Desert Island Discs – but now I get to pick 10! And although it’s only been a few months, I find that the books I’d like on a desert island have changed a little bit.
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads
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An impulsive word can start a war.A timely word can stop one.A simple act of friendship can change the course of history.
Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god.He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person.He has never once touched his lord.He has never called him by name.He has never initiated a conversation.
One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday.
The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy.The acceptance upends the world.
I just finished this 1000 page tome, and it is so exquisitely, heart-warmingly beautiful that I immediately want to reread it. Plus, I’m sure whatever desert island scenario I might hypothetically end up in couldn’t possibly be worse than Kip’s desert island scenario, so as well as being an eternal source of joy, it would also help me keep my hopes up for rescue!
Resurrections (Rhapsody of Blood, #3) by Roz Kaveney Representation: Sapphic MCs, MC of colour, F/F or wlw, assorted queer secondary characters
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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The worst days of their lives...
Mara, immortal huntress of murderous gods, has told Aleister Crowley many stories. Now he persuades her to tell the stories she does not want to tell-of Josh and Judas, the charming clever boys she and her sister/lover Sof protected and taught in Alexandria, and of Hypatia, Sof's last incarnation before madness took her. Mara cannot save everyone and these are the tales of her worst failures...
Emma is in danger. Lucifer has carried her beloved Caroline off to Hell and Jehovah wants Emma dead and his servant. She and her mysterious employer Josette journey to Hell to rescue Caroline, but what they have to deal with there is beyond Emma's ready wit and Josette's powers of intrigue...
The third volume of Roz Kaveney's four-part novel of the fantastic, Rhapsody of Blood, Resurrections is her darkest and most daring book yet.
I love, love, love this series…which makes me so scared (if scared is the right word) to read this next book. So I would like it with me on my desert island, please, because then I’d have no choice but to finally get to it!
The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska Representation: F/F or wlw
Published on: 7th December 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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The Wicked Deep meets House of Salt and Sorrows in this new standalone YA fantasy set in a snow-cloaked kingdom where witches are burned, and two enchantresses secretly compete for the heart of a prince, only to discover that they might be falling for each other.
It's Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil's Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit "kuligi" sleigh-parties.
Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that's stronger even than magic. But that's put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija's pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince's back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.
When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other's wicked grasp. But this isn't some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka's innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.
This is cheating, but pfft; I have an advanced reader’s copy of this one, and I would like to take it with me, please! Jasinska’s previous book, The Dark Tide, was so utterly breathtaking I’m sort of intimidated to approach her sophomore novel. Again, I feel like a desert island would force me to sit down and read it, which I would appreciate! (Even if I might not appreciate, you know, the rest of the stuck-on-a-desert-island situation…)
City of Refuge (Maya Greenwood, #3) by Starhawk Representation: Queer cast of colour, queernorm world
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Goodreads
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Every city needs three things: a plaza, a hearth, and a sacred tree...
In the violent, desperate world of 2048, eco-catastrophes and societal breakdown have left the country splintered. Yet amidst the ruins stands a green and flourishing city where four things are sacred—Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. When the ruthless Stewards of the Southlands invade, the people of Califia defeat them using nonviolence and magic. But they’ll be back, unless the northerners can liberate the Southlands first.
Healer Madrone struggles to repair the wounds of war and deprivation. Soldier/defector River leads an Army of Liberation to the south. Bird, musician turned guerrilla, longs to return to the fight, but now he’s pledged to deeper powers. How can they build a new world when people are so deeply wounded by the old?
Madrone has a dream... Build a city of refuge in the heartland of the enemy.
The first book to be on both lists, City of Refuge is one I’d want on a desert island because a) it’s a great big huge book, which seems like the best kind to have if you won’t be getting new ones for a while, and b) maybe on a desert island I could actually sit down and read it! I so desperately want to, but I have such intense feelings about this series I’m having trouble actually opening the book.
First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara Representation: Gay MCs, nonbinary secondary character
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters. His partner betrayed them to the Feds. But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest.
K. M. Szpara follows Docile, one of the most anticipated science fiction novels of 2020, with First, Become Ashes, a fantastic standalone adventure that blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical.
Lark spent the first twenty-four years, nine months, and three days of his life training for a righteous quest: to rid the world of monsters. Alongside his partner Kane, he wore the cage and endured the scourge in order to develop his innate magic. He never thought that when Kane left, he'd next see him in the company of FBI agents and a SWAT team. He never dreamed that the leader of the Fellowship of the Anointed would be brought up on charges of abuse and assault.
He never expected the government would tell him that the monsters aren't real--that there is no magic, and all the pain was for nothing.
Lark isn't ready to give up. He is determined to fulfill his quest, to defeat the monsters he was promised. Along the way he will grapple with the past, confront love, and discover his long-buried truth.
This is another one I’ve been struggling to read – not because of the book itself, just because my brain gets weird with books I’m really really looking forward to. Perhaps on a desert island, I could figure out how to focus.
Kushiel’s Legacy: (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar) by Jacqueline Carey Representation: Bisexual MC, queernorm world
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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This discounted ebundle includes: Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, Kushiel’s Avatar
The first trilogy in Jacqueline Carey's sprawling—and darkly sensual—New York Times bestselling series.
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a tale of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies.
Kushiel’s Dart
— Phèdre nó Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Kushiel’s Chosen
— The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown...
Kushiel’s Avatar
— Phèdre and Joscelin journey on a dangerous path that will carry them to fabled courts and splendid vistas, to distant lands where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world. And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.
I said it in May and I’m saying it now: if I ever want to go on a long trip and I don’t choose Kushiel’s Legacy as one of my books??? Check me for demonic possession, because it ain’t me.
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In the Night Garden (The Orphan's Tales, #1) by Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Wm. Kaluta Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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A Book of Wonders for Grown-Up Readers
Every once in a great while a book comes along that reminds us of the magic spell that stories can cast over us to dazzle, entertain, and enlighten. Welcome to the Arabian Nights for our time a lush and fantastical epic guaranteed to spirit you away from the very first page.
Secreted away in a garden, a lonely girl spins stories to warm a curious prince: peculiar feats and unspeakable fates that loop through each other and back again to meet in the tapestry of her voice. Inked on her eyelids, each twisting, tattooed tale is a piece in the puzzle of the girl's own hidden history.
And what tales she tells! Tales of shape-shifting witches and wild horsewomen, heron kings and beast princesses, snake gods, dog monks, and living stars each story more strange and fantastic than the one that came before. From ill-tempered mermaid to fastidious Beast, nothing is ever quite what it seems in these ever-shifting tales even, and especially, their teller.
Adorned with illustrations by the legendary Michael Kaluta, Valente's enchanting lyrical fantasy offers a breathtaking reinvention of the untold myths and dark fairy tales that shape our dreams. And just when you think you've come to the end, you realize the adventure has only begun.
As in May, I’m more than willing to use up two spots on Catherynne Valente’s Orphan Tales.
Lovequake by T.J. Land Representation: Black pansexual MC, trans Deaf love interest, Black secondary characters, M/M or mlm, secondary F/F or wlw, minor asexual aromantic character
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Goodreads
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No one knows what to make of Sunday.
He’s handsome. He’s stylish. He’s got endless amounts of cash that he splashes around like water.
But there’s something just a little bit wrong about the way he talks – like he’s never had a conversation before – and the way he walks – like he expects walls to simply get out of his way. Though his hair and beard are immaculately groomed, he never brushes the former or trims the latter. And he talks to the sky.
All of which are very solid, sensible reasons for Zip Fletcher, cheerfully rude Welsh sex worker, not to develop a crush on him.
Zip is, however, not a sensible man.
LOVEQUAKE is an M/M + F/F romantic scifi adventure set against the backdrop of a quintillion-year-old cosmic war.
Lovequake is one of my all-time faves, and I’ve been dying to reread it, both because it is THE MOST FUN, and also because hopefully, I’ll be able to write a review for it after a second go-around. (The first time it just melted my brain with awesome and I had no cognitive abilities left to write reviews, okay???) So it would make for pretty perfect desert island reading: a perfect opportunity to reread, and a book that will definitely keep my mood up while I await rescue!
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway Genres: Sci Fi
Goodreads
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From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state, that is equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle.
In the world of Gnomon, citizens are constantly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of ‘transparency.’ Every action is seen, every word is recorded, and the System has access to its citizens’ thoughts and memories–all in the name of providing the safest society in history.
When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody, it marks the first time a citizen has been killed during an interrogation. The System doesn’t make mistakes, but something isn’t right about the circumstances surrounding Hunter’s death. Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector and a true believer in the System, is assigned to find out what went wrong. Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, what she finds isn’t Hunter but rather a panorama of characters within Hunter’s psyche: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game, and a sociopathic disembodied intelligence from the distant future.
Embedded in the memories of these impossible lives lies a code which Neith must decipher to find out what Hunter is hiding. In the static between these stories, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter–and, alarmingly, of herself. The staggering consequences of what she finds will reverberate throughout the world.
A dazzling, panoramic achievement, and Nick Harkaway’s most brilliant work to date, Gnomon is peerless and profound, captivating and irreverent, as it pierces through strata of reality and consciousness, and illuminates how to set a mind free. It is a truly accomplished novel from a mind possessing a matchless wit infused with a deep humanity.
I am very unclear on what Gnomon is really about, but it sounded interesting enough for it to go on my r/Fantasy bingo card for 2021, and I would appreciate a big chunk of uninterrupted time to get acquainted with it.
The Broken Crown (The Sun Sword, #1) by Michelle West Representation: Cast of colour
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Goodreads
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The first novel of the acclaimed Sun Sword series introduces readers to a war-torn world of noble houses divided and demon lords unleashed...
Tor Leonne—the heart of the Dominion of Annagar, where the games of state are about to become a matter of life and death—and where those who seek to seize the crown will be forced to league with a treacherously cunning ally....
Tor Leonne, ancestral seat of power, where Serra Diora Maria di’Marano—the most sought-after beauty in the land, a woman betrayed by all she holds dear—may strike the first blow to change the future of the Dominion and Empire alike....
Averalaan Aramarelas—that most ancient of civilized cities, the home of the Essalieyan Imperial court, has long been a center of magics both dark and bright. And though the Empire won its last war with the Dominion, and survived a devastating, magic-fueled battle with a far deadlier foe, both those victories were not without their cost....
But now the realm is on the brink of a far greater confrontation, faced with an unholy alliance that could spell the end of freedom for all mortalkind.
It is my dream to someday write a great big sprawling epic fantasy series – but the problem is that I don’t like most epic fantasy. (Well…that’s why I want to write my own, isn’t it?) I’ve been deliberately reading epic fantasy that is not written by cishet white guys, and found it tends to be much more to my tastes. The Sun Sword series (saga? Chronicles??? It’s so long!) is next on my list, and I think a desert island would give me plenty of time to get into The Broken Crown properly.
That’s my 10! What books would YOU want on a desert island???
The post 10 Books I’d Want On a Desert Island appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 26, 2021
Must-Have Monday #44!
This week’s SEVEN new releases range from mer-snakes to an urban fae-spotter’s guide to journalists trying to do their jobs in fantasy-land. It’s going to be a great week!
Once Stolen by D.N. Bryn Representation: Autistic queer MC, Nonbinary love interest, multiple queer secondary characters
Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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No one with half a brain would rob the jungle’s most notorious energy cartel. The vibrations of their power-producing stones are the only thing that calms the mer-snake Cacao’s agonizing sensory condition though—and after being banished from his homeland swamps for similar thefts, he’s desperate.
When his attempt fails stunningly, a chaotic escape leaves him chained to a cartel prisoner: a self-proclaimed hero with a hidden stash of power stones so large, Cacao would never need to steal again. He’s determined to get his hands on it, even if it means guiding her home straight through the mist-laden and monster-filled swamp that exhaled him, with scheming poachers and a desperate cartel leader on their tail.
But the selfish and the self-righteous can only flee together for so long before something snaps...
Return to Our Bloody Pearl's steampunk-inspired world of merfolk in this fun, fast-paced adventure with a hate-to-love romance, a boat-load of sass, and even more heart.
Once Stolen comes from the same author as Our Bloody Pearl, which I have heard nothing but praise for and which was featured in a Rainbow Crate box a while back. Our Bloody Pearl is high on my tbr, but I’ll probably end up diving into Once Stolen first, just because one of my best friends, who read it early, hasn’t stopped singing its praises. I’m really looking forward to it!
Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy by Paula Guran, Rachel Swirsky, Caitlín R. Kiernan, A.C. Wise, Tristan Alice Nieto, Christopher Barzak, An Owomoyela, G.V. Anderson, Tamsyn Muir, Nino Cipri, Nisi Shawl, Lavie Tidhar, Nalo Hopkinson, Charlie Jane Anders, Seanan McGuire, Vylar Kaftan, Richard Bowes, J.Y. Yang, Amal El-Mohtar, Darcie Little Badger, Ellen Kushner, Naomi Kritzer, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Shweta Narayan Representation: Queer MCs, Queer MCs of Colour
Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Goodreads
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An Anthology of Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy from Award-Winning Editor Paula Guran
Speculative fiction imagines drastically diverse ways of being and worlds that are other than the one with which we are familiar. Queerness is a natural fit for such fiction, so one would expect it to be customarily included. That has not always been the case, but LGBTQ+ representation in science fiction and fantasy—in both short and long form—is now relatively common. Even so, most of the queer science fiction and fantasy anthologies published in the last thirty-five years have been narrowly focused: specifically gay male or lesbian (or, more recently, transgender) themes, or all science fiction or all fantasy, or adhering to a specific theme or subgenre. Far Out: Recent Queer Science Fiction and Fantasy, on the other hand, features both science fiction and fantasy short fiction from the last decade and includes characters, perspectives, and stories that span the rainbow. With stories from incredible authors ranging from Seanan McGuire to Charlie Jane Anders to Sam J. Miller, it’s an essential read for anyone interested in queer science fiction and fantasy.
Contents
Introduction: Over the Rainbow and into the Far Out by Paula Guran
Destroyed by the Waters by Rachel Swirsky
The Sea Troll’s Daughter by Caitlín R. Kiernan
And If the Body Were Not the Soul by A. C. Wise
Imago by Tristan Alice Nieto
Paranormal Romance by Christopher Barzak
Three Points Masculine by An Owomoyela
Das Steingeschöpf by G. V. Anderson
The Deepwater Bride by Tamsyn Muir
The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri
Otherwise by Nisi Shawl
The Night Train by Lavie Tidhar
Ours Is the Prettiest by Nalo Hopkinson
Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue by Charlie Jane Anders
Driving Jenny Home by Seanan McGuire
I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno by Vylar Kaftan
In the Eyes of Jack Saul by Richard Bowes
Secondhand Bodies by JY Yang
Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar
Né łe! by Darcie Little Badger
The Duke of Riverside by Ellen Kushner
Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer
The Lily and the Horn by Catherynne M. Valente
Calved by Sam J. Miller
The River’s Children by Shweta Narayan
If you want to sell me a book, hire Judie Dillon to do the cover! But seriously (well, I am serious, I will pick up anything Dillon has illustrated), this has a ridiculously stellar line-up, and it’s all queer SFF!!! I’m ridiculously excited to get to dive into it!
Faeries of the Faultlines: Expanded, Edited Edition by Iris Compiet, Brian Froud, Alan Lee Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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Iris Compiet is the rarest of artist: That who invokes a complete and cohesive reality with every image she creates. Beautiful, powerful and contemplative all at once. — Guillermo Del Toro
Let me tell you about Faeries, let me take you away on a journey, an adventure.
The Faultlines is an ancient name given to those places where the veil between this world and the Other is thinnest. It is the place where faeries dwell, creatures creep, and magic oozes through the cracks. Recently the Faultlines have been stirring, opening up to all who wish to see, and to all who dare to venture...
Faeries of the Faultlines was an instant Kickstarter success in 2017, and this edited, expanded edition includes the complete original documentation from the greenmen to mermaids, with expanded sections and many more faeries to meet!
I missed the original Kickstarter, but you can bet this edition is going straight onto my bookshelf (once I’ve finished devouring it). An imagining of fae creatures in the modern world, illustrated by breathtaking art, I don’t know how you could possibly make it more of a must-have!
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters Representation: Sapphic MCs, F/F or wlw
Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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Lush and chilling, with razor-sharp edges and an iron core of hope, this bewitching, powerhouse novel of two girls fighting back against the violence the world visits on them will stun and enchant readers.
Girls have been going missing in the woods…
When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home.
But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother—who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong.
Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.
From the author of Ghost Wood Song, this eerie contemporary fantasy is perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Bone Gap.
Waters’ debut was all gorgeous Southern queer darkness, and it sounds like The River Has Teeth is going to check all the same (fabulous) boxes. This sounds just the right amount of creepy and absolutely delicious and I am HERE for it!
Our Own Correspondent by James Hereward Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy
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“I know I frighten you, Mister Grey, but don’t be afraid of me. Be afraid of the man who wants the truth buried.”
It should all have been so simple: travel to the kingdom of Larence, learn more about the rumours of a war about to break out, and get back home to report on it. But Erasmus Grey is finding that his job is anything but simple in a place where newspapers are unheard of, and where the first thought in people’s minds when he goes around asking awkward questions is spy. And that suspicion is just the beginning. Because there are people with a lot invested in this war, and the last thing they want is someone reporting what’s really going on.
…Freedom of the press in a Medieval-fantasy setting??? Um, hells yes??? The author mentioned that he had the idea for Our Own Correspondent after reading about modern journalists being attacked and killed during wartime, which…is awful and dark, but I’m still massively invested in this premise and can’t wait to see what Hereward does with it!
Small Favors by Erin A. Craig Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads
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Ellerie Downing lives in the quiet town of Amity Falls in the Blackspire Mountain range--five narrow peaks stretching into the sky like a grasping hand, bordered by a nearly impenetrable forest from which the early townsfolk fought off the devils in the woods. To this day, visitors are few and rare. But when a supply party goes missing, some worry that the monsters that once stalked the region have returned.
As fall turns to winter, more strange activities plague the town. They point to a tribe of devilish and mystical creatures who promise to fulfill the residents' deepest desires, however grand and impossible, for just a small favor. But their true intentions are much more sinister, and Ellerie finds herself in a race against time before all of Amity Falls, her family, and the boy she loves go up in flames.
I have loved bees since I was a tiny child, so offering me up fantasy + bees is a surefire way to get me on board. I’ve only heard good things about Small Favors, and I’m looking forward to discovering them for myself!
Hold Fast Through the Fire (NeoG #2) by K.B. Wagers Representation: Asexual MC, Bi/pansexual MC, nonbinary secondary characters, queernorm world
Published on: 27th July 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Goodreads
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The Near-Earth Orbital Guard (Neo-G)—inspired by the real-life mission of the Coast Guard—patrols and protects the solar system. Now the crew of Zuma’s Ghost must contend with personnel changes and a powerful cabal hellbent on dominating the trade lanes in this fast-paced, action-packed follow-up to A Pale Light in the Black.
Zuma’s Ghost has won the Boarding Games for the second straight year. The crew—led by the unparalleled ability of Jenks in the cage, the brilliant pairing of Ma and Max in the pilot seats, the technical savvy of Sapphi, and the sword skills of Tamago and Rosa—has all come together to form an unstoppable team. Until it all comes apart.
Their commander and Master Chief are both retiring. Which means Jenks is getting promoted, a new commander is joining them, and a fresh-faced spacer is arriving to shake up their perfect dynamics. And while not being able to threepeat is on their minds, the more important thing is how they’re going to fulfill their mission in the black.
After a plea deal transforms a twenty-year ore-mining sentence into NeoG service, Spacer Chae Ho-ki earns a spot on the team. But there’s more to Chae that the crew doesn’t know, and they must hide a secret that could endanger everyone they love—as well as their new teammates—if it got out. At the same time, a seemingly untouchable coalition is attempting to take over trade with the Trappist colonies and start a war with the NeoG. When the crew of Zuma’s Ghost gets involved, they end up as targets of this ruthless enemy.
With new members aboard, will the team grow stronger this time around? Will they be able to win the games? And, more important, will they be able to surmount threats from both without and within?
Book one in this series, A Pale Light in the Black, was one of my favourites of 2020, so I’ve been making grabby-hands at the sequel since I heard we were going to get one! I am INVESTED in this series, okay???
That’s it! Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #44! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 24, 2021
Shapeshifting Fun: Monkey Around by Jadie Jang
Monkey Around by Jadie Jang Representation: Cast of colour
Published on: 3rd August 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 1781089205
Goodreads
The debut novel from Jadie Jang is an action-packed urban fantasy delivering a bold new take on the Monkey King in San Francisco - complete with murder and mayhem!
San Francisco has a Monkey King - and she’s kinda freaked out.
Barista, activist, and were-monkey Maya McQueen was well on her way to figuring herself out. Well, part of the way. 25% of the way. If you squint.
But now the Bay Area is being shaken up. Occupy Wall Street has come home to roost; and on the supernatural side there's disappearances, shapeshifter murders, and the city’s spirit trying to find its guardian.
Maya doesn’t have a lot of time before chaos turns up at her door, and she needs to solve all of her problems. Well, most of them. The urgent ones, anyhow.
But who says the solutions have to be neat? Because Monkey is always out for mischief.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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~shapeshifters tied to ethnicity
~If Monkey can, Monkey do, even when Monkey really freaking shouldn’t
~DON’T TOUCH THE MAGIC STICK
~read a book, Maya, just read ONE BOOK–
The last few years, I’ve learned to stay away from Urban Fantasy – we’re not often friends – but Monkey Around sounded so different from the kind of UF I don’t like – and so original in general! – that I just had to take the risk. Shapeshifters with nary a werewolf in sight? Bring it on!
Maya is – well, she doesn’t know what she is. Her eyes burn when someone’s lying, she can turn into just about everything (but her preferred ‘default’ outside of human form is a monkey), and she can summon clouds to fly around the city on. But this isn’t your typical coming-of-age UF; Maya is already an adult and firmly plugged in to San Francisco’s supernatural community. She might never have met another shapeshifter like her, but she doesn’t need some pretty boy to come along and introduce her to a world of magic, thanks.
She’d probably laugh herself off her chair if one tried. And then deck him for being sexist and patronising.
I am very tired of UF characters who let their tempers get away from them, who get themselves into stupid situations and take needless risks because of macho pride BS. Maya absolutely is impulsive – but it’s a impulsivity that’s born out of a compulsion to work mischief, to cause a little chaos, and it’s adorably delightful while giving Jang all the justification required to move the story along. Maya doesn’t brood and she doesn’t angst; she can absolutely be serious about things, but whatever kind of creature she is, it’s clearly something trickster-y.
Or maybe it’s only her; who knows? Maybe if she ever finds another shifter like her they’ll be perfectly serene.
(I seriously doubt it.)
But it makes her stand out from the kind of UF heroes I’m used to with detective stories – because this is a detective story, more-or-less; the book opens with Maya trying to figure out what’s happened to a friend who’s up and disappeared, and in the process, she comes across a hint that there might be another shifter like her about. After spending her whole life not knowing anything about her heritage, it’s a pretty big deal, but gets side-lined a little bit when she’s dragged into a tangle of shapeshifters being murdered and…a magic stick.
It’s a bit ridiculous and silly, and Maya is quick to make fun, until the bodies start piling up.
Jang has put a wonderful amount of thought into a brisk, action-packed story. For one thing, there’s the aforementioned total lack of werewolves: YAY! (I’m sorry, I’m just really, really tired of werewolves.) The shapeshifters in Maya’s world are not just drawn from mythologies that don’t get featured in English-language fantasy that often, they’re also tied to ethnicity – tiger shapeshifters come from places in the world where tigers live, and so on. It’s a small detail, but one I really appreciated: so often in UF the characters we’re supposed to root for/be impressed by turn into big, beautiful predators, and where those animals exist in the wild has nothing to do with the character’s ethnicity. Which makes sense in a story where shapeshifting is a virus that can be passed on to anyone, granted. But I loved how, here, all the different shapeshifters have their own cultures, and how intertwined their non-human forms are with their human ethnicities.
One of my favourite things in all fantasy, regardless of sub-genre, is when authors apply outside-the-box thinking to magic, and that’s present in Monkey Around in spades. Maya has quite a few abilities, but her primary one is her shapeshifting – and unlike other shapeshifters, she doesn’t just turn into an animal: she can turn into anything. Reading her fight scenes was an absolute delight, because Jang has her really utilise her powers: turning into smoke when someone’s about to hit her, or rubber, and then transforming a fist into cement to hit the other guy. And the things she can do with her hairs!!! I won’t tell you what they are, but they’re awesome!
Monkey Around is also unbelievably packed. Every time I checked what % I was at on my ereader, I was stunned that there was still so much left of the book to go – what else was going to happen?! Because something was always happening; the pacing never let up, and yet, it didn’t feel rushed at all. I do have to admit I disliked how there was no way for me to put the pieces together before each reveal – there weren’t really hints dropped, or if there were, I missed them – and although I spent most of the book thinking Maya was the kind of ridiculously fun, smart person I’d love to be friends with, one of her choices in particular, towards the ending, I’m not sure I can forgive her for.
That said? I’m about 99% sure this is just the start of a series, and I will be keeping an eye out for book two – even if Maya needs to redeem herself in my eyes, I’m pretty sure she’ll manage it, and I really want to know what happens next!
The post Shapeshifting Fun: Monkey Around by Jadie Jang appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 22, 2021
Does Nothing New Until It’s Too Late: The Hand of the Sun King by J. T. Greathouse
The Hand of the Sun King (Pact and Pattern, #1) by J.T. Greathouse Representation: Biracial MC, cast of colour
Published on: 5th August 2021
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
ISBN: 1473232872
Goodreads
My name is Wen Alder. My name is Foolish Cur.
All my life, I have been torn between two legacies: that of my father, whose roots trace back to the right hand of the Emperor. That of my mother's family, who reject the oppressive Empire and embrace the resistance.
I can choose between them - between protecting my family, or protecting my people - or I can search out a better path . . . a magical path, filled with secrets, unbound by empire or resistance, which could shake my world to its very foundation.
But my search for freedom will entangle me in a war between the gods themselves . . .
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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~don’t let them see your scars
~empires are always bad
~magic has rules for a reason
~break them
I don’t think Hand of the Sun King is a bad book. But gods, reading it bored and frustrated me. And maybe it’s that Sun King and I just aren’t a good fit; maybe that’s all it is. But it feels like this is the exact same story I’ve read a thousand times before, without enough of an original take to be worth the bother.
Alder is the son of a Sienese (fantasy Chinese) merchant and a Nayeni mother; the Nayeni are the newest people to be conquered by the Sienese empire, and Nayen is still not fully tamed, with pockets of resistance fighting back against the Sienese overlords. Alder’s grandmother hates the Sienese and despises her daughter for having married one, and although she takes some time to teach Alder a little bit of the Nayeni culture and magic, she leaves while he’s still a child to rejoin the resistance. But Alder’s experiences with magic drive him to learn more about it, and with his grandmother gone, his only option is to excel in the Imperial Examinations and become a Hand of the Emperor, one of the few who have access to and are taught the Empire’s magic.
And it’s all just… I just didn’t care. Objectively, Hand of the Sun King is perfectly decent; the prose isn’t beautiful, but it’s very readable; Alder isn’t a very likable character to begin with, but the first-person perspective was definitely a good choice and his character growth is great; Greathouse plays with themes of colonialism and empire and race, and I didn’t notice any missteps there.
But it was all just so predictable. I could see each twist coming from a mile away, and it’s a running joke in my friends group that I’m someone who never sees the twist coming. Hand of the Sun King follows the path of a thousand other coming-of-age stories, and although the revelations about the nature of magic in the final pages were kind of interesting, nothing else really was. I definitely didn’t think those revelations were worth the effort of reading the three hundred pages leading up to them. There isn’t even any nuance to the colonialist themes, or the nature of the Sienese empire; the empire is just bad, and it’s bad for everyone, and obviously there’s a magical conspiracy at the heart of it, wow look how much I do not care. Obviously Alder turns on the empire in the end; obviously the catalyst for this is also a love interest; obviously Alder is given a magical mentor at the end who teaches him The Secrets Of Everything. None of it was surprising, and the occasional cinematic moment with magic, or poignant scene involving his heritage, couldn’t make up for that.
Other reviewers have raved about the worldbuilding; I really don’t think it was all that special. We see three cultures throughout the book; the Sienese empire, Nayen, and An-Zabat, an oasis city in a desert. Sien is very clearly fantasy!China, so I refuse to give worldbuilding points for a culture the author copied rather than created from the ground up; and Nayen and An-Zabat we really only sketched out, not filled in in intricate detail. The magic systems individually weren’t that interesting, complex, or original – the magic of An-Zabat’s windcalling was probably the best, and we barely got to see that.
And good gods, talk about a scarcity of female characters! I am sick and tired of patriarchal empire stories. Another review of this book also mourned the lack of female characters, but with something along the lines of ‘the Sienese empire is just Like That, so it’s understandable’. Sorry, but the Sienese empire is fictional. It’s Like That because Greathouse wrote it that way. Alder never understands the strength of his mother, who remade herself into a feminine and submissive wife in complete contrast to her Nayeni upbringing; he sees this as something shameful when he finally remembers to consider his mother as a person. We get a small handful of warrior-women in Nayen and An-Zabat, but they all have extremely small roles, including Alder’s grandmother. His realisation that the empire is truly messed up happens when he falls in love with a woman – a windcaller – of An-Zabat, which happens almost at once and without any real emotional depth to the relationship, and it’s just so cliched and tired. Presumably the next book, which will most likely be set fully in gender-equel Nayen, will feature more women, but I’m not sticking around to wait for it.
The Hand of the Sun King isn’t outright bad, but it is bland; an Asian-inspired rather than Western-Europe inspired setting is not enough to save it. There are some interesting reveals about the nature of magic at the very end, but they’re not worth the slog through the rest of the book. Alder undergoes impressive character growth, but again, you have to make it through roughly half the book before he starts to develop into not-an-arse. The empire is evil without nuance. The prose is fine but nothing special. The last chunk of the book had me so bored and frustrated, despite the cinematic showdowns and big reveals, that I actually developed a migraine, which is the first time a book has ever done that to me.
I think that’s as clear as it gets: The Hand of the Sun King is not for me.
The post Does Nothing New Until It’s Too Late: The Hand of the Sun King by J. T. Greathouse appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
July 19, 2021
Must-Have Monday #43!
It’s going to be a great week, with SIX new releases of interest – from post-apocalyptic hopepunk to turning the tables on utopia, and girlfriends who won’t be separated by death!
The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente Published on: 20th July 2021
Genres: Sci Fi
Goodreads
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Catherynne M. Valente, the bestselling and award-winning creator of Space Opera and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland returns with The Past is Red, the enchanting, dark, funny, angry story of a girl who made two terrible mistakes: she told the truth and she dared to love the world.
The future is blue. Endless blue...except for a few small places that float across the hot, drowned world left behind by long-gone fossil fuel-guzzlers. One of those patches is a magical place called Garbagetown.
Tetley Abednego is the most beloved girl in Garbagetown, but she's the only one who knows it. She's the only one who knows a lot of things: that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place in the world, that it's full of hope, that you can love someone and 66% hate them all at the same time.
But Earth is a terrible mess, hope is a fragile thing, and a lot of people are very angry with her. Then Tetley discovers a new friend, a terrible secret, and more to her world than she ever expected.
HI, DO YOU HAVE TIME TO TALK ABOUT OUR LADY AND SAVIOUR, CATHERYNNE VALENTE??? Well, even if you don’t, you should read this book – I wrote a full review here, but the tl;dr version is that it’s a sneakily whimsical, sharp, gorgeous post-apocalyptic story about the most hopepunk heroine to ever punk. It’s going to be on every Best of 2021 list, and you need to read it!
She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan Representation: Cast of colour, genderqueer MCs, GQ/F, GQ/M
Published on: 20th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads
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In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.
Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.
Has any book had as much hype this year as this one??? It’s been described as Mulan meets Song of Achilles, and it’s a great big epic of a tome that plays with an alternate ancient China and all the gender themes! I suspect this is also going to be a Best of 2021 novel, so make sure you nab a copy!
A Radical Act of Free Magic (The Shadow Histories, #2) by H.G. Parry Representation: Black MC
Published on: 20th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Goodreads
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The Concord has been broken, and a war of magic engulfs the world.
In France, the brilliant young battle-mage Napoleon Bonaparte has summoned a kraken from the depths, and under his command the Army of the Dead have all but conquered Europe. Britain fights back, protected by the gulf of the channel and powerful fire-magic, but Wilberforce’s own battle to bring about free magic and abolition has met a dead end in the face of an increasingly fearful and repressive government. In Saint Domingue, Fina watches as Toussaint Louverture navigates these opposing forces to liberate the country.
But there is another, even darker war being fought beneath the surface: the first vampire war in hundreds of years. The enemy blood magician who orchestrated Robespierre’s downfall is using the Revolutionary Wars to bring about a return to dark magic to claim all of Europe. Across the world, only a few know of his existence and the choices they make will shape the new age of magic.
This is the sequel to A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (which you can read my review of here) and the final book in the duet/duology. It’s historical fantasy about classism and slavery and who should be allowed to use what magics, with deceptively simple worldbuilding and a wonderful cast. AND WE’RE GETTING KRAKENS. YESSSSSSSSS!
The Necessity of Stars by E. Catherine Tobler Published on: 20th July 2021
Genres: Sci Fi
Goodreads
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Plagued by the creeping loss of her memory, diplomat Bréone Hemmerli continues to negotiate peace in an increasingly climate-devastated world, ensconced in the UN-owned estate Irislands alongside her longtime friend and companion Delphine.
The appearance of the alien Tura in the shadows of Bréone’s garden raises new questions about the world’s decline. Perhaps, together, Tura and Bréone will find a way forward… if only Bréone can remember it.
Neon Hemlock Press is an indie publisher specialising in convention-defying SFF, often with queer characters and themes. I don’t think this one is queer, but it’s sure to be strange and wonderful anyway!
Savage Bounty (Savage Rebellion #2) by Matt Wallace Published on: 20th July 2021
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Goodreads
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The sequel to the acclaimed, spellbinding epic fantasy Savage Legion by Hugo Award–winning author Matt Wallace about a utopian city with a dark secret…and the underdogs who will expose it—or die trying.
The call them Savages. Brutal. Efficient. Expendable.
The empire relies on them. The greatest weapon they ever developed. Culled from the streets of their cities, they take the ones no one will miss and throw them, by the thousands, at the empire’s enemies. If they live, they fight again. If they die, well, there are always more.
From Hugo Award–winning author Matt Wallace comes the much-anticipated second installment to the “epic fantasy the genre has been waiting for” (Sarah Gailey, Hugo Award–winning author of Magic for Liars).
I’m reading the first book of this series now, and it’s so good I had to include the sequel here! (And very carefully avoid reading the description, so as not to spoil myself.) This is set in a utopia-which-isn’t, with a really interesting class system. I’m in love with book one, and will definitely be snapping this one up when I’m finished with it!
Afterlove by Tanya Byrne Representation: Sapphic MCs, F/F or wlw
Published on: 22nd July 2021
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Urban Fantasy
Goodreads
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THE LESBIAN LOVE STORY YOU'VE BEEN DYING TO READ.
Ash Persaud is about to become a reaper in the afterlife, but she is determined to see her first love Poppy Morgan again, the only thing that separates them is death.
Car headlights.
The last thing Ash hears is the snap of breaking glass as the windscreen hits her and breaks into a million pieces like stars.
But she made it, she's still here. Or is she?
This New Year's Eve, Ash is gets an RSVP from the afterlife she can't decline: to join a clan of fierce girl reapers who take the souls of the city's dead to await their fate.
But Ash can't forget her first love, Poppy, and she will do anything to see her again... even if it means they only get a few more days together. Dead or alive...
NOT EVEN DEATH CAN TEAR THEM APART.
We’re getting lots of queer ghost stories lately, and I am not disapproving! I almost missed this one, but it popped up on my dash today, and with a premise like that, you know it’s going on my tbr. It’s also been optioned for a tv/movie adaption, so I’m expecting great visuals!
That’s it from me! Will you be reading any of these? Have I missed any new books I should know about? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #43! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
