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Fantasy and Science Fiction April 2019
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Wild country
by Anne Bishop
Series alert: Book 7 of the Courtyard of Others Series
What's it about: There are ghost towns in the world--places where the humans were annihilated in retaliation for the slaughter of the shape-shifting Others. One of those places is Bennett, a town at the northern end of the Elder Hills--a town surrounded by the wild country. Now efforts are being made to resettle Bennett as a community where humans and Others live and work together. But as they reopen the stores and the professional offices and start to make lives for themselves, the town of Bennett attracts the attention of other humans looking for profit. And the arrival of the outlaw Blackstone Clan will either unite Others and humans or bury them all.
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The Skaar invasion
by Terry Brooks
Series alert: Book 2 of the Fall of Shannara Series
What it's about: After the invaders defeated the troll armies and attacked the Druid order, they are making their way toward total conquest against the Four Lands.
Reviewer's say: "With a complicated set-up and including lots of political maneuvering, individual battles, and minor victories, the second in Brooks' Fall of Shannara series (after The Black Elfstone, 2017) promises some serious payoff in future volumes." (Booklist)
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The Raven Tower
by Ann Leckie
What it's about: Protecting the kingdom of Iraden is a god known as the Raven, whose chosen incarnation, or "Lease", gains great power in exchange for ritualistic self-sacrifice.
Why you might like it: compelling narration from unusual perspectives and a layered, leisurely paced approach to world-building add up to a thought-provoking and stylistically complex novel.
Author alert: Having won a slew of awards for her Imperial Radch space opera trilogy, author Ann Leckie now tackles epic fantasy.
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| The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha ShannonWhat it is: a lush epic fantasy saga by the author of The Bone Season.
Why you might like it: In addition to detailed world-building and an intricate plot, this standalone saga boasts a predominantly female cast of queens, mages, alchemists, warriors, assassins, and dragon riders.
You might also like: Sofia Samatar's The Winged Histories, another gynocentric fantasy novel told from the perspectives of LGBTQIA-diverse viewpoint characters. |
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| The Bird King by G. Willow WilsonWhat it's about: The arrival of the Inquisition in the royal court of Granada sends concubine Fatima and her friend, magically gifted mapmaker Hassan, on a quest to the island of the Bird King.
Why you might like it: Set during the Reconquista, this lush and leisurely paced novel by the author of Alif the Unseen draws on Sufi literature to present a richly detailed recreation of Muslim Spain.
You might also like: Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan. |
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| Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees BrennanWhat it is: a fantasy adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, in which light and dark magic divide a near-future New York City.
Introducing: dark side refugee Lucie Manette; her privileged boyfriend Ethan; and Ethan's dark magic-created doppelganger, Carwyn.
Want a taste? "Rich people think like that about slumming it, putting on other peoples' lives like a disguise at a party. It is fun only because they can cast off the mask at any time." |
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| Carnivalesque by Neil JordanWhat it's about: After a visit to a carnival leaves 14-year-old Dublin resident Andy trapped in a funhouse mirror, he takes the name Dany and adjusts to his new life -- while his reflection navigates the outside world.
For fans of: Keith Donoghue's The Stolen Child, another atmospheric modern-day changeling tale; John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things, which also presents a phantasmagorical coming-of-age story. |
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| Six Wakes by Mur LaffertyWhat it is: a locked-room mystery set aboard a generation ship crewed by clones.
Reviewers say: a "taut, nerve-tingling, interstellar murder mystery with a deeply human heart" (NPR).
For fans of: the psychological suspense of James Smythe's deep space-set Anomaly Quartet; the puzzle-box format of Adam Roberts' Jack Glass. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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