|
|
|
The Rise of Magicks
by Nora Roberts
What its about: In a conclusion to the trilogy that began with Year One, Fallon finds the limits of her magick skills tested by the needs of the Purity Warrior victims at the same time she is confronted by an old nemesis.
Review: The final volume of "The Chronicles of the One" is a full fantasy, postapocalyptic version of Roberts's tried and true storytelling mastery. ~ Library Journal
|
|
| The Deep by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan SnipesThe premise: Descended from pregnant African women thrown overboard by slavers, the wajinru (their name means "chorus of the deep") are an aquatic people united by the History they elect to forget.
The plot: As the wajinru's chosen historian, Yetu serves as the living repository of their collective memory. It's slowly destroying her.
The backstory: For this heartwrenching novel, author Rivers Solomon took inspiration from the Hugo-nominated song of the same name by hip-hop trio Clipping, which in turn was inspired by mythological themes explored by Detroit electronic music duo Drexciya. |
|
|
The Burning White
by Brent Weeks
The premise: "In the stunning conclusion to the epic, New York Times bestselling Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks, kingdoms clash as Kip must finally escape his family's shadow in order to protect the land and people he loves.
The plot: As the White King springs his great trap, and the Chromeria itself is threatened by treason and siege, Kip Guile and his companions will scramble to return for one impossible final stand. In the darkest hour, will the Lightbringer come?"
|
|
|
The Case of the Spellbound Child
by Mercedes Lackey
The premise: Tasked to investigate rumors of evil magic in Dartmoor, the Watsons and their companions are approached by a poor cottager whose children have gone missing in the region’s deadly bogs.
Series alert: Book 15 in the Elemental Masters.
For fans of: Gail Carriger, Anthony Horowitz and Anne McCaffrey.
|
|
Books You May Have Missed |
|
|
Secrets of the Chocolate House
by Paula Brackston
The premise: A sequel to The Little Shop of Found Things finds Xanthe struggling to resume her life in modern Marlborough before an unsettling vision of Samuel compels another journey into the past and a confrontation with a dangerous enemy.
Series alert: Second book in the Found Things series.
For fans of: Deborah Harkness, Nora Roberts and Juliet Dark.
|
|
| Upon a Burning Throne: The Burnt Empire Saga, Book 1 by Ashok K. BankerInspired by: the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.
What happens: Upon passing "The Test of Fire," two young princes, Adri and Shvate, become heirs to the throne. However, a third contender waits in the wings: Krushita, a girl from the outskirts of the empire whose exiled father is a powerful demonlord.
For fans of: Amish Tripathi's Immortals of Meluha series. |
|
|
The Dragon Republic
by R.F. Kuang
What it's about: Haunted by her deeds during the Third Poppy War, warrior and shaman Rin is determined to redeem herself -- by allying herself with the Dragon Warlord to depose the treacherous Empress.
Is it for you? This dark and ultra-violent military fantasy, set in a world reminiscent of 19th-century China and starring an opium-addicted heroine struggling with PTSD, does not pull any punches.
Should you start here? Due to the complexity of the plot and world-building, newcomers should start with The Poppy War.
|
|
|
The Library of the Unwritten
by A. J. Hackwith
The premise: Assigned to watch the restless characters of books left unfinished by their authors, a head librarian of Hell’s neutral Unwritten Wing tracks an escaped Hero before an angel attack reveals the existence of a powerful literary weapon.
Review: "Bookworms will love the creative spin of a library system rooted in imagination, of interworld book loans flying out to places like Valhalla, and of characters rising off the pages. Readers will eagerly await the sequel." -- Booklist
|
|
| The Binding by Bridget CollinsIn a world... where all books are repositories of memories, specially trained Binders extract traumatic experiences from the minds of consenting adults while crafting elegant codices to contain them.
Starring: apprentice binder Emmett Farmer, who (reluctantly) learns his trade from the elderly Seredith while navigating fraught encounters with a client, the privileged Lucian Darnay.
Want a taste? "There’s a growing trade in fakes, you know...Novels, they call them. They must be much cheaper to produce. You can copy them, you see. Use the same story over and over, and as long as you’re careful how you sell them, you can get away with it." |
|
| The Grey Bastards by Jonathan FrenchIntroducing: The Grey Bastards, a "hoof" (band) of half-orcs that patrols the Lot Lands on their giant hogs.
Reviewers say: "an unapologetically brutal thrill ride -- like Mad Max set in Tolkien's Middle-earth" (Kirkus Reviews).
You might also like: Gritty but not grimdark, this violent and bawdy series opener is a good bet for fans of Glen Cook's Black Company books, Jeff Salyard's Bloodsounder's Arc series, or Luke Scull's Grim Company novels. |
|
| Magic for Liars by Sarah GaileyStarring: Ivy Gamble, a private investigator who's hired to solve a murder at the Osthorne Academy for Young Mages, an elite school for the magically gifted where her estranged twin sister currently teaches.
For fans of: the gilded youth and evocative setting of Lev Grossman's The Magicians; the offbeat tone of Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt mysteries.
About the author: The versatile and inventive Sarah Gailey is best known for their American Hippo alternate history series. |
|
| The Wall by John LanchesterWhat happens: 20-year-old Joseph Kavanagh embarks on two years of compulsory service as a "Defender of the Wall," patrolling a small section of the 10,000-kilometer concrete barrier that surrounds his island nation, which was erected to protect its citizens from the "Others."
Book buzz: The Wall was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize.
You might also like: Jesse Ball's The Divers' Game, another atmospheric dystopian fable set in a xenophobic near-future society. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Forsyth County Public Library 660 W 5th Street Winston Salem, North Carolina 27101 336-703-3030www.forsythlibrary.org |
|
|
|