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Fantasy and Science Fiction November 2020
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| Burning Roses by S.L. HuangWhat it's about: Teaming up to protect their home from deadly Sunbirds, sharpshooter Rosa and archer Hou Yi also battle their inner demons.
Why you might like it: This poignant, introspective mash-up of European fairy tales and Chinese mythology by the author of the Cas Russell novels focuses on the bond between a pair of aging monster-hunters.
Try these next: if you're curious about these characters' backstories, read Huang's previous novellas Hunting Monsters and Fighting Demons; if you're seeking more Asian-influenced fantasy with an LGBTQIA cast, check out JY Yang's Tensorate novellas. |
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| To Hold Up the Sky by Cixin LiuWhat it is: a short story collection by the author of the award-winning Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.
Don't miss: "Ode to Joy," featuring The Three-Body Problem's Sophon; "The Village Teacher," about a schoolteacher in rural China and told from the perspective of aliens.
Try these next: Invisible Planets and Broken Stars, two anthologies of contemporary Chinese science fiction edited and translated by Ken Liu. |
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| A Deadly Education by Naomi NovikWhat it's about: Galadriel "El" Higgins, a loner with an affinity for dark magic, just wants to survive until graduation, but the heroics of her classmate, golden boy Orion Lake, may prove more lethal than the maleficaria that infest the school.
Is it for you? This 1st book in the Scholomance series has garnered controversy over the inclusion of racial stereotypes, for which the author has apologized and pledged to remove from subsequent editions.
For fans of: Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's Vita Nostra, Lev Grossman's The Magicians, or Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House. |
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| Black Sun by Rebecca RoanhorseThe setting: the continent of Meridian, and the Holy City of Tova, the site of a religious observance called the Convergence -- which, this year, coincides with an eclipse.
The characters: Xiala, the Teek ship's captain tasked with escorting a "harmless" passenger to Tova; Serapio, a blind Obregi man destined to become a god; idealistic Sun Priest Naranpa; and Okoa, who has a crucial role to play in the events that unfold.
Series alert: Black Sun is the opening volume of the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, which draws inspiration from the many pre-contact Indigenous cultures of the Americas. |
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| The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. SchwabFrance, 1714: Addie Larue makes a Faustian bargain with capricious Luc, one of the old gods. The downside of "time without limit" and "freedom without rule"? No one will remember her.
New York City, 2014: Addie discovers that one person, bookstore owner Henry, may be the exception. But is it enough?
For fans of: other time-focused tales of loss, love, and loneliness such as Kate Atkinson's Life After Life or Laura Barnett's The Versions of Us. |
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Furyborn
by Claire Legrand
Revealed as one of two prophesied queens destined to shape their world, Rielle embarks on a series of dangerous magical trials that link her to the other queen, a ruthless bounty hunter born a thousand years later who joins a rebel captain to fight imperial corruption in the hope of rescuing her abducted mother.
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The city in the middle of the night
by Charlie Jane Anders
""If you control our sleep, then you can own our dreams . . . And from there, it's easy to control our entire lives." The bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky returns with a strange, haunting, and deeply human tale. Sophie serves coffee at an underground cafe. She stays in the shadows and listens to the troubles of the parlor guests, but does not draw attention to herself for one simple reason: Sophie is supposed to be dead. When a nationalistic revolution forces Sophie from her safe haven, shemust make a dangerous journey to a new city, one that revels in hedonism and chaos. After joining up with a band of smugglers, she finds herself on a long and treacherous path that will lead her far closer to the truth of her entire world---and to the dangers that lurk even in the light of day"
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Wrath of empire
by Brian McClellan
Struggling to protect half a million refugees who have become targets in a country in turmoil, Michel Bravis considers allying with the very occupiers he is trying to undermine; while Ben Styke builds an army to search for an ancient artifact that may hold the power to turn the tides of war.
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A Little Hatred
by Joe Abercrombie
What it is: the opening installment of the Age of Madness trilogy, set in the world of the author's First Law series.
Why you might like it: This intricately plotted epic fantasy boasts a large cast of morally ambiguous characters, an unsentimental look at revolutionary politics, and a rapidly industrializing world where magic is (grudgingly) giving way to technology.
Reviewers say: a "brutal fantasy that cuts keen and refuses to soothe the sting" (Booklist).
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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