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Fantasy and Science Fiction July 2020
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The Down Days by Ilze Hugo Welcome to: Sick City (formerly Cape Town), South Africa, where quarantined residents struggle to survive in the "Down Days" following a global pandemic.
Where you'll meet...taxi driver turned corpse collector Faith September, contraband dealer Sans, and orphaned Tomorrow, who's searching for her missing brother.
You might also like: Lauren Beukes' Moxyland or Nicky Drayden's The Prey of Gods, both of which follow ensemble casts through a vividly rendered near-future South Africa. | |
Lady Hotspur
by
Tessa Gratton
What it is: an inventive, gender-swapped take on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1, featuring an LGBTQIA cast and set in the world of the author's The Queens of Innis Lear.
Starring: "Lion Prince" Hal Bolinbroke, sudden heir to the throne of Aremoria following her mother's successful coup; Isarna Perseria, Lady Hotspur, Hal's fellow knight and lover; and the desposed Banna Mora, Hal's former best friend who plots from exile to take back her throne.
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Heart of Black Ice
by
Terry Goodkind
A conclusion to the best-selling series that began with Death’s Mistress finds the Norukai preparing for an ultimate war while a captive King Grieve, Lila and Bannon discover the terrifying force that threatens the Old World with destruction.
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The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow Introducing: January Scaller, who rebels against her wealthy and eccentric guardian by secretly exploring doorways to other realms with her companion Bad, a very good dog.
Want a taste? "There's only one way to run away from your own story, and that's to sneak into someone else's."
Does the dog die? No! It's all good! | | The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern What happens: A mysterious book leads graduate student Zachary Ezra Rawlins on a magical quest to another world, hidden in plain sight.
Why you might like it: A puzzle box narrative and dreamlike prose distinguish this atmospheric novel by the author of The Night Circus.
Want a taste? "Zachary Ezra Rawlins stares at the miniature versions of the same symbols he once contemplated in an alleyway behind his mother's store and wonders how, exactly, he is supposed to continue a story he didn't know he was in." | | A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab A tale of four cities: Red London is rife with magic. Grey London has none at all. White London may soon destroy itself in its attempts to steal the powers of its rivals. And Black London? Well, that city no longer exists except as a cautionary tale to magic abusers.
Starring: Kell, an inter-dimensional royal ambassador with a sideline in smuggling; and Delilah, a cutpurse with piratical ambitions.
Series alert: This trilogy opener continues with A Gathering of Shadows and A Conjuring of Light. | |
Secrets of the Chocolate House
by
Paula Brackston
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.
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Realm of Ash
by
Tasha Suri
What it's about: After a lifetime of concealing the magic she inherited from her Amrithi mother, widowed Ambhan noblewoman Arwa must come to terms with her heritage while working with a disgraced Prince to lift a magical curse that afflicts the Empire.
Read it for: a quest carried out amid courtly intrigue, a tender romance, and an immersive setting inspired by India's Mughal empire.
Can you start here? Although this 2nd novel in the Books of Ambha series stands on its own, the story refers often to events that occurred in Empire of Sand (in which Arwa plays a supporting role).
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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