"It would have been too hard on prospective students to sit there and listen as the people they loved most in all the world -- all this world, at least -- dismissed their memories as delusions, their experiences as fantasies, their lives as some intractable illness." ~ from Seanan McGuire's Every Heart a Doorway |
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Septimania : a novel
by Jonathan Levi
On an idyllic spring afternoon in 1978 in the loft of a church outside Cambridge, England, an organ tuner named Malory loses his virginity to a dyslexic math genius named Louiza. When Louiza disappears, Malory follows her trail to Rome. There, the quest to find his love gets sidetracked when he discovers he is the heir to the Kingdom of Septimania, given by Charlemagne to the Jews of 8th-century France. In the midst of a Rome reeling from the kidnappings and bombs of the Red Brigades, Malory is crowned King of the Jews, Holy Roman Emperor and possibly Caliph of All Islam.
Over the next fifty years, Malory’s search for Louiza leads to encounters with Aldo Moro, Pope John Paul II, a band of lost Romanians, a magical Bernini statue, Haroun al Rashid of Arabian Nights fame, an elephant that changes color, a shadowy U.S. spy agency and one of the 9/11 bombers, an appleseed from the original Tree of Knowledge, and the secret history of Isaac Newton and his discovery of a Grand Unified Theory that explains everything. But most of all, Septimania is the quest of a Candide for love and knowledge, and the ultimate discovery that they may be unified after all.
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The life of elves
by Muriel Barbery
Maria lives in a remote village in Burgundy, where she learns that she has a gift for communicating with nature. Hundreds of miles away in Italy, Clara discovers that she possesses a stunning musical genius and is sent from the countryside to Rome to develop her preternatural abilities. Barbery's The Life of the Elves tells the story of two children whose extraordinary talents will bring them into contact with magical worlds and malevolent forces. if, againts all odds, they can be brought together, their meeting may shape the course of history.
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| The Everything Box: A Novel by Richard KadreyUrban Fantasy. The Heavenly Host's loss is humanity's gain when the angel Qaphsiel misplaces a very special box. It remains hidden until 2015, when Charlie "Coop" Cooper, a thief who specializes in stealing magical artifacts, purloins what he believes to be the score of a lifetime. Soon, he's pursued by the Department of Peculiar Science, which believes the box to be a doomsday device, as well as by an assortment of angels, demons, and power-hungry beings that defy description. Fans of darkly humorous cosmic capers such as John Connolly's Samuel Johnson Tales or Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens should enjoy The Everything Box. |
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| Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuireDark Fantasy. Recently returned from the Underworld, where she was the Lord of the Dead's beloved, teenage Nancy has no desire to stay at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. Established to help young people who have journeyed to other realms and returned home to find that their former lives no longer fit, this highly unorthodox boarding school is supposed to be a sanctuary for girls like Nancy. However, when a killer starts stalking its hallowed halls, stealing pieces of the students' souls, Nancy must put aside her dreams of death and keep her peers alive. |
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Focus on: Power Struggles
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| Tracing the Shadow by Sarah AshHigh Fantasy. Years ago, the Kingdom of Francia purged its mages and eradicated magic from the land -- thanks in large part to the efforts of Head Inquisitor Alois Visant. But when Guerriere (holy warrior) Captain Ruaud de Lanvaux rescues Klervie, a street urchin and orphaned daughter of a mage whose sole possession is a book that contains a sentient, ethereal being, neither one may survive the events that follow. Set in the same world as the author's Tears of Artamon trilogy (beginning with Lord of Snow and Shadows), Tracing the Shadow is the opening volume in the Alchymist's Legacy series, followed by Flight Into Darkness. |
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Dune : book one in the Dune chronicles
by Frank Herbert
Set on the desert planet Arrakis,Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what it undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
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A song for Arbonne
by Guy Gavriel Kay
Arbonne is a sun-blessed country of vineyards and olive trees, and the home of a passionate, goddess-centered culture. To the north is Gorhaut, a dour Kingdom of warriors led by a cruel, misogynistic lord who sees Arbonne as ripe for the taking. One man is caught between the two: Blaise, a rough-hewn northern mercenary who serves, bemusedly, in the courts of the south.
When the invaders sweep down from the mountains, the men and women of Arbonne face their darkest hour: They find the power of love and poetry tested against the might of fire and sword. And Blaise discovers that the fate of courtly Arbonne may lie in his rugged hands.
This is a dazzling imaginary history peopled with a vibrant array of characters, from the sardonic Blaise to the haughty queen of the Court of Love, to a beautiful minstrel girl whose life is forever changed by a chance encounter in a tavern.
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| The Shattered Court by M.J. ScottFantasy. Lady Sophia Kendall is 32nd in line for the throne of Anglion and only days away from her Ais-Seann, the coming-of-age ritual that will decide her fate. If her family's magical powers manifest in her, she'll be hastily married off to a nobleman, her magic bound to his estate. But before the ritual can take place, Anglion is invaded and Sophia must flee the royal court, accompanied by Lieutenant Cameron Mackenzie, a member of the royal guard. However, that doesn't necessarily stop her magic from emerging -- and trying to consume her. The Shattered Court is the 1st installment of Australian fantasy author M.J. Scott's Four Arts series. |
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| Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa ShearinFantasy. Sorceress Raine Benares' magical abilities are modest at best until she acquires an amulet stolen from the home of necromancer Nachtmagus Nigelius Nicabar. But even the amulet's power isn't enough to keep Raine safe from the goblins that pursue her. Honestly, she'd give it back if she could, but amulets choose -- and bond to -- their wearers, not the other way around. Narrated by its streetwise heroine, this fast-paced series starter, which continues with Armed and Magical, may appeal to fans of Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels books. |
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Poison Study
by Maria V. Snyder
Convicted of murdering a general's son, Yelena faces death by hanging until she is offered a reprieve by Valek, the commander of Ixia's chief of security. He will spare her life if she will become his poison taster. As Yelena learns to discern the slightest hint of poison in food and drink, she also discovers that some people want her dead. As tensions mount in Ixia, from rebels within and enemies without, Yelena discovers a growing magical talent within her that she cannot control. Snyder's first novel, a series opener, provides a compelling look at a woman caught in an impossible situation, living each day on the edge of dying.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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