The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound interesting—old or new, bought or received in the mail for review consideration. Since I hope you will find new books you’re interested in reading in these posts, I try to be as informative as possible. If I can find them, links to excerpts, author’s websites, and places where you can find more information on the book are included, along with series information and the publisher’s book description.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I missed covering a book last weekend, but two more ARCs came in the mail recently that can join the previous week’s book. (The news here in the US also distracted me one weekend so I didn’t end up covering some books I purchased, but I decided to just stick to the recent arrivals since those are all well known book titles: the three books in the first Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy and The Song of Achilles, which was just as good as I’d heard.)
There has been one new book review since the last one of these features: Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland. Although I did like one of the characters, the prose, pacing, and lack of in-depth characterization and worldbuilding didn’t really work for me.
On to the latest books!
The Scarlet Throne (False Goddess Trilogy #1) by Amy Leow
Amy Leow’s debut novel will be released on September 10 in the US and September 12 in the UK (paperback, ebook, audiobook).
The publisher’s website has an excerpt from The Scarlet Throne.
During Women in SF&F Month this past April, Amy Leow discussed her love of unhinged characters and her main character:
I wanted messy women. Batshit-crazy women. Women who don’t have to justify anything they do to others.
So I created Binsa, the main character of The Scarlet Throne. She is a vicious young girl who—while shaped by her circumstances and her mother’s questionable parenting choices—is very much ambitious of her own will, and will stop at nothing to get her way. I purposely wrote her as lacking a clear “motivation” for her villainy too: because just as some are altruistic in nature, some are wicked. In Binsa, I wanted to create a character who is utterly evil and irredeemable—and for her to thrive with those characteristics.
You can read her essay “Villains, Grey Areas, and What Women Can and Cannot Be” in its entirety here.
I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since I first saw its description, which mentions it is political epic fantasy with scheming, morally grey heroines, and talking cats—and I’m also intrigued by the peek I took at the beginning.
A dark, heart-thumping political epic fantasy by debut author Amy Leow—full of scheming demons, morally grey heroines, talking cats, and cut-throat priests, this delicious tale of power and corruption will captivate from beginning to end.
Binsa is a “living goddess,” chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne. But her reign hides a deadly secret. Rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbors a demon.
Though, one cannot remain a living goddess forever. When her temple’s priests decide that Binsa’s time in power has come to an end, a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position as goddess. But Binsa refuses to be discarded into a life of uncertainty as a young woman, and she strikes a deal with her demon: She will sacrifice her people’s lives in order to magnify his power, and in return, he will help her seize control from the priests once and for all.
But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade for the sake of ambition? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.
Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik
New York Times bestselling author Naomi Novik’s short story collection will be published on September 17 (hardcover, large print paperback, ebook, audiobook). This includes some stories related to her novels, as well as one set in the same world as her next epic fantasy series: Abandon, described as “a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.”
I adored Naomi Novik’s standalone fairy-tale-like fantasy novel Uprooted, and I ended up really enjoying the Scholomance trilogy after I gave it a second chance so I’m excited about this one.
A thrilling collection of thirteen short stories that span the worlds of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance trilogy, including a sneak peek at the land where her next novel will be set.
From the dragon-filled Temeraire series and the gothic magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy, through the realms next door to Spinning Silver and Uprooted, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories. Here, among many others, we encounter:
• A mushroom witch who learns that sometimes the worst thing in the Scholomance can be your roommate.
• The start of the Dragon Corps in ancient Rome, after Mark Antony hatches a dragon’s egg and bonds with the hatchling.
• A young bride in the Middle Ages who finds herself gambling with Death for the highest of stakes.
• A delightful reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennet captains a Longwing dragon.
• The first glimpse of the world of Abandon, the setting of Novik’s upcoming epic fantasy series—a deserted continent populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural mysteries.
Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: wrestling with destiny, and the lengths some will go to find their own and fulfill its promise.
The Gods Below (The Hollow Covenant #1) by Andrea Stewart
The first book in Andrea Stewart’s new series will be released on September 3 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).
If you’re looking forward to this novel, you might want to check out the preorder campaign and see if there’s a participating bookstore near you (as of right now, they are in Elk Grove, CA; Washington, DC; Lake Forest Park, WA; and Brookline, MA). The character bookmarks are pretty (and one of them includes a cat!).
The Drowning Empire, Andrea Stewart’s first series, was set in a fascinating world with bone shard magic and mysteries (plus one of the cutest animal companions ever!). Of course I was curious about her next series, especially since it features clashes between sisters and gods.
In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods.
A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in ruins. Desperate for hope, they struck a deal with the devious god Kluehnn: He would restore the world to its former glory, but at a price so steep it would keep the mortals indebted to him for eternity. And, as each land was transformed, so too were its people changed into strange new forms – if they survived at all.
Hakara is not willing to pay such a price. Desperate to protect herself, and her sister Rasha, she flees her homeland for the safety of a neighboring kingdom. But when tragedy separates them, Hakara is forced to abandon her beloved sister to an unknown fate.
Alone and desperate for answers on the wrong side of the world, Hakara discovers she can channel the magic from the mysterious gems they are forced to mine for Kluehnn. With that discovery comes another: her sister is alive, and only the rebels plotting to destroy the God Pact can help rescue her.
But only if Hakara goes to war against a god.
