The Leaning Pile of Books
Oct
09
2022

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound like they may be 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. Cover images are affiliate links to Bookshop, and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Happy House of the Dragon day to everyone else who is excited about it! (I am obsessed and can’t get enough of this show and all the messy drama.)

I’m a week behind on this, but before I get to last week’s book, here are the other posts since the last one of these features in case you missed them:

On to the new book!

Night of Demons and Saints by Menna van Praag Book Cover

Night of Demons and Saints (The Sisters Grimm #2) by Menna van Praag

The second novel in the contemporary dark fantasy series The Sisters Grimm will be released on October 25 (trade paperback, ebook, audiobook).

The publisher’s website has a sample from Night of Demons and Saints, as well as audio and text samples from the first book, The Sisters Grimm.

 

All Hallows’ Eve meets All Saints’ Day in critically acclaimed author Menna van Praag’s mesmerizing second book featuring the Sisters Grimm—a dark, contemporary fantasy that skillfully blends love, obsession, and dark magic.

After the battle with their demon father ends in a devastating loss, the Grimm sisters are separated. But, now three years later, as their twenty-first birthday approaches, dark fate brings them together once more.

For Goldie, this birthday is overshadowed by sorrow. She cannot forget the outcome of that battle, the devastating tragedy that has wreaked havoc on her already turbulent waking life. While her sisters have thrown themselves into their own endeavors, Goldie has grown distant and inconsolable. Driven by grief, she devises a diabolical plan using a human sacrifice to resurrect what she has lost.

When Liyana unexpectedly discovers what Goldie intends to do, she agrees to help if Goldie will try another way, without sacrificing a life. Returning to Everwhere, they combine their powerful magic to bring back what Goldie has lost. But something goes terribly wrong, and Scarlet is showing signs of being possessed by an evil spirit.

With their lives at stake, the sisters realize they must confront their personal trauma, make amends with the past, and once again prepare for a demonic fight to come.

On the night of their birthday, battle ensues . . . and tragedy strikes once more.

Guest Post by Last of the Talons Author Sophie Kim
Sep
27
2022

I’m thrilled to have a guest post by debut author Sophie Kim to share with you! Last of the Talons, her YA fantasy novel featuring an assassin and a Dokkaebi emperor, is out today. See below for more information on the book and author, and to read her essay “On the Duality of the Protagonist.”

 

Cover of Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim
More Information
Read an Excerpt

About LAST OF THE TALONS (Talons #1):

After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina—the Reaper of Sunpo—is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdom’s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…

Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her life—if she kills him first.

Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina’s swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister…all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.

Because one way or another, she’ll take Rui’s heart.

Even if it means giving up her own.

On the Duality of the Protagonist
by Sophie Kim, debut author of Last of the Talons

Humans are composed of hundreds of thousands of little puzzle pieces, each one unique. Anxiety. Assurance. Joy. Distaste. Dreams. Nightmares. Millions of facets blending together to form an individual.

Some of these facets are contradictory. The kind may be cruel. The greedy may give. But one set of characteristics need not eliminate the other. In fact, they can complement one another — much in the way that blue and yellow, although far different in color, are both greatly enhanced when placed together.

It’s within this reasoning that we find contradictions in attributes greatly intensify characterizations within literature, adding a layer of depth that can both mystify and delight in a truly realistic fashion.

The protagonist of Last of the Talons, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina, is a highly trained assassin/gangster. She is strong and determined, with a hearty dose of bravery to match. Lina is wicked, named the “Reaper” for the efficiency with which she kills her targets.

But she is also an older sister — the sort of older sister who steals dumplings from the academy’s kitchen for her younger sibling, who laughs as they secretly devour them while hidden in a closet. She is the sort of sister to give piggyback rides and murmur bedtime stories under the stars.

She murders under those same constellations, yes — but that night sky watches her closely, and knows of her terrible phobia of snakes. Of how the seemingly fearless assassin will leap back, shrieking, at the sight of one — no matter how small it is.

Lina knows that a detail as small as her ophidiophobia is not enough to redeem her, knows she has been a weapon wielded in the wrong hands. That remorse haunts her. It sharpens her sense of inner inadequacy until it alters the way she views herself physically. Lina is harsh on herself both inside and out, externally focusing on details such as her “too-sharp” nose and gaunt face, while internally hating herself. And next to the eternal beauty and wisdom of the Dokkaebi, Lina feels her insecurities tenfold. Some may argue that this insecurity takes away from her bravery as the protagonist.

But what takes more courage?

Seducing an emperor when you know you’re beautiful, or when you’re worried that you’re not?

Facing down a monstrous serpent when your heart is steady, or when you have ophidiophobia?

Setting out as an assassin when you have nothing to lose, or when you have a little sister’s life hanging in the balance?

Lina is a character with many complexities that supply her with a depth that is reflected in the denizens of our own world. She is neither good nor bad, instead toeing the line somewhere in-between. In many ways, she is a foil to herself. Evil, but kind. Sensual, but insecure. Brutally dangerous, but afraid. These qualities represent the very core of her, of who she is. To characters, contradictions are complementary colors. Lina wears her dualities with pride, and they look good on her.

Sophie Kim spends her days both studying at her university and writing her novels, which are strongly influenced by her firm belief that diversity and non-stereotypical representation in literature are vastly important. Blessed (or cursed) with a voracious appetite for all things bookish, Sophie can often be found wandering the aisles of a library or curled up with a precariously balancing stack of stories. Last of the Talons is her first novel.

Review of The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu
Sep
22
2022
The Art of Prophecy
by Wesley Chu
544pp (Hardcover)
My Rating: 5/10
Amazon Rating: 4.4/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.57/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.18/5
 

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Book Description:

A “superb fantasy saga” (Helene Wecker) of martial arts and magic, about what happens when a prophesied hero is not the chosen one after all—but has to work with a band of unlikely allies to save the kingdom anyway, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lives of Tao

“An ambitious and touching exploration of disillusionment in faith, tradition, and family—a glorious reinvention of fantasy and wuxia tropes.”—Naomi Novik, New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education

So many stories begin the same way: With a prophecy. A chosen one. And the inevitable quest to slay a villain, save the kingdom, and fulfill a grand destiny.

But this is not that kind of story.

It does begin with a prophecy: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom.

And that prophecy did anoint a hero, Jian, raised since birth in luxury and splendor, and celebrated before he has won a single battle.

But that’s when the story hits its first twist: The prophecy is wrong.

What follows is a story more wondrous than any prophecy could foresee, and with many unexpected heroes: Taishi, an older woman who is the greatest grandmaster of magical martial arts in the kingdom but who thought her adventuring days were all behind her; Sali, a straitlaced warrior who learns the rules may no longer apply when the leader to whom she pledged her life is gone; and Qisami, a chaotic assassin who takes a little too much pleasure in the kill.

And Jian himself, who has to find a way to become what he no longer believes he can be—a hero after all.

Note: You may want to read this review on the website (instead of by email or feed reader). There are spoiler tags before the last paragraph that should be hidden on the website but may be visible elsewhere, although some may not consider these spoilers since they are from the first fifth of the book.

The Art of Prophecy is the first book in The War Arts Saga, an epic fantasy series by Astounding Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Wesley Chu. I was excited about this novel with magical martial arts due to the premise of a prophecy that turned out to be wrong and a couple of the characters: namely, an older woman who had thought her adventuring days were over and a chaotic assassin. But I ended up having rather mixed feelings about The Art of Prophecy, which I enjoyed throughout Act I but was less and less enthusiastic about the further into it I got. Basically, I moderately liked one character and one other character’s storyline, was fairly indifferent to another character and most of her plot, and was outright annoyed by the point-of-view character introduced around the halfway point.

The story begins with the great martial arts master Taishi evaluating Jian, the teenage boy destined to one day defeat the Eternal Khan, and his progress as their future savior. But as she watches him fight, Taishi realizes there is a big problem: despite having potential, Jian is not a good fighter, or even an adequate one. Sure, his moves look good, but his opponents hold back, knowing they will be killed if they so much as nick their hero. If in a real fight, he would have been dead several times, and it will be years before he can just hold his own against a foe like the Eternal Khan, let alone emerge victorious. Furthermore, Jian is indecisive in the heat of battle, which Taishi finds unsurprising given that he’s being trained by eight masters—mainly appointed for political reasons rather than skill—who tend to give him contradictory advice. So Taishi takes matters into her own hands, revealing their champion’s shortcomings and appointing herself his new and only master, as someone who is not only a legendary martial artist herself but also someone who has faced the Eternal Khan. However, shortly after she takes over his training, something happens that changes everything. It seems that Jian is not the chosen one after all, and suddenly, the goal he’s spent his entire life training for is obsolete—and many see the existence of their so-called savior as an issue.

This was an intriguing setup, but I felt that this was the best part of the book and that it became less compelling once Taishi and Jian went their separate ways. My favorite element of The Art of Prophecy was the dynamic between the two, whose mentor/mentee relationship had a rough start given that Taishi publicly humiliated her pupil and dismissed his previous teachers. Jian is not used to being challenged or viewed as a human being rather than a divine one, and he hates that Taishi treats him like a mere teenage boy and even dares to suggest he could improve. Taishi was also the most interesting character to me: an experienced older master who lost an arm, has power over wind, and is just kind of grumpy and over everyone’s crap. Yet beneath her grouchy exterior, she does have a soft spot for Jian and wants what’s best for him, even when he’s cross with her for ruining his luxurious lifestyle.

Taishi may have been my favorite character, but I actually preferred Jian’s story to hers once the two split up. Jian has to pretend to be a normal person with little training in a martial arts school, where he makes new friends and deals with students rivalries. His friendships and time spent in school were moderately entertaining, and I found this more engaging than Taishi’s search for more information on the prophecy and what went wrong with it. Even though I was curious about what she would discover on her quest, there was more traveling and fighting than learning more about it, which I didn’t find especially gripping.

In addition to the first two characters introduced, there are two other viewpoints, also written in third person. Sali is a mighty warrior and close friend of the Eternal Khan’s, and I did enjoy having the perspective of someone from the other side of the conflict. However, I found the first few chapters focusing on her role among her people more compelling than her later adventures, after she decides to search for someone. It probably didn’t help that the further I got into her story, the more she ran into the one character I did not like at all: Qisami, an assassin seeking Jian.

Even though the first three main characters introduced had potential to be compelling, none of the four had in-depth characterization. Jian is the only one with even a basic development arc, given that he starts as a spoiled chosen one and is humbled through his experiences and lack of daily worship. The others are all in pursuit of various goals, and the approach to creating their characters seemed to be giving them a few key traits—one of which is “being a badass”—and really leaning into these characteristics. Taishi is a grumpy badass who can control the winds and hides a heart underneath her cantankerousness, Sali is a badass who wields a cool shapeshifting weapon and is loyal to her younger sister, and Qisami is a badass with shadow powers and an insatiable lust for blood (and Sali, once she meets her). Whereas Taishi and Sali have at least a little duality, Qisami does not, plus all her main personality traits are amped up to 11. She’s focused on fighting and killing, flirting, and spouting quips that try much too hard to be amusing (and fail miserably). This got old really fast, and I started internally groaning every time I started a new chapter and saw the name “Qisami” somewhere on the page.

My feelings about the worldbuilding were similar to that of most of the characterization: though there were some intriguing concepts introduced, they were surface level and weren’t fleshed out enough. The various fighting magics sounded like they could have been visually fantastic, and I did love learning about Sali’s people’s customs in her earlier chapters—what was expected of her (which I won’t discuss for fear of spoiling too much) and the mobile cities that set them apart from the “land-chained.” But as someone who wants societies and people with dimension in the stories I consume, these were not expanded on enough for my taste.

There’s one other thing that bothered me related to the book’s premise that I want to mention for others who also thought it sounded promising. Some may not consider this a spoiler since why the prophecy went wrong is revealed in the third chapter, and the aforementioned specific part is 20% of the way in, but it’s behind spoiler tags for those who would rather not know.

Despite a promising start, I ended up dissatisfied with The Art of Prophecy as a whole. Other than one character’s chapters, it wasn’t a bad book, but it was also only mildly entertaining at best after Act I—and even the lines I found amusing during that first 28% of the novel were not memorable enough that I could recall them later. As I was nearing the end, I discovered I just didn’t care anymore or have any desire to find out what happens in the next book, and the more I reflect on it after having finished it, the more I find the lack of world and character depth disappointing.

My Rating: 5/10

Where I got my reading copy: Finished copy from the publisher.

Read an Excerpt from The Art of Prophecy

The Leaning Pile of Books
Sep
18
2022

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound like they may be 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. Cover images are affiliate links to Bookshop, and I earn from qualifying purchases.

This week brought one book in the mail, a recent release that you may recognize from my anticipated 2022 releases list. I love reading about characters with animal companions, and I couldn’t resist getting this one while the first edition with the exclusive designed case was still available!

Cover of Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah

Tanvi Berwah’s YA fantasy debut novel was just released earlier this month (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). Tor.com has an excerpt from Monsters Born and Made.

During this year’s Women in SF&F Month, Tanvi Berwah shared about her love for monster companions and characters bonding with dangerous fantasy creatures that led her to create her own for this novel:

I did not understand how deeply this narrative–and Sean [The Scorpio Races] and Jon [A Song of Ice and Fire]–affected me until I found myself scribbling the idea of “WATER MONSTERS???” in my journal in 2018. I spent a lot of time scouring myths and folklore for monsters and discarding them. From the idea of monstrous water horses and wolves to krakens typically seen in pirate lore, I tried a lot of these creatures until I realized maybe I should try making up a whole new one. Which is how I ended up making a monster creature–a maristag–from scratch in my debut novel MONSTERS BORN AND MADE. Maristags are vicious and fanged and clawed. They have the body of a velociraptor and the head of a stag with multi-tined antlers that could rip anyone apart. They are angry and irritable and the kind of monsters that I loved growing up. And Stormgold the maristag is a perfect companion for my main character, Koral–another teen struggling for her place in a world that is bent on breaking her.

You can read all of “A Girl and Her Maristag” here.

 

She grew up battling the monsters that live in the black seas, but it couldn’t prepare her to face the cunning cruelty of the ruling elite.

Perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights, this South Asian-inspired fantasy is a gripping debut about the power of the elite, the price of glory, and one girl’s chance to change it all.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve.

In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers—the ruling elite, have indentured Koral’s family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winning contender receives gold and glory. The others—if they’re lucky—survive.

When the last maristag of the year escapes and Koral has no new maristag to sell, her family’s financial situation takes a turn for the worse and they can’t afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral’s only choice is to do what no one in the world has ever dared: cheat her way into the Glory Race.

But every step of the way is unpredictable as Koral races against competitors—including her ex-boyfriend—who have trained for this their whole lives and who have no intention of letting a low-caste girl steal their glory. As a rebellion rises and rogues attack Koral to try and force her to drop out, she must choose—her life or her sister’s—before the whole island burns.

Perfect for fans of:

  • Dystopian Fantasy
  • Sea Monsters
  • Exes-to-Rivals-to-?
  • Golden Boy x Pariah
  • Deadly Competition
  • Rebellion
  • Angsty Teenagers
  • Fans of Chloe Gong
  • Female Friendship

The Leaning Pile of Books
Sep
11
2022

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound like they may be 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. Cover images are affiliate links to Bookshop, and I earn from qualifying purchases.

This week brought two upcoming releases by e-reader download and mail: a science fiction novel and a YA fantasy novel. Both sound fantastic!

Cover of Neom by Lavie Tidhar

Neom by Lavie Tidhar

Neom, an upcoming science fiction novel by World Fantasy Award–winning author Lavie Tidhar, will be released on November 9 (trade paperback, ebook). It’s set in the same world as the Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist Central Station, which won the John W. Campbell, Neukom Institute Literary Arts, and Xingyun Awards.

The publisher’s website has an excerpt from Neom.

 

Today, Neom is a utopian dream—a megacity of the future yet to be built in the Saudi desert. In this deeply imaginative novel from the award-winning universe of Central Station, far-future Neom is already old. Sentient machines roam the desert searching for purpose, works of art can be more deadly than weapons, and the spark of a long-overdue revolution is in the wind. Only the rekindling of an impossible love affair may slow the inevitable sands of time.

“This was superb and I’m in awe of Tidhar’s vision. He’s conjured up a futuristic city that feels simultaneously ultramodern and also run down. The rich histories of the region and its cultures are seamlessly interwoven into the fabric of this fully-realized world.”
—The Speculative Shelf

The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. It is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful, an urban sprawl along the Red Sea, and a port of call between Earth and the stars.

In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region’s biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.

In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business. Just one robot can change a city’s destiny with a single rose—especially when that robot is in search of lost love.

Lavie Tidhar’s (Unholy Land, The Escapement) newest lushly immersive novel, Neom, which includes a guide to the Central Station universe, is at turns gritty, comedic, transportive, and fascinatingly plausible.

Cover of Last of the Talons by Sophie Kim

Last of the Talons (Talons #1) by Sophie Kim

This YA fantasy debut novel featuring Dokkaebi will be released on September 27 (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

Paste has an excerpt from Last of the Talons, and the publisher’s website has a look inside feature, along with additional information like featured tropes and content warnings.

 

After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina—the Reaper of Sunpo—is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdom’s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…

Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her life—if she kills him first.

Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina’s swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister…all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.

Because one way or another, she’ll take Rui’s heart.

Even if it means giving up her own.

The Leaning Pile of Books
Sep
04
2022

The Leaning Pile of Books is a feature in which I highlight books I got over the last week that sound like they may be 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. Cover images are affiliate links to Bookshop, and I earn from qualifying purchases.

This weekend’s highlights include one upcoming book and a few of this year’s releases, three of which were books from my anticipated 2022 releases list that I ordered. (Technically, some of these should have been featured last weekend, but I ran out of time so they ended up being part of today’s post instead.)

In case you missed it, here’s the latest post since the last Leaning Pile of Books:

  • Review of The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne — I loved the concept of a historical account of the life of the witch from “Rapunzel” (with a dash of otherworldly abilities), but I found it to be a “just okay” novel since I didn’t find the story, writing, or characters particularly compelling.

Now for the latest book arrivals!

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo Book Cover

Into the Riverlands (The Singing Hills Cycle #3) by Nghi Vo

The third novella in Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills Cycle is scheduled for release on October 25 (hardcover, ebook).

The Empress of Salt and Fortune, the first book in this series of standalones about a wandering cleric, won the Hugo and Stabby Awards for Best Novella and garnered Nghi Vo a Crawford Award, which recognizes an outstanding new writer. It was also a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Novella, Ignyte Award for Best Novella, and Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy.

Tor.com has an excerpt from When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, the second published novella in the series.

I’ve been wanting to read these for a while so I was thrilled to discover that this works as a standalone!

 

Nghi Vo’s Locus and Igynte Award Finalist, and Crawford and Hugo Award-Winning Series, The Singing Hills Cycle, continues…

“A remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.”—NPR on The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themself far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be.

Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story—beautiful, ugly, kind, or cruel—bears more than one face.

The Singing Hills Cycle

The Empress of Salt and Fortune
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Into the Riverlands

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entry point.

Babel by R. F. Kuang - Book Cover

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R. F. Kuang

R. F. Kuang’s latest novel recently came out in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. (This is largely what prompted me to place a book order.)

The publisher’s website has text and audio samples from Babel.

I’ve only heard wonderful things about Babel, and I’m excited to see what R. F. Kuang does with dark academia. I very much enjoyed The Poppy War, her debut novel, which was one of my favorite books of 2018. The final book is still on my TBR, but The Dragon Republic, the next book in the series, was one of my favorite books of 2019. (And if you missed it before, R. F. Kuang shared why she wrote about women who wanted power in this series in “Be a Bitch, Eat the Peach” shortly before the first book’s publication in 2018.)

 

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen Book Cover

Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen

This historical/mythic fiction novel about the Trung Sisters was released earlier this month (trade paperback, ebook, audiobook).

The publisher’s website has a book club kit for Bronze Drum featuring discussion questions, an author interview, and a recipe.

This sounds like an amazing story, and I enjoy reading fictional accounts of legends.

 

A “gripping historical adventure” of ancient Vietnam based on the true story of two warrior sisters who raised an army of women to overthrow the Han Chinese and rule as kings over a united people, for readers of Circe and The Night Tiger (Booklist).

Gather around, children of Chu Dien, and be brave.
For even to listen to the story of the Trung Sisters is,
in these troubled times, a dangerous act.

In 40 CE, in the Au Lac region of ancient Vietnam, two daughters of a Vietnamese Lord fill their days training, studying, and trying to stay true to Vietnamese traditions. While Trung Trac is disciplined and wise, always excelling in her duty, Trung Nhi is fierce and free spirited, more concerned with spending time in the gardens and with lovers.

But these sister’s lives—and the lives of their people—are shadowed by the oppressive rule of the Han Chinese. They are forced to adopt Confucian teachings, secure marriages, and pay ever‑increasing taxes. As the peoples’ frustration boils over, the country comes ever closer to the edge of war.

When Trung Trac and Trung Nhi’s father is executed, their world comes crashing down around them. With no men to save them against the Han’s encroaching regime, they must rise and unite the women of Vietnam into an army. Solidifying their status as champions of women and Vietnam, they usher in a period of freedom and independence for their people.

Vivid, lyrical, and filled with adventure, The Bronze Drum is a true story of standing up for one’s people, culture, and country that has been passed down through generations of Vietnamese families through oral tradition. Phong Nguyen’s breathtaking novel takes these real women out of legends and celebrates their loves, losses, and resilience in this inspirational story of women’s strength and power even in the face of the greatest obstacles.

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd - Book Cover

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Peng Shepherd’s second novel was released earlier this year (hardcover, ebook, audiobook). The publisher’s website has text and audio samples from The Cartographers.

I’ve been looking forward to reading more by Peng Shepherd since reading The Book of M, her imaginative debut novel about people suddenly losing their memories—and since hearing her discuss her next novel focusing on magical maps when she received the Neukom Literary Arts Award for Debut Speculative Fiction. (She also wrote a guest post here about the—sometimes literal—magic of books, “The Time-Traveling Book That Made Me Love SFF.”)

 

From the critically acclaimed author of The Book of M, a highly imaginative thriller about a young woman who discovers that a strange map in her deceased father’s belongings holds an incredible, deadly secret—one that will lead her on an extraordinary adventure and to the truth about her family’s dark history.

What is the purpose of a map? 

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence…because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps…

Perfect for fans of Joe Hill and V. E. Schwab, The Cartographers is an ode to art and science, history and magic—a spectacularly imaginative, modern story about an ancient craft and places still undiscovered.

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse - Book Cover

Fevered Star (Between Earth and Sky #2) by Rebecca Roanhorse

The second book in the Between Earth and Sky series was released earlier this year (hardcover, ebook, audiobook).

Nerdist has a chapter one excerpt from Fevered Star, and the publisher’s website has text and audio samples from Black Sun, the first book in the series.

Black Sun was one of my favorite books of 2020; I loved the world (and the crows and giant crows).

 

Return to The Meridian with New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Roanhorse’s sequel to the most critically hailed epic fantasy of 2020 Black Sun—finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Lambda, and Locus awards.

There are no tides more treacherous than those of the heart. —Teek saying

The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent.

The Meridian: a land where magic has been codified and the worship of gods suppressed. How do you live when legends come to life, and the faith you had is rewarded?

As sea captain Xiala is swept up in the chaos and currents of change, she finds an unexpected ally in the former Priest of Knives. For the Clan Matriarchs of Tova, tense alliances form as far-flung enemies gather and the war in the heavens is reflected upon the earth.

And for Serapio and Naranpa, both now living avatars, the struggle for free will and personhood in the face of destiny rages. How will Serapio stay human when he is steeped in prophecy and surrounded by those who desire only his power? Is there a future for Naranpa in a transformed Tova without her total destruction?

Welcome back to the fantasy series of the decade in Fevered Star—book two of Between Earth and Sky.