Mirage, Somaiya Daud’s debut novel and the first book in a young adult science fiction/fantasy trilogy, intrigued me long before it had a cover or a full description. Basically, I knew it was inspired by the author’s Moroccan background and featured the body double trope (one of my favorites!), and that was all it took for me to want to read this book. Months later, I visited a bookstore and found a display of recent releases, including Mirage. The final […]

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee is the latest book from Disney-Hyperion’s Rick Riordan Presents imprint, whose goal is “to publish great middle grade authors from underrepresented cultures and backgrounds, to let them tell their own stories inspired by the mythology and folklore of their own heritage.” I was especially intrigued by Dragon Pearl with its fusion of space opera and Korean mythology (which Yoon Ha Lee wrote about here), and I’ve been wanting to read more by this book’s […]

Book Description: Darkness covers the north, since the black mage has begun his assault on the kingdom of Neroche. Legend has it that only the two magical swords held by Neroche’s king can defeat the mage. Now the fate of the Nine Kingdoms rests in the hands of a woman destined to wield one of those blades… In this land of dragons and mages, warrior maids and magical swords, nothing is as it seems. And Morgan will find that the […]

It appears that 2019 will be filled with excellent books, and this list is even a couple of books longer than last year’s massive list! It was difficult to winnow this list down to an at all reasonable number of books at first, and this is by no means a comprehensive list of notable books coming out in 2019—there are a lot—but this is a list of the books that appealed the most to me personally. Some are new installments […]

Book Description: In the latest novel in Genevieve Cogman’s historical fantasy series, the fate of worlds lies in the balance. When a dragon is murdered at a peace conference, time-travelling Librarian spy Irene must solve the case to keep the balance between order, chaos…and the Library. When Irene returns to London after a relatively straightforward book theft in Germany, Bradamant informs her that there is a top secret dragon-Fae peace conference in progress that the Library is mediating, and that […]

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri’s fantasy debut novel inspired by Mughal India, is magnificent. Though there is plenty of darkness within its pages, there is also an abundance of light as the main characters fight back against evil and injustice—not with the strength of force and weapons, but with the strength of hearts and minds. It’s a wonderful exploration of themes like choice and connection, and it’s also a treasure trove […]