Fantasy

The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
Lev Grossman is a very successful writer (The Magicians), and it's easy to see why with the compelling The Bright Sword. Add this to the pantheon of works about King Arthur and the Round Table, but with a few twists: right from the onset, we learn that the battle for the Holy Grail has failed, and King Arthur is dead. When Collum, a young man from the northern outskirts of the kingdom journeys to Camelot in the hopes of glory, he finds that the knights who remain are strictly second string. Nevertheless, he joins their ranks as they take up their weapons in a valiant effort to restore Camelot to its former luster and retain the kingdom of Britannia.
Very compelling back stories for all the knights are woven in -unfortunately, Grossman couldn't resist adding some 21st century elements and they don't ring true. But I guess that's on par with all other Arthurian authors, who have added their unique flourishes over the years. If you didn't know, the legend of Arthur emerged in the 6th century, long before armor or knights or jousting, but most of what we call Arthurian legend descends from Le Morte D'Arthur, published in the late 13th century. In any case, if you like: fantasy, magic, knights, fairies, etc, you will absolutely enjoy the immersive experience of The Bright Sword!

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne
This Norse-like saga is one of the best fantasy series I've read, and I anxiously await book 3 in October!! A northern kingdom lies fractured by petty jarldoms and in-fighting. Although there were a plethora of gods, they ended up all dying hundreds of years ago in a battle called the Gudsfalla. Anyone 'tainted' by god blood is enthralled as slave labor. Each of the Tainted carries certain characteristics of their ancestor's power. For example, Ulfrir is the wolf god, and his tainted descendents look human, but have wolf senses and teeth that are let loose on the field of battle.
The story is dominated by three bands of warriors: the Bloodsworn, the Battle-Grim, and the Raven-Feeders. One of these bands is cruel and evil, and will stop at nothing to gain power -including resurrecting Lik-Rifa, the dragon god.
The action and adventure compel the story forward, but the characters and their relationships are also well drawn out. And as the author, John Gwynne, is a Viking re-enactor, expect very realistic descriptions of weapons (and their impact on the human body), ships, battles, and even every day life.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Garth Nix cleverly takes us back to London, circa 1983, and allows us to focus on magic, mystery, and flirtatious romance without even a hint of technology. Susan is newly 18 and spending the few months before she starts art school on a quest to find her father -whoever he might be.
Vivien and Merlin are siblings, booksellers, and imbued with different gifts as one is a right-handed bookseller (the intellectual type) and one is a left-handed bookseller (the fighting type). Susan will need both of them, as malevolent forces try to keep her from discovering her heritage, and she will need all the help she can get just to stay alive and in one piece. Great story!

If you pick this up, be sure to enjoy the poems that head every chapter, they are relevant to the story and interesting in their own right. From chapter 13:
A shadow creeps along the wall
More shadows sweep across the hall
Many shadows leap and dance and fall
But shadows need both dark and light
No shadows crawl in blackest night

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
I don't understand what Gailey was thinking of when they wrote this book. It starts with an excellent premise: Vera is the grown daughter of a serial killer and an icy, abusive mother, and she's come home for the first time in 17 years (at her dying mother's request) to clean up and empty the house, and make her peace with the past. Myriad obstacles stand in Vera's way, including the creepy entitled artist who is staying in the garden shed so he can capture some of the bad vibes of the house in his paintings.
All these potential villains, and she goes in another (slightly silly) direction altogether. So I sped right through the first 3/4 of the book, anticipating all the threads of malevolence to come together, and then the last 1/4 was underwhelming and had me rolling my eyes. Not even well-thought out enought to be considered metaphorical.

All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody
Combine the dark love story of Twilight, the magic of Harry Potter, and the battle to the death of Hunger Games and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect with All of Us Villains. This isn't a rehash, though, but a clever blending of trending themes in YA lit and the authors have done themselves proud. Seven families have maintained a hold on access to a source of powerful magic for a thousand years. The caveat is that each new generation must put forth a champion from each family, and the last one alive grants their family exclusive use of the magic for 20 years. There is no opting out as a powerful curse dictates that every family produce a champion, and that every champion participates or automatically forfeits their life. For these seven diverse young adults, they will come to the realization that there is nothing heroic in what they are about to do -the question is: how villanous are they each prepared to be? Can't wait for the sequel to come out next summer!

D: A Tale of Two Worlds by Michel Faber
This delightful book is somewhat reminiscent of the Oz tales by L. Frank Baum (I'm thinking in particular of Ozma of Oz), with a plucky heroine named Dhikila whose adventures rival Dorothy's. Dhikila is a British schoolgirl who notices one day that the letter D is starting to go missing-from speech, from signs, and indeed, even objects that begin with D are starting to isappear.
With help arriving from unusual sources, Dhikila plunges in to save the world, even as no one else seems to notice there's a problem. A fun read that should hold up over time!


The Last Pow-Wow by That Native Thomas
Fantasy that only an indigenous writer could produce, an intriguing confluence of Indian spiritual figures (Deer Woman, Coyote the Trickster), Christian figures (Lucifer becomes Son of the Morning Star), and what it means to be Indian. Is it the color of the skin, the blood quantum, or is it the shape of the spirit?
I would have given this 4 stars, but there were so many characters that sometimes they were ill-defined, or disappeared for a hundred pages, only to become central to the storyline. Thomas could have written entire novels about several of his characters (the girl who talks ghost butterflies, for example).

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
This is about a man, whose name is not Piranesi, but that's what he answers to. This is about the world, entirely comprised of the House (which stretches out almost infinitely), the Tides (which periodically fill the vestibules and hallways of the House), thousands upon thousands of statues, and Piranesi. There are 15 people in the world: Piranesi, the Other, 12 sets of enigmatic skeletal remains, and You. This might be fantasy, and it might be science fiction, or maybe it's realistic and the world is more magical than we know.
This is about something terrible that happens to the man. Or, this book is about something miraculous that happens to the man. Only You can decide as the story unfolds. Real genius from Susanna Clarke; I'm definitely putting Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on my reread list after this!

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
This is a book I liked despite the fact it was horror, a genre which I really abhore. If that's not a testament to Stephen Graham Jones' superior writing, I don't know what is. Brace for maybe 4-5 pages of explicit gore and the sense of dread that will permeate your entire being and pulse like a heartbeat every time you turn a page. This is a compelling story of guilt and retribution for an unlikely reason, a young elk that was slain unjustly (out of season, too young, pregnant -so off limits) and is written as only an Indigenous storyteller could.
Four friends from the Blackfeet reservation indulge in some elk poaching and figure they've paid the price for their crime when the game warden catches them and they lose their hunting privileges for ten years. But as the decade comes to a close....well. There are a few lessons you'll learn if you read stories that spring from Indian culture: memories die hard, the world contains so much more than mankind, and respect for tradition must be paid. In this particular case, the young men's carelessness manifests as something older and more powerful than they can imagine. Beware Po'noka, and read this book with the lights on.

 The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
I picked this up because Daniel Abraham is one half of the writing team of J.A. Corey, authors of the incomparable series "The Expanse", so of course it didn't disappoint. Although I wouldn't call it as incandescent as Expanse, Abraham chooses to focus on solid plot development and non-trope characters rather than unnecessary titillation and brutality, which seems to be the rule of the day (a la "Game of Thrones"). He also introduces thirteen different races of humanity, which is a little hard to keep track of, but a fascinating concept and intrinsic to the story line. Great first novel in a fantasy series, and definitely feels like it's building up to something great in the second book.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
I was really looking forward to reading this book because of its intriguing premise -a young woman named January finds that there are hidden doors tucked away in every corner of the earth and, should you find one, you can enter into another world full of curiosities and possibly danger. In fact, these portals have brought myriad magical things into our world that are the basis for myths, fairy tales, and legends. Although the author alludes to many mysterious and wonderful things, she doesn't take the time to describe them as she focuses on the foibles and trials of January. In fact, most of the book is caught up with a lot of mundanity (how many times do we need to read that she loves her dog? How many times will the dog leap to her aid and bite someone?), and when January finally explores another world, it's pretty tame. Ultimately, not as satisfying a read as some, but of course the bar has been set very high for young heroines in the past -see Sara Crewe, Jane Eyre, Alice, Dorothy, etc. The difference is, I think, the quality of writing.

 We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
This was a fantasy with a different twist for the Western world as it takes place in ancient Arabia, which means a story filled with slightly familiar yet exotic details about clothing, vocabulary, food, and magical beings. I loved that!
Zafira is a girl (masquerading as a man) who hunts in a forbidden, cursed forest to get enough food for the starving people in her village. In her caliphate, women are not allowed such flagrant behavior and so she must take care not to be discovered. But she is the only one who can exit the forest alive as the entire kingdom has fallen under an evil spell that is only getting worse.
Nasir is the Sultan's son, the crown prince of the kingdom. Yet, none of that matters as the king despises him and forces him to work as an Hashashin (that's 'assassin' in English. Did you even know assassins originated in Arabia?) The tender hearted girl and the cold-blooded murderer are about to cross paths because they have both been recruited by a mysterious Silver Witch who is either very good or very bad -who can say-to end the curse.
This is the first book in a duology, and it's sweet and compelling. I can definitely tell that Hafsah is a fan of LOTR, but then so am I, so it's fine. And here's something you don't always get in fantasy novels: some pretty steamy interactions between a few of the characters that are tasteful but sure do leave a lot to the imagination.


 Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
When Maggie Stiefvater writes, the story is almost secondary to the robust characters she creates and the cheeky turn of phrase that she employs, "Everything about (Ronan Lynch) suggested he might take your wallet or drop your baby. He was proud of the family name, and it suited him. His mouth was always shaped like he'd just finished saying it. The Lynch brothers had many secrets." So, if you've ever read one of her books before, rush to grab this one, the first in her new The Dreamers Trilogy. If you've never read her, what are you waiting for? This is young adult fantasy at its best, featuring 3 mysterious brothers, one of whom can dream things into being, one of whom is the protector of the family secrets, and the youngest one who is enchanting and possibly enchanted. Oh, and the world is about to end. Can't wait to read book #2!

 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
I don't usually go for horror, but the first few pages of this book were so captivating and funny, I couldn't put it down. The humor fades fairly quickly, replaced by a gruesome tableau of wayward children, inattentive husbands, and predation. Picture a book group of southern women in the late 1980s. They're fairly prim and proper but when it comes right down to it, they crave something more exciting than the classics -true crime. Patricia, our main gal, is horribly attacked by an elderly neighbor one night after book club, but she fails to see the sign for what it is: a harbinger of evil in their bucolic town.
Fortunately, when you read true crime you know that nobody ever expects anything until it's too late, and this finally jars Patricia into action. Though not as graphic as some horror novels, The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires is highly unsettling and very original from start to bloody, bloody finish.


A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
A compelling story of parallel worlds with varying degrees of magic, from Grey to White to Red to Black. Our world is Grey London, drab because it's devoid of magic. Black London is closed to the other worlds forever -the magic has taken a malignant turn and overpowered everyone and everything there -a very dangerous place. White London is forever in the throes of a coup. Magic is viewed as the ultimate power and many will stop at nothing to get their hands on more, more, more. We only find true balance in Red London, where the air is redolent of flowers and magic is used to make life a more pleasurable experience. Red London is also where Kel hails from. He is one of the last of his kind, those who can travel between the worlds. At first this makes him an invaluable ambassador, but when he inadvertently blurs the lines between worlds, chaos and destruction erupt. A great first novel in the Shades of Magic trilogy! 

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

This retelling of Beauty and the Beast contains a few brilliant twists. First of all, this Beauty is from Washington, D.C. (a parallel universe), and secondly, her bravery and compassion are more important than the fact that she has cerebral palsy. Also, Beauty has family problems of her own that she needs to attend to -and fast. The Beast is, indeed, a cursed prince, but the magic under which he is held captive is complex. Added to that, his kingdom is under siege, and he only has one guardsman left -a very competent, very powerful, very lonely man named Grey. The door is open for a sequel here, and I'm really hoping to read more about the intertwined lives of Harper, Rhen, and Grey!



Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
This is a tricky book to describe, but let me start with bardo. The bardo is a Tibetan Buddhist term for the state the soul enters after death, before rebirth. In Western cultures we might be more familiar with the idea of 'purgatory'. The death in question is that of Willie Lincoln, who tragically died of Typhoid Fever when he was 11 and his father was President of the United States. There are a plenitude of stories that talk about Lincoln's presidency, and others that touch on the effect his child's untimely death had on him -this is not one of those stories (not exactly). First we are introduced to the souls currently residing at the cemetery where Willie is laid to rest -conflicted beings who don't understand that they are, in fact, dead. Their stories are interspersed with chapters that contain snippets from books and historical documents -some of which are real, some of which were concocted by the author. Put everything together and you get a multiverse of the events surrounding Willie's death: his bewilderment at his new situation, his father's grief, the purgatorial remnants who try to assist Willie on his journey, and a nation caught in a bloodbath of a war that is sure to fill the bardo to the brim. This story reminded me of The Great Divorce. George Saunders has a unique voice, humorous and kind to his characters, even when they are very flawed. An intriguing look at how Lincoln might have been influenced in some of the choices he made. 


Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere is about a man named Richard Mayhew, who lives in the London we know -London Above. As it turns out, there is another London, London Below, that Richard gains unwanted admission to through an act of compassion. Curiously, it doesn't seem like a particularly palatable place, so why would he end up there after his kindness? Criss-crossed with sewers (and the accompanying malodorousness), filled with dark hidey-holes and the slithery, malevolent characters who are attracted to such settings, Richard finds himself tagging along with a girl on a life or death mission. Will he be an impediment, or will Richard end up being the person we all wish that we could be?
Neil Gaiman excels at world building, but he also has a talent for making us wish we were the protagonist in his novels. The trials that his characters go through, the moral dilemmas that can seem black and white, but are actually quite convoluted (ah, like real life!) can make even a dank tunnel seem like a desirable place to be. If you enjoy this book, be sure to pick up "The Ocean at the End of the Lane". 


Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
This exceptional young adult novel gives us a 1956 in which Hitler and Hirohito won World War II (a war that America declined to participate in), and have divided up Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.  Most of the world's population is living under draconian law. Yael is a girl who was experimented on as a Jewish child in a concentration camp, with drastic results -she's a shape shifter and can take on the visage of any other woman. The resistance has found a unique way to use her talents to kill Hitler, who, after 49 assassination attempts, is very difficult to get close to.  Yael enters the Axis Tour, an intercontinental motorcycle race, by impersonating Adele Wolfe, the winner of the last race.  The assignment is much trickier than Yael anticipated, and she will have to keep her eyes on the prize if she hopes to accomplish her mission. An intriguing look at what might have been by a fantastic author.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I'm not sure what to call the genre that Neil Gaiman often writes in -fairy tales for adults?  Magical realism with a twist? Graphic novels without the graphics (although his graphic novels are pretty spectacular, too)?  All I know is, he touches on something deep within any reader, which is the desire to believe that there are still things in this world that are beyond our understanding, and they thrill us, horrify us, and give us hope that we might someday fall down a rabbit hole and connect with the magic.
In "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", Gaiman tells the story of a small, odd boy, whose life can be summed up with, "I was not happy as a child, although from time to time I was content.  I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else."  Me, too. Neil's style of writing is very intimate, and the reader is drawn into the beautiful English countryside where this boy lives an idyllic existence -except for the deaths, malevolent otherworldly beings, loneliness, evolving distrust in the infallibility of his parents, and the improbable ocean at the end of the lane.

After an unfortunate event strikes the boy's household, he is comforted by the mysterious Hempstock family at the end of the lane.  Eleven year old Lettie incongruously claims that the pond behind their farm is an entire ocean, and she freely discusses things that just cannot be.  When she takes the boy with her to calm a disturbance, they unwittingly open the door for a supernatural being to enter the world.  Is it evil to only give people what they want?  Read the book and see if you don't answer that question differently at the end.

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" gives us a story in which strength of character is not dependent on age or life circumstances, it is the thing inside us that remains when we are beaten down and without hope.  It is about the 7 year old inside each of us, and how that part of us reconciles the adult, outside world with our hopes, dreams, and nightmares.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
It's so difficult to find a fantasy novel that's not derivative of some other, more fantastic novel that's come before it (most especially, Lord of the Rings, and now, the Harry Potter series). With the Kingkiller series, you can feel the careful consideration Rothfuss invests in every character, every creature, every place and event. So, it was with some delight that I sank into The Name of the Wind, buoyed by knowing I wouldn't be able to foresee what was going to happen.
This is the story about Kvothe, an innkeeper hidden away in the North Country, who tells an incredible story about an intelligent, quick-witted boy who overcomes hard times to study at the Arcanum, a special place at University devoted to knowledge that drifts dangerously close to magic and dark arts. The boy does this in a desperate bid to defeat the things that killed his parents. (This sounds like Harry Potter, but it is not.) Kvothe is actually recounting his own story, but it seems as if he gave up before he won the fight. Now, the dark forces are back -will Kvothe, who possesses the raw material to become a hero, rise to the challenge? Rothfuss shows that the very best protagonist is someone who is rather like ourselves, but does great things anyway.