★ 09/14/2015
Knight (The Viking’s Sacrifice) opens her Duelist trilogy with a lighthearted secondary-world fantasy that quickly evolves into a tangled web of lies, deceit, and twisted loyalties. Kacha and Vocho love and hate each other in the ways only siblings can. Her perfection frustrates him; his bravado and lies enrage her. Both are top-notch sword fighters and had been members of the elite Duelist Guild until one of their jobs went very badly awry. Now forced to thieve for a living, they end up stealing the wrong things from the wrong people and must fight for their lives even as they struggle to protect the province of Reyes. Threads of humor lighten what could very easily be an uncomfortably dark tale filled with magic, politics, and crushing disillusionment. Beautifully crafted action scenes blend intimately with strong emotion and realistic characters. Told from several viewpoints and punctuated by flashbacks, the shifting narration serves to paint a well-rounded picture filled with fascinating surprises and unforeseen twists. Agent: Alexander Field, Alexander Field Literary Agency. (Oct.)
We’re launching a new feature: a monthly roundup chronicling the best books our stable of bloggers has read over the previous month. Old or new, it doesn’t matter—these are the ones that will stick with us.
The “fantasy” label encompasses a lot of subgenres. I have a weak spot for many of them (hello, gaslight! Hello, flintlock!), but one in particular turns me to jelly: the kind of that is escapist in the best sense, offering a rollicking good time, a darn fine yarn that spins out effortlessly, the sort you’d imagine […]
As fans wait in agony for the next volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, we can’t but celebrate one of our favorite recent trends in SF/F: the all-in-a-year trilogy. All the books in a series, released in quick succession, almost no waiting. It’s a binge reader’s dream—especially when the books in question are […]