Tag: fantasy book recommendations

Review: Shadow and Bone

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SYNOPSIS

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

For more information on Shadow and Bone, you can check out Leigh Bardugo’s author website.

WHAT I KNEW GOING IN

This is a series I have been eyeing for a while now. It first caught my attention when I was working my way through the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. Part of this was its proximity on the shelf and the other part was hearing my coworkers say good things about it. I had a great amount of curiosity when it came to the series. I also had 50 other books on my to-read list. So I put it on the list of books that I will buy and read eventually. 

Fun fact about that list: it’s not as much a list as it is an amorphous entity containing countless titles that will eventually be a part of an actual list. There is no rhyme or reason to where books fall on this ‘list’ because I am very much an impulse shopper when it comes to books. 

It got moved up on the list when I learned there was going to be a Netflix show based on it. Then one day I finally gave in and bought it because I knew the show would be out soon. I have a thing with TV shows based on book series where I have to read the book before I watch it. So I did, not knowing much about the book beyond the description on the back and the fact there is a duet somehow connected to it. 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

There is a bit of a time jump between the first two main scenes that threw me for a bit, but the story quickly reeled me back in. I always have a soft spot for found families, even if it’s just a single person. So the dynamic between Alina and her best friend, the boy she grew up with, was something I latched onto pretty quickly. I also enjoyed how she went about introducing the world state leading up to the reveal of Alina’s unique abilities. It paints a clear picture without feeling like she is holding your hand or doing an exposition dump. This story hooked me pretty quickly. 

WHAT I LOVED

The world-building was very well done. You can tell that Ravka is based on Russia (I mean, look at the character names), but it’s not a carbon copy. The world is rich and varied and seeing the difference through the eyes of someone who went from having nothing to being viewed as a future savior and the favored one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. 

The Darkling is an interesting character. He is both enigmatic and charming, but he also has an undeniable connection to the Fold, a strip of darkness and death that is slowly crippling this kingdom. A previous Darkling created it and now people are looking to him to find a way to end it. And that way could very well be Alina. 

I know this sounds like the oh-so-common YA fantasy trope of the teenage girl who discovers her power and becomes extra special because she is the only one who can save the world. And yes, she is special and yes, she could very well save her country. But trust me when I say this story does not indulge in tropes. It may play around with some of them, but Leigh Bardugo has a different story to tell. And Alina Starkov’s story is one you don’t want to miss. 

WHO I RECOMMEND IT TO

If you are looking for:

  • A coming of age story featuring someone who has had to fight for everything
  • Well developed characters and realistic dynamics between those characters
  • The juxtaposition between those with political power, magical power, and those who have neither
  • The impossible choices that come with being the person who is supposed to save everyone

You should read this book. It is a fascinating tale that I devoured in 3 days (only reading at night before bed because my life is chaos and that’s my only reading time). I went from there to Six of Crows, book one of the accompanying duet. I am still waiting to grab a copy of Siege and Storm so I can finish out that story. I am probably going to get the final duet as well, so I can have it. 

I started reading because I was interested in the show. It quickly added a new name to my list of favorite authors. 

Review: Dorothy Must Die

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I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I’ve read the books. I’ve seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can’t be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There’s still a road of yellow brick—but even that’s crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I’m the other girl from Kansas. I’ve been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I’ve been trained to fight. And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman’s heart. 

Steal the Scarecrow’s brain. 

Take the Lion’s courage.

 And—Dorothy must die.

Moment of truth: I have been working on a Wizard of Oz retelling for a few months now. It will likely end up being a five-book crime series, so lots of room for references. I promise to share more details later, but that is not what this blog post is about. 

This book is about another Wizard of Oz retelling. Or, more accurately, a tale of what happened when Dorothy came back to stay. It follows Amy Gumm, a girl from a broken home with an addict for a mother. Her life is definitely not pretty and she would do almost anything to escape. 

Then a tornado comes through and takes her to a very different Oz than the ones in the stories. The land is dying, the people are trapped under the thumb of a dictator, and the Wicked have banded together to return balance to Oz.

I did not expect this book to revolve so much around addiction and neglect, but I can appreciate the way it was handled. My parents divorced when I was little, and my dad was very much an addict when I was going over to his house every other weekend. I experience some of that loneliness that Amy was dealing with on a regular basis. Thankfully, I had my mom and my grandmother. She has no one. 

The world-building is rather bleak, which makes sense in context. Oz, an inherently magical place, is being drained of its magic and so is being drained of life. There are a few places left that retain their magic, mostly because they are harder to access, and that is where the Wicked hide. 

The real beauty of this story is found in the characters. The Revolutionary Order of the Wicked is led by some dynamic, powerful women, all with their own stories. They all have secrets to hide and are not afraid to resort to turning victims into weapons when necessary. War is a messy thing, especially when it is between Wicked and Good.

Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Lion have all changed drastically as well. Their descriptions feel so artificial that it is uncanny. These are not the same people as you met in the original story. They have grown drastically, not only in their power but in their corruption.

This story blurs the lines between good and evil in a way that I really enjoyed. Things aren’t as straightforward as you might think. The stakes are high. Actions have consequences. Both sides are not afraid to do things that would normally be considered unthinkable. 

There is also a lot more going on behind the scenes than anyone person realizes. Even the most powerful beings do not have the full picture. They only have guesses, assumptions as to what the underlying causes might be. It leaves for a lot of questions, especially as Amy takes up a new quest in the last few pages. It is the same quest mentioned on the back cover.

To remove the tin woodman’s heart, steal the scarecrow’s brain, and take the lion’s courage.

Then, and only then, she can kill Dorothy and save Oz. 

Or so they think.

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

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A Darker Shade of Magic, from #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

I’ve been following V.E. Schwab on Twitter for some time now. Her life revolves around writing and being an author, and I enjoy the peeks she gives us into that world. I also, if you haven’t guessed by now, really enjoy fantasy. 

Picking this book up, I was first intrigued by the idea of multiple Londons. I have seen multiple worlds done before (this isn’t quite a multiverse) but something about this particular iteration caught my attention. There is a finite number of worlds, each with its own level of magic. 

One world has none. One world is teaming with it. One world is tearing itself apart to find more of it. And a fourth that fell to a fate that no one wants to talk about, but you know it had to do with magic. 

I also don’t think I have ever had a book start off talking about the main character’s interesting jacket. Yet the whole thing is the perfect introduction for the main character, Kell. You quickly realize how and why he is different as he takes the reader on a literal journey through the three Londons. A great example of showing versus telling. It also does a great job of establishing the main cast of characters.

I found everything about these worlds intriguing and enthralling. When we finally got the story of the fall of Black London, I was in awe. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to read that story as well. A lot of time in fantasy worlds, authors don’t take the time to explain how their magic system works. This means in a lot of fantasy worlds, the magic system doesn’t really make sense. I am looking at you, J.K. Rowling.

Before you start yelling at me I would like to state, for the record, that I basically grew up on Harry Potter. I will always love the series. That said, my point is still valid. 

I will save my magic system rant for another day. Because it is going to be a doozy. 

I really like this one though. It feels natural and makes sense in all of the worlds. It is what is called ‘soft magic’, where magic has an organic feel to it. There are some spells and some rules to the magic, but most of it flows naturally. 

Everything about these worlds and these characters has me hungry for more. I want to see more of Lila and Kell, to learn more about their mysterious past and see their friendship grow. They are so engaging and dynamic. They are complex. They evolve. 

I had a coworker refer to this series as a poor man’s Mistborn. Honestly, I don’t see it. This story is great in its own right. I mean, there is a reason that V.E. Schwab is a best selling author. She knows how to weave a fantastic tale in a world unlike any I have encountered before. 

I am curious to see what happens in the future between the three Londons. I want to see more of Kell and Delilah as they find themselves and their place in this wonderfully strange world. I’m also curious to learn more about Black London. I feel like there is much more to the story than meets the eye. 

I guess we will have to wait and see in A Gathering of Shadows.

Review: The Witcher (pt 1)

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For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world - for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt's responsibility to protect them all - and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

Following The Last Wish, Blood of Elves is the new novel starring Geralt of Rivia, the inspiration for the critically acclaimed videogame The Witcher.

I was first introduced to the world of The Witcher through the videogames. I spent some time on YouTube familiarizing myself with the events of the first two games because upon starting up the third I had no idea who anyone was or why I should care. Thankfully I was able to rectify that without spoiling anything.

That was when I first started falling in love with the world. The richness coupled with the hint of death and decay creeping around the edges. The interplay between an old world of magic and a new world of technology.

Needless to say, I was very excited to hear there was going to be a Netflix show. So excited that I decided to have the first book read before season one drops, so I can be caught up. 

I started with The Last Wish, a series of short stories that come before the first book. It took me a minute to figure out it was a frame story that jumped back and forth between then and now.  It was a great way to introduce the characters and how they all fill together.

It wasn’t until I started Blood of Elves that I really got into the story though. Andrzej Sapowski’s writing style varies differently between when he is writing long-form fiction and when he is writing short stories. I personally very much preferred the long-form style. I found it much easier to engage with and was quickly absorbed into the story.

There were a few interactions between Triss and Geralt that I was not particularly pleased with, but overall I do like their dynamic. A woman wantonly throwing herself at a man is never going to be something I like. Thankfully, these moments were few and the rest of the time Triss was incredibly competent and fiercely independent. So I can look past the few lines that made me cringe.

The Last Wish gives you a good taste of what Geralt’s life is like before the events of Blood of Elves. It establishes the world and the characters in a way that manages to not give away any of the twists to come. I know there is another collection of short stories, The Sword of Destiny, which came out recently. I found this out after I had started Blood of Elves, so I decided I would come back to that one.

There are so many moving pieces and so many questions littered throughout the story that I could not put it down. There are references to a prophecy that is connected to one of the main characters, but no one ever fully explains what it is. War lurks around the edges of the map, stirring up trouble within the kingdom and causing revolts. Alliances shift as each side is concerned solely with its own, eyeing to see which allies will most help them in the coming conflict. Agents seemingly tied with no cause flit in and out, leaving you to wonder whose side they are on.

There were many times where I had a hard time putting the book down. I became so invested in the conflict and in the characters that I had to know what happened next. The ending filled me with an intense curiosity and then, with a single sentence, left me with a vague sense of unease. 

Once I clear out more of my reading backlog I am definitely going to continue with this series. Until then, I am going to wait with bated breath for the release of season 1 on Netflix. 

I have been following Lauren Hissrich, the lead writer, since not long after I first heard about the show. Every bit of news she drops leaves me more excited than before. 

The Rating

The Last Wish – It may feel a little slow getting into this one, but once you get used to the style and pacing it is much more enjoyable. If you plan to get into the series, this is definitely the best place to start. The frame narrative helps provide context for the impact past events have had on Geralt, as well as how things have changed since then.

Blood of Elves – If you love fantasy, you will love this book. It will hook you from the very first page and it will not let you go until the very end. There is this sense of decay as the old world and all of its magic is being usurped by the new world of technology. Yet there is something ancient and powerful that is refusing to let go, creeping along the edges of the story to be addressed later. A solid start to a promising series.