Recommendations: Fantasy, Round Two

Hey all, Dani here.

Well, according to my new blogging schedule, Fridays are for either discussions or recommendations. Seeing as it is a fantasy reading month, thanks to joining Wyrd & Wonder, I figured I would re-start my recommendations series with Fantasy books I think are worth the read. Now, my last Fantasy Recommendations post was back in October 2017, so I’m going to try and keep all of my spotlighted books as ones I’ve read since that last post, which should make things interesting. Then again, I do read a LOT of fantasy, so maybe this will be easy.

Ooh…no, let’s make this a little more challenging. I’m just going to recommend fantasy reads from Nov 2017 until Dec 2018, because likely my fantasy recommendations from 2019 are going to end up on my Top Ten Reads of Jan-June 2019 here in a little over a month.

As always, if I have a review up for the book, I will definitely include the link as all of these reviews are buried deep in my blog by now.

Okay, let’s do this.

A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne – I loved Kevin Hearne’s Urban Fantasy series (Iron Druid Chronicles), so I was definitely curious to see how he would handle epic fantasy. Books with a main character who is telling a story about the other main characters are ones that I always find intriguing. The world was interesting, the magics were cool, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – Historical fantasy that is definitely well-researched and well-executed. I felt fully immersed in this story when I read it, and I can definitely say that I learned a lot about cultures quite different from mine. Plus, come on, a con woman getting in over her head and accidentally summoning a djinn warrior just sounds like an awesome time. I really need to find the time to read The Kingdom of Copper.

Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen – This one surprised me with how invested I got in some of the characters, including absolutely loathing one in particular. They were all vividly brought to life on the page, and again, I liked the magic system. Elemental based magics are generally rather interesting ones. And again, I need to read the sequel to this one.

Furyborn by Claire Legrand – Funnily enough I read this book last year on Memorial Day weekend while camping, so it’s nice for me that I’m bringing the sequel with me this year–oops, cheating on my pre-planned TBR already. I had heard so much about this book for months and months before it was released, and I can definitely say that I was totally invested in figuring out the whole Blood Queen/Sun Queen situation, as well as trying to figure out how the two main women of this story were connected. It was a fascinating story, and I look forward to continuing it.

The Monster of Selkirk Book I: The Duality of Nature by C.E. Clayton – It was thanks to a review/recommendation that I picked this book up, and I am so happy I did. Tallis as a main character was fascinating, and come on, having monstrous, feral elves as a huge threat in this book was just fun. You know, because I’m used to D&D and LOTR and the proud and noble elvish race. I also have a review up for the second book, and need to read the third book, but there are five or six in this series out, so they are definitely worth a read.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa – I love a good kitsune story, and I also tend to like Julie Kagawa’s writing, so this was bound to be a book I enjoyed. I loved the characters on a quest, adventuring across the land set-up, and the characters had some nice development throughout the book. Of course there was also a lot of secret keeping and deception going on, which will only increase the drama factor. Oh well, I am totally fine with that, and am counting down until the release of the sequel.

Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan – How often can I talk about this book before it gets annoying for people? I don’t care because it is one of my all-time favorite books. Emily got the idea for the story while looking at the scenery in Skyrim, and then based the divine magic off of D&D’s cleric class, and those two bits of information were all I needed to know to be all-in for reading this. What followed was an intriguing war between two countries, two interesting systems of magic (divine magic and blood magic). I am obsessed with this book and will definitely be reading it again soon-ish.

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan – There is a trigger warning on this book for sexual assault, so if that will affect your well-being then steer clear of this one. The resolve and determination and bonds of these female characters make this an intensely worthwhile story. I devoured it so quickly, and was completely wrapped up in the character relationships. And with some of the twists and turns throughout the story, I’m definitely interested to see where it will go in the sequel.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri – Another wonderful atmospheric read, with again, a really cool magic system. Yes, I would have liked a bit more description to the rituals and dances, but overall I still really enjoyed the descriptions and the story and the characters. Oh, and the romance was really good too.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – the only book on this list I don’t have a review up for. I’ll have to remedy that sometime soon. Brandon Sanderson, in my opinion, is currently the king of epic fantasy. His worldbuilding, including the politics, religions, magic systems, and more, are phenomenal. I have pretty much read every Sanderson book (still need to read his Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians series), and I have loved them all. I especially love that he writes huge doorstop length books that we still fly through as if they are little 300 page tomes instead of 1300 page ones.