Stephen King has it right when he says, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
I read a lot, but the past few months I’ve been slack about reading recently released fantasy novels. This month I’ve set myself the goal of reading four new fantasy books. And because I know you love books as much as I do, if you sign up for either of my mailing lists by the end of February you could win one of them – your pick of the title in paperback or ebook form.
Here’s what I plan to read.
The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
Blurb:
Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?
Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of Death and Destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…
But Akaran has its own secrets — thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most. . .including herself.
A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology. The Star-touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.
You can see my reaction to The Star-Touched Queen here.
Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen
Blurb:
Nettie Lonesome dreams of a greater life than toiling as a slave in the sandy desert. But when a stranger attacks her, Nettie wins more than the fight.
Now she’s got friends, a good horse, and a better gun. But if she can’t kill the thing haunting her nightmares and stealing children across the prairie, she’ll lose it all — and never find out what happened to her real family.
Wake of Vultures is the first novel of the Shadow series featuring the fearless Nettie Lonesome.
You can see my reaction to Wake of Vultures here.
The Wise Man’s Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two by Patrick Rothfuss
Blurb:
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.
So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view—a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man’s Fear, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.
If you’re the lucky winner and you prefer book 1 of the Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind, you can choose it instead.
The Obelisk Gate: Book 2 of The Broken Earth series by N. K. Jemisin
The blurb for this book is a bit spoilery if you haven’t read the first of the series, The Fifth Season, so here’s the blurb for The Fifth Season instead.
This is the way the world ends…for the last time.
A season of endings has begun.
It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world’s sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun.
It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter.
It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.
This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy.
If you win and you prefer The Fifth Season over The Obelisk Gate you can choose it instead.
You can see my reaction to The Obelisk Gate here.
Bonus: Dr. Potter’s Medicine Show by Eric Scott Fischi
And if I have time I’ll read this one as well (which means you can win it).
Blurb:
The year is 1878. Dr Alexander Potter, disgraced Civil War surgeon, now snake-oil salesman, travels the Pacific Northwest with a disheartened company of strongmen, fortune-tellers, and musical whores. Under their mysterious and murderous leader they entertain the masses while hawking the Chock-a-saw Sagwa Tonic, a vital elixir touted to cure all ills both physical and spiritual. For a few unfortunate customers, however, the Sagwa offers something much, much worse.
For drunken dentist Josiah McDaniel, the Sagwa has taken everything from him; in the hired company of two accidental outlaws, the bickering brothers Solomon Parker and Agamemnon Rideout, he looks to revenge himself on the Elixir’s creator: Dr. Morrison Hedwith, businessman, body-thief, and secret alchemist, a man who is running out of time.
I’m excited to start reading these books. Don’t forget to sign up to one of my mailing lists by the end of February for a chance to win one.
Sorry, this offer has now closed, but you should still sign up because castles.
Great list. Beware of reading Rothfuss. I love the series, love his writing, but the book ends without any wrap up and the next book is MIA. I’ve been waiting years for the 3rd and now barely remember the first two.
Thanks for the warning! It’s been some time since I read the first and I haven’t spontaneously combusted, so hopefully I can survive this too. 🙂
Good luck with your reading challenge! Let us know which one of these you liked the best. 🙂
Thanks! I’m a bit nervous about publicly coming out and saying I’m going to read all these in a month–I don’t like reading to feel like a race–but I think I’ll be fine if I can direct most of my reading efforts to these and not other books.
I plan to report back on all of them at the end of the month, which I guess means I should figure out how I feel about them. 🙂 Back to freaking out about having opinions.
I absolutely refuse to sign up for your mailing list. (I already signed up for your mailing list, didn’t I?) However, if you stumble across a humorous fantasy novel with a strong sub-plot that involves the kind and loving treatment of chickens, count me in.
I don’t see your email there (unless you’re incognito), but I’m not reading any books about happy chickens this month, so it probably doesn’t matter.
I do remember a book about a chicken I read when I was a kid. It was called Regina’s Impossible Dream (Regina being a chicken), but it was about people being mean to chickens. Regina was a battery hen who escaped, had lots of adventures, and ended up living on a nice farm. Because that’s what happens to most battery hens. I don’t recall it being humorous, though.
Well, that would explain why I haven’t been receiving your emails. I simply believed you were as slacker-y as I am, and hadn’t gotten around to sending anything out. I’ll sign up in…done!…and enjoy what comes my way. (But no fantasy novels for me, okay? They’re lovely and all, but too distracting when you’re as behind in your writing as I am.)
Yay, thank you! I’m sure I am as slackery as you – I have managed to send an email each month, but the gardening has suffered terribly.
I solemnly swear not to distract you with fantasy novels. I’m just writing a post about how badly they’re distracting me. 🙂