![]() ![]() ![]() I would stop after the first three books, however. Bakker makes you think about more than just the fantasy world he created. The story of Kellhus, the Dunyain, Achamian the mage, Esmenet the whore and Cnaiür the barbarian has all the trappings of your typical epic fantasy, but Bakker turns them all upside down, twisting them beyond recognition into a story that’s at once depraved and hauntingly beautiful. But beyond that, this book and the two that follow it are some of the most compelling, best-written fantasies I’ve ever read. It’s dark-very dark, very violent and at times gratuitously so-with sexual violence that will make your skin crawl. It’s been described as a cross between Tolkien and Nietzsche. A Desolation Called Peace also expands on the first novel’s themes of memory, imperialism, and cross-cultural communication by showcasing the various ways the book’s well-drawn ensemble of characters each define and fight for their individual identities within the shadow of the devouring Teixcalaan empire.The Darkness That Comes Before is the first of Bakker’s The Prince Of Nothing trilogy. We see the unfolding events not only through the eyes of Mahit, but also Three Seagrass, the Teixcalaan government envoy who orchestrated this reunion with the ambassador Nine Hibiscus, the leader of military engagement with the aliens and Eight Antidote, the former emperor’s young clone and imperial heir. While the first installment in the Teixcalaan series was told solely through Mahit’s perspective, in this novel Martine takes the opportunity to build out this already immersive world. When a mysterious and dangerous alien armada appears at the edges of the Teixcalaan Empire, Lsel ambassador Mahit Dzmare is recruited to help lead translation and diplomacy efforts with this new species, whose means of communication seems to defy human understanding. As tension mounts with each passing page, Gwynne delivers exhilarating fights and gruesome battles with such vivid prose the choreography jumps off the page - even if you occasionally need to pause to google words like “holmgang” and “seax.” But while Gwynne is in no rush to unveil the driving plot, there is not a dull chapter in this fantasy epic. Meticulously plotted, The Shadow of the Gods takes its time setting up the overarching mythology and connective threads between the different storylines. The expansive scope of the world is quickly established, as the story vacillates between three main characters: Orka, a retired warrior who is forced to take up arms once again to save her son Varg, an escaped slave who finds purpose in the famed mercenary band the Bloodsworn and Elvar, a young warrior seeking to make her own name among the war band the Battle-Grim. Set in a Norse-inspired world where the gods once ruled - but now their human descendants are hunted down - The Shadow of the Gods is a commanding start to Gwynne’s new series. The book’s complex examinations of caste systems, imperialism, and the subjectivity of truth force characters (and readers) to confront their own relationship with power and historical narratives, while also delivering a spellbinding adventure that will leave you counting the days until the sequel. As the characters contend with fantastic creatures, cunning revolutionaries, and their own differing objectives, Okungbowa builds up the culture, politics, and history of this world in stunningly rich detail. The novel follows a trio of central characters: Danso, the frustratingly naive but good-hearted scholar who dreams of finding a place he fits in his intended, Esheme, a ruthlessly ambitious young woman determined to rise above her mother’s station in the Bassa empire and Lilong, a member of an island population long thought to be dead, who has the power to wield the magical mineral ibor. In Son of the Storm, Okungbowa delivers a wholly original story set in a bewitching and brutal universe inspired by pre-colonial West Africa. This cutthroat and sapphic novel will grip you until the very end as it follows Priya and Malini’s campaign to claim their power and get their revenge on the society that wronged them. This thrilling start to Suri’s new epic fantasy trilogy immerses readers in an intriguing new world inspired by India, complete with fascinating political intrigue and seamlessly built out cultures, religions, and nature-based magic system. But when Priya unintentionally reveals her long-repressed, forbidden powers in front of Malini, it sets off a chain of events that irrevocably bind their fates together - and may just reshape the entire empire. ![]() The one tasked with looking after the ruthless princess during her captivity is the tenderhearted Priya, who will happily do any task as long as it doesn’t threaten the anonymity she’s cultivated to hide her secret past. After refusing her emperor brother’s order to be “purified” through death by fire, Malini is imprisoned in an ancient temple until she accepts the pyre as her fate. ![]()
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