Stories and Book Talk

Tag: fantasy

  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

    Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

    Fourth Wing Book Cover

    Fourth Wing

    by Rebecca Yarros

    Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…

    Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

    But when you’re smaller than everyone else, and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

    With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

    She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

    Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

    Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

    Thoughts:

    I fell into the hype! I had a great time reading this book. It is important to keep an open mind while reading it. The plot is a hero’s journey, and Violet is in an endless survive-and-win cycle. Fourth Wing delivers for me in terms of adventure and that delicious win-for-the-underdog. This book is suitable for 16 years and above. It has a lot of violence, much like The Hunger Games.

  • Binti the Series Guarantees Adventure this May

    Binti the Series Guarantees Adventure this May

    Let’s fall into adventure. Binti is an amazing series that I got into this May. Read it in one sitting, falling into Binti’s world.

    Binti

    by Nnedi Okorafor

    Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

    Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

    If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself ― but first, she has to make it there, alive.

    Binti : Home

    by Nnedi Okorafor

    It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she found friendship in the unlikeliest of places.

    And now she must return home to her people, with her friend Okwu by her side, to face her family and face her elders.

    But Okwu will be the first of his race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years, and the first ever to come in peace.

    After generations of conflict can humans and Meduse ever learn to truly live in harmony?

    Binti: The Night Masquerade

    Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse.

    Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment have already claimed the lives of many close to her.

    Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend Mwinyi, to intervene–though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives–and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people, once and for all.

  • Defiant

    Defiant

    Defiant (Song of Chaos Book Three)

    by Michael R. Miller

    The great powers are stirring, and Holt and Ash are ready to return to the fight.

    A summons from the Life Elder sets them on a perilous mission, leading to steaming jungles and blistering islands where ancient secrets will challenge everything they know of magic and dragons.

    Talia, the Red Queen, is beset on all sides by pirate raiders and marauding mercenaries. Empress Skadi has abandoned her, battling uprisings in her own lands. As the noose tightens on Feorlen, Talia faces a difficult choice: let her people suffer or turn her powers against mortal foes?

    Osric Agravain has found hope with his newly bonded black dragon, but some wounds run deeper than flesh and bone. Along the Fallow Frontier, he seeks the inner peace that has long eluded him.

    And within the sanctum at Falcaer, Paragon Adaskar is struggling to unite the fracturing riders. If he fails, ruinous chaos will break across the world.

    For when Elders and Paragons quarrel, kingdoms will fall.

    Thoughts:

    I’ve been on a binge with this series. Three books down, and the adventure is still amazing. I like the pacing, although the multiple POVs in this book three have been challenging. Defiant contributes to the exciting existence of dragons, leadership, and a quest to protect.

    I’ve enjoyed the journey. There was a deliberate setup for books four and five, which is fine even though it may take me time to return to it. All in all, this is a great series to read with younger readers.

    He was his own worst critic, but he could admit one good thing about himself, the soldier, the general, the monster; when he decided on a thing, it got done. Do the job and do it well.
    ― Michael R. Miller, Defiant

  • Unbound

    Unbound

    Unbound (Song of Chaos Book Two)

    by Michael R. Miller

    Sometimes the world needs a little chaos.

    Unbound Book Cover

    Holt and Ash saved the kingdom of Feorlen against all odds. Now they are outcasts, alone on an impossible quest to unite the Elder Dragons. But they are children playing in a game of Dragon Lords. Trapped between the riders, servants of the Sovereign, and the scourge, even their luck cannot last forever. Their only hope is to advance their bond by any means necessary.

    In Feorlen, Talia faces a world unaccepting of a rider queen. Her councilors will not heed her warnings of Sovereign. Foreign powers threaten war and bloodshed. Pleas sent to rider headquarters fall on deaf ears.

    All the while, Sovereign regathers his strength in an ancient fortress. Enthralled cultists swell his ranks. Disillusioned riders flock to his cause.

    And his unwilling servant Osric Agravain scours the land for dragon eggs. There are new types of magic to be discovered, and Sovereign intends to control them all.

    Only the mysterious half-dragon Rake has a plan to stop Sovereign. To pull it off, he’s going to need a team.

    Thoughts:

    The fantasy journey continues in Song of Chaos Book Two. Holt and Ash continue on a dangerous quest. They still face prejudice over what is considered a weakness. Holt focuses on growing strength in this book. Talia faces a different type of prejudice. She must prove herself in a world that refuses to accept a rider queen.

    The big bad grows stronger too. The most exciting part about this story is that the good stays good, and the bad is very bad. It is a classic good vs. evil story which I appreciate.

  • Ascendant – Songs of Chaos Book One

    Ascendant – Songs of Chaos Book One

    Ascendant – Songs of Chaos Book 1

    by Michael R. Miller

    Holt Cook was never meant to be a dragon rider. He has always served the Order Hall of the Crag dutifully, keeping their kitchen pots clean.

    Until he discovers a dark secret: dragons do not tolerate weakness among their kin, killing the young they deem flawed. Moved by pity, Holt defies the Order, rescues a doomed egg, and vows to protect the blind dragon within.

    But the Scourge is rising. Undead hordes roam the land, spreading the blight and leaving destruction in their wake. The dragon riders are being slaughtered and betrayal lurks in the shadows.

    Holt has one chance to survive. He must cultivate the mysterious power of his dragon’s magical core. A unique energy which may tip the balance in the battles to come, and prove to the world that a servant is worthy after all.

    Thoughts

    What a great adventure story! It reminded me so much of Eragon. Ascendant is a fantasy story about dragons and dragon riders. Holt is not meant to be a dragon rider. He serves the Order Hall of the Crag, working in their kitchen. One day, he rescues a dragon egg meant to be destroyed but Holt cannot bring himself to do the deed. So, Holt breaks the rules and rescues the imperfect egg. It hatches into an imperfect dragon.
    Ascendant is a story about a struggle to fight against the status quo, an adventure filled with dragons and amazing fantastic magic.

  • The Awakening

    The Awakening

    The Awakening by Nora Roberts

    The Awakening (The Dragon Heart Legacy 1)

    by Nora Roberts

    In the realm of Talamh, a teenage warrior named Keegan emerges from a lake holding a sword—representing both power and the terrifying responsibility to protect the Fey. In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own…

    When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father—and it’s worth nearly four million dollars.

    This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why she kept seeing that silver-haired, elusive man, why she imagined his voice in her head saying Come home, Breen Siobhan. It’s time you came home. Why she dreamed of dragons. And where her true destiny lies—through a portal in Galway that takes her to a land of faeries and mermaids, to a man named Keegan, and to the courage in her own heart that will guide her through a powerful, dangerous destiny…

    Thoughts:

    The Awakening is book one of the Dragon Heart Legacy series. Breen Kelly is an unsure young woman doing her best to pay for her student debt while working a job she does not enjoy. She has personal struggles and manages cases of anxiety. Breen is doing the best she can with her life. Then, she discovers her mother has hidden a secret from her. One that would have changed her life, a secret that does change her life. Breen then embarks on a journey to discover her true passion.
    I love how we meet Breen in a moment where she is doing her best with what she has known. When she discovers her mother’s secret, she has to have the courage to take the next step. The key to her choice to make changes in her life is courage. Courage that sends her on an unforgettable journey. I loved the world-building. The series is at the start, and hopefully, it will get even more amazing.

  • Belladonna

    Belladonna

    Belladonna Book Cover

    Belladonna

    by Adalyn Grace

    Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each one more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation, and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.
     
    However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful—and more irresistible—than she ever dared imagine.

    Thoughts:

    A story about a girl who is immune to Belladonna, hence the title. This book has a delicious gothic mood to it, down to a gothic manor filled with eccentric family members, and Signa, the main character, who is discovering the mystery of her existence. I enjoyed the impact of the opening scene. It was a great opening for the most unlikely character in this story, Death. Signa and Death have a strong connection that only grows from the opening scene, all the way to their unlikely relationship.
    This is certainly a unique story. Mostly, I loved how gothic it felt, from the eighteen-hundred setting, the parties, and the use of Belladonna itself.

  • The Dragon King’s Imperial Wrath

    The Dragon King’s Imperial Wrath

    The Dragon King’s Imperial Wrath

    Written by Aki Shikimi | Art by Akiko Kawano

    Thirteen clans rule the land, and the Rat Clan is the weakest. Ruiying, the princess of the Rat Clan, is summoned to the land of the dominating Dragon Clan along with princesses from the other clans. The Dragon King seeks a bride, and they are all candidates! Yet instead of vying for the Dragon King’s favor, Ruiying takes refuge in the palace’s enormous library–a place she can read to her heart’s content. It’s there that the Dragon King discovers her by chance, sparking an immediate connection that will change Ruiying’s life forever!

    Thoughts:

    The artwork is so beautifully done, I love it. I enjoyed the world-building in this volume. And Princess Ruiying is a great protagonist. This reads like a cute, fast romance story, that is not asking too much from the reader. The series is a fast read, I loved how easy going I felt reading it.

  • Circe by Madeline Miller

    Circe by Madeline Miller

    Circe

    by Madeline Miller

    In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

    Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

    But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.

    Book Thoughts:

    Circe. I read this with expectation. Greek Mythology is so very fascinating, but Circe is not the book to discover more about Zeus. It is about Circe, a girl born to Helios, who grows up learning she is not his favorite child. Every moment as she grows up is excruciating lonely, and I hoped she would find moments of happiness with every turn of the page.

    That is one thing gods and mortals share. When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world.”

    This retelling of Circe focuses on a goddess’s internal world as she faces judgment from her parents, siblings, the titans and Olympians. She finds herself isolated and in the isolation, she finds her center and the will to fight the cage.

    You have always been the worst of my children,” he said. “Be sure not to dishonor me.” “I have a better idea. I will do as I please, and when you count your children, leave me out.”

  • Daughter of the Moon Goddess

    Daughter of the Moon Goddess

    Daughter of the Moon Goddess

    Daughter of the Moon Goddess

    by Sue Lynn Tan

    Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

    Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

    To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

    Thoughts:

    Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a story inspired by the Legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess.  Xingyin is the daughter of the moon goddess. She lives a peaceful life at the start, but a moment of curiosity changes her life forever. She soon discovers her mother’s life is in dire straits, and her existence as the daughter of the Moon Goddess is even more dangerous. Her mother urges her to flee to save her life. Xingyin makes it to relative safety and discovers a new world in the Celestial Kingdom. She trains along a celestial kingdom prince and does her best to become stronger. Her goal is to save her mother.

    I love that this story is so plot driven, taking you from Xingyin’s cozy life with her mom when she knows no strife. Then, she flees and must struggle to survive, to fighting to grow her strength, and in the end, discovering a path she can follow to save her mother. It’s a rollercoaster fantasy quest and I was there for every minute of it.