Court of Fives by Kate Elliott is a YA fantasy book and one that I found myself being sucked into even in the middle of a reading slump. I found the protagonists engaging and loved the world. I found it had a bit more substance than some YA fantasy novels. What I liked Cultural tensions. This is very much a tale of being caught between two cultures. Our protagonist, Jessamy, is the child of a Saroese father and Efean mother and struggles to fit in with either culture. Her father’s people, who are the conquerers of the Efeans, do not fully accept Jes as one of their own due to her mixed heritage yet her genteel upbringing closes her off from acceptance in her mother’s society. Jes herself also struggles to find her place in her world. The only time she can truly be herself is when she is training for the game the Court of Fives. Although we do not live in a magical society, this theme may still strike a chord with many readers. The Games. I really enjoyed how the game of Court of Fives permeated the story to a great extent. We see the games themselves…
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch is the first in a young adult fantasy series centering around Meira, a young refugee left orphaned when her country was overrun and conquered by a neighbouring power. It focusses on her struggle to locate the missing magical Conduit of Winter and to free her imprisoned countrymen. What I liked The world. I really enjoyed the world that Raasch has built for her story. There are eight kingdoms; four Season realms, each dominated by a single season (our protagonist is from Winter) and four Rhythm, whose climate cycles through each season. Each kingdom was wonderfully described and I loved their seasonal themes. The tensions between the kingdoms were interesting and well described and I appreciated the political machinations that were going on behind the scenes. The magic system. The magic system of the Conduits was fascinating, and I look forward to reading more about the chasm of magic and the Decay in future books. I always appreciate it when limitations are written into the magic system – often, they are as interesting as the magic itself. In this case I enjoyed the fact that certain artifacts are limited by gender and can only…
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken is a young adult fantasy novel, the first in a duology, marketed as a treasure hunt through time. It focusses on the characters of Etta, a young 21st century woman and Nicholas, a black man from the 1700s, both of whom have the genetic ability to travel through passages in time and space. They embark on a journey through time to locate the astrolabe, the series McGuffin, in order to prevent its falling into the hands of the Ironwoods giving them power to change history. What I liked The time travel system. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book. It was very well thought out and the rules and limitations were well explained. Often in fantasy it’s the limitations on magical powers that make them most interesting and generate the most interesting stories. At the risk of spoiling the novel I won’t say too much more, but this aspect was very well done. The character development. Writing believable and consistent characters is one of Bracken’s strengths. I could easily believe the characters actions and reactions based on what they’d already experienced. The social commentary. Having two characters whose race or gender has historically deprived them…
OK confession time; I couldn’t wait to start reading Queen of Shadows before writing my Heir of Fire review, so this is going to be a joint review of both books. For those of you unaware, Heir of Fire and Queen of Shadows are the third and fourth books respectively in Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. It is YA fantasy series with a kickass heroine and great worldbuilding. If you’ve not yet started it, I highly recommend checking it out. I listened to both books within a fairly short space of time and loved both of them. Because Queen of Shadows builds upon and develops characters and plot points raised in Heir of Fire, they are excellent to read together. Many of the cliffhangers in Heir of Fire are also resolved, which is very satisfying. What I liked Character development. We see lots of wonderful character development in our main character, Celaena. When we rejoin Celaena at the beginning of Heir of Fire, she is in a pretty dark place emotionally, reeling from the events of previous book Crown of Midnight. Throughout Heir she along with new character Rowan works to get her mojo back. This is a…