After finishing Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar last month, I thought I'd explore a couple more SPFBO nominated works and let me tell you, they did NOT disappoint. HL Tinsley's We Men of Ash and Shadow introduces us to John Vanguard, background fader and assassin extraordinaire with a checkered reputation and a mission to unravel why the last war happened. Vanguard becomes the unlikely mentor to an aspiring assassin and discovers a revolution in the making. Vanguard finds himself pitted against his equally talented former pupil. This SPFBO finalist, adult fiction book is engrossing and serves as the jumping off point for a new series, The Vanguard Chronicles. Adult themes and subject matter included so maybe not the best idea for young or sensitive readers.
If you're hankering for a new epic fantasy with dragons, minotaurs, vampires, demons, good vs. evil, and strange magics, SPFBO nominee The Forever King by Ben Galley will be right up your alley. Weaving bits of Norse mythology into a dense, chonky narrative, the 600+ pages of The Forever King will wear you out, make you laugh, piss you off, give you hope, stomp on that hope, and leave you begging for more. Galley creates a world and power structure which should make Tor Publishing angry and jealous they didn't get the chance to add it to their stable. I have no idea if Galley tried to traditionally publish but if so, the trads missed out by passing on this one. Follow the tale of Mithrid, a teenage refugee in the frozen lands of Scalussen, as she discovers the dangerous and valuable magic which resides within. Rebel king, Farden, hopes Mithrid will use her talents to help him overthrow the greedy and corrupt Emperor Malvus, thus freeing Emaneska from his ever-tightening stranglehold. I suffered from extreme book hangover when I finished this one...even so, I need a few days to recuperate before moving on to the sequels. I'm exhausted.
Unknown Number by Anna Grace steps way outside my comfort zone. I don't usually read romance or thrillers and this one serves up both. Packing a super-satisfying twist at the end, this little book rolls along with predictably attractive characters in relatively unchallenging relationships which often border on the schmaltzy. UNTIL THE TWIST! Here I was just bee-bopping along, not bored but not enthralled either, when BOOM! All of a sudden my heart is racing and I am racing myself to the final page.
I love historical fiction but with the glut of WWII works in the field, I'd become a little "meh" and haven't read much in the genre recently. Still, They Went Left by Monica Hesse, caught my attention. So many works which place themselves in the WWII era focus on stories from during the war and life in the camps. While those stories are compelling and interesting, often highlighting true and incredible events, for me, it just felt like there were pieces of history which were being overlooked. Hesse shines her spotlight on camp survivors as they try to piece together themselves, their psyches, and their families after liberation. The guilt of survival, the foreignness of familiarity, the desperation for hope, the agonizing wait for news. All of these are front and center in They Went Left as it tells us of Zofia's search for the only member of her family she believes might have survived, her younger brother, Abek. Hesse does a wonderful job exposing Zofia's strength and frailty without making her seem superhuman or pitiful. I couldn't walk away from Zofia. You shouldn't either.
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