06/05/2017
The beautiful fifth Raksura fantasy begins immediately after the events of The Edge of Worlds, tracing the various journeys of Moon, Jade, and the rest of the now-scattered Raksuran archaeological expedition as they seek to regroup, recover a lost weapon, and attempt to prevent worldwide genocide by their erstwhile allies. Having done the heavy lifting of characterization in earlier books in the series, Wells is able to focus here on exploring how the Raksura fit into the wider world, dealing with the prejudices that result from their previous isolation, their shape-shifting ability and other magic, and their biological connection to the predatory Fell. The Fell themselves give rise to some of the more intriguing social explorations, as more is revealed about the half-Fell/half-Raksurans who were raised among the predators. Wells’s worldbuilding strengths are on display, and she knows just what to explain and what to imply, making this volume accessible to newcomers as well as longtime readers. (July)
I have a friend who refuses even to start reading a series that hasn’t wrapped up. I get it. Lo, how many hearts have been broken by the long publishing schedules of, say, A Song of Ice and Fire, or the untimely death of a talent like Robert Jordan, hip-deep in Wheel of Time. My […]
For nearly two decades, Jim Killen has served as the science fiction and fantasy book buyer for Barnes & Noble. Every month on Tor.com and the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Jim shares his curated list of the month’s can’t-miss new SFF releases.
Many stories and novels published today use already known/established monsters, ones with an embedded history thanks to folktales from around the world, but work to give them a new or different twist. Monsters such as the kraken, vampires, selkies, kitsune, griffins, harpies, chimera, werewolves, unicorns, and more. Q: What are some of your favorite stories […]