Fantasy – Marked for Plot

A Trade of Blood – Has the Magic Worn Thin?

I am remarkably behind on reading a lot of the hot new releases that have been coming out in 2026. Even ones I’ve been salivating for, like the new SM Hallow book that I have been promised gruesome necromancy, has been put on the backburner. But the Ana and Din series is one that my friends have all been reading too, so it got shunted to the front of the pile. This book brought me all sorts of fun ideas for my current tabletop role playing group – where my players are building up a cult to a god of mushrooms – but this was by far the most disappointing of the three. I’m not mad I read it, and it was an enjoyable time. However, I found myself wishing I’d picked up a different new release instead.

Because these are self-contained murder mysteries, you can probably read them in any order with minimal confusion. However, The Tainted Cup is not only the first in the series, but also the best in my opinion. It also provides the clearest on-boarding to the setting. This review will have some spoilers for early plot points (mostly the method of killing), so read on at your risk.

The Premise:
Ana and Din travel to farming country after the daughter and scion of the richest farming family turns up dead, with the likely culprit being the heir to their rivals, who control the great cattle herds of the Empire. As usual, all is not as it seems, and the killing method is far from typical.

Read if Looking For: murder mysteries, creepy mushrooms, ill-advised affairs

Avoid if Looking For: a serious critique of exploitative agriculture, truly weird worldbuilding

Mage Errant – A Concussion Victim’s Dream!

August has ben so much fun! I have finally been blessed to join the concussion club and had a string of days where reading visually was simply not an option. It’s been two weeks at this point, and while my stamina is on the low end, it seems like I got the best possible version of a concussion possible. Hopefully this is the last time I feel compelled to reference it (outside of my August wrap-up). Mage Errant ended up being my audiobook series of choice, and I had a lot of time with a sleep mask over my eyes floating in and out of consciousness, especially for books 1-3. Thankfully, this is a reread for me, so I never felt particularly lost or confused. That said, the things that are popping up for me in this review are much more heavily weighted on the back half of the series – which is generally the better half anyways.

This will have some light spoiler elements for the first book in the series, but nothing specific or consequential.

Read if You Like: creative applications of magic, school settings, battles that span hundreds of pages, ensemble casts with plenty of queerness, morally complex (corrupt?) mentor figures

Avoid if You Dislike: prose that could use a line edit, characters leveraging ‘story logic’, critiques of imperialism, tonal shifts across the series from YA to Adult (no sex)

The Dawnhounds – Fungal Cities & Fascism

The Dawnhounds was the Beyond Binaries Book club pick over on r/fantasy. We had our midway discussion last week and will be wrapping it up on August 27th! This is a book that feels extremely ahead of its time, and fans of Perdido Street Station are going to enjoy it greatly. It’s the type of unapologetically political Fantasy that has been getting more and more traction, but this was written in 2019. I left feeling mixed about this book overall, but I got my concussion right around the halfway point, which definitely is when I started enjoying the book less. For those whom are drawn to the weird worldbuilding and ardently political themes, I think it brings a lot to the table.

The Premise:
Yat is a police officer in a city that has adopted biotechnology to replace the steel and iron of its former oppressors. She tries to do right by the city, but as a queer woman, she gets little respect from other officers. After she is murdered and comes back to life with the blessing of some eldritch power, she gets wrapped up in a conspiracy far bigger than she can imagine. Her path takes her to a pirate crew that has answers about what happened to her, and a realization about the system she worked inside.

Read if You Like: vaguely indescribable interludes, weird cities, characters having a crisis of faith, insect bullets

Avoid if You Dislike: spores, negative depictions of police, the power of LOVE, authors refusing to explain everything

Chai & Charmcraft -Cozy with a Side of Politics

For whatever reason, I’ve decided that this is the year I try and figure out what types of cozy fantasy I actually enjoy. It feels like there’s a ton out there in the mystery and/or small business owner space, ditto with cottagecore vibes. However, I’ve found that type of story hasn’t managed to hold my attention much. My favorites have all diverged from that formula pretty heavily. Chai and Charmcraft struck a similar chord to Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard and The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. It’s more saccharine than either of these, but retains some of the sharp edges and personal stakes that form the core of my cozy fantasy preferences.

The Premise:
Faraj is the God-Emperor’s brother, gifted with prophetic visions that make him invaluable to the throne. On a single night of indulgence, he chases a vision of a man tending a Jasmine plant that has followed him for decades. This leads him to a bathhouse/brothel in the Catspaw district where he meets Asharan, the keeper of the bathhouse. The two are smitten with each other, but their encounter quickly has implications far beyond what either of them ever intended. It doesn’t help that the night brings a cat-familiar into Faraj’s life, which are banned in the palace.

Read if You Like: the politics of gossip, indulging the joy of children, fat protagonists treated with dignity, catfolk who feel like cats

Avoid if You Dislike: extended conversations, overly-sweet dialogue and internal monologue, unconventional Romance plot structures

A Long and Speaking Silence – Delicious Food, Deficient Social Skills

The Empress of Salt and Fortune is one of my all-time favorites, and I have a lot of love for the Singing Hills Novellas. I actually use two of them in my high school genre fiction class for a novella-focused book club. They had some of my favorite explorations of how truth isn’t always a single idea, that a story is just as powerful as an action, and using framing narratives in novel and interesting ways. This book, like some of the other recent entries in the series, mostly lacks those elements. I implore you to set aside your expectations and come in open to something a bit different. I enjoyed the book a lot more once I gave up those comparisons – it was hard though.

This is technically #7 in a series, but the novellas are all independent and can be read in any order.

The Premise:
Chih is new to their job and has arrived in a river town preparing for a festival. Their purse is stolen, so they wait tables as waves of refugees enter the city. They collect stories, do their best to help others, and listen to the advice of Almost Brilliant. Mostly though, they’re desperately trying not to fuck up while they fake it until they make it.

Read If Looking For: mouthwatering food descriptions, a story focusing on Chih, sassy birds, the exhaustion of working multiple jobs

Avoid If Looking For: fresh examinations of refugee themes, explorations of truth and multiple perspectives

Novella Readathon #s 31-32: The Curse Bearer Duology

As a middle school English teacher, I get swamped with essays and book reports about Percy Jackson and comparable titles. This means I sometimes grow weary of gods and monsters in the modern world, especially if they lend themselves to a more lighthearted or comedic romp of a story. I avoided When Among Crows mostly because I found Roth’s Divergent books to be fine, but relatively unremarkable in the crowded YA dystopia landscape. However, this book hit generally settled in a much better spot for a more mature look at a similar idea. If you’re looking for a story based on Slavic folklore with a bit of action, a bit of character development, and a bit of spookiness, this will be a satisfying read. I thought it was a hair predictable and lacked a wow factor, but I immediately put the sequel on hold with my local library. A much shorter summary of my thoughts about the sequel are at the end of this review.

Read If Looking For: Baba Jaga, monsters that typically don’t get much screen time, secrets in every backstory

Avoid If Looking For: plot twists you don’t see coming, deep internal monologues, realistic portraits of queer men

Novella Readathon #28: Nine Goblins

Nine Goblins has been bouncing around my noggin for a while. I have a soft spot for the green little buggers, and thought it would be nice for them to finally get the spotlight. This novella went the way most of Kingfisher’s stories have gone for me: I liked the story well enough but kept wanting it to be something a bit different than it actually was. I don’t think I’ll ever regret reading one of her stories, but I’m never chasing down her newest releases either. This was a fun backlog read that I’m glad I got the excuse to finally get around to!

The Premise:
Despite its title, this book actually follows two separate storylines (which of course intersect). The first involves the titular Nine Goblins, soldiers in the war against human expansion. Interwoven into their tale is of a veterinarian elf who treats a variety of magical critters and has a particular fondness for trolls. When the goblins’ mission goes awry, they must find their way home from enemy territory.

Read If: you’re hankering for a story about goblins (duh), always wanted your teddy bear to come to life as a kid, want to see what a countercultural elf looks like

Avoid If: you don’t want your silly story to get gruesome, you refuse to read comedic fantasy inferior to Discworld

Novella Readathon #27: The River Has Roots

I adored This is How You Lose the Time War, and I’d been meaning to get around to more work by Amal El-Mohtar. After reading three other Hugo nominees, this seemed like a logical next step. It is the third fairy tale novella nominated for the Hugos this year. I didn’t dislike this book, but I also didn’t fall in love with it like so many others have. Certainly I’d put it lowest in my Hugo rankings.

The Premise:
Esther and Ysabel are sisters who grow magical willow trees on the banks of a river flowing from the fae realms. Their devotion to each other and the songs of their work keep them as close as sisters can get. However, Esther has suitors; a neighbor looking to expand his financial empire, and a fae whose customs are alluring and frustrating. The story’s focus places relatively equal weight on the sibling and romantic relationships, with Esther getting a heavier focus than Ysabel.

Read If Looking For: the power of sisterhood, conjugation-as-magic, unknowable fae, lush prose, high quality audiobook production

Avoid If Looking For: tense plotting, twists and surprises, rigorous thematic work

Novella Readathon #24: The Summer War

I haven’t been super in touch with new releases, and thus have not read the vast majority of the books nominated for this year’s Hugo Awards. However, Summer War seems to have enough buzz to be a realistic contender for winning the novella category. Novik’s work has always been enjoyable, and Schoolomance is a series that I’ve reread more than anything else in the past few years. The parts of Summer War that I liked were divine, but is it award worthy? Probably not, because I thought the story missed some opportunities for depth. Overall I think Cinder House was superior in almost every way.

The Premise:
Celia discovers she is the first Sorceress in generations on the same day her older brother rejects his inheritance and leaves, abandoning her as well. She curses him to be loveless, her father goes into despair at his departure, and she finally realizes her other brother is more than a useless nobody. The King now wants to marry her into the Royal family, but she’s only 12, so that likely won’t happen for a while. And behind it all the threat of brutal Summer War, the hundred year conflict with the Summerlings, looms.

Read If Looking For: fey that feel truly inhuman, fairy tale structures, wordplay and tricks, original fairy tales

Avoid If Looking For: plots that flow naturally, good fathers, the true meaning of love

Novella Readathon #23: Of the Wild

I’ve been on a long kick of bad dads for this project, so I wanted something that I knew would not feature that character archetype. I actually almost read Of the Wild last year for the Parents Bingo Square. This book was satisfying, but probably not going to stick around in my head for a long time. I think it’ll be a good option for people who want a cozy fantasy that has a different vibe than most, or a different take on Romantasy than we’re used to seeing from the current boom.

The Premise:
Aeris is a fae who rescues children whose parents do not want them. However, the fruit of his tree, which allows his children to thrive and grow in arcane ways, are harder to find and less powerful every time one is picked. He is dying, and his tree dies with him. The Tall Ones are waiting to consume the children when Aeris can no longer defend his home. When a human dreams his way into Aeris’ domain, he sees a potential successor to take on his mantle once he passes on.

Read If Looking For: found family themes, love stories that don’t involve sex, cozy fantasy with some teeth

Avoid If Looking For: developed love interests, realistic portrayals of childhood trauma, bespoke prose