Military – Marked for Plot

By Blood, By Salt – Slow and Nuanced Political Fantasy

I haven’t read a ton of the books in the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off competition. Some of the finalists I’ve liked(Wolf of Withervale) others I found supremely disappointing (By a Silver Thread), but the winners I’ve read have been universally good. By Blood, By Salt is the most recent winner. Its political and military pitch sounded very different from a lot of the self-published work I normally read, and there was enough in the blurb for me to grab a copy. The story feels surprisingly traditional and old-school, but Odom does a good job of layering fresh thematic elements on top of a tried-and-true framework. Imagine if Game of Thrones focused on a single storyline and was set in an Arabic-inspired society, and you’ve got a good portrait of By Blood, By Salt.

The Premise:
Azetla is a Jackal. His land and people are forbidden from carrying weapons, from holding positions of power, and from living free from violence. He serves as an unofficial commander in an archaic military unit free from much oversight. When a bastard prince decides to make a play for the throne, Azetla finds himself hunting a creature (demon, djinn, or devil he doesn’t know) in the southern deserts. But when they capture her, she has just as much of an agenda as he does, and Azetla’s first priority is to his people, not his country.

Read if: you appreciate minority cultural groups not being written as monoliths, scarily competent protagonists are up your alley, you want complex fantasy cultures influenced by West Asia

Avoid if: you like your books fast paced, want heavy supernatural elements, or are hunting for fight scenes, you want a breadth of female characters

Comparable Media: Game of Thrones, Traitor Baru Cormorant

Ninefox Gambit – Is Novel Worldbuilding Enough? Sadly, no.

I was first (and second) introduced to Yoon Ha Lee through school. His Korean middle grade space opera Dragon Pearl was quite popular for a few years running, and I use some of his short stories from the fairy tale-esque anthology The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales as part of my high school Genre Fiction class. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Ninefox Gambit very much. Lee is a phenomenal worldbuilder who avoids the need to explain every element of the world. In a military-action story however, that choice doesn’t work quite as well. If you’re looking for something weird and trans-coded, this might be for you. Sadly, it wasn’t for me.

The Premise:
Cheris is a commander in the Hexarchate’s military force. She’s got a gifted mind for maths and formation tactics derived from the Hexarchate’s calendar magic. When offered a chance at rapid advancement if she can offer a satisfactory plan to recapture a key military base captured by heretics. Her plan? Host the ghost of a long-dead traitor-general who murdered his entire force of soldiers when alive. He’s even more of a genius than she is, but can she trust his motives and advice to be for the good of her empire?

Read if Looking for: calendar magic, military commanders making tough decisions, sieges, sentient robots building their own culture, creepy shadows with nine eyes

Avoid if Looking for: familiar Space Opera ideas, clear space combat sequences, strong characterization

Stalking Darkness (Nightrunner #2)

If you’d like to see my review for book 1 in this gay epic(ish) Fantasy series from the 90s, see Luck in the Shadows.

It’s been a long time since I read a Mass Market Paperback, or enjoyed the smell of an old book. While my hand suffered some cramps during the final 100 pages, it was a nice hit of nostalgia for what reading used to be like. I enjoy reading on e-readers well enough, but the larger-sized paperbacks and hardbacks of our modern printing era are definitely more comfortable to curl up with. That said, I miss how inexpensive books used to be!

Anyways, this was a great sequel to a great opening of a series. As with book 1, be prepared for elements that feel dated and gross in our modern era. This book was a lot less of that than the original though, especially since I’d accepted and and compartmentalized from my significant qualms about how Flewelling set up the relationship between Alec and Seregil in book 1.

The Premise:
This book is a hodgepodge of Alec and Seregil’s adventures as the growing threat of war with Pleminar develops. Seregil goes hunting for more dangerous necromantic relics, Alec starts to do spy jobs solo, and they both keep feeling like people are following them. Alec learns about his past, we get a cryptic prophecy, and the villains make their move. Lots of classic fantasy elements, though this book continues to place a heavier focus on political or urban exploration elements than extended travel across fantastic terrains or grand battles you see in other epic fantasy works of the time like The Wheel of Time.

Read if Looking For: political intrigue, brewing wars, so many dreams, angsty pining, a sudden awareness of breasts and pectorals

Avoid if Looking For: books without rape or torture, lots of female characters, moral ambiguity

Ironbound

Progression Fantasy isn’t a genre I’ve spent that much time with recently. However, as I’ve been clearing out my Kindle Unlimited cache, it popped up and I said ‘fuck it, let’s take a risk on another Roman-coded setting.’ Will of the Many was fun. Not mind blowing, but fun. And I think that’s where I fall with Ironbound. The Holy Roman Empire may consume the minds of straight men, but 700 pages of it was more than enough for me to feel exhausted by the end.

The Premise
Castor has worked all of his (admittedly rather short) life trying to earn the Empire’s favor to gain magic. Few earn the privilege, for the metal granting these powers is a rare resource. The story begins when his school goes through their final tests, determining which students will become elite members of their society. Unfortunately, things go to pieces when a wolf-headed monster attacks the ceremony, and Castor takes the blame. HIs family dead, his life forever changed, Castor vows revenge against the Empire who wronged him.

Read if Looking For: an overpowered morally upstanding hero who has been utterly wronged, lots of fight scenes, Roman settings without any of the queerness from actual Rome

Avoid if Looking for: thematic depth, creative use of powers, female characters (even side ones)

The Sign of the Dragon

I have perhaps an unreasonably high bar for books in verse. Some of my early adult reading experiences were with Jacqueline Woodson, and the few science fiction and fantasy poem books I read just didn’t live up to the standard she (and a few others) set. I think I’ve finally found a speculative fiction book in verse I can recommend wholeheartedly: The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee was a delight, a wonderful read for the wintertime, and just generally heartwarming and heartbreaking. A great book to peruse a few poems per night, and I enjoyed reading this over the span of months, instead of my normal span of days.

The Premise:
Xau never thought he would become King. When the dragon on the mountain ate all his older siblings though, Xau passed her test and earned himself a crown he never wanted. Sign of the Dragon follows Xau’s journey as he discovers what kind of ruler he wants to be, oversees conflicts and alliance with many foreign nations, falls in love, raises children, faces supernatural threats, and tries to live a life that prioritizes kindness and acknowledging the humanity of all. The book also features many illustrations of various cinematic and/or emotional portions of the story.

Read if Looking For: epic and mythic stylings, idealistic leads, cozy books that also deal with grief, a constellation of POVs, horses (and a cat)

Avoid if Looking For: protagonists with real flaws, dragon-forward books, the thrill of battle

The War Arts Saga

This is a series that I find myself recommending a lot recently. Epic Fantasy meets Wuxia featuring steampunk Mongols is a really attention grabbing hook, and the series lives up to that promise admirably. I finally got around to finishing book 3 (somehow despite reading more than ever I find myself reading precious few sequels), so figured I’d do a write up for the entire trilogy. I left the series with mixed feelings, but definitely enjoyed the ride.

Read if Looking For: protagonists of many skill levels & ages, beautifully written fight scenes, chosen one subversions, grumpy mentors, sassy assassins

Avoid if Looking For: series that end as strong as they start, zero to hero storylines, clear good vs evil plotlines

The Rage of Dragons

Recently, my epic fantasy books have been political and social in nature. They’re wonderful, but I’ve been itching for the style of Epic Fantasy featuring big armies and world-ending cataclysms. The Rage of Dragons lived up to that promise admirably. It’s more action-heavy than a traditional epic fantasy, with less emphasis on worldbuilding than is traditional. It lived up to the hype, and while I’m not planning to rush into a sequel, its a series that’s on my list to return to sometime in the next few years.

The Premise:
Tau is a Lesser, one of the grunt class who is used as pawns in the great war of the Omehi people. He is smaller, weaker, and slower than the nobility, even before the ability of some nobles to turn into The Hulk with the help of the mages (who can also call dragons). His plans to join the military and earn early retirement with his sweetheart via grievous injury are ruined when his father is murdered by the nobility. Now, he swears to work tirelessly to grow stronger, and to kill the three men who are responsible for his father’s death. At the same time, the war grows more dire, and best laid plans will go awry.

Read if Looking For: lots of fight scenes, quick pacing, the power of friendship & hard work, African-inspired fantasy settings

Avoid if Looking For: chosen one protagonists, unproblematic romance subplots, dragons as a major part of the story (probably more in sequels though)

This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl #7)

Dungeon Crawler Carl has quickly risen to one of my favorite series of all time. It’s brutally fast paced, irreverent, and has a delightful blend of horror, humor, and melodrama that I adore. This review is for Book 7, which focuses on the much-awaited Faction Wars. Be warned, spoilers ahead for anything in books 1-6.

Carl has arrived at Faction Wars, ready to kill a few thousand offworlders, win a bunch of money for Donut’s fan club, and try to figure out how to keep both Katia and Donut alive.

Honestly if you’ve reached Book 7 of Dungeon Crawler Carl, you don’t need me to tell you whether or not you’ll like the series. If you’ve got no idea what this is, look at my review for book 1 linked above.

The Daughter’s War

This book is a prequel to The Blacktongue Thief, which was a story that I enjoyed, especially for some of its worldbuilding elements. However, I had some issues with the pacing of the book. It was engaging enough that The Daughter’s War, with its promise of brutal goblins, an engaging central character, and horror elements, was a powerful draw. In the end I liked it more than Blacktongue Thief, and the books can be read independently of each other.

The Premise:
It is the third goblin war. Horses are practically extinct, as are most of the men. Galva marches with a cohort of other women warriors, part of a new experimental corvid unit. Their monstrous birds were bred by wizards to kill the goblin horde, for the ‘biters’ fear one thing: birds. But war is brutal, and nobody comes out unscathed. From the very first page, you know exactly how much Galva is going to lose, but the journey is one hell of a ride.

Read If Looking For: scary goblins, scary birds, mysterious wizards, the horrors of war

Avoid if Looking For: cinematic action scenes, traditional hero’s journeys

Hyperion

Hyperion is one of those classic fantasy stories that’s genre defining, and often makes ‘must read’ lists. I have a rather thorny relationship with lots of these books. I find Lord of the Rings frustrating and Dune rather boring. I tend to gravitate towards lesser read early works, such as those by George MAcDonald. Hyperion though, is a classic that really captured my imagination and ran with it.

The Premise:
Seven Pilgrims are on a journey to see the Shrike in the Time Tombs on the planet Hyperion. There is the Priest, the Soldier, the Poet, the Templar, the Scholar (with an infant daughter) the Detective, and the Consul. And as time passes, they decide to share the stories that led them to this pilgrimage. This book centers around those tales, and is a clear reference to classic work of the English Language The Canterbury Tales.

Read If Looking For: gorgeous prose, deeply fleshed out characters, classical references

Avoid if Looking For: books without men writing women problems, books with a singular driving plot