Set in Lemberg’s intricate and expansive Birdverse world, this fantasy novel is about characters confronting the end of the world, that is, the impending destruction of their island nation.
It is also about the tender and complex relationship that grows between Erígra, a poet, and Ranra, a leader desperately trying to save the island.
This book is filled with richly nuanced depictions of different gender identities, sexualities, and neurodivergent experiences; Erígra and Ranra’s society embraces queerness in many ways, but that doesn’t mean everyone finds it easy to figure out, explain, or be seen for who they are.
Meanwhile, the story poses questions about duty and choice and about what we make time for even when the world might be ending. This is a lovely and compelling book.
In this first full-length novel from the acclaimed Birdverse, new love blossoms between an impatient starkeeper and a reclusive poet as they try together to save their island home. Nebula, Locus, and Ignyte finalist R. B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves) has crafted a gorgeous tale of the inevitable transformations of communities and their worlds. The Unbalancing is rooted in the mystical cosmology, neurodiversity, and queerness that infuses Lemberg’s lyrical prose, which has invited glowing comparisons to N. K. Jemisin, Patricia A. McKillip, and Ursula K. Le Guin.
[STARRED REVIEW] “Lovingly crafted with a deep and rewarding world full of…
This is the second and final volume in Parker-Chan’s breathtaking Radiant Emperor duology.
I love the alternate, 14th-century China setting and the fact that, while this is a fantasy, the focus is much more on the characters’ emotions, inner lives, and relationships than on the speculative elements. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of high-stakes plot developments, because there are!
But each character’s arc is a detailed study of how past suffering can set people on horribly destructive paths. Some of these characters cannot help hurting themselves in their commitment to achieving things they’d probably be better off letting go of.
The ways in which their paths cross make for incredibly interesting character dynamics. This novel is engrossing and gorgeously written.
The sequel and series conclusion to She Who Became the Sun, the accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China. Mulan meets The Song of Achilles.
How much would you give to win the world?
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.
But Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband―and she’s strong…
This is another alternate history with fantastical elements: in the mid-20th-century United States, women begin spontaneously transforming into dragons, sometimes unleashing destruction upon their husbands.
Barnhill’s novel is unapologetically feminist and angry in the best way, and gripping too. Heroine Alex recounts her often stifling girlhood and adolescence and her struggles to understand the divergent choices her mother and beloved aunt make with regard to their children and the siren call of “dragoning.”
Barnhill then pushes the thought experiment of her premise even further, imagining not only how women turning into dragons would shape society but what new world could be built when the dragons return to their loved ones. I wasn’t expecting but very much appreciated the warmth and hopefulness of this new world.
A KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF 2022 • A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are. • The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a…
Marah has a talent for music and a passion for languages but no magic, which makes her a lowly sparker in a city ruled by rich magicians. One winter, a mysterious illness strikes, killing magicians and sparkers alike. As Marah’s best friend and younger brother fall sick, she finds an unlikely friend in Azariah, a wealthy magician boy. While deciphering a forgotten book, Marah and Azariah stumble upon a possible cure, along with a shocking discovery that upends everything they thought they knew about magic and the city they call home. Their pursuit of the cure leads them into the heart of a magical government where sparks of dissent may be even more deadly than the spreading plague.
