I have a great passion for fantasy books and from a very early age spent any time I could with my nose in a fantasy book traveling to fantastical worlds. In my teens, I got into dungeons and dragons and began creating my own worlds and stories until I took the next step and decided to write my own stories. I work as a prison guard and while too busy during the day to write or read much I have many nightshifts that allow me ample reading and writing time. I still run role-playing games once a week and am always searching for that next great book to read.
I chose this book because it is simply one of the best Fantasy books I've read so far and literally kept me up reading all night. The world building is highly immersive, and the prose is beautiful and dark in this grimdark tale told in the first person POV, which adds great self-reflection of the protagonist as an anti-hero who is trying to discover who he once was and whom he is becoming. I really loved this gripping tale that has a solid magic system and many twists and turns throughout. I must include a trigger warning because the book does have elements that some readers may find upsetting. This book literally kept me up reading all night.
A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past.
There was a woman.
There was a sword.
There was an end to sorrow.
Khraen walks the obsidian path.
REVIEWS: "Honestly, this is my favourite book. Best one I've read in my life, alongside (and on a par with) Prince of Thorns." — booknest.eu
If you are like me and enjoy grimdark novels, then this one is for you. This coming-of-age story has it all. Politics, magic, and an amazingly rich setting that explores multiple cultures told by three great protagonists. The story gripped me at the start and didn’t let me go until the very last word. Richard Nell’s breathtaking storytelling ability is made even more impressive due to Kings of Paradise being his debut novel. This is another book that needs a trigger warning.
Winner of the 2018 IRDA for fantasy / 2018 Reader's Favorite Gold Medalist #1 Best Seller in Canadian Dark Fantasy 99% liked it (Goodreads) A deformed genius plots vengeance while struggling to survive. A wastrel prince comes of age, finding a power he never imagined. Two worlds will collide. Only one can be king.
★★★★★ "This dark fantasy epic will be held up against George R.R. Martin's masterwork, A Song of Ice and Fire. Read this book now so you can act pompous around your friends when HBO turns it into a television series." - Goodreads
I chose this book because I love fantasy novels that explore different cultures and I had heard the book described as Game of Thrones meets Gladiator. This book is an African-inspired revenge story with a protagonist that is easy to become invested in and relate to as his intimate story of revenge unfolds. With a really cool magic system and truly memorable battles, I found this complex novel hard to put down as it tackled themes such as revenge, love, inequality, and war. Oh, and it has dragons.
Game of Thrones meets Gladiator in this blockbuster debut epic fantasy about a world caught in an eternal war, and the young man who will become his people's only hope for survival.
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP 100 FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME Winner of the Reddit/Fantasy Award for Best Debut Fantasy Novel
The Omehi people have been fighting an unwinnable war for almost two hundred years. The lucky ones are born gifted. One in every two thousand women has the power to call down dragons. One in every hundred men is able to magically transform himself into a bigger,…
I chose this book because I have a love of Asia, especially Japan and this story has a rich Asian setting with martial arts, yakuza-like elements, and a magic system based around the precious stone, jade that provides the wearer with special abilities. I also like how the story is centered around a family and the complex relationships between the different members which you don’t see very often in fantasy novels. This complicated family saga had me engrossed as it racked up the tension with great pacing, awesome characters, and dialogue.
'An epic drama reminiscent of the best classic Hong Kong gangster films but set in a fantasy metropolis so gritty and well-imagined that you'll forget you're reading a book' KEN LIU
'Gripping!' ANN LECKIE, author of Ancillary Justice and The Raven Tower
'Lee's astute worldbuilding raises the stakes for her vivid and tautly-described action scenes' SCOTT LYNCH, author of The Lies of Locke Lamora
*****Shortlisted for the Nebula Awards, the Locus Awards, the Aurora Awards, the Sunburst Awards and an Amazon.com Best Book of the Month*****
I chose this book because of a comment written by Charles Stross. "Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space." This book intrigued me from page one and is a mystery built around necromancy and love. It is a story that is slow to get going but the complex protagonist and the amazing world building were enough to hold me riveted until the story really explodes. The mystery is expertly told with twists, false leads, and a cast of characters that you won’t easily forget. The main character is irreverent, sarcastic, and damaged and I really grew to love her through this book. This book was unlike any other fantasy novel I have ever read.
15+ pages of new, original content, including a glossary of terms, in-universe writings, and more!
A USA Today Best-Selling Novel!
"Unlike anything I've ever read. " --V.E. Schwab
"Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!" --Charles Stross
"Brilliantly original, messy and weird straight through." --NPR
The Emperor needs necromancers.
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.
Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth, first in The Locked Tomb Trilogy, unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as…
Blamed for his father’s death and struggling to come to terms with the power he carries within, Ishmael wants answers but the time to find them has passed. Now those who fight to return the magic that was lost in the Severing are hunting Ishmael and all who hold the key to its arrival, the coterie of the heart.
A fractured mind or a global conspiracy? Uncovering the truth can be hell when nobody believes you… and you can’t even trust yourself.
"A fantastic science fiction thriller with a sincere and important message.”—Kirkus Reviews.
“A breathtaking, deeply dark alternate-history Earth with complex characters, layered worldbuilding, and twist after twist after twist.”—Julianna Caro, Reedsy Discovery.
Broken Mirror is the first volume in a queer psychological science fiction saga that looks at the stigma of mental illness and the hellish distrust and alienation that goes with it.
Broken Mirror: the start of a smart, complex, and imaginative cyberpunk alternate history saga. Literary science fiction from a fresh, young voice.
In a skewed mirror universe, a mentally ill young man searches for his grandfather’s killer.
Someone killed Jefferson Eastmore. His grandson Victor is sure of it, but no one believes him.
Diagnosed with mirror resonance syndrome and shunned by Semiautonomous California society, Victor suffers from hyperempathy, blank outs, and sensory overload. Jefferson devoted his life to researching mental illness and curing Broken Mirrors like Victor through genetic engineering, but now that he’s gone, Victor must walk a narrow…
