Category: Genre: Fantasy

book review, Genre: Fantasy

2.5. She Reads Adult Fantasy: The Tyranny of Faith By Richard Swan

She Happily Reads Podcast

In today’s episode, I’m finally talking about one of my most anticipated new releases of 2023–and that is The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan! The Tyranny of Faith is the sequel to 2022’s The Justice of Kings, and it picks up right after the explosive events that occurred at the end of the first book. Sir Vonvalt, Helena, Bressinger, and Sir Radomir all head to the capital city of Sova to get to the bottom of the unrest and treason happening in the city. But before they can really sink their teeth into this endeavor, the emperor’s grandson goes missing, and Vonvalt and his retainers are charged with the task of finding him. Between trying to locate the missing prince, stopping Claver before he gets more powerful, and trying to cure Vonvalt of the mysterious illness that has befallen him, it’s a race against the clock to save the empire. If you love fantasy, and you loved the first book, then you do not want to miss this episode!

Listen to the latest episode here:

book review, Genre: Fantasy, Most Anticipated

2.1. She Reads YA Fantasy: The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

She Happily Reads Podcast

What a freeing thought it was to no longer believe I had to deserve something in order to get it.”

WE ARE BACK!

Season two of She Happily Reads is here, and I couldn’t be more excited! To start off the year right, I decided to select a highly anticipated novel belonging to one of my favorite genres–YA fantasy! The Stolen Heir is a great time, but was it a five star read? Listen to the latest episode below to find out!

Ladies and Gentlemen….Review of The Stolen Heir by Holly Black:

book review, Genre: Fantasy, Most Anticipated

1.19. She Reads Her Most Anticipated 2022 Release: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

She Happily Reads Podcast

It is rage, expanding so fast and so hot that it fuels itself beneath your skin. Grief so deep you are only an open wound, only pain. Pain so fresh that the world itself feels like it should be burning.

–Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

My most anticipated release of 2022 is finally here, and I couldn’t be more excited to share my thoughts! Today’s episode is chokeful of spoilers, so if you haven’t read both of these books (and you care about spoilers), then I would wait to listen to this one! The Legendborn Cycle is definitely shaping up to be one of my favorite fantasy series, for sure…

Listen to the latest episode here:

book review, Genre: Fantasy

1.16. She Reads High Fantasy: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

She Happily Reads Podcast

It was strange, how easily and quickly protection could cause destruction. Sometimes, Vasher wondered if the two weren’t really the same thing. Protect a flower, destroy the pests who wanted to feed on it. Protect a building, destroy the plants that could have grown in the soil. Protect a man. Live with the destruction he creates.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Ladies and gentleman, we are out of the woods! The reading slump is over and we’re back in it with none other THE Brandon Sanderson. This is actually my first Sanderson read, and I was NOT disappointed. Warbreaker is a complex novel that is as funny as it is challenging, thoughtful, and rich. You get magic, and love, and commentary on ideals that we can easily apply to our lives and beliefs. Thought-provoking, indeed.

Listen to the latest the episode here:

book review, Genre: Fantasy

1.13. She Reads YA Fantasy: Raybearer by Jordan Ifeuko

She Happily Reads Podcast

Only one thing is more powerful than a wish, and that is a purpose.”

–“Raybearer” by Jordan Ifueko

Raybearer by Jordan Ifeuko is the story of a girl named Tarisai who, by command of her mother, leaves the only home she has ever known to compete for a place in the prestigious Anointed Council of the Crown Prince. The issue is, Tarisai’s mother has instructed her to kill the prince once she has completed this task. But the only way to *be* anointed is to earnestly love the prince, and so Tarisai is torn between the mother she barely knows and the new family she is growing to love.

Raybearer is a powerhouse of a novel. It has strong characters, worldbuilding galore, and many nods to Nigerian culture. I am BEYOND happy that I picked this novel up, and I can’t wait to read the companion–Redemptor! Please check out this episode as I talk about my second five star read of the year.

Listen to the latest episode here:

book review, Genre: Fantasy

1.9. She Reads a Fairytale: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

She Happily Reads Podcast

“Words are seeds, Casiopea. With words you embroider narratives, and the narratives breed myths, and there’s power in the myth. Yes, the things you name have power,” he said.

“Gods of Jade and Shadow,” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The things you name have power. Meaning, the words we say have power, and words can come unbidden–rushed, and chaotic, without much thought, which can breed mistake and regrets. And words can come carefully–slow, well marinated, and thought-out–the results of many days and nights thinking. And words can give power to our knowledge, to our history, to our children as we pass down stories (both truth and both flights of fancy) that can enthrall, teach, and connect us to our ancestors. I particularly wanted to highlight this quote from the 2019 novel, Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia because this book, in many ways, is a love letter to the fairytale. To the folklore. It’s evident in the way the story is told, and it’s quite evident with this quote about myth, and the power that myths have.

Please listen to the latest episode of She Happily Reads as I break down the aspects of this novel that I loved, and the aspects that left me wanting a bit more than what I got. But, even coming away from not particularly loving this book, I have a deep respect for the narrative, the writing, and the loving care Moreno-Garcia has for the beautiful artform of the folktale.

Listen to the latest episode here:

book review, Genre: Fantasy

1.8. She Reads Adult Fantasy: The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

She Happily Reads Podcast

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, they were still willing to believe that because the Empire was geographically vast, and had armies and a complex bureaucracy and a religion and all the other great institutions that came with it, it would simply…endure. That it was an entity greater than the sum of its parts, rather than a huge collective delusion that required constant maintenance at gigantic expense of treasure and blood.”

–The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

When we think of justice, we often think of balance, of heavy scales finding themselves leveled by the addition or subtraction of weights. But justice is not a concrete, black or white concept. The definition of justice can change based on who is doling it out; for some, a life for a life constitutes as justice, while others think imprisonment is justice enough. Who’s wrong? Who’s right? Well, it all depends on who is in power. And therefore, justice is really more about power than right or wrong, than concrete definitions of fairness. Who holds the power holds justice in the palm of their hands, to do with as they will, and that’s the truth of the matter.

The Justice of Kings, the first novel in a new fantasy series, explores this theme–and does it well, might I add. Although I have some critiques, I’m hopeful that this novel could be the first building block in an explosive series that makes me think a little deeper around the world around me, and the power–and justice–that encapsulates it.

Listen to the latest episode here: