I’ve decided that, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to be participating in WWW Wednesdays, which is a meme hosted over at Taking On a World of Words. To take part, you just answer the three questions below, and link back to TOaWoW!
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads
A Conjuring of Assassins is Cate Glass's second adventure with the Chimera team, a ragtag crew who use their forbidden magic for the good of the kingdom.
Romy and her three partners in crime—a sword master, a silversmith, and her thieving brother—have embraced their roles as the Shadow Lord's agents, using their forbidden magic to accomplish tasks his other spies cannot.
Now, the Shadow Lord needs them to infiltrate the home of the Mercediaran Ambassador and prevent him from obtaining information that would lead to all-out war with Cantagna's most dangerous enemy.
To succeed, they will have to resurrect long-buried secrets, partner with old enemies, and once again rely on the very magics that could get them sentenced to death.
This is a reread in preparation for the next book in the series being released next week!!! It’s an absolute joy to return to these characters, though, and I’m hoping that this time around I’ll actually manage to review each book!
WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?
Genres: Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, polyamory, M/F/F/M
Published on: 31st January 2021
Goodreads
A lyrical and dreamy reimagining of Dracula’s brides, A DOWRY OF BLOOD is a story of desire, obsession, and emancipation.
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband’s dark secrets.
With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.
Oh my gods, I loved this book so much. I can’t wait to sit down and review it! But I can tell you now that it’s out on the 31st and you REALLY need to preorder it. It’s even better than it sounds!!!
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?
Published on: 20th July 2021
Goodreads
Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.
“I refuse to be nothing…”
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.
A lush, fresh literary voice merges with commercial appeal in this accomplished debut. Powerful and poetic, beautiful and brutal, She Who Became the Sun is a bold reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
I can’t believe I got an arc of this??? The hell??? I am a baby blogger and this is one of the biggest fantasy releases of the year??? I am not worthy???
Needless to say, I am very excited.
Here ends the weekly check-in! What are you reading this week?
I’ve nearly finished The Forever Sea by Joshua Johnson so I’ll be back in a day or two to read your review :) I’m enjoying the concepts but I Have Questions (just for a change) about some of the world-building.
Up next? Hmm, probably The Archive of the Forgotten by AJ Hackwith as a fast, fun read before I tackle psychological space drama (The Edge by James Smythe) – but I might have to inhale Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard first too!
And hooray for She Who Became The Sun – I hope you enjoy :)
I’m so excited to get to Archive – I’m rereading the first book at the moment so it’ll all be fresh in my mind when I dive into Archive!
And you’ve already commented on my Forever Sea review, so I’ll go pounce on that now!