Staff Picks Category: Fantasy

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik [Book]

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Spinning Silver is a fairy-tale inspired fantasy set in Lithvas, a fictional country with with elements of Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian history and culture. The kingdom is ruled by a tsar. The economy is largely agrarian with barley and wool playing an important role. Winters are harsh. With its combination of Eastern European culture, fairy-tale like magic, and modern sensibilities, Spinning Silver has much in common with Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and folks who enjoyed Uprooted will enjoy Spinning Silver as well. That said, Spinning Silver is the darker and more complicated story, and much of that complexity and darkness comes from a simple fact: Miryem, the central character in the novel, and her family are Jews.

Though much of Spinning Silver is fantasy, the antisemitism that shapes the outlook of so many of its characters is not. Novik said in an interview with Paste magazine that “Spinning Silver is about my father’s family, and they were Lithuanian Jews who had to escape persecution”. Distrust is high and misunderstandings are common (Wanda, a farm girl, mistakes the family’s sabbath prayer for a magical spell), and Miryem and her family are always aware that their lives could be disrupted by anti-Jewish violence. And as moneylenders their role in the local economy is both welcome and despised.

Spinning Silver is about value and assessment, debts and promises, trades and bargains. Miryem’s strength comes ultimately from her recognition of her own worth and her insistence on not being undervalued. And Miryem, Wanda, and Irina, the three main women in the story, are all remarkable for their cool level-headedness and practical outlook. Whether trading in the market, bargaining with an otherworldly ice king, exorcising a demon, or deciding whether or not to accept the hand of suitor, these women stand up for themselves and make careful, calculated decisions. In Spinning Silver these well reasoned decisions and difficult compromises are celebrated and, at least in Miryem’s case, elevated to the point of high magic.

Spinning Silver is one of the most enjoyable books I have read this summer. If you enjoy a good fairy tale I highly recommend you give it a try.

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin [Book]

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The Fifth Season is the first in The Broken Earth trilogy, a complex narrative work of fantasy that tells the tale of a world that may once have been like our own Earth, but has suffered from repeated environmental catastrophe’s, the “fifth seasons” of the book’s title. The world is frequently subjected to seismic stresses and acid rains and societal breakdowns. To survive,folks rely on the knowledge—and prejudice—passed down as “stone lore”.

The Fifth Season paints a detailed vision of a world with a rich but incomplete history full of deep prejudices and injustices, its own unique vocabulary, and a magical system that is almost scientific. It ends on a cliff-hanger, so you’ll want to read the whole series!

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell [Book]

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Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On reads like a compact and quirky alternative Harry Potter. The parallels are impossible to miss. Our protagonist had no knowledge of the magical world until he was discovered and brought to a magic school where he quickly makes friends and begins a series of fantastic adventures. We have characters who clearly have analogs in Harry, Hermione, Draco, Hagrid, and Voldemort, and there are more subtle references as well. Carry On is more than an homage, however. It is an engaging fantasy with good world building and a satisfying plot. Many aspects of the book simply seem better than they have to be, which is delightful. The story is told from a number of viewpoints, each of which satisfyingly reveals something different about the characters. (The everchanging dynamic between our protagonist Simon and his rival Baz is a driving force in the book, and the contrast between their individual perspectives is part of what makes the book work so well.) The world is well thought out with complex politics and an intriguing, novel, and entertaining magic system. And Carry On is compact—it is as if Rowling had decided to tell the entire Harry Potter story in a single Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone sized volume that concentrated mainly on Harry’s last year, only touchiching upon earlier adventures in brief flashbacks.

The Diviners by Libba Bray [Book]

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An enchanting mystery that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end! A dark story of the supernatural set in 1920s New York City. Speakeasies, theater, jazz and plenty of twenties slang to keep you giggling.

The story follows a young woman named Evie O’Neill who possesses a power she just can’t explain. After Evie’s brother dies, she is sent to New York City to live with her uncle, a professor of the occult. A chilling murder takes place and Evie’s uncle is called in to help the police investigate the mysterious circumstances. Could Evie’s power help solve this disturbing mystery?

Bray’s characters will stay with you long after you finish reading. Stay tuned for the second book in this series, Lair of Dreams.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss [Book]

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This is a fun book, the kind that pulls you in and keeps you turning the pages. If you read it in a public place, however, you are likely to be interrupted by fans of the book who cannot help themselves and are eager to share their enthusiasm. Once I was even told, “I’m so jealous that you are reading it for the first time! I will never get to do that again!”

The Name of the Wind is a fantasy novel, and, to tell the truth, much of its plot sticks close to the cliches of the genre. A young boy discovers an aptitude for magic, learns all he can those around him, overcomes many obstacles, is accepted into a university where he excels beyond expectation, and goes on to do great things. And the hero, Kvothe, must, of course, confront a great evil, one that he takes seriously while those around him consider it only a fairy tale. Unlike most such stories, however, Kvothe, is a musician, and his changing relationship to his music is important throughout the book.

The world is richly built, full of detail, and the mechanics of its magic feel far more convincing than those in many other fantasies. The story is told from the perspective of an older Kvothe, now an innkeeper, who has done much since the events of the story he tells, but who has much more to do and learn as well. (This is the first book in a trilogy, after all.) Upon finishing the book you are left hungering for two stories—what happened to the young Kvothe in the stories, and what will happen to the innkeeper Kvothe, who you sense has much, much more in store for him.

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips [Book]

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The immortal Greek gods are in reduced circumstances in the 21st century, living in a dilapidated house in London and pretty tired of each other’s company by now. Their relationships among themselves and their interactions with the modern world are perfectly in character, smart and very funny. Now that the gods have had to get day jobs, Aphrodite does phone sex, Artemis is a dog walker, and Apollo is still chasing mortal women. It’s an ingenious concept and Phillips carries it through cleverly, unpredictably and hilariously. This is Phillips’s debut novel and I can’t wait for the next.

The Cabinet of Earths by Anne Nesbet [Book]

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Enter Anne Nesbet’s world and follow Maya on her magical journey, a story fantasy fans will love.

The Golem and the Jinni [Book]

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The book begins with two separate plot lines… The Golem, though a fully formed woman, comes to life in the hull of a ship headed towards America and soon finds herself masterless in a world that she doesn’t understand. The Jinni on the other hand, awakes on the floor of a tinsmith shop in little Syria after a thousand years trapped in a bottle. As the novel continues the stories of the characters become entwined and, in a beautiful example of storytelling, all of the pieces of Wecker’s mythical world fall into place, leaving the reader satisfied yet sad to reach the end.

This genre bending novel has elements of historical fiction and fantasy. Wecker has clearly done a lot of research and paints a vivid picture of New York’s little Syria and Bowery neighborhoods during the turn of the century. Lovers of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and The Night Circus will enjoy the rich detail and intricate plot line.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman [Book]

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Okay, this book did come out in 2001 and it is a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards so you may have heard of it or even read it already. If you haven’t read American Gods yet, if it has been sitting on your “to read” list, or has slipped through the cracks in some other way, I would like to confirm that it is a great read.

Part modern day epic, part rambling road narrative, American Gods has something for a variety of audiences. Neil Gaiman, best known for the Sandman graphic novel series, has again proven his abilities in adult fiction writing with this masterfully crafted piece of storytelling. I found myself sucked into the intricately woven plot line and fascinated by the combination of modern and ancient mythological characters. While at times dark and a little graphic (the main character is an ex-con after all), the story has an element of gritty realness not often found in fantasy novels.

I honestly don’t want to give anything more away because I enjoyed learning every new piece of the plot as I read and I think you will too.Whenever anyone asks me for a book recommendation, this is almost always the first title that comes to mind.

The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde [Audiobook, Book]

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This latest entry in the Thursday Next series of genre-bending literary absurdist fantasy adventure novels is immensely satisfying.  Fforde doesn’t miss a chance for a farcical or pun-driven punchline; the twists and knots and mobius strips in the overlapping plot lines make perfect sense in the impossible logic of his alternate world, despite (or because of) which, they still provide surprises.  Thursday has been pushed into semi-retirement but nevertheless manages to be at the center of the action, valiantly trying to save the world from Goliath Corporation (mission statement: to own everything and control everybody), the smitings of a wrathful deity, asteroid collisions, overdue library books, and genetically engineered fake versions of herself.  The reader on this Recorded Books version has done a brilliant job of voicing the many characters and pacing the reading with a deadpan nonchalance.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde [Audiobook]

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The Rook by Daniel O’Malley [Book]

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The body you are wearing used to be mine.
So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.  Set in an alternate London, Myfanwy discovers that her former self was/is a high-ranking officer of the secret organization, the Chequy, which battles supernatural forces in Britain. She quickly scrambles to (re)learn her job, while trying to figure out who in the organization wants to kill her. The character of Myfanwy is wonderful, and she handles her unusual situation with a wry wit.