Over the summer, I began to read more fantasy than I ever thought I would. The genre was a like, and then I fell in love. I adore the fantastical worlds and elements that make up what never could be.
Here are some fantasy books that are either niche or simply adored.
- “Voyage of the Damned” by Frances White
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Frances White creates a world in which there are tiers of existence from low to high class. Concordia, the fictional location within the book, has managed to maintain peace between the provinces within. This book focuses on a twelve-day voyage, which happens each year, to celebrate peace.
On the boat, twelve heirs, one from each province, embark on the voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain to celebrate. Each heir is “blessed” with a magical ability. Each “Blessing” is different and private to the individual who possesses it, unless they are to share their secret ability.
Ganymedes Piscero, the protagonist, though aboard the ship, doesn’t have a “Blessing” and is known for being a disappointment and a slacker.
During the voyage, murders occur, and each blessed individual becomes a suspect. They’re at sea, with no place to go, and Ganymedes fears for his life with no “Blessing” to protect him, making his survival rate diminish.
As the bodies of dead blessed increase, Ganymedes has to decide to become the hero he wasn’t born to be.
The ultimate question is: can he discover the killer, or will the empire fall?
- “Vivid” (1/3) by Ashley Bustamante
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At just age five, Ava Locke, the protagonist of Bustamante’s extraordinary novel, begins her journey to join the Benefactors: the guardians and leaders. After twelve years, she found herself betraying them as she met someone possessing a forbidden magic type.
On Magus, red, blue and yellow magic reside, though yellow is banned to protect the people within Magus from their mind-control abilities.
A yellow magic-user named Elm escapes his imprisonment, going rogue. Ava finds herself invested in him and begins to learn about him to understand the banishment of yellow magic, while also developing her path to betrayal. She grows conflicted.
Ava has to decide. Are her rash decisions hers, or is someone else whispering into her ear?
- “The Spellshop” (1/2) by Sarah Beth Durst
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Kiela is not a people person. Kiela is accompanied by Caz, a magical spider plant. They have spent a decade preserving the empire’s dearest spellbooks to ensure the magic for the city’s elite at the Great Library of Alyssium.
During a revolution, the library goes up in flames, prompting Kiela and Caz to grab as many spellbooks as they can as they flee the library to a remote island where Kiela grew up. Kiela knows she needs to keep her spellbooks hidden and private, and she worries her nosy, overbearing neighbor may discover her secret as he helps her fix up her home.
Kiela discovers jam is one thing the local bakery in town doesn’t sell. She utilizes illegal magic in the jam as well as ripe berries plucked from her house to earn much-needed income.
As Kiela risks the consequences of using spells in her jam, she opens the island’s first (and much-needed) spellshop.
Will Kiela get away with it, or is it all too good to be true?
- “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller
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Patroclus, an awkward, exiled prince, encounters Achilles, who is considerably the best of the Greeks, being the son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and king Peleus. Achilles, strong and irresistible to all who meet him, takes a liking to Patroclus. Patroclus risks the goddess’s wrath as Achilles and Patroclus craft an inseparable bond.
Achilles joins the cause to retrieve Helen of Sparta, who has been kidnapped, and Patroclus clumsily follows his footsteps. “Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice,” according to Goodreads.
- “Shady Hollow” (1/6) by Juneau Black
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The fox, Vera Vixen, a newcomer to Shady Hollow, reports for the Herald as she has a nose for news. When Vera senses a recent death in the town may be a murder, she is determined to get to the bottom of the case, willing to go wherever it leads her.
Vera stirs up a mystery in which multiple lives may be at risk. She discovers town truths she never anticipated and realizes someone in town is preventing her from solving the case.
Her ability to crack the case will require all of her cunning and quickness.
Fantasy novels will always have a special place in my heart. Reading has become so joyous since I discovered these novels, and I hope to explore more fantasy titles in the future.
Reading fantasy allows you to entirely escape the real world and delve into a fictitious adventure. They’re truly perfect for any girly who loves hopping out of reality for a minute and entering a society that could never be.