"On a March afternoon a knight and a man-at-arms reached the gate of the Marenite city of Berat." My childhood love of the first book in the Song of the Lioness quartet, Alanna, failed to continue with either adulthood or the series, and alas we don't finish any better. Or any worse, so there is that. Alanna, always getting … Continue reading Lioness Rampant – Tamora Pierce
"I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life." In a world where magic is real, the downside is the existence of maleficaria (mals): nasty, dangerous creatures that feed on wizards and their mana, or power. Children, coming into their powers, are prime targets, and so a few hundred … Continue reading A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik
"It was the goths you had to watch out for." Four years ago something impossible happened: magic started working. All of those Latin incantations - used as graffiti or song lyrics or anything - suddenly actually worked. Only for teenagers, though, and only in the UK. Once you get a few miles offshore, it all … Continue reading Raising Hell – Bryony Pearce
Sometimes you're in need of something a little lighter in your viewing - step forward this high school musical with added ghosts! Julie is a gifted musician, but the death of her mother has left her too traumatised with the grief to return to the music they both loved. That is until she discovers a … Continue reading Julie and the Phantoms (season 1)
"Once, long ago, there was a man and a woman, and a boy, and a village full of people. And then the village burned down." I wasn't wholly enamoured with The Near Witch, but this short prequel story fleshes out one of the characters to the point that I wish I'd read it first. 'Cole' gives … Continue reading The Ash-Born Boy – VE Schwab
"It starts with a crack, a sputter, and a spark." Lexi lives in the village of Near, on the edge of the wild moors. She's grown up on tales of the Near Witch, and also with a great deal of freedom not usually allowed to girls. However, following the death of her beloved father, it … Continue reading The Near Witch – VE Schwab
"They say you can sail a thousand miles along the island chain of the Myriad, from the frosty shores of the north, to the lush, sultry islands of the south." Frances Hardinge has a wonderful skill with words, and an amazing ability to create strange new worlds. The Myriad is amazing: islands recovering from the … Continue reading Deeplight – Frances Hardinge
"The last person who called me by my true name was my mother, with her dying breath." Theodosia watches her as her mother's throat is cut, then her kingdom occupied by the invading Kalovaxians. Their leader, the Kaiser, is particularly cruel, delighting in keeping Theo - renamed Thora via repeated torture - as a trophy … Continue reading Ash Princess – Laura Sebastian
"The old spellmasters like to say that magic has a taste." The Jan'Tep live by fixed laws, all centred around magic and the oasis that boosts their abilities. By their 16th birthday, they must pass four trials to become a member of the clan, or else they are forced into a life of servitude. To … Continue reading Spellslinger – Sebastien de Castell
"Alanna of Trebond, the sole woman knight in the realm of Tortall, splashed happily in the waters of an oasis, enjoying her first bath in three days." Back in my childhood, I read and loved Alanna, never realising/getting my hands on any sequels. Aiming to rectify that recently, I found book 2 was a bit too … Continue reading The Woman Who Rides Like a Man – Tamora Pierce
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