and they have plenty to tell….
Shelley Parker-Chan's finale to the Radiant Emperor duology flips the board from the first book’s showcase of the dazzling brilliance of ambition and passion to a brutal, haunting dive into the muck of humanity's darkest. Parker-Chan takes their characters’ plights, desires, and choices into its brutal, yet natural and fateful conclusion as the race to rule Imperial China nears its end.
Tasha Suri creates a memorable breakout moment with her trailblazing The Jasmine Throne — first in a new epic, nuanced, and wonderfully complex story. A blistering, gutsy, and kinetic book, it's one of the finest fantasies I've read in 2021.
Like antiheroes, morally gray characters, and vibes reminiscent of "Killing Eve" all jam-packed in a dark Jamaican-inspired fantasy book exploring the duality of heroes/villains? Ciannon Smart's evocative debut is for you.
She Who Became the Sun offers a dazzling and exciting re-imagination of Chinese-Mongolian history, yet it stays true to its dark, blood-soaked roots. Parker-Chan deftly blurs the boundary between sweeping fantasy epic, historical fantasy, and literary fiction as she pushes the limits of said genres.
The Unbroken is a slow-burn military fantasy unlike typical entries in the genre; but it overcompensates (in a good way) for its lack of big set-piece action with a deep and emotionally engaging exploration of the personal marks colonisation leaves through the lens of a flawed protagonist, and an equally compelling character-driven romance. This is a debut quite unlike any other with devastating effect.
The Books are Rising 