👑👸⚔️🤴👑 Perhaps Too Much Fantasy?

 

        I am getting wrapped up in Romantasy, and I regret reading Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry because it is the first of a trilogy. The second one won't be released until spring 2026. 

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I found the book captivating with a dynamic plot and an evolving, strong female protagonist. A neglected, disregarded princess is chosen over her promised sister to be a Sparrow Bride. The kingdoms on the continent force peace among prone-to-war kingdoms by exchanging a king's daughter to be the next queen and produce an heir. This sets up an enemies-to-lovers situation, but Perry slyly keeps her readers guessing. It is told in the first person by Princess Odessa and gives an urgency and tension. I liked the book and look forward to reading the sequels; however, this book won't challenge any conceptions about life or the patriarchy. It is formulaic, but it uses the formula well. 

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    Robert Jackson Bennett writes science fiction that is both entertaining and thinky-thinky. He has won the Edgar Award, and I hope he also receives a Hugo, because he deserves it. He reminds me of Adrian Tchaikovsky, the author of the Children of Time series. A Drop of Corruption continues the adventures of Ana and Din, a detective duo akin to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The series is a high fantasy, well-crafted, believable world facing enormous challenges from invading leviathans and internal corruption. The world is a layered empire that is gritty, messy, and brilliant as it wrestles with petty bureaucrats, the vengeful oppressed, arrogant rulers, and those trying to make sense of it.

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   Contains spoilers! Not my first time reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, but each time I get pulled into the story. I can't wait to find out if, once again, Marianne will recover from the dreadful blow dealt her by Willoughby, if Elinor can bear the weight of losing her true love, and if the Dashwood women will survive in their reduced circumstances. I don't ever remember reading the scene where Willoughby comes, drunk, because he hears Marianne is dying, and gives Elinor his excuses for his behavior. What a selfish cad! 

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🦑🌆🌊Two Five Star Books in One Week! 🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟

 

    I was intimidated by City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett because it was a big book. Every word is needed to build Bennett's fantastic world. The book stands alone quite well, even though it is the first of a trilogy. It reminds me of The Expanse series, but as a fantasy. There is political intrigue wrapped up with spies, revolutionaries, former conquerors, and the now triumphant, but once enslaved. Many characters have big feelings about this reversal of fortunes and wrongs committed in the past. At the heart of the story is Shara Thivani, a covert operative who has come to investigate the murder of her mentor, but she discovers much more. I'm giving the book five stars on Goodreads — rare for me — but it is excellent in its plot, characters, setting, and ideas. 

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    I read Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson in a day. The story and characters were captivation and lovely. 32-year-old Mad runs an organic farm in Tennessee with her single mother. Her dad left when she was twelve, and it has frozen her in place, unable to leave her mother alone to carry on the farm, and unwilling to allow anyone close enough to hurt her like her father did. One Saturday, a man in his 40s comes to her farm stand and tells her his her half-brother. He invites her to go with him to find their father. It gets weirder, but in the best way. 

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