4 More Entertaining Fantasy Novels to Add to Your Reading List

by MK French

Did we whet your appetite for fantasy novels with our reviews of the magical realism novel A Certain Kind of Starlight and romantic fantasy novel The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love? I have 4 more fantasy books for your reading pleasure.

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Conan: City of the Dead by John C. Hocking

June 2024; Titan Books; 978-1803366562
audio, ebook, print (512 pages); sword & sorcery

This book combines the classic Conan and the Emerald Lotus with the original Conan and the Living Plague.

Book One: Conan and the Emerald Lotus

The Emerald Lotus, found and grown by the sorcerer Ethram-Far vastly enhances magical ability but is highly addictive and deadly. Two sorcerers are given the Emerald Lotus vie for court magician status, and Conan is drawn into the rivalry.

Here, Conan is looking for a mercenary job when the sorcerer Shenkar first cajoles, then demands by force that he steal a casket of the Emerald Lotus for him. Lady Zelandra frees him of that obligation and essentially hires him to make the arduous trek to Ethram-Far's lair. She hates being tricked into addiction, as well as his demand to become the slave to his desires. (I don't blame her!) Their travels send them through hostile country, the desert, and then the mercenary guards protecting Ethram-Far himself. Shenkar also sets his guard after Conan, another threat dogging their steps.

This world of sword and sorcery is a dangerous one, where lives on the road are cheaply bought, demons and magical traps can be lethal, and legends aren't quite what they seem. The battles and magic all have a cinematic quality so that it's like the recent Jason Momoa Conan movies. Those movies borrowed more heavily from the comics and novels than the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the 1980s. Conan is known as a thief and mercenary but knows a bit of everything as they travel. He's a learned barbarian, and his skills help keep him and his companions from an early grave.

Book Two: Conan and the Living Plague

A sorcerer looking to create a serum weapon instead unleashes a monster within Dulcine. Hired to loot the city of treasures, Conan and fellow mercenaries are trapped. Now they face undead followers of the monster and horrors from nightmares.

This epic sequel furthers the adventures of Conan and also has occasional illustrations by Richard Pace. In this story within the Hyborean Age, I find it even more noticeable that characters curse by or call on the names of all kinds of gods, even Norse ones. It's probably meant to show much trade and travel occurred. The lure of riches within the walled city of Dulcine draws the King's nephew and a select group of highly skilled mercenaries to sneak into the city past an opposing army. They struggle through catacombs, plague-liches, and the personification of plague itself. We even get to see eldritch horrors in this volume.

It's another jaunt with swordsmanship, threats of death, terrible and bloodthirsty magic, and Conan proving that barbarians aren't stupid. He knows a lot about people and the things that drive them. He's driven to survive another day, not hoard riches for its own sake, and we're along for the ride.

Overall, this dual volume is a fun and entertaining ride for fans of Conan or sword and sorcery fantasy.

Buy Conan: City of the Dead at Amazon

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

July 2024; Ballantine Books; 978-0593598870
audio, ebook, print (352 pages); fantasy

Best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a West Virginia state forest, reappearing six months later with no explanation for where they were or how they survived. Fifteen years later, Rafe is a reclusive artist with no memory of what happened during those months. Jeremy is an investigator hoping he can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

The novel begins with what the world knows about the disappearance of Jeremy and Rafe, and then we meet Emilie. After her adoptive mother's death, she found out that she had an older half-sister who disappeared years ago in the same woods the boys had. She's scattered but friendly and wants to have some kind of family again. Jeremy's specialty is finding lost things and girls, and Rafe drew or carved fantastical things that felt real. It all comes together in a fairy tale kind of way, along with a portal inside the Red Crow Woods that links West Virginia to a fantastic world where the boys are more than they used to be.

Interspersed with the story is storyteller commentary, which actually is really fun to read. Fairy tale logic and a collection of secrets tie everyone together. All the characters felt lost at some point and found themselves in the land of Shanandoah, and in the love of others. I loved that about this book, that even with the real-world pain of missing children, abuse, and death, there's still the hope of family, love, and finding the path you were meant to take. This is a wonderful story, and not truly lost at all.

Buy The Lost Story at Amazon

The Mirror of Beasts by Alexandra Bracken

July 2024; Knopf Books; 978-0593481691
audio, ebook, print (496 pages); YA fantasy

Tamsin and her friends are all that stand in the way of Lord Death's plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. The Wild Hunt is at work across the world, leaving Tamsin gathering allies and tracking down powerful artifacts. The “Mirror of Beasts” could trap anything, even Lord Death, but the mirror is more than just glass. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror's strength to defeat her enemies.

This is the conclusion to the "Silver In The Bone" duology, following the first book, Silver In The Bone. It absolutely relies on having read the first one, as it dives right into the action following the close of the first book. Returning from Avalon released the Lord Death into the mortal realm, and he's calling a Wild Hunt. Instead of collecting only wicked souls, Lord Death is now able to collect any soul he wants, as only the dead can follow him. In a roundabout way, the team opposing him tries to find a way to stop him, and the Mirror of Beasts seems to be the key, as it can trap any soul within it.

The will-they-won't-they relationship between Tamsin and Emrys continues, and she has no way of knowing Emrys' motivations or feelings. We get fun new characters and a new way of looking at ones we thought we knew. I'm thinking of the Librarian here, but many of the prior characters now have added context. As with any well-written novel where you care about the characters, it breaks your heart when their illusions are shattered when they're hurt when the truth they didn't know they wanted comes out. This novel is a fantastic conclusion to the duology, bringing Celtic myths into our modern world.

Buy The Mirror of Beasts at Amazon

Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan

July 2024; HarperTeen; 978-0063311909
audio, ebook, print (432 pages); young adult fantasy

Princess Jasalyn has an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, enabling her to assassinate her enemies. Shape-shifter Felicity is trying to avoid the prophecy saying she will kill her magical father. When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread, Felicity takes the princess' form as Jas hunts Mordeus along with Kendrick. Felicity gets closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Both girls have their hearts on the line with this mission, and the future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance.

This must be the start of a duology or trilogy, because it ends on a cliffhanger. Jasalyn is tormented by memories of her time of being tortured by Mordeus before her sister and allies rescued her from those dungeons. Her time is now spent using her enchanted ring to kiss-kill Mordeus' followers, and a supposed plague is now present in the country. Kendrick, who was once imprisoned in those dungeons as well, is working with a team to find a weapon to kill Erith, head of the Magical Seven keeping Elora under his thumb. This same man is Felicity's father and once had worked with Mordeus. Felicity is prophesied to kill him, but she doesn't want to be part of that prophecy. She kept herself hidden, but Kendrick needs her to take on the princess' form to find the location of the Hall of Doors that can get him and his team to find the magic sword that can kill Erith and restore the queendom of old.

Got it? Because as convoluted as it initially sounds, the different courts and kingdoms are not necessarily different. Each one has a particular territory, and most don't want Mordeus back. But he has followers who are rumored that he will be resurrected, and the former followers are stirring up trouble for Jesalyn's sister, the Queen. She'd rather kill Mordeus' followers to get a measure of power back after being tortured so much, and she trusts in Kendrick's plans. Felicity doesn't mean to get closer to Misha because Jesalyn wouldn't, but she is drawn to him anyway. As the novel continues, both discover new information they hadn't been aware of before, and we the reader can draw the conclusions that they can't. There's a bigger plot at work, one that neither knows about but is drawn into just the same. It's an engrossing story and will be a fun summer read.

Buy Beneath These Cursed Stars at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever.

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