Like a River Glorious (Goldscryer #2)

Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson is the second book in her Goldscryer series which takes place during the California Gold Rush.

Leah Westfall can sense gold. When her parents were killed she followed her best friend West. Now she and Jeff and the rest of the people they collected on the way, are staking a claim in the Sierra Nevada mountains above Sacramento.

Once they find a place to search for gold, Leah tells them all what she can do. They will have to be careful not to show that they are luckier than the prospectors around them, but they will find gold.

She also tells them about her uncle. Hiram is after her. He knows what she can do and as her last living male relative, he is rightfully her authority until she get married - which she has no desire to do. If Hiram finds her he will put her to work finding gold for him. She will become his servant.

Carson has done a great job combining history with magic. Any fans of historical fiction, California history, westerns, magic, or of great stories will love this series.

Carson, Rae. (2016). Like a River Glorious. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Honor Among Enemies (Honor Harrington #6)

Honor Among Enemies by David Weber is the sixth book in his series featuring Honor Harrington - a space captain in the Royal Mantacore Navy.

After a couple of year on Grayson, Honor is asked to rejoin the RMN. She doesn't know that she will be getting a near impossible assignment - set up by two of her political enemies.

Honor will be in charge of a small fleet of converted cargo ships retrofitted to be Q-ships (attack vessels disguised as harmless transport ships). They will be sent to cover a huge area where pirates are raiding merchant ships. The Silesian Confederacy is huge and Honor will be given just a few ships to try to control the problem.

To add insult to injury, Mantacore cannot really spare the crew to fill her ships. They will be made up of people other captains want to get rid of - the screw ups of the RMN.

Weber has created a wonderful science fiction series. Honor is a well-named character whose people would follow anywhere. Any fans of scifi who have not read this series are missing out.

Weber, David. (1996). Honor Among Enemies. New York: BAEN.

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5)

Empire of Storms by Sarah Maas is the fifth book in her Throne of Glass fantasy series. Caleana Sardothien was raised to be an assassin and thief. She did not know her birth story or to whom she was related. That changed when she was freed from a labor camp to compete to be champion to a king she hated.

Now the world knows who Caleana really is. But before she can claim her rightful place, she must help to defeat a great evil that is trying to take over the land. With some powerful friends, she will being to fight that evil back.

Also fighting against the evil, and against imprisonment as his soldier, the Ironteeth witches will try to gain freedom. Their wingleader, Manon, will do what she can to save her family - going against her training to be unfeeling and ruthless.

Maas has created a great fantasy series with wonderful characters. Each book in the series is better than the last. And I consider anyone who can introduce a character I think I hate and have her become my favorite later in the series to be a brilliant writer. Start this series today!

Maas, Sarah. (2016). Empire of Storms. New York: Bloomsbury.