The Unspoken Name (Serpent Gates #1)

The Unspoken Name by AK Larkwood is the first book in the Serpent Gates YA fantasy series.

Csorwe lives at the Shrine of the Unspoken. She is about to be the latest sacrifice to the god of her homeland. Every fourteen years a young woman is given to the god. 

A month before her date, a pilgrim comes to the temple and requests a prophesy from the god. Csorwe is the conduit for this. Sethennai is asking about the Reliquary of Pentravesse, a legendary item that allowed Pentravesse to live in harmony with his god. Usually being tied to a god, and using the magic they emit, is very hard on the human body, most magicians dying young.

When Csorwe gets to the temple a month later, Sethennai offers her another way. If she comes with him, he will teach her languages, fighting and more. He thinks she can eventually help him win his city back from the man who usurped him.

Larkwood has started a great young adult fantasy series. Csorwe is a strong character who learns a lot about herself in this first book. She also falls in love and risks all to save the woman she loves.

Larkwood, AK. (2020). The Unspoken Name. New York: Tor.

Light from Uncommon Stars

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki is a breathtakingly beautiful story and a special treat for musicians.

Shizuka Satomi is a violin teacher with a reputation of training masterful musicians who die young. That is because she has made a deal with a demon - she has to deliver the souls of seven violists in exchange for her own life.

Katrina Nguyen is a teen runaway staying with an acquaintance in the San Gabriel Valley, California. She is a mostly self-taught violinist who prefers to play gaming music. 

Shizuka meets Katrina in the park. Katrina is playing and Shizuka has returned home after many decades away. The neighborhood has changed a lot. One thing that Shizuka is pleased to see is that the giant donut still exists. 

Lan Tran and her family run Starrgate Donut. Captain Tran and her family traveled through galaxies to find Earth. Now they are setting up a stargate using the giant donut.

These three characters, plus a brilliant luthier, come together in interesting ways in this beautiful story. This is one of the best books I have read this year (a year of wonderful books)! Buy one for yourself of any musicians in your life.

Aoki, Ryka. (2021). Light from Uncommon Stars. New York: Tor.

A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan #2)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine is the second book in the Teixcalaan empire science fiction series. 

Mahit Dzmare is the ambassador to Teixcalaan from the small Lsel Station, a nation floating in space untied to any planet. She is home after an emotional start to her job in the capital city planet of Teixcalaan. She is hoping to take a small break from the intensity of politics - only to find herself in danger from one of her counselors. 

Back in Teixcalaan, Three Seagrass has been promoted. When she gets a request from their starships at the front of a new war - a request for someone to try and understand the alien language - she assigns herself to the job. She plans to pick up Mahit Dzmare on her way, as the fighting is just outside Lsel space's jumpgate.

This second book is every bit as good as the first. Martine's series has quickly become one of my top three science fiction series of all time! Can't wait for more...

Martine, Arkady. (2021). A Desolation Called Peace. New York: Tor. 

The Starless Sea

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern is an amazing book! Go buy a copy today, it is that good. :-)

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a grad student in Vermont. He is studying stories, in the form of video games. Since the semester has not officially begun, he has been roaming the fiction section of the university library.

He stumbles across an old book, the spine warn to the point of being blank. Once he starts reading it, he is shocked to find himself, as a child, in one of the stories.

He starts a quest to find more information. Where did the book come from, are there others? He researches some of the symbols used in the other stories and finds a photo of a masquerade ball from the previous year. More searching reveals that this year's masquerade is next weekend.

I cannot say more without spoilers. Fans of The Night Circus, will not be disappointed. There are stories within stories in a magical way that will lead readers to long for a visit. While my favorite books at any given moment depends upon so much, I feel it is safe to say that whatever Erin Morgenstern writes will be at the top of the list!

Morgenstern, Erin. (2019). The Starless Sea. New York: Doubleday.

The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen #1)

The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman is the second book in her Lady Helen series of alternate history / fantasy set in the early 1800s England.

Lady Helen Wrexhall was introduced to the Dark Days Club at the time she was introduced to society. Expecting parties and potential suitors, instead she got creatures that look human but feed off of those around them.

Now Helen is in training to fight these creatures, to keep a balance. She is in Brighton with her members of the club, the Hammonds. Lord Carlston is helping to train her.

Unfortunately, Lord Carlston is fighting something within himself. And to make matters worse, the man Helen turned down for marriage has followed them to the shore.

Goodman has created a great fantasy series set within the confines of British society at its height.

Goodman, Alison (2017). The Dark Days Pact. New York: Viking.