A Fire Endless

July 1, 2022

Richard Sharpe returns to the mayhem of the early 19th-century Peninsular War in Cornwell's Sharpe's Command (75,000-copy first printing). Following the LJ-starred Big Girl, Small Town, Gallen's Factory Girls features a young woman in Northern Ireland working a grinding summer job made harder by a sleazy boss. In The World We Make, three-time Hugo Award--winning Jemisin returns to New York City, whose six protective avatars must work with the world's other great cities to waylay a populist mayoral candidate threatening the city's very soul (225,000-copy first printing). Following Kapelke-Dale's well-received debut, The Ballerinas, The Ingenue features a former piano prodigy Saskia Kreis, shocked to learn that her recently deceased mother left the family estate to a man with whom Saskia shares a painful past (200,000-copy first printing). In The Book of Everlasting Things, a debut from Delhi-based oral historian Malhotra, two lovers--perfumer's apprentice Samir, who is Hindu, and calligrapher's apprentice Firdaus, who is Muslim--are violently torn apart during India's Partition in 1947. From Silver Linings Playbook author Quick, We Are the Light limns the relationship between a sorrowing widower and an ostracized teenager. The multi-award-winning Rebecca Roanhorse returns with Tread of Angels, set in a late 1800s Colorado mining town where cardsharp Celeste defends a sister accused of murdering a Virtue, one of the town's ruling class. Having successfully entered the adult arena with A River Enchanted, YA author Ross wraps up her duology with A Fire Endless, set on a magical island whose uneasy balance of human and faerie is threatened by the power-hungry spirit of the North Wind (50,000-copy first printing). In debuter Swanson's Things We Found When the Water Went Down, a 16-year-old struggles to find her mother, a crusading environmentalist blamed for a miner's death who vanished in a blizzard. Of Apache/Chickasaw/Cherokee heritage, Wurth debuts with White Horse, featuring young, Indigenous Kari James, who inadvertently summons both her mother's ghost and a dangerous, blood-eyed creature when she discovers an old bracelet belonging to her mother (100,000-copy first printing). The pseudonymous Zeldis (Not Our Kind) brings together Beatrice, The Dressmaker of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn; her assistant, orphaned teenager Alice; and their newlywed neighbor Catherine, amid shifting relationships and secrets bubbling up from the past (50,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 12, 2022
Ross closes the Elements of Cadence duology, which began with A River Enchanted, with a lyrical, Scottish-inspired fantasy exploring the vulnerability and danger of a natural world thrown out of balance. Bane, king of spirits, blights the island of Cadence with a sickness that spreads from trees to people. As Torin, Cadence’s newly made Laird of the East, ventures into the spirit realm to find a cure, his wife, Sidra, frays under the strain of aiding the sick and leading the clan in Torin’s absence, all while pregnant and ill herself. Meanwhile, Adaira, now living with her blood family in the hard-bitten West, struggles to reconcile her gentle upbringing with what is expected of her in the treacherous Breccan court. Her love, the bard Jack, languishes in the East until an encounter with an ailing spirit shows him a dangerous path back to her. Ross confidently develops her innovative elemental magic system and brings together disparate worldbuilding elements for a satisfying and cohesive climax. Fans of both fantasy romance and folklore retold are sure to enjoy. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.

November 1, 2022

In the second book of the "Elements of Cadence" duology, Ross takes readers on another adventure to the Isle of Cadence, a fantasy island off the coast of Scotland. The Tamerlaines of the east and Breccans of the west have been at odds with each other for centuries. Adaira was the leader of the Tamerlaines but found out that she was born to the Breccans and is now living in the west, trying to make peace between the two clans. While she is away, the orchards of the east are cursed by Bane, the spirit of the North Wind, and all who touch the apples fall ill. Jack, Adaira's husband, can use his music to call on the spirits for answers, but when he does, Bane strikes one dead. As the curse spreads, Adaira and Jack, along with the Tamerlaine laird, need to work together to break it and dethrone Bane before the Isle becomes engulfed in the curse. VERDICT Ross (A River Enchanted) creates a magical story with lyrical prose that draws the reader into the tale and its setting. Recommend this series to fans of Jeffe Kennedy, Susanna Clarke, and Terry Brooks.--Leigh Verburg

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2022
In the sequel and conclusion to the epic-fantasy story begun in A River Enchanted (2022), Bane, otherwise known as the Northern Wind and king of the spirits, is furious. Jack's music and power are challenging his rule, and Bane is determined to get revenge on humanity through a blight that seems relentless. To counter the will of the Wind, Jack will have to reunite with his beloved, Adaira, who has been learning the violence-tinged ways of the West from her biological parents, the Laird Innes and her husband. Meanwhile, new laird of the East, Torin, and his beloved, the healer Sidra, are locked in a battle to find an antidote to the magical disease plaguing their land before it's too late for all of them. This novel is richer and better than the first in the series, building on and adding to the deep elemental world that Ross has constructed and supported with well-forged, believable relationships and friendships. The twists are compelling, the narrative developments are well paced, and the way everything comes together is satisfyingly neat while still feeling unexpected. Ross has skillfully brought her duology to an exciting and emotional end.

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