Genre: Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction set in a fictional universe, often inspired by real world myth and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga and video games.

Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes respectively, though these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings of a medieval nature. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works.

Wikipedia

Traitor to the Throne

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Traitor to the Throne
,

, Book # 2
Viking Books for Young Readers
March 7th 2017
Hardcover
518
English
August 2, 2019 August 4, 2019

Gunslinger Amani al'Hiza fled her dead-end hometown on the back of a mythical horse with the mysterious foreigner Jin, seeking only her own freedom. Now she’s fighting to liberate the entire desert nation of Miraji from a bloodthirsty sultan who slew his own father to capture the throne.

When Amani finds herself thrust into the epicenter of the regime—the Sultan’s palace—she’s determined to bring the tyrant down. Desperate to uncover the Sultan’s secrets by spying on his court, she tries to forget that Jin disappeared just as she was getting closest to him, and that she’s a prisoner of the enemy. But the longer she remains, the more she questions whether the Sultan is really the villain she’s been told he is, and who’s the real traitor to her sun-bleached, magic-filled homeland.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Miraji, about the rebellion, about Djinn and Jin and the Blue-Eyed Bandit. In Traitor to the Throne, the only certainty is that everything will change.

About the book

Six months have passed since the end of the first book and Amani joined the Rebel Prince Ahmed. They are hidden in an oasis in the desert and between missions and other, their lives are always in danger. In fact, Amani was seriously injured, so much that Jin, in order to not see her die, goes on a mission among his people. But Amani heals and together with other rebels try to free the city of Saramotai and this is where the second volume begins. It is in this city that Amani meets a woman from her past who will complicate her life.

Later, Amani finds himself a prisoner in Izman, a city where she wanted to arrive in the previous book, but not by her will. And here she will meet new people who will help her with her cause.

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Red Queen

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Red Queen
,

, Book # 1
Orion
February 10th 2015
ebook
430
English
July 27, 2019 August 1, 2019

MARE BARROW'S WORLD IS DIVIDED BY BLOOD—those with red and those with silver. Mare and her family are lowly Reds, destined to serve the Silver elite whose supernatural abilities make them nearly gods. Mare steals what she can to help her family survive, but when her best friend is conscripted into the army she gambles everything to win his freedom. A twist of fate leads her to the royal palace itself, where, in front of the king and all his nobles, she discovers a power of her own—an ability she didn't know she had. Except... her blood is Red.

To hide this impossibility, the king forces her into the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks her new position to aid the Scarlet Guard—the leaders of a Red rebellion. Her actions put into motion a deadly and violent dance, pitting prince against prince—and Mare against her own heart.

From debut author Victoria Aveyard comes a lush, vivid fantasy series where loyalty and desire can tear you apart and the only certainty is betrayal.

About the book

Red Queen is the first book in the homonymous series written by Victoria Aveyard. In this first book the story is narrated in first person by Mare, a 17 year old girl who’s about to become 18 and this means the army. I fact in this fantasy world there is a division between people with silver blood, people with privileges, the nobles and with powers (fire, metal, water or mind manipulation) and people, like Mare, with red blood, the commoners without powers and privileges. The ones who don’t have a job by 18 years old, are sent to the front to fight for the Silvers in a war that is so dated that no one remembers what they’re fighting for. But Norda, the nation where the narration takes place, is fighting with the neighbouring nations and only the Reds can fight because their lives don’t count.

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Rebel of the Sands

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Rebel of the Sands
, ,

, Book # 1
Viking Books for Young Readers
March 8th 2016
ebook
321
English
July 24, 2019 July 27, 2019

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.

Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

About the book

Rebel of the Sands is the first volume of a trilogy of fantasy books, set in a fantastic Middle Eastern world. We follow the adventures of the protagonist, Amani, who, to escape from her small town and from the archaic traditions, dresses up as a boy and tries to make money by shooting at bottles in a hideout for gunslingers. Amani has particular characteristics, beautiful blue eyes that distinguish her from the other people of her village. She is also an excellent shooter and thanks to this ability she manages to survive in the desert. At the lair she meets Jin, a mysterious stranger wanted by the sultan’s army.

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Gardens of the Moon

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Gardens of the Moon
,

, Book # 1
Tor Books
April 1999
Mass Market Paperback
666
English
July 3, 2019 July 22, 2019

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order--an enthralling adventure by an outstanding new voice.

About the book

I haven’t read a lot of Fantasy in the last few years, in fact maybe in my whole life, but I would like to start reading more. At home, I only have The Chronicles of Ice and Fire dated 2002 (the first time I read it) and frankly I don’t want to read it for the third time since I will have to read it again when the sixth book (maybe never) will be published; the Avalon saga, also already read but it didn’t thrill me that much; The Sword of Shannara of which I have only one book and the Malazan Book of the Fallen saga of which I have two. So for continuity I decided to reread Gardens of the Moon. Yes reread because I have already read it. And you may ask, why do you read it again if you have already read it? Because in the heat of finding a saga similar to The Chronicles of Ice and Fire, in 2010 I bought the first two books of the saga (and because as usual, there were discounts) and I immediately read the first one. But, and this is why I stopped reading fantasy, I didn’t like it at all. I was looking for something epic like Martin’s books, but alas I didn’t find it.

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