In a Garden Burning Gold

November 1, 2021

In Flint and Mirror, with the Irish battling English encroachment, Hugh O'Neil, Lord of the North, is torn between England's Elizabeth the Great, who signals her devotion to him with an obsidian mirror, and the flint-bearing ancient Irish arising from the underworld to make him the country's savior; from Crowley, winner of the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement (75,000-copy first printing). In Davenport's debut, a young Black woman faces both racism and misogyny when she commits herself to the Praetorian Trials--better called The Blood Trials, as only a quarter of the participants survive--to find out who assassinated her grandfather and seek revenge (75,000-copy first printing). Award-winning author Ford was working on Aspects at his untimely death in 2006, and the novel--set in an alternate 18th century and blending swords and machine guns, magic fantasy and politics--has finally achieved publication (60,000-copy first printing). With Spear, Nebula and Lambda award-winning Griffith offers a queer retelling of the Arthurian legend, with a girl raised in a cave following her destiny to the court of King Artos of Caer Leon (100,000-copy first printing). In Kenyon's Shadow Fallen, set during the Norman Conquest, an invading knight--actually son of one of the universe's more deadly powers--realizes that a noblewoman he encounters is an immortal transformed by sorcery into a flesh-and-blood human, and he must restore her to her rightful place or tragedy awaits (250,000-copy first printing). In the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, reticent Marra is fed up with the way her kingdom's prince mistreats her sisters and seeks the help of a gravewitch so that she can get rid of him for good. Reimagining J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Martinez's God of Neverland features the adult Michael Darling on a rescue mission to his erstwhile home, where magic is threatened and Peter Pan (whose real name is Maponos) has gone missing (75,000-copy first printing). Star-dusted singer, songwriter, and actor, Mon�e puts to page the Afrofuturistic world evident in her celebrated album Dirty Computer in The Memory Librarian, exploring how race, gender identity, and love fare in a totalitarian environment as Jane 57821 decides that she does not want to lead the life intended for her (200,000-copy first printing). From Power, the New York Times best-selling author of Wilder Girls, In a Garden of Burning Gold features twins Rhea and Lexos, who must contend with activists challenging their irascible father's governance of their small, ever-teetering country. Having won Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Roanhorse follows up her award-finalist epic Black Sun with the sequel Fevered Star, set in the Meridien, where magic is controlled, the gods smashed down, and sea captain Xiala caught up in the ensuing chaos (75,000-copy first printing). Ward returns with Love Arisen, next in the "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series, stark, shadowy, and erotic but no details yet (125,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 3, 2022
Bestselling YA author Power makes her adult debut (after Burn Our Bodies Down) with this sprawling, tragic fantasy about the intergenerational legacy of familial abuse told through the eyes of twin siblings Rhea and Alexandros “Lexos” Argyros. Their father, Vasilis, seized power in a bloody coup to become the Stratagiozi—or absolute dictator—of Thyzakos. He rules his family with the same despotic ferocity with which he rules his country, and Rhea and Lexos dutifully but reluctantly serve him. Rhea’s magic brings about the change of the seasons, but to do so she must murder a consort each year. News of an uprising leads Lexos to urge Rhea to choose its figurehead, Michali Laskaris, as her consort, believing Michali’s death will quash the rebellion. Meanwhile, Lexos travels to drum up support for his father amongst other Stratagiozi. The twins’ separate quests lead both to question their loyalties as the threats to their family increase. Power creates a distinctive magic system and has a steady hand with the complex geopolitical intrigue, building a fascinating, lived-in world, but the almost Shakespearean tragedy of the blood-soaked plot paints the characters as frustratingly passive. Still, there’s plenty to appreciate here. Agent: Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management.