After being in a bit of a reading slump, I’ve managed to get myself out of it, thanks to some really good books! Coincidentally, two of the better books I’ve read lately (basically one after the other) both had footnotes. Who doesn’t love a good footnote? I find they’re generally used to interject humour, which we can all use more of these days!
Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
Genre: Fantasy
This book has been on my list for awhile, but I read an article recently that book two was coming out soon, and decided the time was ripe – gentle reader, I was not disappointed! This is a beautiful coming-of-age story, about magic, and family, and legacy. The central unfolds a bit slowly at first, and it shifts and twists, but this is one of the better books I’ve read in awhile, and book 2 has just come out (I’m also a bit of a sucker for fantasy books with footnotes…)
Nothing complicates life like Death. Lanie Stones, the daughter of crown-appointed killers, was born with a gift for necromancy—and a literal allergy to violence. For her own safety, she was raised in isolation in a crumbling mansion by the family’s mouldering revenant.
When Lanie’s parents are murdered, she and her psychotic sister Nita must settle their extensive debts or lose their ancestral home. When Liriat’s ruler, too, is murdered, it throws the whole nation’s future into doubt. Hunted by Liriat’s enemies, terrorised by family ghosts and tortured by a forbidden love for a childhood friend, Lanie will need more than luck to get through the next few months—but when the goddess of Death is on your side, anything is possible.
CHF 15, in stock
How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
Genre: Fantasy
I went through a time-loop movie kick a bit ago, so this book immediately appealed to me! Our protagonist was brought from Earth to save the kingdom from the Dark Lord – but after over 300 attempts, ending with her death every time, she’s sick of it, and decides to become the Dark Lord instead. This was a very fun, irreverent story, and book 2 comes out at the end of the month!
Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord.
A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly.
Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time. This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop.
If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side.
CHF 15, in stock
Backlist Bump: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (also many great fun footnotes!): Mia Corvere vows vengeance after the death of her family, and seeks training within the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.
DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL!!
The series that I am most excited about right now is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. I’d been hearing good things about it for quite awhile, but it’s fairly recently been picked up by traditional publishers (it was originally self-published).
It’s a post-apocalypic romp through a dungeon, after aliens harvest the Earth, and offer the survivors the chance at survival if they compete in their live-streamed gladiatorial game show. It’s LitRPG, which means it’s basically the novelization of a role-playing game, but you don’t need to know anything about that to fully enjoy it.
It follows Carl, a Coast Guard veteran, and his ex-girlfriend’s prize-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk, as they navigate the deadly competition. Hilarious, snarky, liberally sprinkled with Earth references – it’s a riot. They’re so good, I’ve ordered them all in hardcover(!)! And it is so very, very, very worthwhile.
CHF 34, in stock!!
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