Follow on from part one…
Still Life with Shape-Shifter
by Sharon Shinn
With her beautifully wrought prose, Shinn has crafted worlds of grace and beauty in both genres of science fiction and fantasy. Now she turns her talents to our world and presents a treasure of urban fantasy chronicling the relationship between two sisters and the need to keep a life changing secret that is not your own when revealing it may save the life of the person it belongs to.
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Emperor’s Soul
by Brandon Sanderson
Mega-seller Brandson Sanderson has managed to find some time whilst finishing off Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time to bring us this novella set in the same world as his very first published work Elantris. Crafted with his characteristic flare for inventive magic systems and strong characterisation this standalone novella is the perfect place for anyone new to his work to wade in – or even for those of us desperate for the next book in the Stormlight Archives to find a quick fix while we (im)patiently wait.
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Crown of Vengeance
by Mercedes Lackey, James Mallory
One of the fantasy genre’s most beloved authors, Mercedes Lackey teamed up with James Mallory in 2003 to create the bestselling fantasy trilogies Obsidian and Enduring Flame. Now they return to that world to tell the tale of one of its greatest heroes. Moving Lackey into a world that is markedly more ‘high fantasy’ than her Valdemar novels, these trilogies have cultivated a legion of fans and offer the best traditions of epic fantasy while remaining inventive and filled with passion and lush prose. Perfect for those readers who are fans of David Eddings and Terry Brooks, the team of Lackey and Mallory dig deep to bring adventure and life to a setting that leaps off the pages and stays with you long after you’ve finished the books.
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Knife Sworn
by Mazarkis Williams
Abandoning the ‘medieval European’ setting for his series Williams takes the reader to the more exotic climes of deserts and silks, where battles of fire and water and political alliances shift like the dunes that surround glittering cities. With economic yet vivid prose, Williams moves forward with a confidence that astounds for a newcomer and amply demonstrates to many more established authors how to write a fantasy like a master. Beautifully atmospheric in feel Williams shy’s away from full-throttle action relying instead on political intrigue and the slow reveal to pull the reader in and keep the pages turning. Knife Sworn picks up where The Emperor’s Knife left off and we are thrust once more into the deadly world of Prince Sarmin, his wife and ally Mesema, and his struggle to hold the throne that is rightfully his.
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The Dead of Winter
by Lee Collins
Gunslingers and demons, this is not one of the Western’s you’ve heard tell of, nor indeed read or even watch (on DVD if not the Silver screen). The Dead of Winter twists the grit and tough-as-saddle-leather frontier and brings it to a bloody and dark fantasy in a page-turning ride of thrills and heart-stopping action that will scorch new meaning into the ‘wild’ west forever. Lee Collins has written a vivid, gripping tale of human survival and the battle against the monsters at the door that can only be won when those of the past have been defeated.
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Days of Blood and Starlight
by Laini Taylor
A wonderful fairy-tale-like story that sweeps you off your feet with lyrical prose and graceful imagery, this is Taylor’s follow up to the brilliant Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Following star-crossed lovers, the blue haired Karou and her soul mate Akiva, this is a tale of love, hope and honor and betrayal, passion and grief, and is so far beyond the norm for urban fantasy as to deserve a category all its own. If you are tired of sparkly vampires and things that go bump in the night then step in to Taylors world and get caught up in a vibrant novel that reads like the love child of Neil Gaiman and Guillermo del Toro. Days of Blood and Starlight, along with its predecessor, is simply stunning.
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Trapped
by Kevin Hearne
Urban fantasy mixed with ancient mythology and a liberal does of modern attitude, Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid series has been flying off the shelves since day one, and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. A strong storyteller with a snappy wit, Hearne’s work has been compared to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Butcher’s Dresden Files – but he tends to reach a little further than both and has found an audience with readers who have never picked up either. Page-turning and humorous, Hearne – a self-professed comic-book nerd – has turned his love of ‘larger-than-life’ heroes facing evil villains into an awesome, fresh and adventure filled urban fantasy series.
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Steel’s Edge
by Ilona Andrews
A gem that takes a step outside the box and blends our world of electricity and modern conveniences with a fantasy world of pure magic and sets a series of tales in the space that borders both, the Edge. Ilona Andrews is a husband and wife writing team who specialize in brilliant world building and compelling characterisation thrust right into heart thumping action with a strong underpinning of believable romance. The Edge novels are stand-alone stories with interconnected characters and a really good place to give one of the big names in Paranormal Romance a try.
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Red Country
by Joe Abercrombie
Arguably one of the most popular writers of ‘noir’ fantasy Abercrombie has cut a bloody swathe through the ranks of genre mainstays to be the herald of a new and different style of fantasy fiction. Red Country is the eagerly awaited new stand-alone in his First Law universe. Bursting with Abercrombie’s savoir-faire this new novel is a no-holds barred frontier epic meshing the feel of a western with sword and sorcery (although admittedly he is every light on the sorcery part). Pushing his characters to the limits Abercrombie doesn’t shy away from the more base of the human characteristics yet brilliantly builds his world and fleshes out his characters to keep you riveted to the page and coming back for more. If you haven’t read any of Abercrombie’s work in the past and are looking for something a bit different to your normal fantasy fair, Red Country is a great place to start.
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Angel’s Ink
by Jocelynn Drake
Never judge a book by its cover. Please. Judging this cover you would imagine that Angels Ink does indeed belong in Paranormal Romance rather than the Urban Fantasy field, but such things are sent to try and test us. Having read some of her work that is indeed Para-rom in nature I to thought this would be the same. It is far from it. Picking up the e-novella prequel to this book (more a ‘taste-test’ than a ‘need-to-read’) I was blown away by the direction Drake has taken. More Jim Butcher than Sherrilyn Kenyon, Drake has created a whole new world to lay over our own and offer an alternate reality rather than an urban fantasy. Brothers Grimm eat your heart out, your stories ain’t got nothing on the Asylum Tales.
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The 20 Best Fantasy Titles To Help You Escape The Christmas Mayhem – Part One
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