Blog Entries

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens sees the long foretold coming of the Antichrist, which is a big problem, not just for all the people caught in the way of Armageddon, but for the angel Aziraphale, and the demon Crowley, Heaven and Hell’s representatives on the mortal plane. Both have grown rather accustomed to the comforts of the world, and, scheming together, they hatch a plot to stop the end of the world.

In Blood Heir, Zhao has created a fantastical world where people called Affinites have the ability to control the world around them. In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are considered to be dangerous, unnatural, and touched by demons. Ana, the crown princess, has the Affinity to control blood, which is a monstrous gift even to other Affinities. After her power is revealed as child, Ana is hidden away in the palace and the kingdom is told that she is ill.

In the village of Varenia, all girls are trained to be the most beautiful and charming, so that they may be chosen at the ceremony to marry the prince of Ilara. Nor and her identical twin sister Zadie are born undoubtedly as the most beautiful in Varenia, but a childhood incident gives Nor a small scar on her face. In a village that believes the beauty of a woman is all she has, this scar makes her damaged goods. This takes the burdens of being perfect off of her, allowing her to help her family as the village begins to suffer.

Famed assassin Celaena Sardothien has spent a year as a slave in the Endovier salt mines as retribution for her crimes. When Prince Dorian offers her eventual freedom, she jumps at the chance. He has one condition: she must act as the prince’s champion to win the position of royal assassin in a competition created by the sadistic King of Adarlan. She must fight against other assassins and thieves in a series of trials that require physical skill, wits, and bravery. If she wins, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years to earn her freedom. That is, if she survives.

At seven years old, Jude’s parents were murdered by her older sister’s biological father, Madoc, and stolen away to live in the High Court of Faeries. Raised as one of Madoc’s daughters, Jude and her twin sister had to learn to survive in the cruel world. Ten years later, Jude is desperate to be accepted, but as a human, she is tormented by the mischievous games of the Fae and their ability to glamour. To prove herself and escape her powerlessness, Jude matches the Fae’s penchant for wickedness, especially against the youngest prince, Cardan Greenbriar.