Tracy Townsend

And I loved every bit of The Nine, the first book in the Thieves of Fate series. This book is a complex, fascinating world that resembles our own a bit but for some very key elements. Like how science is a kind of religion and the Nine are the people (or creatures) whose actions determine the world’s fate (so say this self-scribing book that only some can decipher). There are fascinating walking tree-like beings and giant beasts with eyes on their feet (and in my mind, Komodo dragon-like but perhaps because my 7yo likes Komodo dragons and was telling me all about it over the weekend).

Similar to the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson (the last fantasy series I read before this), there is a young girl who has seen tough times working as a courier for the black market. Also, some fascinating world-building, but in a more of a steampunk variety, along with this exploration of the melding of science and religion.

I immediately jumped from this first book to The Fall, the second (is there more or is this a duology?), but am only just a couple of chapters in.… (mais)

A fantastic follow up to The Nine! Steampunk fantasy and adventure that takes the readers on an incredible journey across continents, through the skies, and in the dark underbelly of the city. The book of secrets, the book that holds the fate of humanity, has been lost and now it's in the wrong hands. It's up to the unlikeliest bunch of people to recover the book and decipher its secrets before their universe is forever altered. Rowena Downshire has no idea how central she is to the book's secrets, all she knows is that she has to help the alchemist and some other mercenary allies track down the book. Their chase leads them far across the skies to the Grand Library where there is more than meets the eye. Full of adventure and tight plot lines, this book will take readers on a breathless race against time to find the book. I will note that this is not a standalone book and it is crucial to read the first in the series before attempting this, it had been nearly a year since I read the first one and even I needed to reference back to it!… (mais)

In a steampunk world that’s unified science and religion, the convocation of Unification intelligentsia produces several murders and other nefarious deeds, into which are swept the mysterious Alchemist, his estranged daughter, her lover, and a street runner desperately trying to get money to keep her mother alive in debtors’ prison. Not every POV character survives, which may help justify the back cover comparisons to GRRM (minus the focus on rape, though there is a fair amount of prostitution), along with the politics/worldbuilding. There are also two intelligent nonhuman races with interests of their own, both of which have fraught-at-best relationships with humans (who until recently kept one of the races as slaves). I was caught up by the narrative and will seek out the sequel.… (mais)