By S Pavithran Updated: 28 April 2024
Spring 2024 has some fresh literary offerings from both new authors and established names. Read on to find the list of titles that have been earmarked for a month of joyful reading.
The Brides of High Hill (May 7)
An intricate Asian-inspired haunted house novella in The Singing Hills cycle by Nghi Vo. An alliance is sought by the Pham family between their daughter and a wealthy older suitor,Lord Guo. As they visit the estate of the Lord Guo, they are accompanied by Cleric Chih. As Chih and company explore the sprawling and crumbling estate, all is not what it seems. The fates of Lord Guo's previous wives and the ominous nature of the surroundings build up a haunting unease even as they are treated with all the grand formalities by the lord's servants. The half-mad son of Lord Guo has some cryptic warnings, but is it enough as the wedding night draws near?.
Sometimes, the monsters hide in plain sight.
Can't Spell Treason without Tea (May 7)
Tomes & Tea #1
A powerful Mage and a Queen's private guard go into semi-retirement, opening a bookshop that serves tea. Retirement and running a bookshop was quite the hook for me. Ever since the The Kingkiller Chronicles, I do need more retired protagonists telling their stories over hot food. Rebecca Thorne assuages that need with a sapphic love story with a disgruntled queen in it, which guarantees that there's TEA to be had.
After being held hostage by an assassin, Reyna is all too eager to hang up her boots than risk her life again for a self-centered queen. Kianthe, perhaps feeling the weight of responsibility that comes with being a powerful Mage, has already been planning to flee. When her girlfriend's choices align, they settle in Tawney and open their shop. The queen is not so in alignment with their desires and has a royal temper too. The adventures or misadventures, as such, will be available for reading on May 7.
When Among Crows (May 14)
Explore the intersection of Slavic folklore and Chicago underworld in this offering by Veronica Roth, author of best-selling Divergent Trilogy. The story follows two denizens of the modern fairy tale, each opposite of the other.
Dymitr is a hunter, from a long line of supernatural hunters who pay with the coin of their soul to hunt and kill monsters. Ala is a cursed monster, waiting for her death at the hands of a curse that claimed her mother. When Dymitr takes up the task of hunting a legendary witch, he offers a cure to desperate Ala in exchange for her help. With no other path open to her, Ala accepts but without knowing his true nature.
Together, they must race against time and face the rest of the underworld if they want to succeed. The tale is up for reading on May 14.
How To Become A Dark Lord (and Die Trying) (May 21)
Most of the protagonists in a time travel tropes do not give up and just let fate have its own way. Even fewer of them deal with an adversary more than a few times. But so far none of the heroes of time travel stories actively turn into the antagonist. "You either die early or time travel enough times to become a villain", this is what this novel by Django Wexler explores. For those who have read the The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, might want to read a comedic exploration of how a hero chooses to be a type of Lord Ruler person.
Davi has done it all ,seen it all. Sometimes it ends with quick death, sometimes it takes longer. After countless iterations, Davi has decided to win, if that means being the Dark Lord, then so be it. With that, this offering by Django Wexler makes it to my May reading list.
The Fireborne Blade (May 28)
Women knights and dragons is a rare combination in the literary world. Couple that with that fact that there is a legendary blade and its keeper is a dragon called the White Lady. Now, I would read any fiction that has a dragon so elegantly named but, there's more.
According to the publisher's note, Maddileh is a knight and a woman in a male-dominated line of work. She slays dragons but sneers by her peers follow nevertheless. But when a minor misdeed occurs, she is forced to reclaim her honor in the most dramatic way there is: Retrieve the Fireborne Blade from a dragon equally legendary as the sword. Or die trying. The world building by Charlotte Bond seems highly promising and may prove quite entertaining. Our sympathies lie with the elegantly named dragon till more can be discovered on May 28.
