#magic of the lost

[miggiebro]

We may live in a crazy time.

But the amount of great queer fantasy/sci-fi novels we've been blessed with in the last 5 plus years is god tier and makes me happy to be alive.

#positive #tlt series #magic of the lost #she who became the sun #the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #priory of the orange tree #luda #there are more too just haven't read them all yet #one day!

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: queer adult SFF

It's been a while since I did one of these posts but I'm thinking of doing more regularly. I have read a lot more new books that I hope some of you will pick up and I've made another selection. I'm reading more and more adult SFF lately because lots of YA is getting a little too young for me. But I also find that transitioning to reading more adult can be difficult, and it's not always easy to find what you're looking for. I found YA a far easier market to navigate, so I figured I'd make a post featuring some of my favorite adult SFF books.

The Unbroken & the Faithless I read recently.

This is a trilogy, with book 3 coming out most likely in 2025? Not sure actually. The series focuses on Touraine and Luca. Touraine is a conscript in the Balladaire army, stolen from her homeland and trained to fight from a young age. She is originally from Qazal, a country colonized by Balladaire, but doesn't speak their language or understand their customs. In the first book, she returns home for the first time since she was taken, to stop a Qazali rebellion.

Luca is the princess of Balladaire. Her parents both died when she was young, and her uncle is ruling as regent, refusing to allow her to be crowned Queen until she proves herself. She too is sent to deal with the Qazali rebellion. What makes Luca interesting is that she often means well and is definitely more benevolent towards the Qazali, but she's also very power hungry and wants her throne, and no matter how much she does to help the Qazali she is still the princess of the empire that colonized them, and the author continues to hold her accountable for her role in the empire and some of the choices she makes.

Luca is also disabled, she injured her leg when she was young and uses a cane.

There is a sapphic romance between Luca and Touraine. It is not really the focus on the series but at the same time it is what shapes much of the negotiating between them since Luca has a very obvious soft spot for Touraine and Touraine has to use that to improve things for Qazal.

The world is inspired by North Africa and French colonialism (in Balladaire they speak French so I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be France), and the author themself is Black and North African. The series as a whole is very political.

Next is Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

This is the first in a duology (I think?) with book 2 coming out this November.

This is set in a world where there are four different planes, and Siyon is a poor man who can delve into the different planes to get ingredients for wealthier alchemists. He wants to be an alchemist himself but can't afford the education. There's also the problem of magic being technically illegal, which means rich people can do alchemy but poor people can't.

Then one day Siyon accidently unleashes wild magic and is thrust into the world of alchemists where he wants to belong but doesn't. And there's also the matter of the four planes being instable and at risk of collapsing, and Siyon might be the only one capable of stopping it.

Siyon is bi/pan and his main love interest is a man, though this is not the main focus of the series.

Then Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

I think I had this one last time too, but not enough people are reading it so I'm going to discuss it again.

Check out the summary, but honestly not sure if that does it justice. Some Desperate Glory is the story of a girl who grew up in a fascist cult and was raised to believe in everything this cult stands for.

The earth was destroyed before she was born, and the Majo, aliens, were responsible. Kyr has been training her entire life for revenge. She wants nothing more than to be the perfect soldier for earth. As a result, she is a terrible person and everyone hates her.

Kyr first starts questioning Gaea station when she is assigned nursery to have babies even though she is the best fighter in her mess. When her brother disappears, she teams up with his friend Avi, a queer genius who works with the station's systems and was always aware of how fucked up Gaea station is. They discover Magnus has been sent on a suicide mission and go after him, and Kyr is confronted with the outside world, including a Majo she grows close to, and has to unlearn everything Gaea station taught her.

This book has a difficult to stomach mc at first, though it is very obvious what she believes is not what you as the reader are supposed to think. But there is some wonderful character development going on in here. It's hard for her to change, and she's thrown into lots of difficult situations before she gets there, but in the end you can see she's nothing like the person she was before.

There's an amazing cast of side characters, though not a very big cast. There's her twin brother Magnus who never wanted to be a soldier and is actually very depressed, which Kyr never noticed. Yiso, the cute non binary alien Kyr develops a weak spot for even before she comes to realize Majo are people. And my personal favorite, Avi, who is an unhinged little guy who is way too smart for his own good. He's a great example of how a cult can affect different people in different ways. He doesn't believe in Gaea station like Kyr does and is aware of how fucked up he is, he experienced that first hand as the only visible queer person on the station. But he did internalize their messages of revenge and violence which plays out in interesting ways.

This edition is the Illumicrate edition of the book from April's box, which has the UK cover.

Witch King by Martha Wells is next

This is a confusing book for people who do not have a lot of experience reading adult fantasy. It has a lot of world building that is explained gradually, the book doesn't really hold your hand, so be prepared for that.

Kai is a body hopping demon. He has been betrayed, killed and entombed under water. When he is freed by a lesser mage hoping to hone his power, he kills them and frees himself and his friend, the witch Ziede.

Together, they have to uncover what happened to them, who betrayed them and what is going on with the Rising World coalition. He's not going to like the answers.

Alternating is a past timeline in which Kai and his band of allies rebel against the tyrannical rule of the Hierophants, which happened decades before the present timeline.

The strenght of this book is really in the characters and how they grow and the bonds they have with each other. I loved the relationship between Kai and Bashasa, who is the rebel leader in the past timeline in particular. It's not quite clear what the nature of their relationship was, though it is implied to be romantic and I do think Kai is supposed to be queer. He is a body hopping demon after all, and spends his early life in the body of a girl. There's also a sapphic side pairing between Zieden and her wife Tahren, who they spent much of the present timeline looking for.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

This is a science fantasy set in a world inspired by New Zealand and Maori (I think? The author is Maori and a trans woman herself)

The main character is a police officer from a poor background who believes she's making the world better for people like her. She's already been demoted for being queer but believes she can make the police force better from the inside.

Then she's murdered by fellow officers and thrown into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she comes back from the dead with new magic powers.

She teams up with a pirate crew with similar powers and has to stop a plague from being unleashed on her city.

This book focuses on how police functions in many modern societies to protect the wealthy and harm and restrict poorer, non white communities. The main character doesn't believe this at first but it's obvious to the reader that they're not helping anyone doing their job. Next book is coming out next year.

Last is the Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Two books are out and book 3 is coming sometime in 2024.

This series is set in a world inspired by India. Priya is a maidservant with a secret. She is one of the few surviving temple children and still has some powers from being once born.

Malini is the princess of Parijatdvipa, the empire that conquered Priya's land. Her religious zealot brother has taken the throne and imprisons Malini because she refuses to be burned alive.

Priya is one of the maidservants sent to take care of Malini in her prison, which is the old temple where Priya grew up. Together, they can change the fate of an empire, but they can never quite trust each other.

This is a sapphic fantasy with magic but also lots of politics and I think if you like this series you'd also like the Unbroken and vice versa. I've talked about this one before but it should definitely be included on a list for adult fantasy.

I hope you can find something you like on here. All these books are not super well known and deserve a bigger audience

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @aliandtommy @ikissedsmithparker

#the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #tasha suri #the burning kingdoms #magic of the lost #the unbroken #the faithless #cl clark #some desperate glory #emily tesh #the dawnhounds #sascha stromach #witch king #martha wells #notorious sorcerer #davinia evans #book recommendation #adult fantasy #queer fantasy #adult science fiction #queer science fiction #books

[impossiblepackage]

If you liked:

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Try:

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

The Unbroken by C. L. Clark

Therapy

#gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #baru cormorant #the unbroken #magic of the lost

[saintofdykes]

Spoliers for The Locked Tomb and Magic of the Lost series

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If I had a nickel for every time I read a book series where there was a butch who was basically enslaved and wanted to be a great soldier and somehow ended up reluctantly being an assistant/guard to the princess (who's an orphan and is sort of frail) and at some point is wearing skull facepaint and carrying a rapier and she has to go off to a distant land to help the princess get a coveted position and they have a love hate relationship and also the butch dies in the princess' arms but is brought back later while the princess yearns for her and thinks she's dead and also the butch meets an estranged parent she didn't know she had and has a grumpy older woman as a mentor and there's a nerdy guy that helps the princess and a smug woman that wants to sleep with both the princess and the butch and also lots of death... then I would have two nickels.

And I would also be waiting anxiously for the next installment for both

#gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #griddlehark #the locked tomb #tlt #magic of the lost #luca ancier #toraine x luca #the unbroken #the faithless #toraine el-qazali

[guccipussay]

“Mulazim…”

I love Touraine but I love her mother more

#Jaghotai #the jackal #the unbroken #touraine #magic of the lost

[ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her]

I do not normally look at covers very closely, but the cover art of The Faithless made Luca look way, way hotter than I'd been picturing her. I am not immune to a woman of dubious morals wearing a uniform suit and sprawling confidently on a throne. I understand Touraine so much better now.

#the faithless #the unbroken #magic of the lost #also that cane... why yes i do find her mobility aid sexy #the better to step on me

[imjustheretomooch]

Shakespeare was so right when he said there’s something delicious about a main character who, completely through choices they made on their own and often with good intention, ruins fucking everything. 

Touraine fucking everything up in a futile attempt to protect the Sands in The Unbroken. Misaki choosing tradition and family and marrying Takeru only to put herself in a deep depression for 2 decades and never really love her sons until it was too late in The Sword of Kaigen. Ouyang destroying the only person he loved out of deep resentment and self hate in She who Became the Sun. The Binewskis’ self destruction as the psychopath children each try to chase their own happiness to the detriment of the others in Geek Love. Harrow and Gideon’s whole relationship in The Locked Tomb. Literally the entire plot of in The Traitor Baru Cormorant. 

#oh look its all my favorite books #gideon the ninth #gt9 #the unbroken #magic of the lost #the sword of kaigen #she who became the sun #geek love #tlt #the traitor baru cormorant #swbts #spoilers

[enechelon]

#the unbroken #the faithless #cl clark #tommy arnold #ooh these covers #those poses #touraine #Luca ancier #magic of the lost #magic of the lost series

[mue-te]

Nice getting back to sketchbook habits.

Red sketch is a fanart of Touraine and Luca from magic of the lost book series.

#art #drawing #artists on tumblr #sketch #wlw #character design #sketchbook #the faithless #magic of the lost

[9musesandanoldmind]

Touraine sans sleeves~

#magic of the lost #the unbroken #the faithless #touraine #queer fantasy #sapphic fantasy #queer books #fanart

[rebiesque]

“You've got my body, flesh and bone, yeah The sky above, the Earth below”

#the unbroken #the faithless #luca ancier #touraine #fruity time #my art #lgbt art #magic of the lost

[princessw0lf]

I think one of my favourite parts of The Faithless was Aranen realising that the fate of world politics hinges on two queer women in their late 20s sorting out their feelings for each other, thinking back to her early relationship with her own wife, and just going "Oh . . . oh no"

#The Unbroken #The Faithless #Magic of the Lost #Aranen din Djasha #Touraine El-Qazali #Luca Ancier

[peixesoluvel]

Something something princesses and soldiers

#luca ancier #princess luca #touraine #the unbroken #the faithless #magic of the lost

[chick-with-wifi]

Magic of the Lost by C. L. Clark

Touraine El-Qazāli and Luca Ancier

[Image description: two six-image collages of images to represent each character. The first is Touraine's and the images are: an ornate golden pin shaped like two wheatstalks pinned to a piece of black clothing, a black woman shown from chin to chest wearing a black and gold uniform, a closeup of a black woman's face showing her golden eye, a desert landscape showing sand dunes, three old-fashioned rifles laid on a wooden chest, the legs of a group of people wearing camoflage-patterned military uniform and boots.

The second collage is Luca's and the images are: a desk that has an open book with pair of spectacles resting on top of it and more books and an old-fashioned bell and lamp behind it, a white woman shown from shoulders to chest wearing a black uniform-style coat with a golden crest on it over a white ruffled shirt and her long blonde hair is loose over one shoulder, a closeup of a chess board showing the black queen and white king pieces next to each other, the hand of a white person writing with a fountain pen next to a candle and inkwell, the handle of a silver rapier laid on a wooden floor, the torso of a figure wearing a black coat and their black-gloved hand is holding a silver-handled cane like they are walking with it. End image description.]

#touraine el-qazali #touraine #luca ancier #magic of the lost #c. l. clark #the unbroken #the faithless #touraine x luca #luca x touraine

[rosefinchie]

"Since when did you become so invested in my relationships?" "At this rate, my dear, all of the colonies should be invested in your relationships."

sabine/touraine/luca from The Faithless by C.L. Clark

#the unbroken #the faithless #magic of the lost #touraine #sabine #luca #please clap this took me so ridiculously long to paint #sabine is my poor little meow meow #art

[nonasbirthday]

we do love a gold-eyed butch in skull paint around here

#and she IS wearing a rapier in this scene too #P.S. read CL Clark's essay on The Butch Martyr in SFF if you haven't yet #the unbroken #the faithless #the faithless spoilers #magic of the lost #magic of the lost spoilers #nonasbirthday