River Readers

Two Queens have been prophesied, one a Blood Queen and one a Sun Queen. Rielle has kept her magic hidden because she is able to manipulate all of the elements (eg. water, fire, shadows....) which is impossible. When she rescues the crown prince Aubrick, she unveils her multipowers and is forced to prove herself worthy of being the Sun Queen. At the same time an angel starts communicating with her in her head. Many generations later an assassin for the empire named Eliana witnesses the abduction of her mother (who was supposed to be safe because Eliana was working for the empire.

Our protagonist, Ace Dante, has been kicked out of the Underworld (the Egyption one) and cursed to walk the earth forever. He is an investigative detective or sorts. His work "partner" is a demon named Shukra, another part of the curse which has bound these two antagonists to walk their paths together.
Ace is bitter, snarky, and trapped to do the God Osirus' evil bidding. He feels the guilt of past sins, and despairs of being better. Sometimes the bad guys win.
If you like Jim Butcher or Kevin Hearne you'll probably like Pippa Dacosta, these books have a similar feel to them.

With any anthology you will have hits and misses. The best was Nina Kiriki Hoffman's "LaZelle Family Christmas". For me this was the only one that had the feel of Christmas Spirit. Each LaZelle family member, both magically gifted and normal pitches in with their unique talents to prepare for Christmas, and in the process each one grows a little. One misogynist story that I hated had a woman being sexually harrassed by this greasy character and she ended up trapped with him - Yeah - Merry Christmas - Yuck. "The Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan was one of the better stories.

Fagan sketches the journey of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon (his term for anatomically modern humans) out of Africa and shows how the severe ice age likely brought about the demise of Neanderthals. He really sticks to the data when discussing the climate changes and archaeological evidence. However, he postulates wildly in other areas, particularly when it comes to gender differences and how Cro-Magnon's might perceive Neanderthals.

A heartfelt tribute. Braitman explores the depth of emotions animals, how they suffer (often from human mistreatment), and how relationships with other animals, as well as humans can heal them.

Iko tracks down rogue wolf-human hybrids intent on disrupting peace between Earth and Luna.

Madrona's amnesia is still with her, and she is uncertain whether she is a superhero or villain (though the prologue shows us what she herself cannot remember). Madrona and Morgan think they are calling the shots, but in the end they've been led on a merry goose chase, and have been taken for a ride. And the bad guys end up better off. The battle to save the world continues.

Lana returns to the island to help cleanup after a powerful storm. Here her strong auntie leads the town-folk in making a living on the island. Unfortunately, the islanders have been taking more than the sea around them can support. The coral reef around them has weakened due to their over harvest.

Maika Halfwolf is from the "race" called arcanics. Arcanics are used by humans for the magic that can be extracted from them. Maika has a stump for an arm, a multi-eyed monster resides in her body and sometimes surfaces to devour others. I have a bit of a problem following the storyline, it would probably help if I reread the book. Or perhaps its intentional. Analagously, another author C.J. Cherryh has battle scenes where you're never quite sure what happened - I suspect people in battles are often unclear about everything that happened.

Brienna is finishing her training as a "Passion" someone who has intently studied one of the 5 arts in the kingdom of Valenia. She desperately hopes to gain a patron on graduation, but no one makes her an offer. Then, a disgraced nobleman from the kingdom of Maevana makes her an offer to become her patron.

Girl in the Tower continues the tale of Vasilisa. Having saved her village from the Bear (aka Hunger), you'd think the village would appreciate her. Nope. They worry that she is a witch, and blame her for the death of her father. No gratitude.
She has set out to visit her sister who because she is married to a lord is kept in a tower. She dresses as a boy to be able to have more freedom, but does Not cut her hair.

If you liked Spinning Silver, The Bear and the Nightingale has a similar flavor. Vasilisa is a young girl chaffing at the restrictions for girls in 14th century Russia. Vasilisa is an energetic girl drawn to nature and able to see the sprites that help keep the house and community in balance. Unfortunately, Vasilisa's new stepmother wants to tame her. I loved the infusion of Slavic or Russian mythology/fairytales.

This book was so good, that I read it again, actually, my husband and I took turns reading it to each other. My husband doesn't usually like fantasy, but this title was so well written, he enjoyed it tremendously. I was surprised at some of the things I missed the first time through (when I listened to it). GoodReads listed it as one of the top books of 2018 (actually it is on the top of several of their lists for 2018).

Another hilarious fantasy by Harper. Madrona comes to with no memory of how she got there, she is lying next to a dead faery. Shortly thereafter she is attacked by some goons. She believes she is a superhero, since she can bend time. However, all sorts of people react with fear to her presence. Definite cliffhanger ending though.

After falling from grace, Tess has tried to be a dutiful daughter to her mother and helpful sister to her twin sister. Still failing miserably to please her mother she strikes out onto the open road. Hartmann does a good job of evoking the feeling of wandering and the healing force of hitting the open road.
I also liked the way Hartmann wove feminist concerns into this adventure story.