Battles and betrayals star in the best Sci-Fi and Fantasy books out now: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, The Devils by Joe Abercrombie, Every Version of You by Grace Chan
By JAMIE BUXTON
Published: | Updated:
The Raven Scholar is available now from the Mail Bookshop
There’s an island, a palace, a soon-to-be-vacated throne and a competition where the great houses put up a champion to succeed the emperor.
Naturally, we find intrigue, treachery and fighting, but best of all, right in the thick of things, is the unlikely, spikey figure of Neema Kraa, junior archivist.
And if being made the Raven’s champion is not enough, she also has to solve a murder.
The Raven Scholar is that rare book that stays with you whether you’re reading it or not.
More than gripping, it’s deeply involving as wheels turn, secrets are revealed and fierce, beautiful, brilliant Neema battles through to the end.
The Devils is available now from the Mail Bookshop
It’s The Wild Bunch on steroids as a gang of blasphemous monsters escort a guttersnipe princess across a continent for her enthronement – while everyone else tries to kill them on the way.
Meet an appallingly pompous magician, an existential vampire who seduces with descriptions of dumplings, a useless priest and, outstandingly, a monstrously gorgeous, tattooed, Viking lady werewolf whose tremendous lusts are almost as strong as her love of meat.
No one does journeys like Abercrombie. It’s the perfect medium for his deliciously unfair plot twists and violent – very violent – reversals of fortune.
See his characters stripped bare, desperate and lovable: the real trademark that sets this bestselling author apart.
Every Version of You is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Draw two timelines: the relentless degradation of the planet along one; a seamless interface with utopian digital space along the other.
This disturbing, unflinching and emotionally-charged story explores the point of convergence.
Tao-Yi loves Navin but he is ill – Navin’s never fully recovered from an operation she recommended. They find themselves spending increasing time in their dreamy online world while Tao-Yi’s ageing mother sticks stubbornly to her offline ways.
So when Navin wants Tao-Yi to ditch her body to join him forever in cyberspace, she’s left with massive questions. Is digital heaven desirable? And in the face of limitless potential, might it be our limitations that make us human?
Daily Mail
