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Anne Bishop, Recommended Fantasy, & More

  • The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

    The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

    RECOMMENDED: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley is $1.99! I loved this book and give it five stars on Goodreads. It’s easily one of my favorite historical romance and it recently showed up in the comments of our Rec League: Unassuming, Underestimated Heroes post. However, some readers didn’t feel any love necessarily between the hero and heroine. For those who have read this, what did you think?

    The year is 1881. Meet the Mackenzie family–rich, powerful, dangerous, eccentric. A lady couldn’t be seen with them without ruin. Rumors surround them–of tragic violence, of their mistresses, of their dark appetites, of scandals that set England and Scotland abuzz.

    The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He’s also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.

    Beth Ackerley, widow, has recently come into a fortune. She has decided that she wants no more drama in her life. She was raised in drama–an alcoholic father who drove them into the workhouse, a frail mother she had to nurse until her death, a fussy old lady she became constant companion to. No, she wants to take her money and find peace, to travel, to learn art, to sit back and fondly remember her brief but happy marriage to her late husband.

    And then Ian Mackenzie decides he wants her.

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  • Daughter of the Blood

    Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

    Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop is $2.99! This is the first book in The Black Jewels series and was recommended in our Inner Goth Rec League. Ellen notes that this series deserves all of the content warnings. I know for many readers this was a formative series for their fantasy reading. What are your thoguhts?

    The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy–the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, and the destiny of an entire world is at stake.

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  • Never-Contented Things

    Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter

    RECOMMENDED: Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter is $2.99! This is a rather dark YA fantasy that Carrie graded an A-:

    My day was very productive until I picked up Never-Contented Things, planning to read just a few pages.That concluded the day’s productivity. I’m not saying that this book is perfect but I am sure as heck saying that it is gripping. This is NOT a romance. It’s really good YA Urban Fantasy/Fae Horror, with a really good fledgling romance in it.

    A new YA standalone novel about dark faeries with surefire appeal by Sarah Porter, the critically-acclaimed author of Vassa in the Night and When I Cast Your Shadow

    Seductive. Cruel. Bored
    Be wary of… 

    Never-Contented Things
    A Novel of Faery

    Prince and his fairy courtiers are staggeringly beautiful, unrelentingly cruel, and exhausted by the tedium of the centuries—until they meet foster-siblings Josh and Ksenia. Drawn in by their vivid emotions, undying love for each other, and passion for life, Prince will stop at nothing to possess them.

    First seduced and then entrapped by the fairies, Josh and Ksenia learn that the fairies’ otherworldly gifts come at a terrible price—and they must risk everything in order to reclaim their freedom.

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    This book is on sale at:
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  • A Memory Called Empire

    A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

    A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is $2.99! It’s the first book in a new sci-fi series and we had Arkady on the podcast. The episode focuses on narratology and I found it fascination. Did you listen to this episode? The book has impressive 4.2-star rating on Goodreads.

    Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn’t an accident–or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

    Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan’s unceasing expansion–all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret–one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life–or rescue it from annihilation.

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  1. Laurel says:

    I really love The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I own it both in ebook and on audio. The hero has Asperger’s (although they don’t have that name for it then) and I think Jennifer Ashley does a great job of writing him. I have an adult son with Asperger’s and I have had to DNF most books with Asperger’s characters because they don’t get the characters right, but this book does. (Autistic people are not all the same, so this can be challenging, but the writing here is really good.) I didn’t feel a lack of love between the hero and heroine.

    I read Daughter of the Blood a few years ago because of all of the recommendations by people who had loved it as a teenager. I was definitely not a teenager, and I didn’t like it much. Perhaps I was too old when I read it? I love Anne Bishop’s “The Other’s” series, but I didn’t like this one.

  2. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    @Laurel: my oldest daughter has Asperger’s (or, as it’s now termed, high-functioning autism spectrum disorder) and one thing she hates is the use of “the magical aspie” in popular culture. Books like THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME or that TV show “Numbers”—where autism is somehow equated with magical insight or brilliant deductive powers. She’ll take one look at something and turn away while snorting, “Oh no—magical aspie time.” Interestingly, the first time she read ANNE OF GREEN GABLES she was convinced Anne had Asperger’s.

  3. Mary says:

    I really liked the Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie. I didn’t see a lack of love between the H/h at all, not sure where that criticism came from. I have some experience with Asperger’s in my family and I find most depictions of Asperger’s in popular culture to be ridiculous. The only TV show that I thought came close was Parenthood. I may be biased on this one bc it focused on how Asperger’s affected the family, but I thought it was realistic. Most of the rest? Garbage.

  4. Juhi says:

    I loved a Memory Called Empire. It is gripping, and reads like a historical fantasy, only it is a sci-fi. Even though the whole tale takes place in the space of a few days, all the characters are very very well-developed. It isn’t really a romance though. I’d highly recommend it for the world-building and all the linguistic lovin’ that goes on in the book (lovers of language and poetic forms should definitely check it out!)

  5. Kit says:

    I think the mail problem with autism in novels is that the main character gets sidelined for the neurotypical ones. Also have a issue with the magic ones too. I’ve said this before but I’ve yet to read about an autistic character who doesn’t have a fixed obsession or has then but they change.

  6. Star says:

    I’m one of the minority who didn’t like The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I absolutely loved Ian, but felt that the heroine’s personality seemed to depend largely on what the plot needed from her at any given moment, and also that the text didn’t really demonstrate how they fell in love or why they were so taken with each other, with the result that their relationship remained somewhat inexplicable to me. I need to understand why a couple falls in love beyond being cast as leads in a romance novel, and I never got there with these two. The book read to me almost like the author had taken so much care with Ian’s character — which she clearly had — that she didn’t have much to spare for the rest of the story.

    But I’m a very tough sell, so.

  7. Escapeologist says:

    @DiscoDollyDeb – have you come across “Marcello in the Real World” by Francisco Stork? It’s told from Marcello’s POV, he is on the spectrum and so warm and real, the character has stuck with me for 10 years. I believe it’s semi-autobiographical. I’d be interested in your take!

  8. LMC says:

    I also enjoyed “Madness of Ian..” and felt the couple had a good connection, especially with Ian. I’d be curious to know what others thought of the Charlotte Holmes books by Sherry Thomas. She is portrayed as someone on the spectrum. Is it just her sense of observation or “magical aspie”? (I like that term!)

  9. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    @Escapeologist: I’m unfamiliar with MARCELLO IN THE REAL WORLD, but I will look for it. Perhaps my daughter and I will do a mother-daughter book club read of it! Thank you for the recommendation.

  10. DonnaMarie says:

    The Black Jewels made Ann Bishop an auto-read for me. My budget doesn’t extend to many autobuys any more, but luckily the GBPL and its affiliates are very accommodating.

  11. Kareni says:

    The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie is one of my favorite historical romances.

    I’m a fan of Anne Bishop’s The Others series. I did read the author’s Black Jewels series. I picked up and put down each volume many times; I found then rather sickeningly and compulsively readable. Some of the scenes still linger in my mind (and I wish they would not!)

  12. Jen says:

    I’m on the fence about reading daughter of blood. I read the amazon reviews and they were mixed. Some dnf’d, some raved about it.

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