#rr virdi

[checkoutmybookshelf]

I got wildly sick of white European farm boy fantasy a while back. Thank goodnes I didn't have to look hard to find other things, and plenty of them (literally this is not my whole collection, I just couldn't ffit everything in the picture)!

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko follows Tar as she finds her family in an African-inspired fantasy world. The haunting "made of me, and me is mine" still echoes in my head. That and Dayo literally being the adoptive uncle who gets his nibling an elephant.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong explores Chinese and Russian rival crime families in fantasy 1920s Shanghai. For my Shakespeareans in the audience, yes, it's also a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. For those of you with bug phobias, beware.

Tha Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri is often described as having morally gray lesbians, and that's true. But while Priya and Malini are compelling and fascinating to follow, I am HERE for the Hirana. Semi-sentient, possibly evil temple who is soft for its favorite trainee priestess in hiding? YES.

Jade City by Fonda Lee follows the Green Bones in fantasy Asia, as two warring gangs find their places in a rapidly modernizing world. Shae and Hilo's relationship in particular is fascinating.

Full Disclosure: I haven't finished Axie Oh's The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but the first couple of chapters are a WOW and I can't wait to finish this Korean-inspired fairy tale retelling.

The Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan was sheer joy from start to finish, and I have not yet stopped asking "What the Actual HELL, Wenzhi???" Inspired by the myth of Chang'e, this book is a must-read. (The sequel is out November 2022 and I am so excited!!!)

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao took me by the throat and literally did not let me go until the book ended--and even then, it less let me go and more threw me against the boards until round 2. The triangle is the strongest shape, and this has phenomenal poly and disability representation.

Another full disclosure: I haven't started Judy Lin's A Magic Steeped in Poison, but I am so excited for it. There is literal and figurative tea promised, and I am here for it.

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah scratched a reading itch I didn't even know I had, and I love this book so much. It has cinnaprinces, a Loulie, jinn, forty thieves, and stories within stories.

Last full disclosure of the post: I also haven't read the doorstopper that is RR Virdi's The First Binding, but it is a heckin' chonk of a book that I am super excited to dive into.

[bookcub]

"My purpose is whatever I damn well please. My purpose is to, for once, be free walk this world without cadre of forgotten beings, the blackened Shaen, hounding me. My purpose is maybe to maybe do some good. Do something as little, silly, and undeniably good as make people laugh and smile. It's the least I can do after the life I have."

R. R. Virdi, The First Binding

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Just arrived today at home.

The first foreign edition of The First Binding in hardcover.

[spaceshipkat]

jesus christ this book sounds amazing??? and that cover?????

please don't let me down please don't let me down please don't let me down

the last time i was this excited for a fantasy novel turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments

[bookcub]

We're all stories. Every one of us. Each important, more than any one could ever know. A story of those who came before us, of where we are, and where we're headed. The lives we've touched, and those we've lost. We are, all of us, the more important things in the world. For What's more important than a story? What's more important than the hero of their own tale?

-R. R. Virdi, The First Binding