August 2023 Book Vote
This month's genre: Fantasy
Welcome to August's book vote. This month we are visiting a genre that may not always be the most popular but always converts a few readers along the way.
Take a look at the synopses below and vote for the one that appeals to you most as a Gloss Book Club selection.
Each month we spend a considerable amount of time researching books to include in our vote, we consider a wide range of factors such as global availability, price per market, author diversity, book length, and reader review ratings. It's not a quick process, but it's an important one. We hope you'll enjoy our selections.
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A River Enchanted
by Rebecca Ross
Pages:480
Synopsis
Jack Tamerlaine hasn’t set foot on Cadence in ten long years, content to study music at the mainland university. But when young girls start disappearing from the isle, Jack is summoned home to help find them. Enchantments run deep on Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind; plaid shawls can be as strong as armor, and the smallest cut of a knife can instil fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that rule the isle by fire, water, earth, and wind find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home. Adaira, heiress of the east and Jack’s childhood enemy, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, and she hopes Jack can draw them forth by song, enticing them to return the missing girls.
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.
The Golden Enclaves
by Naomi Novik
Pages:407
Synopsis
Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.
The one thing you never talk about while you're in the Scholomance is what you'll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it's all we dream about, the hideously slim chance we'll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls.
And now the impossible dream has come true. I'm out, we're all out--and I didn't even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother's prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn't kill enclavers, I saved them. Me, and Orion, and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: we saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves of the world.
Ha, only joking! Actually it's gone all wrong. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war on the horizon. And the first thing I've got to do now, having miraculously got out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.
The Stardust Thief
by Chelsea Abdullah
Pages:468
Synopsis
Neither here nor there, but long ago…
Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.
With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.
Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.
A Marvellous Light
by Freya Marske
Pages:377
Synopsis
Set in an alternative Edwardian England, this is a comedy of manners, manor houses, and hedge mazes: including a magic-infused murder mystery and a delightful queer romance.
For fans of Georgette Heyer or Julia Quinn's Bridgerton, who'd like to welcome magic into their lives . . .
Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world.
Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor – but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.
20 Comments
A River Enchanted
A River Enchanted
Is my vote
The Stardust Thief!
A Marvellous Light
The stardust theif
Seems odd to include book 3 of a trilogy (unless I just wasn’t in the club when books 1 & 2 were read)!
I completely agree! Sounds like all of them are a part of the series, but book three of a trilogy is a bit of a stretch, IMHO!
Same thought here. It would be totally bizarre to jump straight into the third book of a series!
yeah I thought that too so didn’t vote for that one
It’s a book series that I really loved and would highly recommend, but you can’t really jump in at book 3.
A Marvellous Light
The Golden Enclaves is the 3rd book in a trilogy.
A marvellous light sounds great!
I’ve read books 1 and 2 of Naomi Novik’s Scholomance trilogy and readers aren’t going to know what’s going on if they start with book 3 – The Golden Enclaves. It seems an off choice for this poll.
The other options look great though! I went with The Stardust Thief but any of the three would be good.
The Stardust Thief. I’ve already read A River Enchanted and loved it, but I’d rather read something new.
A Marvellous Light is getting my vote simply because those others are too long for me LOL
The Stardust Thief
They all sound great!
“A Marvellous Light” looks like a fun, light read perfect for reading while soaking up the sun poolside or on the beach.
I like a River Enchanted