A Game of Tomes

[yagameoftomes]

Fantasy: Weapons

We all love swords and daggers, bows and arrows. But the REAL fun in fantasy comes when weapons turn exotic, unique, and utterly wicked.

My favorite (sararaasch -- this should come as no surprise…) is the chakram. A lethal frisbee -- how is that not cool?

There are endless arrays of unheard of, exotic weapons. What are some of your favorites?

[yagameoftomes]

Fantasy World Linguistics

Pages and pages of information could be given on linguistics in fantasy worlds (in fact, just goggling that phrase will keep you busy for days), so I will share my one best piece of fantasy world writing advice regarding linguistics to keep things short and sweet, as Tumblr loves:

Question the angels

aka

Think. Things. Through.

One of the linguistic-issues I ran into with SNOW LIKE ASHES was as simple as cherubs. Yep, angel-baby statues -- one kingdom, Cordell, used to have these things everywhere -- decorating corners, ceilings, balconies, etc. But one day, I asked a seemingly dumb question:

Do they even have angels in this world?

The answer saved me from having a strange (albeit small) world building hole: No, this world did NOT have angels, and as such wouldn't have cherubs in their decorations.

Question everything. Poke holes, dig deep, consider things that might seem ridiculous. All these little details are what make a fantasy world gloriously airtight! 

[yagameoftomes]

My top 5 anticipated YA books for the rest of 2014

In no particular order!

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

<3

Danielle

[yagameoftomes]

Fantasy Flashback: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Real magic can never be made by offering someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back.

Have you guys read The Last Unicorn? Because if you haven't, you have to read The Last Unicorn. 

It's the story of a unicorn who suddenly realizes that she's the last unicorn left in the world. Ann evil king wanted to possess all of the beauty of the unicorns, but unicorns cannot be owned, so he used a beast called the Red Bull to drive them all into the sea by his castle and turn them into the foam on the waves. Every day, he stands in his castle, admiring the creatures as they struggle to escape. And along with a really useless wizard and a grouchy woman who dreamed of magic when she was young, the last unicorn is determined to set them free.  

It's a fairy tale for adults, but it's also a commentary on fairy tales. The writing is simple but heartbreaking and gorgeous. And the animated version is terrifying, at least for an innocent five year old expecting a nice story about a unicorn. And it's my benchmark and my inspiration for what fairy tale fantasy should be. 

I mean, just check out this quote:

The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.

Please do yourself a favor and pick up this short, emotional, wonderful, quotable book! It's truly beautiful. It will take you an evening to read, but the words and ideas will stick with you much, much longer than that.  

~ Rhiannon

[yagameoftomes]

Five New/Upcoming YA Diverse Fantasy Releases

Hi guys! Lori here. For today's top five, I wanted to spotlight some upcoming or recently released diverse fantasy titles. Fantasy is largely characterized not just by its otherworldly elements but by its rich world building. For me, no world can be fully imagined or believable without diversity.

OTHERBOUND by Corinne Duyvis

This book released in June. It's PHENOMENAL. The worldbuilding is fluid and fascinating, and the plot is twisty and gripping. The fabulously diverse cast tops the cake. Pick this up ASAP!

THE FIRE WISH by Amber Lough

This books comes out TODAY! On top of an ongoing war between jinni and humans, two girls--a human and jinni--trade lives, and all manner of problems ensue. Gorgeous writing and fantastic characters. Loved it!

SILVERN by Christina Farley

This is the sequel to GILDED, and it releases in September. GILDED is set in Korea and is steeped in mythology and heart pounding action. I can't wait to see what the sequel holds!

KING by Ellen Oh

This is the final book in the PROPHECY series, and it releases next year. Unlike GILDED, this series isn't set in Korea, but it's a fantasy inspired by Korea and Korean mythology. With kickass characters and stunning worldbuilding, this isn't one to miss!

THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renée Ahdieh

This book releases 2015, and it doesn't even have a cover yet, but I can promise you this: it's FABULOUS. The writing is GORGEOUS. Like, full-immersion-3-D-action gorgeously descriptive. Also, it's a fantasy retelling of the Arabian Nights. COME ON, NOW. HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT THAT???

----

And there you have it! 5 books to read and/or keep your eyes on! Happy Tuesday!

[yagameoftomes]

Cover Love: CLARIEL by Garth Nix

I dropped the ball on posting some cover love on the 10th, but there is no time like the present, so here we go!

 I'm a huge fan of Garth Nix's ABHORSEN trilogy, so when I found out there was going to be a fourth instalment there was a lot of happy-dancing.  There are a couple covers for CLARIEL. This is the one published by Allen & Unwin 

And this is the one published by HarperCollins:

Now normally I tend to gravitate towards covers dominated by an image of a character (like my own *cough*), but I am in LOVE with the HarperCollins cover. The burning symbol makes me think the action of the HUNGER GAMES, but the image of the city and the girl in the dress grounds it as epic fantasy. AND THAT IS A DRAGON BEHIND HER!! Needless to say, I can't wait to read this one. 

<333

Danielle

From Goodreads:

Clariel is the daughter of the one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most importantly, to the King. When her family moves to the city of Belisaere, there are rumors that her mother is next in line for the throne. However, Clariel wants no part of it—a natural hunter, all she ever thinks about is escaping the city’s confining walls and journeying back to the quiet, green world of the Great Forest. But many forces conspire against Clariel’s dream. A dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan. When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she discovers hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers. Can she rise above the temptation of power, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the King? 

[yagameoftomes]

Retelling Fairy Tales

Sleeping Beauty was awoken by true love's kiss. Or just by the prince falling in love with the sight of her. Or after one of her newborn babies sucked the spinning wheel splinter out of her finger. Because she gave birth to twins while she was asleep. Because the prince wasn't such a true love after all.

Oh, and why she was asleep? Because of a curse, right? Or because of a prophecy. Or because her mother makes a wish that goes wrong. Or because... well. There are a million different reasons. 

When we think of "original" fairy tales, we tend to think of the stories written by the Brothers Grimm. But the Brothers Grimm weren't tale-tellers so much as tale collectors. They gathered together all the folk tales they could find, and wrote them down into a big collection. And as they searched for fairy stories, they discovered that many of the tales were told in many different ways, mostly by different oral storytellers who added their own spin to things. So when the Brothers Grimm recorded the stories, they put down what they thought was the "best" version. And so lots of other versions have since fallen by the wayside. 

But we can still see traces of those other versions with a couple of famous stories. The first person to write down Sleeping Beauty sort of as we know it was a French guy named Perrault, and in his version, the prince falls to his knees at the unnamed princess's beauty, and the curse breaks. And then there's a whole second plot involving the prince's angry ogre mother. It's a bit weird. And Perrault based his story on one by the Italian Giambattista Basile, who went the whole "prince rapes princess while she sleeps" route. Or there's Red Riding Hood, which originated in France in the 10th century, where the girl faces an ogre or a werewolf who serves Red Riding Hood her dead grandmother for dinner. In Perrault's version, Red Riding Hood climbs into bed with the wolf before being eaten, and a little paragraph at the end of the story leaves us in no doubt what that's supposed to be a cautionary tale metaphor for. Even the Brother's Grimm did two versions: in the first, she's eaten, and in the second, she and her grandmother are saved by the woodsman and then drown the wolf through the power of the smell of sausages. Seriously.

So when we retell fairy tales, we're not just playing with stories written by the Brothers' Grimm. Not really. Fairy tales must speak to some deep part of us, because the urge to put a different spin on them has been around for the last thousand years at least. When Disney decided that Cinderella would be helped by mice, and that maybe her step-sisters shouldn't be blinded by birds at her wedding, they were just continuing the age-old tradition of tweaking fairy tales to fit the story that they want to tell. To give the message that that audience, that society, wanted or needed to hear. 

Which is why it's so exciting to check out fairy tale retellings right now. We're living in an age where more and more people are pushing for diversity, for feminist narratives, for LGBT rights... and they're using fairy tales to do it. Writers are twisting these stories where girls got the prince they were given, where they became cautionary metaphors for rebellion or lust, where the patient and sweet were rewarded and the ambitious were punished, and repurposing the plotlines to empower their characters. And that's not lazy storytelling or failing to respect the original. It's just a badass continuation of something that storytellers have been doing for the past thousand years.

(This post is totally thanks to MarcyKate Connolly, whose post on loving the original dark fairy tales got me thinking about fairytale retellings and why we write them). 

~ Rhiannon

[yagameoftomes]

Q & A is coming up!

Hey guys! We're doing another Q & A post soon, so if you have any YA fantasy questions, now's the time to ask!

[yagameoftomes]

Top Five Tuesday: YA Fantasy Worlds

Plot and characters can make or break a story, but what REALLY pushes a fantasy book over the top is an amazing, unique world. Thus, my (sararaasch) top five YA fantasy worlds:

1) Shadow & Bone: Ravka

An entire world built on the traditions, architecture, and culture of Russia.

I really don't think that needs any other explanation.

2) Girl of Fire & Thorns: Joya d'Arena

Again with the kingdoms-inspired-by-cultures-in-our-world awesomeness, but with Spanish influences. 

YES PLEASE.

3) The Winner's Curse: Valoria

Okay, okay, my obsession/respect for fantasy worlds based on our-world cultures that are 1) unique and 2) CRAZY MOTHER F-ING UNIQUE knows no bounds. 

Valoria has a delicious Sparta/Greek/Roman-conquer-the-world mentality, and it is this intensity that has me DROOLING.

4) Incarceron

The prison itself. Holy Terrifying World, Batman -- the intricacies and complexities of this universe-within-a-universe is just…*shudder*

I shan't go into too many details to avoid spoilers, but just know that by the time you finish the sequel, Sapphique, you will be pacing the room in a fit of righteous rage at how amazing it is.

 5) Cinder

I'd point out one particular country for this, but it's really EVERYTHING. Marissa Meyer completely revamps our world for her futuristic gloriousness, and dude, it is EPIC. Cyborgs and moon-dwellers and *gasp* world peace (or is it??) -- what's not to love?

[yagameoftomes]

Skylar Dorset here with today's Winter Is Coming, in which I get to gush about a book I'm excited about!

I'm talking to you about Shallee McArthur's THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE. Which: great title, right? Anyway, this book is all about memory, which is something I'm fascinated by. If you're used to remembering everything, and you start to forget things, how would that affect you? What is life like if you remember everything, anyway? As I keep forgetting to, you know, post blog entries on time and stuff like that, I've been thinking a lot about the power of memory, and this book speaks to me on that level!

Want to know more? Here's the official summary!

Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend. Anyone could be next. Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is. The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things—or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast. Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.

THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE releases on November 4, so mark your calendars now!

[lorimlee]

Teaser Tuesday: 7 Weeks to GoT&S

  Barnes & Noble | Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads

An introduction to Kai and the problem she faces when her brother Reev goes missing:

“This wasn’t right. Reev would never go anywhere without making sure I knew where he was. He was Reev: consistent, reliable, unfailing.

I’d been afraid even to think it until now…

People were disappearing. Had been for years. Like many others, I pretended not to notice. Worse things happened in Ninurta.

I was safe with Reev. With his silent strength and the subtle tenderness he reserved just for me and the way his arm felt around my shoulders.

He was untouchable.

He was supposed to be untouchable.”

♥

[yagameoftomes]

Fairy Tales - An Ever Evolving Tradition

Fairy tales and myth are in many ways at the heart of modern fantasy. The old informing the new. And everyone knows fairy tales right? (Or do they...) Here’s a little quiz on some classic fairy tales (answers at the very bottom of the post!) to test your knowledge :)

What animals aid Cinderella?

What wakes Snow White?

What happens at the end of The Little Mermaid?

What happens to the stepsisters at the end of Cinderella?

What happens to the wicked Queen at the end of Snow White?

My very first experience with fantasy was way back when I was little in the form of fairy tales. I’ve had a deep, abiding love of them ever since. Now, I’m not talking about the Disneyfied versions – I mean the original ones. The Brothers Grimm. Hans Christian Andersen.

In my home, my parents had a huge collection of books all dedicated to fairy tales and myths taking up an entire shelf in their living room. I can’t tell you how many times I cracked open those blue and silver spines and lost an afternoon curled up on the couch. Because I was familiar with the original tales, I was always a little surprised (though no less enchanted) when I saw the movie versions. And it never ceases to surprise me when people (especially writers) assume the movies are true to the stories. The movies have their place, but there’s so much more in the fairy tales—much of it admittedly brutal and gruesome—that never translates to the screen. There's probably not as many classic happily-ever-afters in fairy tales as you may think.

Considering the fact that the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and many that inspired Andersen were stories that had been handed down and shaped and reshaped for generations, it’s fascinating to me to see that these retold versions we have now are what’s prevalent in the cultural conscious.  In a way, it’s the same long tradition of handing down tales, but transferring from an oral tradition to a visual one.

Still, the original tales will always be my favorite. :)

-MarcyKate

Scroll down to see how many answers on the quiz you got right! .

.

.

.

Answers:

Two white pigeons help Cinderella get to the ball.

One of the prince’s men carrying Snow White's glass coffin stumbles, dislodging the poisonous apple from her throat.

The little mermaid dissolves into sea foam and becomes a daughter of the air.

Pigeons pecked out their eyes after they came to the wedding to curry favor with Cinderella and Prince Charming.

She was forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she fell down dead.

[yagameoftomes]

Fantasy Flashback - Renée Ahdieh

When I was a little girl, I promised myself when I grew up, I would never say the words "When I was a little girl" . . .

I mean, at this point, I kinda feel like it's an age-given right. Anyway, WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL . . . the very first fantasy books I fell in love with were The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander.

The epic story of Taran Wanderer and the beautiful Princess Eilonwy . . . of the clumsy bard Fflewddur Fflam and the dwarf Doli. Of loyal Gurgi and the insidious Black Cauldron. I loved it all. And I definitely had nightmares about Arawn, Death-Lord of Annuvin and his Cauldron-Born.

These were the books that first taught me to dream in a different world and create a new reality where there once was nothing. They were also the books that inspired me to read Tolkien, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge for an eleven-year-old girl, even one with frizzy hair and bottle-thick glasses.

Being introduced to a world of fantasy was definitely one of the most important events of my childhood. Without The Chronicles of Prydain, I might not have picked up The Lord of the Rings or Mariel of Redwall or insisted on watching Star Wars with my cousins. And I definitely would not have had the thick skin I needed for anything by George R. R. Martin. (sidenote: I totally squealed during the last episode of Game of Thrones. And if you don't know what I'm talking about . . . Daenerys Stormborn is coming for you.)

[yagameoftomes]

Winter is Coming - WINTERSPELL

Hi guys! kathrynroseksk is here with this week's Winter is Coming (Like Waiting on Wednesday!). I'm super excited because ever since I heard clairelegrand was doing a Nutcracker retelling, I was all over that. First of all, I LURVE retellings (naturally), and second of all, The Nutcracker is SO rich with story and interesting characters and themes and motifs, and some of my favorite Christmas memories are found in Tchaikovsky's beautiful music and watching gorgeous ballet. 

Darkly romantic and entirely enchanting, this reimagining of The Nutcracker from Claire Legrand brims with magic, love, and intrigue. New York Timesbestselling author Marissa Meyer (Cinder) says “this is not your grandmother’s Nutcracker tale.” After her mother is brutally murdered, seventeen-year-old Clara Stole is determined to find out what happened to her. Her father, a powerful man with little integrity, is a notorious New York City gang lord in the syndicate-turned-empire called Concordia. And he isn’t much help. But there is something even darker than Concordia’s corruption brewing under the surface of the city, something full of vengeance and magic, like the stories Clara’s godfather used to tell her when she was a little girl. Then her father is abducted and her little sister’s life is threatened, and Clara accidentally frees Nicholas from a statue that has been his prison for years. Nicholas is the rightful prince of Cane, a wintry kingdom that exists beyond the city Clara has known her whole life. When Nicholas and Clara journey together to Cane to retrieve her father, Clara encounters Anise, the queen of the faeries, who has ousted the royal family in favor of her own totalitarian, anti-human regime. Clara finds that this new world is not as foreign as she feared, but time is running out for her family, and there is only so much magic can do...

WINTERSPELL releases 9/30/14, so add that to your calendars! I can't wait to get my copy! 

[yagameoftomes]

Recently – awesomely – there’s been a move away from the whole damsel in distress thing. No longer does Peach only exist for Mario to rescue, or Leia hang around in the Death Star because Obi Wan Kenobi is her only hope. Fantasy movies and books tend to have at least one female character, and she’s not always just there to get in trouble and be rescued.

But because we can’t have nice things, we’ve got a new trope instead. The Totally Kickass Strong Female Character TM. And what a badass she is. She has a sassy comeback for every occasion! She’s not like those other girls, all wimpy and girly and superficial. She’s 100% sexy, 100% fearless, 100% unfazed by everything around her. She doesn’t need no man, at least until her true love shows up and shows her what she's missing! Sure, sometimes she looks like she might be getting a little chilly, but her lack of sensitivity to things like air temperature and armor requirements is one of the things that’s so badass about her.

Assassins are awesome. Pirate queens and sword-masters are AWESOME. But they need depth, including things like weaknesses and fears and weird character quirks and goals of their own. And “fighting badass” isn’t all that female characters should get to be. When we’re presented with shallow sexy assassin after shallow sexy assassin, it’s like the story is saying, “hey, look, no! We’re totally feminist! Look how NOT a damsel this female character is!”, while STILL using female characters as wish-fulfilment for male viewers/readers. In fact, sometimes this trope is worse than the damsel, because it pretends to be empowered, while suggesting that anything girly is bad and weak, but that some female characters can transcend their female-ness by being purely sexy, purely fearless, purely quippy badasses instead. And in the end, these anti-damsels often still need to be saved by the hero so they can become his true love.

The whole male gaze thing isn’t really a problem in YA (yay!), but the genre does have a lot of badasses. Often, these characters are interesting, compelling and well-developed – certainly more so than many seen in the realm of adult fantasy novels – and I love the Celaena Sardothiens of the book world. But we need MORE too.

Give me damsels who AREN’T in distress. Give me silver-tongued diplomats who talk themselves out of trouble, and quick-witted schemers who play the games of court. Give me naïve dreamers and stubborn pragmatists and reclusive academics who never have a clue what’s going on. Female characters who control the war room and female characters who are staunch pacifists, no matter the situation or cost. Give me princesses who fight for power in worlds where their voices are dismissed, and queens corrupted by the absolute control they possess. Give me dragon whisperers and sorcerers and mouse-like farmgirls suddenly burdened with saving the world. Give me girls who are friends and enemies and grudging allies, who have professional respect for one another, or are attracted to one another, or make one another totally ragey. Give me people who happen to be female. And then give them stories worthy of their awesomeness.

~ Rhiannon (rhiannonbooks.tumblr.com)

[yagameoftomes]

Cover Love: The Twelve Houses Series by Sharon Shinn

Though this book takes place in the Twelve Houses world, it's really more of a companion -- but the cover lives up to the awesomeness of the others! I mean, look at this thing -- it's like an entire portrait!

[yagameoftomes]

Cover Love: The Twelve Houses Series by Sharon Shinn

Sharon Shinn creates such an amazing, varied world in this series, and on this cover, we finally get to see one of the most ferocious aspects of her world -- a raelynx! These fierce felines have wreaked havoc throughout the series in various ways, and it all comes to a head here and now. This cover does not disappoint!