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grav_ityThe summer I was nine, I read all the wrong books. The Mists of Avalon, The Firebrand, Dragonflight, Pawn of Prophecy, The Black Trillium, Tiger Burning Bright, Elvenborn, The Clan of the Cavebear, The Horsemasters.
My mother tried to fix me, forcing books she deemed appropriate, but it was too late.
Now I am thirty-three, and adult fantasy and I do not always get along. I don't like the rape in the "dark" side of the genre and I don't like the smugness in the satirical side. I'm not super interested in the way "nuanced" heroes are presented (because for dudes it invariably means they're murderers and for women it invariably means they were abused). I don't read fantasy for shades of grey. I know the fantasy of my childhood doesn't hold up well now that I understand more about how misogyny and racism work.
The Queens of Innis Lear is the book I have been training for my whole life. I would have read it at 9. I would have loved it at 9. I would have missed so much of it.
Surface Pitch: an epic fantasy re-imagining of King Lear, but focused on the daughters (a warrior, a witch, and a priest), and set on an island obsessed with star prophecy that has lost touch with the earth magic that served as the other half of the island's power. Without that balance, the island is dying...and the mainland kingdoms are starting to consider military options.
It's so good. IT'S SO GOOD. It's 700 pages of pure wonder and glory and blood, and I loved every moment.
Disclaimer: Tessa Gratton might be my favourite living author (and also one of my favourite people). I love all of her books and I love her, but OMG, THIS BOOK. Tessa writes my favourite love stories and my favourite murder stories and my favourite animal sacrifice stories, and she usually does all of those things at the same time, and QUEENS is no exception. It's wonderful.
QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR comes out in March and you should pre-order it.
My mother tried to fix me, forcing books she deemed appropriate, but it was too late.
Now I am thirty-three, and adult fantasy and I do not always get along. I don't like the rape in the "dark" side of the genre and I don't like the smugness in the satirical side. I'm not super interested in the way "nuanced" heroes are presented (because for dudes it invariably means they're murderers and for women it invariably means they were abused). I don't read fantasy for shades of grey. I know the fantasy of my childhood doesn't hold up well now that I understand more about how misogyny and racism work.
The Queens of Innis Lear is the book I have been training for my whole life. I would have read it at 9. I would have loved it at 9. I would have missed so much of it.
Surface Pitch: an epic fantasy re-imagining of King Lear, but focused on the daughters (a warrior, a witch, and a priest), and set on an island obsessed with star prophecy that has lost touch with the earth magic that served as the other half of the island's power. Without that balance, the island is dying...and the mainland kingdoms are starting to consider military options.
It's so good. IT'S SO GOOD. It's 700 pages of pure wonder and glory and blood, and I loved every moment.
Disclaimer: Tessa Gratton might be my favourite living author (and also one of my favourite people). I love all of her books and I love her, but OMG, THIS BOOK. Tessa writes my favourite love stories and my favourite murder stories and my favourite animal sacrifice stories, and she usually does all of those things at the same time, and QUEENS is no exception. It's wonderful.
QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR comes out in March and you should pre-order it.
