Staff Picks: Firsts in Fantasy Series

Fri, 11/08/2024 - 10:33am by ohheyitselle

It's time for starting fresh and new beginnings... why not embark on a journey with one of these fantasy series firsts?

Jade City by Fonda Lee | Request Now
This award-winning family saga is a great entry not only for this series, but into the fantasy genre too! The story follows the three Kaul siblings: Lan, Hilo, and Shae as they struggle to find their place at the head of the clan during the health decline of their warhero grandfather. As if a disruption in the clan's hierarchy isn't enough... a war with the other clan is brewing over the management of the country's magical resource: jade. If you struggle with magic systems, have no fear! This universe operates on a low magic system that is easy to follow with the only magical element being jade. In all sincerity, Jade City reads more like a 1950's mob family drama than a fantasy novel mainly because of how character driven it is. The book is FLUSHED with well-written characters and makes you feel like you're a part of the Kaul family.  It is easily one of my favorite fantasy novels I've read this year and am eagerly awaiting my hold on the rest of the series!

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemision  | Request Now
Every few centuries, the inhabitants of The Stillness endure catastrophic climate change called a Fifth Season (roll credits!) The powerful earthquake-controlling magic users of this world, orogenes, are feared among the people of the Stillness and taken as children so they can be trained and kept contained by trained assassins called guardians. The guardians are meant to keep the orogenes in check, but there wouldn't be much of a story if everything went as it was meant to. 

The Fifth Season follows three female orogenes  (Essun, Damaya, and Syenite) at different stages of life from across the Stillness and as the worst Fifth Season in recorded history unfolds. The Fifth Season is a home run of a series starter and certainly a must read for someone trying to break into the Fantasy genre!! 

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao  | Request Now
Is that a sneaky lil Sci-Fi amid a bunch of Fantasy?? IT IS! Iron Widow is a reimagining of the historical Wu Zetian's rise to power mixed with female rage, giant mecha, action, polyamory, and some wild twists and turns along the way! Our story takes place in a man-centric world where women are used as disposable energy for men to utilize in the fight against alien creatures, Hunduns. Our protagonist, Wu Zetian, enlists as a concubine to enact revenge on the mecha pilot who killed her sister despite that fact that it will likely mean her own death. 

This first of its series is phenomenal but be forewarned that it certainly starts with a bang and is not for the faint of heart! It tackles a lot of serious issues while also being very violent. Wu Zetian is lead by her rage and it shows time and time again throughout the book. While the rest of the series is unfinished, I can't wait to see how the story unfolds! 

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson | Request Now
Okay... buckle up! Brandon Sanderson is a big name in the Fantasy world and quite frankly stepping into his universe, the Cosmere, can be DAUNTING! But if you want to dip your toes into the Cosmere, a perfect place to start is book one of the Mistborn Trilogy! Our protagonist, Vin, is a young woman who realizes she is a Mistborn, a magic user who can "burn" ingested metals and turns them into supernatural abilities. Vin joins forces with a fellow Mistborn and mentor, Kelsier, in hatching a plan to overthrow the tyrannous Lord Ruler and steal his stores of metals by infiltrating the nobility. Only not everything goes exactly according to plan... shocking, I know. The Mistborn series, as well as Sanderson's other books, operates under a hard magic system, but there are helpful resources in the book to help the reader keep track of everything! If you end up enjoying The Final Empire then you can make your way to the rest of the trilogy* and perhaps even further into the Cosmere! 

*Pro Tip: There are TWO Mistborn series that take place on the same planet! The first series is books 1-3 and is considered Era One, meanwhile Era Two contains books 4-7.