10 new fantasy and science fiction books to read in April 2023
By Daniel Roman
THE BONE SHARD WAR by Andrea Stewart (The Drowning Empire #3) — April 18
April also heralds the end of The Drowning Empire trilogy by Andrea Stewart. This is one we’ve been waiting for. The Bone Shard War continues the saga of Empress Lin Sukai, the charming rogue Jovis, and the fight for the future of the Sukai Dynasty that began in The Bone Shard Daughter. If you’re a fan of big, sprawling epic fantasy series with inventive magic, deep worldbuilding and a surprisingly dark horror streak, The Drowning Empire is a solid choice.
Book 2, The Bone Shard Emperor, left off with a few enormous cliffhangers. Magic was returning to the islands of the Sukai Dynasty and Lin and Jovis had just fought off a bitter enemy. Most importantly, the book left us with some questions about what would happen next to Mephi, one of the most irascible animal companions to appear in any recent fantasy tale.
With The Bone Shard War, we’ll finally see how the tale ends. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to a series like this one, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t dying to get our hands on it.
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THE BLOOD GIFT by N.E. Davenport (The Blood Gift Duology #2) — April 18
Another series coming to its epic conclusion this month is N.E. Davenport’s The Blood Gift Duology. Davenport’s 2021 debut, The Blood Trials, combined science fiction and fantasy in a unique way while telling a story about corruption, survival, and the lengths a person will go for vengeance. The story follows Ikenna, a young woman with a blood gift that gives her powerful abilities which are forbidden by the oppressive Republic of Mareen. The follow-up, The Blood Gift, will force Ikenna to embrace her powers for good or ill:
After discovering the depth of betrayal, treachery, and violence perpetrated against her by Mareen’s Tribunal Council and exposing her illegal blood-gift to save her Praetorian squad, Ikenna becomes a fugitive with a colossal bounty on her head.
Yet, somehow, that’s the least of her worries.
Her grandfather’s longtime allies refuse to offer help, and the Blood Emperor’s Warlord is tracking her. She’s also struggling to control the enormous power she was granted by the Goddess of Blood Rites…and come to terms with the promises she made to get such power.
Amidst all of this, the Blood Emperor wages a full-scale invasion against Mareen and leaves a trail of decimated cities, war crimes, and untold death in his wake. As the horrors increase, Ikenna and her team realize they must assassinate the Blood Emperor and quickly end the war. But the price to do so is steep and has planet-shattering consequences.
The price to do nothing, though, is annihilation.
War has erupted. Alliances are fracturing. And Ikenna is torn between her loyalties, her desires for revenge, and the power threatening to consume her. With the world aflame, only one thing is certain: blood will be spilled.
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FURIOUS HEAVEN by Kate Elliot (The Sun Chronicles #2) – April 18
Kate Elliot is a veteran sci-fi and fantasy author with more than 25 books to her name, and another one is about to be added to the list. Furious Heaven is the sequel to Elliot’s 2020 novel Unconquerable Sun, a gender-bent reimagining of the story of Alexander the Great set among the stars. The stakes are even higher in Furious Heaven, as Princess Sun is forced to assume the mantle of command while enemies close in around her:
The Republic of Chaonia fleets, under the joint command of Princess Sun and her formidable mother, Queen-Marshal Eirene, have defeated and driven out an invading fleet of the Phene Empire, though not without heavy losses. But the Empire remains undeterred. While Chaonia scrambles to rebuild its military, the Empire’s rulers are determined to squash Chaonia once and for all. They believe their military might is strong enough to defeat the enemy, but they also secure a secret alliance with a deadly religious sect skilled in the use of assassination and covert ops, to destabilize the republic.
On the eve of Eirene’s bold attack on the rich and populous Karnos System, an unexpected tragedy strikes the republic. Sun must take charge or lose the throne. Will Sun be content with the pragmatic path laid out by her mother for Chaonia’s future? Or will she choose to forge her own legend? Can she succeed despite all the forces arrayed against her?