17 fantasy and science fiction books to read in March 2024
By Daniel Roman
THREE KINDS OF LUCKY by Kim Harrison (The Shadow Age #1) — March 5
Next we delve into the paranormal with longtime urban fantasy writer Kim Harrison. Harrison is best known for her series The Hollows, which is an urban fantasy set in Cincinnati which spans more 18 books as of this writing.
In March, Harrison begins a new urban fantasy series with Three Kinds of Lucky, the first book in The Shadow Age. This new series follows a young woman named Petra Grady whose talent for handling the magical waste of other magicians brings her into contact with a steamy yet oblivious researcher. When things go wrong, they're forced into hiding together as they delve deep into the magical underworld for answers about a system which has situated people with Grady's gifts at the bottom of the proverbial trash heap.
Petra Grady has known since adolescence that she has no talent for magic—and that’s never going to change. But as a sweeper first-class, she’s parlayed her rare ability to handle dross—the damaging, magical waste generated by her more talented kin’s spellwork—into a decent life working at the mages’ university.
Except Grady’s relatively predictable life is about to be upended. When the oblivious, sexy, and oh-so-out-of-reach Benedict Strom needs someone with her abilities for a research project studying dross and how to render it harmless, she’s stuck working on his team—whether she wants to or not.
Only Benedict doesn’t understand the characteristics of dross like Grady does. After an unthinkable accident, she and Benedict are forced to go on the run to seek out the one person who might be able to help: an outcast exiled ten years ago for the crime of using dross to cast spells. Now Grady must decide whether to stick with the magical status quo or embrace her own hidden talents . . . and risk shattering their entire world.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
RIFT IN THE SOUL by Faith Hunter (Soulwood #6) — March 5
Faith Hunter is a longtime author who has written more than 40 fantasy, thriller and adventure books. The books in her Soulwood series are paranormal procedurals where a team of paranormal law enforcers investigates crimes involving vampires, werewolves and the like. This series is set in the same world as Hunter's 15-book Jane Yellowrock series, so there are plenty of stories to keep you sated should you decide to take the plunge.
Rift in the Soul is the latest Soulwood book. For a change, a vampire is reporting a crime instead of committing one, which probably means things are about to get very complicated for investigator/mystical channeler Nell Ingram.
Nell Ingram draws her powers from deep in the earth, and uses them to help Psy-LED, the Psychometric Law Enforcement Division, which solves paranormal crimes. When a local vampire calls to report a dead body on her compound, Nell knows she and her team have to be ready for anything.
But the dead body is just the beginning of a mystery that involves supernaturals of all kinds, including some of the most powerful vampires in the country. As Nell gets closer to the truth, she begins to understand that the perpetrator is tracking her too—and that there is something personal about this crime. Something with roots that go almost as deep as those in Soulwood.