20 fantasy and science fiction books to read in February 2024
By Daniel Roman
A FATE INKED IN BLOOD by Danielle L. Jensen (Saga of the Unfated #1)
Back to Norse-inspired epics, because late winter is the perfect time to feed your inner viking: The Bridge Kingdoms author Daniel L. Jensen is launching a new series this month with the release of A Fate Inked in Blood. A woman named Freya has come into possession of powerful magic that repels attacks, but that puts a target on her back when her husband enters her into a dangerous duel against her will. Now her hopes of become a shield maiden are put to the ultimate test as she prepares for combat and tries to fend off the temptation of forbidden attraction to the man she's supposed to kill.
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.
Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.
Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.
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THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST by Premee Mohamed — February 27
Premee Mohamed is a Hugo and Nebula-award winning author who puts out stories like crazy. Forget "the Year of Sanderson"; last year Mohamed had a jaw-dropping 14 works which were eligible for awards. I'm not saying 2023 was the Year of Mohamed, but with numbers like that it might as well have been.
In 2024 she's kicking things off with The Butcher of the Forest, a dark fairytale which sees a world-weary woman brave a treacherous magical wood. You don't need me to tell you how creepy and intense the story could get,;just look at the terrifying skeletal animals on the cover to know you are getting into a story which may send chills run down your spine.
At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic.
Veris Thorn—the only one to ever enter the forest and survive—is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant's missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past.
One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything.