Historical Fiction, Magic, and High Fantasy; and Other Books

 Re-reading

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, May 1, 2018; Harper Voyager

Genre: historical fiction, fantasy, high fantasy, magic 

I had started this historical fantasy but not finished. Now, I'm in the mood for fantastic martial arts, magic, Chinese mythology, fantastic creatures, gods,  and feats, and a female main character who went from a poor village to the highest military academy and honors. It's a mistake, I find, to try to link the events and wars and places to real Chinese history and places, as they have been so changed for the purposes of fiction. 

(post reprinted from Book Bird Dog ( Book Dilettante), my other book blog.) The Poppy War is an epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic. I had to read this to see why it received all the awards and accolades. Apart from being a Goodreads Choice Award for 2018, the first book received 

Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel (2018), Locus Award Nominee for First Novel (2019), World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2019), Compton Crook Award (2019), British Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Newcomer (Sydney J. Bounds Award) (2019), and several other award nominations

The other books in the fantasy trilogy are

The Dragon Republic and 

The Burning God. All three books won the Goodreads Choice and the last two were also nominated for awards.

R. F. Kuang is also the author of Babel, Yellowface 

Also reading

Set in the Toronto neighbourhood of “Little Jamaica,” Frying Plantain  (June 4, 2019) follows a girl from elementary school to high school graduation as she navigates the tensions between mothers and daughters, second-generation immigrants experiencing first-generation cultural expectations, and Black identity in a predominantly white society.

ZALIKA REID-BENTA, a Canadian writer, whose debut novel RIVER MUMMA has been shortlisted for the 2024 Trillium Book Award and  received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist Magazine. RIVER MUMMA is an Amazon Books Editors' Pick for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy and was selected a Best Book of the Month for Apple Books in February 2024. It has been listed as one of the best fiction books of 2023 on platforms, including CBC Books, Indigo Books, Kobo Books and The Walrus.

Reid-Benta's debut short story collection FRYING PLANTAIN won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction in 2020. It was longlisted for the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and shortlisted for the 2020 Toronto Book Award, the 2020 Trillium  Book Award, the 2021 White Pine Award and the 2020 Evergreen Award.

In 2025, Tundra Books will publish Zalika's first picture book, TWELVE DAYS OF JAMAICAN CHRISTMAS.

What are you reading, watching, or listening to this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday, Book Blogger Hop

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, a review

 Book post reprinted from my other book blog, BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante)

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Published June 11, 2020; Mariner Books

Genre: Indian literature, historical fiction, award winning novel

A young Indian marine biologist, Piya Roy, travels to the remote Sunderbans area of West Bengal, India near the border with Bangladesh, to find and study the habits of two rare river dolphins, one of them the Irawaddy dolphin. She gets help from an illiterate yet knowledgeable boatman, Fokir, who knows and understands the extensive mangroves, the shifting tides of the river, and the multiple small islands that make up the marshland area. He is able to take her to where the dolphins regularlly gather to feed.

I loved the extensive and detailed descriptions of the Sunderbans islands, the poetic vision of man and nature and their interactions. The tenacious and determined personality of Piya and her bravery and courage in her research fits well with the astute and competent boatman Fokir, and their attraction to each other does not come as a surprise.

The force of nature and its effects on humans and their frail habitations in a wilderness of wood and water is made over and over again when the incoming tides completely cover many of the islands each day. The main event for the inhabitants is when a cyclone threatens their lives and houses in the Sunderbans. The mangroves are also home to ferocious tigers, crocodiles, and snakes.

The main character is the land - the land of wood, water, and the tides that swallow them up at will. The love story between Piya and Fokir is also heart breaking. But the redemption of having environmental groups fund Piya's further study of the Sunderbans is a reward for her efforts.

 

AMITAV GHOSH was born in Calcutta, and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; he studied in Delhi, Oxford and Alexandria. He is the author of several acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction including the Booker-shortlisted Sea of Poppies, the first novel in  The Ibis Trilogy, The Glass Palace and The Hungry Tide. His non-fiction writing includes The Great Derangement, The Nutmeg’s Curse and Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories, which was shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize.
Amitav Ghosh’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages. He was a finalist of the Man Booker International Prize and was the first English-language writer to be the recipient of the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour. In 2024 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Erasmus Prize. 

Historical Novels, Fantasy, Mystery

Historical Fiction 

Not yet published

A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang, Jan. 27, 2026; William Morrow, NetGalley

Genre: literary, fantasy, historical fiction

A dark, magical realist debut family saga that moves through the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the Cultural Revolution, and the present day to explore the effects of intergenerational trauma, the legacy of colonialism, and the inescapability of fate.

 I am interested in the history of China from the 1930s and onward.

Not yet published 

Eureka by Victoria Chang, publication Jan. 27, 2026; Macmillan Children's Publishing; NetGalley

Genre: children's historical fiction

Description: Eureka is a gorgeous and emotionally resonant novel-in-verse by multiple-award-winning poet Victoria Chang that sensitively and lyrically renders the tragic events surrounding the 1885 expulsion of Chinese Americans from Eureka, California.

I wanted to know more about this event in 1885 California.

Soft Burial by Fang Fang, March 18, 2025; Columbia University Press, NetGalley

Genre: historical fiction, mystery, amnesia

Soft Burial begins with a mysterious, nameless protagonist. Decades earlier she was pulled out of a river in a state of near-death; upon regaining consciousness, she discovered that her entire memory had been erased. The narrative follows her journey through recovery. Intergenerational trauma from the Land Reform Campaign in China, late 40s to early 50s.  

Amnesia cases, fictional or real, have been fascinating for me.

State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang, published June 3, 2025; World Editions, NetGalley

Genre; literary, historical fiction

Jeremy Tiang's debut novel dives into the tumultuous days of leftist movements and political detentions in Singapore and Malaysia. It follows an extended family from the 1940s to the present day. 

The history of the Chinese in Southeast Asia is  equally intriguing. 

A Telegram from Le Touquet by John Bude, May 20, 2025; Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley 

Genre: historical mystery, first published in 1956

Nigel Derry finds himself on a vacation cut short by murder as a cold shadow of suspicion eclipses the sunny beauty of the Côte d'Azur. Enter Inspector Blampignon of the Sûreté Nationale, the formidable French detective who embarks on a thrilling race to discover the truth. 

My dream vacation spot is the Cote d'Azur.

I enjoy historical fiction and also love a good mystery. 

What are you reading, watching, or listening to this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday, Book Blogger Hop

Nicole Baart: Women's Fiction, Mystery and Thrillers

 I enjoyed Nicole Baart's most recent book, not yet published, and found I have her other two. I hope to get to them soon.

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart

Nov. 4, 2025; Atria Books, NetGalley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sadie Sheridan, in a remote cabin in the Northern Cascades, is left bewildered and frightened when her husband Felix did not come home one evening. Left alone with winter storms raging, she must fend for herself in the rustic home. When a teen and a young boy, Henry and Fin, show up in her backyard, she takes them in, nursing Finn to better health as he has a raging fever and communicates only by signing.

Sadie suspects they have run away from an abusive environment and home, but gradually relies on Henry, who is accustomed to living in the woods, to help them survive during the relentless winter storms.

These two dire situations - Felix's unexplained absence, and the strange boys who come into Sadie's home during harsh winter storms- leave Sadie with more than enough on her hands. The setting, atmosphere, and characters in the novel are unique and challenging. Sadie is a sympathetic but struggling character in her environment.

How the story develops and unfolds is interesting and gripping. The added suspense toward the end gives a thrilling ending to the book.

Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart, Nov. 2, 2021; Atria Books, NetGalley

Genre: mystery and thrillers, women's fiction

Description:

Juniper Baker had just graduated from high school and was deep in the throes of a summer romance when Cal and Beth Murphy, a childless couple who lived on a neighboring farm, were brutally murdered. When her younger brother became the prime suspect, June’s world collapsed and everything she loved that summer fell away. She left, promising never to return to tiny Jericho, Iowa.

You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart, Oct. 16, 2028; Atria Books, NetGalley

Genre: women's  fiction 

Description: Years ago, Gabe’s birth mother requested a closed adoption and Jessica was more than happy to comply. But when her house is broken into and she discovers a clue that suggests her estranged husband was in close contact with Gabe’s biological mother, she vows to uncover the truth at any cost. A harrowing story of tenacious love and heartbreaking betrayal

What's on your TBR list for this coming month? 

What are you reading, watching, or listening to this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday, Book Blogger Hop

Mystery and Suspense Novels: Sunday Salon

 

The Fair Weather Friend by Jessie Garcia, Jan. 20, 2025; St. Martin's Press, NetGalley

Description: The next gripping domestic suspense novel from Jessie Garcia, author of The Business Trip.

It's always sunny in Detroit for Faith Richards. The popular TV meteorologist, endearingly referred to as "The Fair Weather Friend" by her viewers, has the world by the tail. But one night, Faith leaves work on a dinner break and never returns. Her body is found the next morning. 

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia, Jan. 14, 2025; St. Martin's Press, NetGalley

I enjoyed the narrative told in several voices, notably those of Jasmine and Stephanie, two women who meet on a plane with startling results. Jasmine's clever way of escaping from a controlling and abusive boyfriend includes stealing Stephanie's ID on the plane, and then her complete identity later. Friends of theirs back home try to keep up by emails and text messages with the two women. Stephanie seems to have become a different person with an unbelievable reason for why she is not back at work. 

The entire suspense plot rests on the machinations of Jessica to plot and get away with stealing Stephanie's identity so that she can escape to Mexico, her ideal final destination. Stephanie's next door neighbor and cat sitter, Robert, is a main character too, who even tries to fly to San Diego to find Stephanie. 

 Showing unbelievable ways to fool people, this is a great book for travelers on what to look for to protect themselves from scammers and thieves. Jasmine is a truly Machiavellian character. 

Great plotting and character development.

Books from the Library

I borrowed quite a few books this time, being tired of reading only ebooks and wanting to have a physical book in hand for a change. 

The Rivals by Jane Pek, Dec. 3, 2024; Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor

Description

ONE OF THE WASHINGTON POST'S 10 BEST MYSTERY NOVELS OF 2024 • A witty and thought-provoking mystery that reimagines the spy story to explore the nature of relationships in a digital age: the follow-up to Jane Pek’s “thoroughly modern twist on classic detective fiction,” The Verifiers (New York Times Book Review)

“Jane Pek’s writing is really fun and will keep you hooked.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Claudia Lin has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth. She and her colleagues uncover a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets.

Peking Duck and Cover: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien, July 23, 2024; St. Martin's Press

Description:

Chinese New Year is supposed to be a time of fresh beginnings and celebrations of good fortune to come. Naturally, the shop owners of Asia Village jump at the chance to create a memorable holiday event for all. 

However, when a member of the Lion Dance performance group is found shot, festival planner Lana Lee agrees to solve the murder before anyone else gets hurt. 

What are you reading, watching, or listening to this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday, Book Blogger Hop