Dragons, Magic, and Learning for Algebra: YA Fantasy Books Set within the Fashionable World

YA Fantasy Week is sponsored by Flatiron Books.

Welcome to Finale, the ultimate e book in Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Instances bestselling Caraval sequence! It’s been two months for the reason that Fates had been free of a deck of playing cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his personal, and two months since Tella found the boy she fell in love with doesn’t actually exist. Tella should determine if she’s going to belief Legend. After uncovering a secret, Scarlett might want to do the not possible. And Legend has a option to make that can endlessly change him. Caraval is over, however maybe the best sport of all has begun.

Once you hear the phrase “fantasy,” what world involves thoughts? A distant place with darkish and dingy pubs, a gaggle of adventurers in cloaks, lengthy journeys on horseback, and folks stuffed with magic? Or perhaps a secret magical world, hidden from our personal, that solely a choose few can enter? How a couple of trendy metropolis, with streets stuffed with automobiles and dragons circling the sky? As a lot as I get pleasure from books set in a standard, stereotypical fantasy world, I discover YA fantasy books set within the trendy world completely fascinating and pleasant.

Whereas there are many books set within the trendy world with characters who disappear into a special, magical, fantasy world (A Blade So Black, The Crescent Stone, The Depraved King, and The Hazel Wooden to call a couple of latest titles), it appears fewer books with a contemporary setting, but stuffed with fantasy creatures and magic, appear to be revealed lately. Sure, Harry Potter, Twilight, and The Mortal Devices sequence are all common examples of YA fantasy books set within the trendy world, however these are virtually historical at this level! These form of books will not be as common these days, however there are two YA fantasy books set within the trendy world that had been revealed within the final 5 years that I actually wish to spotlight right this moment, each a shining instance of this style.

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

In Shadowshaper, Sierra Santiago, a teenage artist of Puerto Rican and African heritage, begins to note one thing totally different concerning the murals in her neighborhood. To her eye, a couple of are slowly altering, and in reality, she’s certain she noticed one cry. Armed with little info from her grandfather, Sierra units out to study extra about historical magic and individuals who can commune with spirits: Shadowshapers. What I really like most about Older’s story is his dedication to grounding Sierra and her world in present-day Brooklyn: there is no such thing as a escaping right into a aspect world, the magic is actual and it interacts along with her very actual, fleshed out, vibrant neighborhood. The problems Sierra faces, her household drama, and the challenges of a neighborhood within the midst of gentrification don’t function merely a backdrop to the fantasy story, they’re the story. Shadowshaper is an excellent story, particularly for readers who maybe aren’t into fantasy books.

The Story of Owen by E. Okay. Johnston

I’m a sucker for a narrative with dragons—good dragons, dangerous dragons, speaking dragons, silent dragons, invisible dragons, you title it, if it includes a dragon, I’m right here for it. In Johnston’s debut novel, the world has all the time had dragons, and thus there have all the time been dragon slayers. Johnston’s world constructing is so considerate and fascinating; she doesn’t merely slap some dragons and dragon slayers into our present world, however relatively explores how dragons would have affected historical past and what the trendy world would appear like as end result.

On this alternate world, dragons are interested in carbon emissions, so clearly again within the day Henry Ford needed to rent a dragon slayer to guard himself and his work. It’s good world constructing, and but the world nonetheless strongly resembles our personal, so it’s straightforward to nonetheless get misplaced within the story, which is pleasant. The e book is narrated by Siobhan, a math nerd, musician, and bard to Owen Thorskard, dragon slayer. Owen is the nephew of essentially the most famend dragon slayer, Lottie, who’s now retired and dwelling along with her spouse in rural Canada. On its floor, The Story of Owen is an alternate world fantasy, exploring legacies, and the price of being a hero. But it surely’s additionally a narrative that examines storytelling, historical past, who will get to inform tales, and the way individuals study to inform tales—the reality and the lies they select to incorporate. The Story of Owen and its sequel Prairie Hearth are a few of my favourite YA fantasy books in latest reminiscence, and I extremely suggest them to of us who get pleasure from considerate world constructing, witty narration, and, in fact, dragons.

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