Let’s talk about three recent speculative fiction releases, one fantasy, one science fiction, and one dark academia.
To start off, I admit it. I’m on a James Islington kick. I’ve read four of his novels in the past month, the latest one being the second installment of his Hierarchy series, The Strength of the Few. It’s the sequel to the well-received The Will of the Many.
by James Islington
At the end of The Will of the Many, the Gate pulls Ven into three worlds. He now exists in three alternate versions of his reality and must face the Concurrence in each of them.
It’s a treat when an author places their protagonist in multiple scenarios at once. Islington gets to play with parallel story threads, and this structure makes Strength feel like a completely different kind of tale than Will. I like that. For example, think of the Harry Potter books: the first several installments follow a similar structure, and that’s great for fans who want that formula. By contrast, Islington takes his series in a bold new direction rather than repeating the same beats.
I like Ven as a character, but I’ve already seen him in the arcane, academic setting. By using three alternate universes, Islington pushes Ven along new paths. Ven now has opportunities to make brave choices, and this approach opens doors for richer character development and expanded worldbuilding. The result is a fresh, invigorating second installment in the Hierarchy series.
But this triad-story concept does come with a drawback. When a new chapter began, I often had to pause and reorient myself: Which world is Ven in now? Sometimes it took a few sentences to decipher the setting. While never a dealbreaker, I still found myself wishing the chapter headings included the world name for clarity.
Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed The Strength of the Few, maybe even more than The Will of the Many, though it’s close. Sequels often struggle to live up to their predecessors, but this one rises to the challenge. With its Roman-inspired worldbuilding, it reminded me at times of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series and Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera. I’m absolutely looking forward to the next book in the Hierarchy series.
by M. R. Carey
Outlaw Planet follows former schoolteacher Elizabeth “Bess” Sandpiper, a half-woman, half-canine. Her peaceful frontier life collapses after personal tragedy, transforming her into the legendary outlaw Dog-Bitch Bess. Armed with a sentient weapon, Wakeful Slim, she navigates a brutal Wild-West space world. Carey delivers a sweeping, character-driven western with emotional weight.
Carey is the author of the excellent novel The Girl with All the Gifts, but if you think this is anything like that, guess again. Outlaw Planet is closer to the space opera and western genres. Carey weaves a great deal of worldbuilding into the story: half-human, half-animal beings, the discontent between countries, and the small-town feel. I wasn’t distracted by the anthropomorphic inhabitants of the world he created, however, which is always in danger of being too cartoony. He also manages to pull off Bess’s character arc from a schoolmarm from a wealthy family to a rogue with aplomb.
While I liked Bess’s story, the parallel to the U.S. Civil War has been done before. Carey’s take on this isn’t tired, however, but it sticks pretty close to The North is this, and the South is that. Also, Carey takes his time building the story’s pace, but the reward is worth it. He ties everything together in the end.
As I read, I couldn’t help but compare elements of this book to the Firefly television show. Fans of Travis Baldree’s Legends and Latte may also enjoy this one.
Outlaw Planet stands as a standalone novel, yet it is part of Carey’s Pandominion books—a connection I hadn’t known until now and one that makes me want to read them.
By Margot Harrison
“Bring me the book I need.”
Eleanor has spent her adult life in the mystical Library of Fates, a place where people discover who they are and who they might become—especially through its rarest artifact, “The Book of Dark Nights.” When her mentor dies and the book vanishes, she’s forced out of the Library and reluctantly teams up with Daniel, the librarian’s estranged son and the man she once loved, to track it down. Their search from Harvard to Paris rekindles old feelings, but it also pulls them into a dangerous conspiracy driven by someone willing to kill for the secrets the book contains.
Libraries have always been magical to me. The setting of a magical library doubly so. Flashbacks to college students in the mid1990s was also a treat. But what happened to Eleanor’s group of friends from thirty years earlier? It seems The Book of Dark Nights has affected everyone even decades later. Harrison introduces a few mysterious and subplots around these relationships. She does a good job of creating suspense and the wrapping everything up in the end.
Spoiler: skip this paragraph if you intend to read the book. What Eleanor did to Daniel was a dealbreaker. He forgave he too easily. She changed the whole trajectory of his life. Took away his choices. I just couldn’t buy it.
Even though this book is classified as dark academia, don’t expect Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. This is a cozy read. The reader should go into it expecting something closer to Michael Haig’s The Midnight Library. You might also get some DaVinci Code vibes. Recommended for any time off you may have over the holidays.
Andrew M. Friday 
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