SCI FI & FANTASY | Daily Mail Online

Subversive and sweet, incredibly funny and, somehow, very serious

SCI FI & FANTASY

TRANSLATION STATE 

by Ann Leckie (Orbit £20, 432pp)

Poor old Reet Hluid has been adopted by humans, but worries that recurring carnivorous dreams suggest he’s a fearsome Presger translator?

Meanwhile, translator Qven has spent a childhood eating his fellows, but now wants to rebel.

How to explain the delightful weirdness of Leckie’s Imperial Radch universe, where identity is all?

Subversive and sweet, incredibly funny and, somehow, very serious, you’ll believe that the future of the universe depends on how these pressing issues play out.

A DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT 

by Samantha Shannon (Bloomsbury £18.99, 880pp)

Sweeping, epic, gorgeous . . . the latest from Shannon is all these things, but they overlook one crucial detail: how immersive and fun is this monster of a book.

There’s a rich cast of characters: princesses, nuns and warriors, all treacherous, rebellious, cruel and tender by turn.

The dragons are quickening, an apocalyptic power is rising: can Princess Glorian unite the world’s warring factions to defeat it?

GODKILLER 

by Hannah Kaner (HarperVoyager £16.99, 304pp)

A classic quest to a lost city with a fabulously mismatched cast of characters — human and otherwise.

A Day of Fallen Night (left) and Godkiller (right) are among the Sci Fi and Fantasy books which are perfect for the beach 

There’s Kissen the godkiller, seeking revenge, and gritty and sexier than she thinks; Elogast, a handsome knightly noble, and the wonderful Inara, runaway orphan with an unexpected companion.

Everywhere there are gods and godlings to kill, assassins to avoid and lashings of magic and violence. In short, a humdinger.