Tag: fantasy

Ms. Haigh Reads – The Blackthorn Key

Ms. Haigh

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The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands combines historical fiction with a little bit of fantasy and magic. It is a little bit Da Vinci Code and a little bit The Apothecary, but what matters most is that it’s a mystery that is exciting until the very end.

This story revolves around Christopher Rowe an apothecary’s apprentice in 1600s England. Note: an apothecary is similar to today’s pharmacists in that they treated illnesses and mixed medicines.

Christopher is particularly talented at solving puzzles and when his master is found murdered, it’s up to him to figure out who did it. But what he uncovers is much more complex, dangerous and magical than he could have ever imagined. As things progress he must fight, not only for what is right, but to stay alive!

 

Ms. Haigh Reads – An Ember in the Ashes

Ms. Haigh

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I will start this post off with the fact that I am not generally a fantasy fan. I have always had difficulty picturing imaginary worlds, but in an effort to expand my horizons I read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and absolutely loved it.

Though it is fantasy, the world is accessible and filled with the perfect amounts of gore, mystery and romance. Fans of the Hunger Games, will definitely enjoy this book.

This is the first book in a four part series and Tahir creates a gore filled world which is allegedly based on Ancient Rome. In this world, the Emperor rules with an iron fist and kills anyone who goes against his will, but a revolution is rising amongst the lower classes.

Told in alternating points of view, the story follows a young woman named Laia who agrees to spy for the rebel cause after her brother is arrested. Her seemingly impossible mission is to spy on the head of the world’s elite military academy where hand-picked children are trained to become deadly assassins.

There she meets Elias, the school’s best soldier who is having second thoughts about his life of violence and murder. As the story develops their destinies become intertwined as they each struggle with how to fight against the tyrannical system.