 | Maledicte by Lane Robins
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $0.68 A recent dark fantasy novel that deserves a wider audience. The story of a young girl living, learning, and killing as a boy in order to revenge her friend, Maledicte is rich, decadent, and twisted, and makes for a very satisfying read.
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 | Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
Buy new: $15.61 / Used from: $2.80 A recent urban fantasy text, this is a blank verse novel about modern werewolves--an odd combination that produces a surprisingly brilliant result. Fast-paced, intriguing, violent, and meaningful, this is a hard book to put down--but because of the content and style, only a disappointing small number have yet to pick it up. Don't let appearances fool you, this is a worthwhile book for any reader.
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 | The Dreamers by Gilbert Adair
Buy used from: $7.09 Now out of print, this book (basis and companion for the film of the same name) is about a trio of youths the middle of a French revolution, contrasting their isolated dreamworld with the events outside. The content is sometimes unsettling, but the questions it raises are weighty and priceless. More people should read this book
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 | The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $5.82 Look out for both of the Orphan's Tales books, In the Night Garden and The Cities of Coin and Spice. Valente weaves dozens of stories within stories to bring to life an adult world of magic where anything is possible and everything is connected. The result is a compelling text with an unforgettable atmosphere, and the writer deserves a much wider audience for these unique works.
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 | The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea
Buy used from: $1.78 This is one of my favorite young adult books, but it has never received the recognition it deserves. A boy and his sister are thrown into the heart of a battle between the Celtic gods Cuchulain and the Morrigan, beginning a journey that takes them through retold Celtic legend. It is a magical and clever book that should appeal to all readers, adult and young adult.
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 | Wise Child by Monica Furlong
Buy used from: $0.01 Look out for Wise Child and the prequel Juniper, although you may want to skip the sequel Colman. The stories of young women learning the practice the herbcraft and healing of a doran, or witch, these are brilliant coming of age stories which are magical, realistic, and meaningful. They are written for young adults, but adults should read these texts as well--they remain some of my favorite books.
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 | Story of O by Pauline Reage
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $1.93 I wonder if this classic erotic text is becoming increasingly underappreciated. For love of René, a young woman named O becomes a willing sexual slave, submitting to pain and prostitution--and in doing so discovers personal pride in her new role. Both erotic and deeply psychological, this is a brilliant book which shouldn't be passed over because of its sexual content.
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 | Black Ships by Jo Graham
Buy new: $10.19 / Used from: $1.55 The story of the Aeneid, retold in the voice of a woman who is the Oracle for the Dead. This is an incredible debut novel, rich with history, emotion, and gods. Unfortunately, it's being shelved as fantasy rather than literature, which is where it belongs, and few people are reading it--but everyone should.
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 | The Burning Girl by Holly Phillips
Buy new: $29.95 / Used from: $0.15 A girl wakes up with synesthesic hallucinations and no memory of the last six years, but she may have been part of an interstellar war. A balance of dream-like storytelling an a detailed sci-fi plot, this book is intense and complex and truly brilliant--but no one seems to read it.
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 | Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $6.98 From the author of The Orphan's Tales comes a story about a sexually-transmitted dream city. With rich prose and dark fantasy, this book is as magical as it is seductive.
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