Aconite Cafe presents Top Fantasy 81-100

1. 81-100

2. 81. Akata Witch
By Nnedi Okorafor
Affectionately dubbed “the Nigerian Harry Potter,” Akata Witch weaves
together a heart-pounding tale of magic, mystery, and finding one’s place
in the world.
Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her
features are African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out
into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in.
And then she discovers something amazing—she is a “free agent” with
latent magical power. Soon she’s part of a quartet of magic students,
studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But will it be
enough to help them when they are asked to catch a career criminal who
knows magic too?

3. 82. Hyperion Cantos
By Dan Simmons
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a
creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those
who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley
of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward
through time, the Shrike waits for them all.
On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set
forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved
riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret.
And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

4. 83. Chalion
By Lois McMaster Bujold
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril returns to the noble household he
once served as page and is named secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-
willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is an
assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he
most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who
once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions.
But it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril
and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the
entire blighted House of Chalion. And only by employing the darkest, most
forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge — an act
that will mark him as a tool of the miraculous . . . and trap him in a lethal
maze of demonic paradox.

5. 84. Song of the Lioness
By Tamora Pierce
In a time when girls are forbidden to be warriors, Alanna of Trebond wants
nothing more than to be a knight of the realm of Tortall. So she finds a way
to switch places with her twin brother, Thom. Disguised as a boy, Alanna
begins her training as a page at the palace of King Roald. But the road to
knighthood, as she discovers, is not an easy one. Alanna must master
weapons, combat, and magic, as well as polite behavior, her temper, and
even her own heart.
Filled with swords and sorcery, adventure and intrigue, good and evil,
Alanna’s first adventure begins—one that will lead to the fulfillment of her
dreams and make her a legend in the land.

6. 85. The Last Unicorn
By Peter S. Beagle
Whimsical. Lyrical. Poignant. Adapted for the first time from the acclaimed
and beloved novel by Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn is a tale for any age
about the wonders of magic, the power of love, and the tragedy of loss. The
unicorn, alone in her enchanted wood, discovers that she may be the last of
her kind. Reluctant at first, she sets out on a journey to find her fellow
unicorns.

7. 86. The Vorkosigan Saga
By Lois McMaster Bujold
When an assignment takes engineer Leo Graff to Cay Habitat, he discovers
hundreds of helpless children called quaddies being exploited for corporate
gain, but adopting them is just the start–he must teach the quaddies the
meaning of freedom

8. 87. Wayfarers
By Becky Chambers
Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary
wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered
the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet
is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking
her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny
Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling
adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s
got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that
teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily
the worst thing in the universe.

9. 88. Cradle
By Will Wight
Sacred artists follow a thousand Paths to power, using their souls to control
the forces of the natural world.
Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.
When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond
anything he’s ever known…and forge his own Path.

10. 89. The Licanius Trilogy
By James Islington
As destiny calls, a journey begins.
It has been twenty years since the god-like Augurs were overthrown and
killed. Now, those who once served them – the Gifted – are spared only
because they have accepted the rebellion’s Four Tenets, vastly limiting their
powers.
As a Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war lost before he was
even born. He and others like him are despised. But when Davian discovers
he wields the forbidden power of the Augurs, he sets into motion a chain of
events that will change everything.
To the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian’s wakes up
in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is…
And in the far north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir.

11. 90. The Once and Future King
By T.H. White
Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician
named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A
future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a
legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A
future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of
the Britons.
During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast
enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table
embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that
awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and
Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause and the hatred
she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for
Britain—and to the king himself.

12. 91. The Mists of Avalon
By Marion Zimmer Bradley
In Marion Zimmer Bradley’s masterpiece, we see the tumult and adventures
of Camelot’s court through the eyes of the women who bolstered the king’s
rise and schemed for his fall. From their childhoods through the ultimate
fulfillment of their destinies, we follow these women and the diverse cast of
characters that surrounds them as the great Arthurian epic unfolds
stunningly before us. As Morgaine and Gwenhwyfar struggle for control over
the fate of Arthur’s kingdom, as the Knights of the Round Table take on their
infamous quest, as Merlin and Viviane wield their magics for the future of
Old Britain, the Isle of Avalon slips further into the impenetrable mists of
memory, until the fissure between old and new worlds’ and old and new
religions’ claims its most famous victim.

13. 92. The Rook Files
By Daniel O’Malley
The body you are wearing used to be mine.” So begins the letter Myfanwy
Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies
all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must
follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity
and track down the agents who want to destroy her.
She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret
organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at
work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially
deadly supernatural ability of her own.

14. 93. Rivers of London
By Ben Aaronovitch
Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s
Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case
Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But
Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he
gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost.
Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of
Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes
involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of
brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world
where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is
making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

15. 94. Arcane Ascension
By Andrew Rowe
Five years ago, Corin Cadence’s brother entered the Serpent Spire — a
colossal tower with ever-shifting rooms, traps, and monsters. Those who
survive the spire’s trials return home with an attunement: a mark granting
the bearer magical powers. According to legend, those few who reach the
top of the tower will be granted a boon by the spire’s goddess.
He never returned.

16. 95. The Chronicles of Amber
By Roger Zelazny
Carl Corey wakes up in a secluded New York hospital with amnesia. He
escapes and investigates, discovering the truth, piece by piece: he is really
Prince Corwin, of Amber, the one true world of which our Earth is just a
shadow. He is one of nine men who might rule Amber, if he can fight his way
past the armies of his older brother Eric.

17. 96. Night Angel
By Brent Weeks
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art–and he is the city’s most
accomplished artist.
For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a
guild rat, he’s grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly–
and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.
But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a
new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the
assassins’ world of dangerous politics and strange magics–and cultivate a
flair for death.

18. 97. Craft Sequence
By Max Gladstone
A god has died, and it’s up to Tara, first-year associate in the international
necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life
before His city falls apart.
Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb.
Without Him, the metropolis’s steam generators will shut down, its trains
will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot.
Tara’s job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a
chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who’s having an understandable crisis
of faith.
When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make
a case in Alt Coulumb’s courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their
partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb’s slim hope of survival.

19. 98. The Raven Cycle
By Maggie Stiefvater
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-
to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them–until this year, when a boy
emerges from the dark and speaks to her.
His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue
has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they
can only mean trouble.

20. 99. The Shadow Campaigns
By Django Wexler
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s
colonial garrisons, was serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost—
until a rebellion left him in charge of a demoralized force clinging to a small
fortress at the edge of the desert.
To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted
as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when
chance sees her promoted to command, she must lead her men into battle
against impossible odds.

21. 100. Six of Crows
By Leigh Bardugo
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had
for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz
Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich
beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing
that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each
other first.