New Book Releases of May: "Fury Focused" by Melissa Haag

     

   Fantasy and sci-fi books always have a special place in my heart, they let you run off into the wild of your imagination, uncharted territories of your brain that behold kingdoms and planets prompted by a word of some author when you follow the character's adventures like a silent companion or invisible sidekick. That's why I so often prefer a book of those genres to any other kind. And this is the reason why the whole series "Of Fates and Furies" stood out to me. I finished the two already available ones in a matter of less than a couple of days, the second being "Fury Focused". The third "Fury Freed" will be released in September.

    It would be unfair to say that those novels belong only to fantasy/sci-fi section, there is a kind of a murder mystery in the first too and that feeling of mystery doesn't leave and stays even in the second. Melissa Haag crafted a new magic world filled with every creature of myths and legends. It touches on Greek gods their creations that were the main focus of "Circe" by MadelineMiller (as well as Norse and other kinds of mythology), but unlike in that novel which was fully based on myths and was a retelling from infamous nymph's point of view, this new series is set in a modern world, our modern world, sheriffs, Xbox and all.

    Yes, in this case it can remind us of "Harry Potter", "PercyJackson" and many more novels of that kind. There is an Academy for every magical being in a hidden town called Uttira. And such things are always interesting for teens, though I would still argue about the appropriate age restrictions for these books, due to some particular scenes. At least the relationships in these books don't seem as awkward as in Harry Potter. I could also point out some other weak spots in the plot and writing, starting from constant mentioning of girl's reaction to naked abs all the time to a bit predictable major points in the story line, it's only my personal subjective opinion and I don't really think most of the young readers will take a notice of those.

    There are a couple of things that make these weaknesses disappear on the background (especially considering that every plotted world should be imperfect from the start or it won't be relatable), and those couple of things are the only ones that actually matter. The first is realism. The author has thought on every little detail, how the magic would be kept from humans, how adult creatures would keep their young from the exposure and how they would train them to blend. She showed it all to us through the eyes of a real teenager with real thoughts and feelings and it all rings true unlike with average amorphous protagonists that I won't mention because we all know who they are.

    The second and to me the most important thing which in a way is connected with a previous point is that the books are captivating. I'm not joking. You think why I finished them so fast. It was hard to get up even for a bit and cook dinner, I forgot about my hunger and was almost down for munching on a celery stick. And in my books this gets the highest praise.

    Apart from the well-known long established masters of art there are not so many writers who can keep you captivated by their story among the increasing ocean of low quality novels that drown you, press the air out of your lungs and hope out of your heart of ever finding something that's worth your time, because the search can be a real time-and-mood-killer. In this particular case for me it was all worth it and I can't wait till September to read the third book of the series, even though neither the first nor the second actually ended with a hook. It's just that captivating that you want to know more. "Fury Frayed" is free on Amazon, by the way. So, you won't lose anything if you get it.