Game of Strength and Storm

May 2, 2022
Menard’s debut reimagines Greco-Roman mythology in an intriguing fantasy series starter. Every year, merciless Olympian Empresses organize a lottery, granting 10 wishes in exchange for individuals’ trades and labor. Two of this year’s supplicants include Gen and Lady Castor. Gen, an animal-controlling MindWorker and the last known descendant of the Mazon race, requests her father’s release from unjust imprisonment. Castor, of the wealthy weather-bottling StormMakers, wants her father to break patriarchal tradition and name her as his heir instead of her impractical twin brother Pollux. The Empresses pit Gen and Castor against each other, tasking the teens with granting the requests of their fellow entrants. Whomever can complete the most challenges—which are inspired by the labors of Hercules and include killing a Hydra and recovering a lost ship—will attain their desire; the other will leave empty-handed. Though the complex worldbuilding is occasionally daunting, Menard’s rapid pace and sympathetic characters make for a sweeping adventure. Characters are described as having myriad skin tones, some fanciful. Ages 14–up. Agent: Valerie Noble, Donaghy Literary.

April 1, 2022
An original debut reimagines Greek mythology. Each year, the sadistic Olympian Empresses conduct a lottery and offer the winners one wish each--for a price. Seventeen-year-old Gen's wish is to free her innocent MindWorker father from prison. StormMaker Lady Castor's wish is to be named heir to Arcadia and supersede her musician brother, Pollux. This year, the Empresses set conditions: There will be 10 tasks (all creative twists on the labors of Hercules), with Gen and Castor vying to win the majority and receive a wish; only the winner will receive her wish. Gen, the last surviving member of the Mazon people after a genocide at the hands of the golden-skinned Gargareans, values her chosen family of animals, with whom she has a telepathic bond, and longs to rebuild her parents' traveling circus. Castor is spoiled and cruel and, with her father, the Duke, sold the bottled storms that allowed the Mazon genocide, but she shows occasional moments of vulnerability. Close third-person narration switches among Gen, Castor, and Pollux, who has long admired Gen from afar and wants his sister to lose for her own good. Gen's skin is brown and silver; Castor and Pollux have white hair and skin. Supporting characters bring fantasy-race diversity. The complexities of the worldbuilding notwithstanding, this is a fast-paced, magical, action-oriented story with a conclusion that points to more adventures to come. Engrossing. (Fantasy. 13-18)

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