Lake Bluff Library Adult Reading Lists: Fantasy

In Navola, a city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, Davico di Regulai must demonstrate his mastery of Navolese diplomacy as he prepares to take the reins of power from his father, which reveals his fate depends on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister.
(Description from NoveList)

Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv, the orc barbarian, cashes out of the warrior's life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where sheplans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen. However, her dreams of a fresh start filling mugs instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune's shady underbelly may just upset her plans.
(Description from catalog)

Investigating a seemingly impossible death, detective Ana Dolabra, whose brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities, and her new magically altered assistant, Din, who is trying to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect, uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself.--Description from NoveList

A debut novel full of magic, adventure, and romance, The Book of Doors opens up a thrilling world of contemporary fantasy for readers of The Midnight Library, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, The Night Circus, and any modern story that mixes the wonder of the unknown with just a tinge of darkness. (Description from NoveList)

Breaking the promise he made to his beautiful wife, to never pry into her past, when they arrive at her childhood home, a crumbling manor shrouded in mystery, a scholar of myths must choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage--or their lives.
(Description from catalog)

Lennon Carter's life is falling apart. Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because-like everyone else at the school-she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself. After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power.
(Description from catalog)

Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she's abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the "Unnamed Arts." Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows.
(Description from catalog)

In this standalone novel by TJ Klune, an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors are on the run from cultists and the government in this supernatural road-trip thriller.
(Description from NoveList)

Brought back to life by their high school music teacher, Laura, Daniel and Mo, desperate to reclaim their lives, agree to perform a series of magical tasks, but when their resurrection attracts the notice of supernatural figures, they must solve the mystery of their deaths to save everything they love. (Description from NoveList)

Describes the coming of age story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, as she is molded by her promiscuous mother and her pious father, becomes jealous of her siblings and encounters mistreatment of the animal populations of Oz.
(Description from NoveList)

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her. She never felt incomplete until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will. It was cumbersome and uncomfortable. Frustrated, Nadya wandered until she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake, a world of water filled with child-eating amphibians and majestic turtles. There, she was understood as a Drowned Girl, accepted by the river and its people.
(Description from NoveList)

Follows Circe, the banished witch daughter of Helios, as she hones her powers and interacts with famous mythological beings before a conflict with one of the most vengeful Olympians forces her to choose between the worlds of the gods and mortals. (Description from catalog)

A thrilling anthology of thirteen short stories that span the wide-ranging imagination of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance Trilogy, including a sneak peek at the world where her next novel will be set.
(Description from catalog)

Pain is Dymitr’s calling. His family is one in a long line of hunters who sacrifice their souls to slay monsters. Now he’s tasked with a deadly mission: find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. To reach her, Dymitr must ally with the ones he’s sworn to kill. Pain is Ala’s inheritance. A fear-eating zmora with little left to lose, Ala awaits death from the curse she carries. When Dymitr offers her a cure in exchange for her help, she has no choice but to agree. Together they must fight against time and the wrath of the Chicago underworld. But Dymitr’s secrets—and his true motives—may be the thing that actually destroys them.--Description by NoveList

Two parents and their recently-bitten-werewolf daughter try to fit into a privileged New England society of magic aristocracy. But deadly terrors await them – ancient prophecies, remorseless magical trials, hidden conspiracies and the PTA bake sale.
(Description from NoveList)

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.--Description by NoveList

"The Magicians: Alice's Story is an all new chapter set in the world of The Magicians trilogy of novels by New York Times bestselling author Lev Grossman that retells the events of the first novel through fan-favorite character Alice Quinn. Alice Quinn is manifestly brilliant, and she's always known that magic is real. During her years at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, she rises to the top of her class, falls in love with Quentin Coldwater, and witnesses a horrifically magical creature invade their dimension. It's not soon after graduation when Alice, Quentin, and their friends set their sights on the idyllic setting of Fillory--a place thought to only live in the pages of their favorite children's books--where magic flows like rivers . . . But in this magical realm nothing is what it seems and something darker lies behind the spellbinding facade. It is in the darkness where Alice will discover her true calling and her life, and those friends, forever changed"--Amazon.com.

"Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. The avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life?" (description from publisher)

"In a world where priests are decked out in holy tattoos and brandish machine guns in the face of demons, a powerful exorcist and a mysterious boy cross paths...in a college classroom. Exorcist Ezra's faith is waning when God intervenes and sends him on a mission to protect Sunny, an outwardly normal human, from demonic forces. But as closed-off Sunny runs from a bloody past and Ezra attempts to fulfill his duty, the two find themselves drawn ever closer together. With his church under scrutiny and the threat of war on the horizon, will Ezra find his conviction in time to keep Sunny safe? Will Sunny even accepts his help? Or will they both suffer the consequences? From debut creator Lysandra Vuong comes the first volume of the supernatural action webcomic that explores religious faith, a slow burn queer romance, the weight of destiny, and what it means to be good in a world plagued by demons." (description from publisher)