Mage Against the Machine by Shaun Barger

In Mage Against the Machine, Shaun Barger creates a post-apocalyptic dystopia like no other.  The story centers around two main characters who live in the same world, only not really.  A wizard and a bionic woman take a rough and wild journey to find the truth.  And to save humanity and mage-kind.  A cunning blend of magic and technology, and while it takes a bit of time to set up the two narratives, nothing is like you’d expect.  There are plenty of stories that follow a specific pattern, to the point that a lot of folks who read often can anticipate the structure of any given novel.  Barger ignores any pattern or expectation.  It’s an engrossing read.  The split between the two realities is super trippy, exciting, and witty. 
There’s no gratuitous love narrative.  The two main characters don’t fall in love.  In fact the female character, Jem, is in love with a woman.  This story crosses many thin lines of what’s acceptable in fiction and what’s acceptable in society in general.  I love that norms are blown away.  I can’t wait to read more.

The Tangled Lands

In this new fantasy by Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell, a world is being strangled by bramble.  The strange branches are created by an overuse of magic, and in the empire before, they had abused the power to their destruction.  This book is a collection of four stories from the city of Khaim, The Blue City, the last true city at the edge of the bramble growth.
I found these tales engrossing and full of so much potential for deeper insight into the world, language, history.  I was disappointed there wasn’t a map, or any references for what is clearly a developed world.  I look forward to more from the fallen empire of Jhandpara and the last free city of Khaim.

Heartsone by Elle Katharine White

The introduction to what is bound to be a fantastic first person epic, Heartstone puts a reluctant love story in a world of dragons.  Although it is eerily like the love story from Pride and Prejudice, Daired being Darcy, the fantasy world takes it securely and adapts it to a mythical saga.  Mythical creatures, historic battles and a will they/ won’t they love story combine to make a memorable start to this new fantasy epic series.