10 must-read SFF books to cuddle up with this November
By Lacy Baugher
Are you counting down until @hollyblack's #QueenofNothing hits shelves? Only 67 days left! #FolkoftheAir pic.twitter.com/wBkSr7pjgc
— 📚 We're excited for #NCTE23! Stop by booth 629 :) (@lbschool) September 13, 2019
The Queen of Nothing – Holly Black
The highly anticipated conclusion to Holly Black’s megapopular “Folk of the Air” series arrives this month – earlier than originally anticipated.
(Its first release date was slated for January. But, it seems likely the publisher realized this book might make quite the popular stocking stuffer this year. We’re probably all okay with it. )
The Queen of Nothing promises to bring the story of Jude, Cardan and the Kingdom of Faerie to a dramatic conclusion, and it’s got plenty of stuff to cover including issues of love, betrayal, royal succession and more. When last we left this story, Jude was, indeed, the Queen of Faerie, but exiled and trapped in the moral realm as Cardan ruled in her place. That it’s her twin sister Taryn – who’s already gotten herself into plenty of scrapes over the course of this series – who causes Jude to return to Faerie shouldn’t surprise us, but the dangers, twists and surprises that await her there most certainly well.
Here’s how the official synopsis describes the series’ conclusion.
"Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power. Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril. Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics. And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity."
The Queen of Nothing is available on November 19.