12 must-read sci-fi and fantasy releases to escape with this March
By Lacy Baugher
March 2021 book release: The Bright and the Pale – Jessica Rubinkowski
An atmospheric start to a new duology, Jessica Rubinowski’s fantasy debut The Bright and the Pale, follows the story of a girl who is one of the few survivors of a deadly curse that trapped her mining town – and her family – in a sheet of perpetual ice. Valera, now 17, has been on the run ever since.
She’s forced to hide among the Thieves Guild to avoid the forces of the Czar, who blame Valeria’s people not just for the curse that trapped them in ice, but the loss of easy access to the country’s prime resource as a result. Lovite ore is a key ingredient in the unbreakable alloy used to craft weapons, build defenses, and more.
But when Valera is recruited by enigmatic soldier Ivan to help find the lost vaults of lovite deep within the mountain of Knotte, a perilous journey begins. One that might just reveal that everyone in their kingdom are actually pawns in a much larger battle: A feud between the ancient Bright and Pale gods, whose conflicting desires have often disrupted the course of mortal history.
The official synopsis describes the story in more detail.
"Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed over her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the Czar, who is determined to imprison any who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend Alik, the only piece of home she has left. That is, until he is brutally murdered. A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held against his will. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot. And it has waited years for release."
The Bright and the Pale is available on March 2.