21 magical science fiction and fantasy books to read in summer 2021

Summer 2021 release: Broken Web – Lori M. Lee

The second installment in author Lori M. Lee’s Shamanborn trilogy, Broken Web picks up right where last year’s Forest of Souls left off and looks as though it will be just as compelling.

Thanks to the events of the previous book, The Soulless has been awoken from his long imprisonment and is now lurking in the Dead Wood rebuilding his strength. To stand any hope of defeating him, Sirscha and her friends must journey to a nearby kingdom where shamanborn like herself are welcomed and given a chance to train their abilities.

Of course, once she gets there, she’ll have to hide the fact that she’s not actually a lightwender like everyone believes, but a dangerous soulrender, just like the very being they’re trying to fight. But Sirscha is still willing to do anything to save her best friend Saengo – now dying from a rot that’s a result of her connection to the Soulless and Sirscha herself.

Their friendship has always been the most important and unique part of this story, and it certainly sounds as though that will continue into this sequel.

The official synopsis has more details on what to expect.

"The Soulless has woken from his centuries-long imprisonment. Now, he lurks in the Dead Wood recovering his strength, while Sirscha and her allies journey east to the shaman empire of Nuvalyn. Everyone believes she is a soulguide—a savior—but Sirscha knows the truth. She’s a monster, a soulrender like the Soulless, and if anyone discovers the truth, she’ll be executed. But there’s nothing Sirscha won’t risk to stop the shaman responsible for the rot that’s killing her best friend. While the Soulless is formidable, like all shamans, his magic must be channeled through a familiar. If Sirscha can discover what—or who—that is, she might be able to cut him off from his power. With Queen Meilyr bent on destroying the magical kingdoms, Sirscha finds herself caught between a war brewing in the east and the Soulless waiting in the west. She should be trying to unite what peoples she can to face their common enemies, but instead, her hunt for clues about the Soulless leads to a grim discovery, forcing Sirscha to question who her enemies really are."

Broken Web is available on June 15.