The Queen of Izmoroz

With the second Goddess War fantasy, Skovron both fulfils and builds on the promise of The Ranger of Marzanna, as rival teen siblings Sonya and Sebastian Turgenev Portinari, and their allies and adversaries—including the capricious goddesses of the series title—navigate ever-shifting agendas. The “Great and Bountiful Empire of Aureum” is struggling to regain its hold over Izmoroz after Ranger of Marzanna Sonya and apothecary Jorge Elhuyar successfully incited a rebellion accompanied by the warriors and magic users of Uaine. Meanwhile, Imperial Captain Sebastian and his mother, Irina, are called to Aureum’s capital, Magna Alto, at the request of Empress Caterina Morante the First. And the determined Galina Odoyevtseva Prozorova, Sebastian’s estranged fiancée, seeks to turn her vast book knowledge and belief in the will of the people into action in the newly freed Izroroz. In the course of this satisfyingly complex and unpredictable saga, both Sonya and Sebastian mature and face ethical, moral, and emotional choices with consequences that reach across the empire. This solid installment will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next in the series. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary. (Apr.)