📚 Once Upon a Tome, our Fantasy Book Club, meets on alternating 4th Thursdays at 7 PM at Dungeon's Gate. At Book Club we discuss the current read and vote on the read for the next month. We'd love for you to join us!
📖 Our next meetup will be on Thursday, May 22 at 7 PM at Dungeon's Gate, when we'll be discussing 2 books (there was an unbreakable tie...):
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
+
Grave Empire by Richard Swan
Read one or read both--we'll discuss both!
❗ You can snag a copy of the books at Dungeon's Gate (it's always 20% off the Book Club pick)!
------
What's The River Has Roots about?
The River Has Roots is the hugely anticipated solo debut of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning author Amal El-Mohtar. Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.
The hardcover edition features beautiful interior illustrations and a foil case stamp.
"Half delicious murder ballad, half beguiling love story." —Holly Black • "An absolute must-read." —T. Kingfisher • "Every sentence sings!" —Sarah Beth Durst • "Utterly enchanting." —Fonda Lee • "A story that outlasts itself." —Alix E. Harrow • "Truly exquisite." —Zoraida Córdova • "A beautiful, musical, and loving story." —Emma Törzs
“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”
In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.
There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.
But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…
----
What's Grave Empire about?
From critically acclaimed author Richard Swan, Grave Empire begins the epic tale of an empire on the verge of industrial revolution, where sorcery and arcane practices are outlawed - and where an ancient prophecy threatens the coming end of days.
Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money.
A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take its place as the foremost power in the known world. Glory and riches await.
But dark days are coming. A mysterious plague has broken out in the pagan kingdoms to the north, while in the south, the Empire's proxy war in the lands of the wolfmen is weeks away from total collapse.
Worse still is the message brought to the Empress by two heretic monks, who claim to have lost contact with the spirits of the afterlife. The monks believe this is the start of an ancient prophecy heralding the end of days--the Great Silence.
It falls to Renata Rainer, a low-ranking ambassador to an enigmatic and vicious race of mermen, to seek answers from those who still practice the arcane arts. But with the road south beset by war and the Empire on the brink of supernatural catastrophe, soon there may not be a world left to save...
You may also like the following events from Dungeon's Gate:
Also check out other
Arts events in Ankeny,
Literary Art events in Ankeny,
Sports events in Ankeny.
