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October Daye / Inheritance - Essay Series Part Five: Long Series and How to Read Them

Hello Patrons and general audience members! Welcome to another Books That Burn essay by Robin. Thank you to Case Aiken, who receives a monthly Patron shoutout. [Full Audio Available Here] This is the fifth and final entry in a five-part essay series discussing two long-running book series by queer authors: October Daye by Seanan McGuire, and Inheritance by A.K. Faulkner. I chose these series because I love them both, they were intended from the start to be long series, neither of them are finished yet, and the authors have different structural approaches to developing each series across so many volumes. Purely coincidentally, they are both long-running contemporary fantasy series mainly set in California in or near the 2010's, with major characters named Quentin, and whose fast-healing protagonists have a tendency to quasi-adopt a gaggle of magical teenagers. After a brief moment in the 1990's, October Daye begins in earnest in 2009 and has reached 2015 as of the eighteenth boo...
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The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas (The Elemental Trilogy #1)

It all began with a ruined elixir and a bolt of lightning....

Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation - or so she's been told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of the Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the most powerful tyrant and mage the world has ever known. This would be a suicide task for anyone, let alone a reluctant 16-year-old girl with no training.

Guided by his mother's visions and committed to avenging his family, Prince Titus has sworn to protect Iolanthe even as he prepares her for their battle with the Bane. But he makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the tyrant closing in, Titus must choose between his mission - and her life.

The Burning Sky the first book in the Elemental Trilogy - is an electrifying and unforgettable novel of intrigue and adventure. 

TITLE: The Burning Sky
AUTHOR: Sherry Thomas
PUBLISHER: Balzer + Bray
YEAR: 2013
LENGTH: 449 pages (11 hours 36 minutes)
AGE: Young Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Romance
RECOMMENDED: TBD

DNF 5 hours in (43%).

I thought I was going to read a second-world fantasy, not boarding school in magic-adjacent Britain. The magic system is probably the best thing in the book, but I tuned out as the relationship between the main characters became explicitly manipulative. The girl-disguised-as-boy seemed like it was using queer-adjacent tension to drive a m/f relationship, which is fine I guess, but I didn't get far enough to evaluate how that's handled overall.

Moderate CW for homophobia, racism, bullying, emotional abuse, fire, blood, toxic friendship, toxic relationship, injury detail, medical content, colonization.

Minor CW for drug abuse, drug use, war, self harm, death.

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A sky full of flame above a castle


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