"Revitalizing Fantasy Tropes: 5 New Novels"

Five new fantasy novels, including Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs and To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose, invigorate old tropes with original twists and themes of found family, queerness, and free will. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw is a gory and grotesque novella that reads like a poem, while Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall is a sapphic historical romance with a supernatural twist narrated by Robin Goodfellow. The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson uses time travel and a magical circus to explore themes of shaping the future and found family.