This is the second volume of the reboot of Tezuka’s classic manga Unico. The series follows a young unicorn whose latent magical powers are the envy of the bitter goddess Venus. After being rescued from Venus’s servant at the end of the first volume, Unico and his ally Zephyrus are separated and Unico finds himself in a strange, robotic city.
The story follows the titular Unico, a unicorn who finds himself with no memories in the midst of a modern city. After meeting the plucky cat Chloe, they search for answers and a place to call home – all while discovering Unico’s mysterious magical abilities.
Portrayals of disability in fantasy fiction used to be rare, often including a trope where magic was able to ‘remove’ said disability. This is far from the case in the Ella Jones series, where the titular character is vision impaired. Rather than something to be magically waved away, Ella’s vision impairment is central to her story; it makes her uniquely qualified to face the challenges thrown her way. Ella, and not her friends, is the one able to save the world precisely because she is used to experiencing it in a different way.
In Ostacre, kingdoms are not passed through bloodlines, but through competition. Every twenty-five years or so, promising youths with elemental powers are called to compete in a series of trials to claim a crown. Blaze (the eponymous heir of storms) is suddenly thrown from her secluded upbringing into court politics for the course of the competition.
Drinn is cursed. She’s not the only one: in her world, many girls are damned with curses that make them social outcasts. Isolated for most of her life, The Dandelion Riots follows Drinn as she unites other cursed girls to rally against their society.
Author Abdi Nazemian is willing to use any tool at his disposable to shape his romance – even the Covid-19 pandemic. He turns protective gear into a romantic moment, as protagonist Kam is immediately captivated by his love interest Ash as he watches him remove his face mask for the first time.
Approximately 540 years ago, a period called the Cambrian explosion began, during which most modern animals came into their early existence. However, there is one species still in abundance today that made its debut on earth at least 100 million years earlier – the jellyfish. And while most animals have undergone significant evolution – or extinction – the jellyfish of today are almost unchanged from the jellyfish 700 million years ago. Despite global warming, natural disasters, the unrelenting ages of the Earth, and human interference – the jellyfish has endured in its same way.
In The Boy to Beat the Gods, the gods are the enemy. Every few years, they will arrive to harvest their forbidden fruit from the great baobab tree, before taking offerings and human sacrifices from the village. These Orishas – inspired by the Yoruba spirits of West Africa – are not your friend.
Notting Hill Carnival, which occurs annually in August, is one of the largest street festivals in the world and of huge cultural significance to British African Caribbean people. Its presence in this book is so strong that it feels like a character, not a setting. Man-man and his family are all busy preparing for Carnival and Man-man is particularly excited to dance at the front of the procession. There is just one shadow falling over his excitement; his mother’s ill health which prevents her from joining in with the festivities.
