Furyborn, by Claire Legrand

I guess I'm on a bit of a YA fantasy kick, and that's just fine with me! This first (thick) book in The Emperium Trilogy is a wild ride across a thousand years. Rielle is born with an incredible, unique power that confounds her fellows and draws unwanted attention. Eliana, living a thousand years after her, makes her living as a bounty hunter; it's a risky job, but her body's ability to heal itself almost instantly puts her ahead of the game. There is a prophecy, of two queens, one of the sun, and one of blood, who will bring salvation and destruction to the world (respectively). Rielle desperately wants to be the Sun Queen; she loves her country and her dearest friends, even her father who has barely tolerated her since Rielle's unchecked power killed her mother when she was five. Eliana and her time know of Queen Rielle only as a fairy tale, a legend: the Blood Queen, who brought chaos and death into their world.

Though lengthy, there's plenty here to keep readers engaged and reading well into the night. Though we know Rielle later becomes the Blood Queen, there's so much conflict within her that we can't help but root for her to win out over the darker forces in her life. And while unraveling the secret to Eliana's healing power is fairly obvious, she's a fun, snarky, complicated character. The book is quite bloody, and there's some pretty steamy sex scenes, making this more of an adult crossover than pure YA; it will certainly satisfy adult readers looking for high fantasy with less buy-in than, for instance, The Song of Ice and Fire.

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