Kitemaster

Jim C. Hines began his writing career with a trilogy about the irrepressible Jig the goblin, which actor and author Wil Wheaton described as "too f***ing cool for words." He went on to deconstruct fairy tales in his four-book Princess series, made all the world's literature a grimoire in the Magic ex Libris series, and explored the heroic side of spacecraft sanitation in his Janitors of the Post Apocalypse trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than fifty magazines and anthologies. Jim has been outspoken about topics like sexism and harassment, and was the editor of the Invisible series—three collections of personal essays about representation in sf/f. He received the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2012. Jim currently lives in mid-Michigan.

"In a world where the wind is unending and spirits inhabit kites, mortals have been empowered to manipulate the wind to help move their fishing boats and perform other mundane tasks. Some are dragon-blessed, powerful kitemasters who lift great skyships and communicate with the creatures who ride the wind. Nial Sarnin manifests the powers of a kitemaster and soon allies herself with the rogue crew of the Midnight Rain and a runaway prince, an unlikely pair who plan to thwart an evil monarch’s plans to harness the power of dragons for herself. An expansion of the titular short story from Hines’s (Terminal Peace) 2011 collection Kitemaster & Other Short Stories, this delightfully whimsical fantasy opens with Nial struggling to develop her resilience in the wake of a deeply emotional tragedy. The story’s events transform the grief-stricken protagonist into a sacrificial heroine in a predictable yet no less satisfying way. With a unique cast of characters, each with their traumas and motivations, this story is inspirational and emotional from start to finish. VERDICT Providing a cozier fantasy experience that’s both familiar and distinct, Hines’s latest is recommended for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone."—Library Journal