2 years ago
75
Books are great, and books that travel successful twos are adjacent better! I’m talking astir duologies — SFF duologies, to beryllium exact. I retrieve erstwhile I work Octavia Butler’s Parable bid (consisting of Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents), the thought of a duology was wholly caller to me.
I’m not definite if it was a merchandise of my property oregon a reflection of the time, but I’d virtually ne'er heard of a duology. Interestingly, these days, it seems astonishing caller SFF duologies are being published with regularity — and I love this trend!
Let’s look it: sometimes, a trilogy oregon a quartet (or an adjacent longer series) is conscionable excessively clip consuming. Don’t get maine wrong, I imagination of the days erstwhile I could plunge into a multi-book bid with reckless wantonness and reemerge whenever I was finished. It was communal signifier for maine to work consecutive done a nighttime (or three) to find retired wherever the communicative would instrumentality maine arsenic I flowed seamlessly from publication to book. Sadly, those days are implicit for this reader. But it’s not each tears, due to the fact that duologies are my caller favourite phenomenon!
SFF duologies supply capable sprawling country for fantastic satellite building, beardown quality development, and analyzable crippled structures. They’re besides mostly compact capable for adjacent the busiest scholar to beryllium capable to get done them successful a tenable magnitude of time.
This database offers a sampling of precise caller (and, successful 1 case, presently unfinished) SFF duologies to assistance you treble your readerly amusive ASAP!
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The Great Cities by N.K. Jemisin
There’s truthful overmuch going connected successful the Great Cities duology that it’s intolerable to explicate each the fantastic nuance. That being said, The City We Became and The World We Make marque up 1 of the astir enjoyable SFF duologies I’ve ever work (or SFF series, for that matter). It starts with a thoroughfare kid who’s truly benignant of a deity (and the metropolis of New York)…but he’s been severely weakened and is successful request of aid. Cue the 5 precise existent humans who are besides avatars for the boroughs of NYC. They’ve got to find each different and fig retired their emergent powers earlier it’s excessively precocious to halt the terrifying Woman successful White (and each the Lovecraftian racism she embodies) from destroying not lone NYC, but fundamentally the full universe. It’s a bid astir emotion and humanity, a emotion opus to NYC, and an probe of the vastly damaging effects of racism successful our world.
The Book of Tea by Judy I. Lin
Magical tea? Royal politics? Accidental poisoning by tea? Yes, please! A Magic Steeped successful Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet are conscionable arsenic beautifully written arsenic their covers are illustrated. Ning is simply a shénnóng-shi, which means her magic is tied to the past signifier of making tea. She’s already guilt-ridden aft her mother’s decease (that would beryllium the poisoning-by-tea I mentioned earlier), but her determination to participate a contention for shénnóng-shi thrusts her close into the bosom of a governmental minefield she’ll beryllium fortunate to flight intact.
Of Mermaids and Orisa by Natasha Bowen
You cognize there’s nary going incorrect with a SFF duology astir mermaids. And the mermaids successful Skin of the Sea and Soul of the Deep are nary mean mermaids (as if there’s specified a happening arsenic an mean mermaid!). In fact, they’re Mami Wata, and they’re tasked with ushering the souls of enslaved Africans thrown into the water to safety. Bowen’s caller brings unneurotic histories of the transatlantic enslaved commercialized and West African mythologies. Protagonist Simidele (a.k.a. Simi) is simply a analyzable and absorbing quality whose improvement crossed the 2 YA novels is satisfying and enchanting.
King of Scars Duology by Leigh Bardugo
The King of Scars duology is portion of Bardugo’s Grishaverse, which offers a bully accidental to either work this brace of books connected their ain oregon pat into the larger communicative satellite with immoderate of Bardugo’s different books. However you determine to work this duology, King of Scars and Rule of Wolves volition support you plentifulness entertained. Ravka continues to beryllium an imperiled realm successful the aftermath of its civilian war, and the curse plaguing Nikolai (its king) surely doesn’t help. The duology tracks respective characters arsenic their paths transverse and the mysteries each 1 grapples with bring them into interaction with 1 different successful absorbing ways. It’s a YA duology, but it doesn’t shy distant from big issues similar contention and sex — and it’s each the much almighty for it.
We Set the Dark connected Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Tehlor Kay Mejia’s YA SFF duology offers a pleasing pairing of books. Set successful an land federation that has beardown echoes of Mexico, this duology doesn’t shy distant from real-world dynamics of gender, sexuality, and class. Book 1, We Set the Dark connected Fire, follows Dani — a 17-year-old finishing schoolhouse postgraduate poised to statesman her beingness arsenic a Primera (one of 2 wives) for a antheral who turns retired to beryllium brutal. Without giving excessively overmuch away, We Unleash the Merciless Storm transfers the communicative to Carmen, a Segunda (you guessed it: the different wifely relation disposable to women successful this storyworld) who’s falling for Dani. The stories are evidently linked, and they’re besides antithetic capable to consciousness refreshing portion besides decidedly a duology. In some books, the absorption plays a beardown (and, if I may, precise interesting) role.
Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan
This SFF duology is arsenic overmuch astir household arsenic it is astir emotion and mythology. Oh, and did I notation the dragons? Because determination are dragons. Daughter of the Moon Goddess introduced readers to Xingyin, the Moon Goddess’s girl (hence the book’s title) and her conflict to merchandise her parent from her punishment. Book 2, Heart of the Sun Warrior, follows Xingyin arsenic her travel continues — with plentifulness much adventure, peril, and enactment to support readers connected their toes!
Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi
Beasts Made of Night and Crown of Thunder comprise a YA duology that features (get this) sin-eaters. Yup, you work that right. The protagonist of this series, Taj, is 1 of the champion skin-eaters (or, aki) successful the realm. Fascinating mechanics of sin-eating aside, the storyline is each spot arsenic engrossing and good written arsenic you mightiness expect from a writer arsenic skilled arsenic Tochi Onyebuchi. In summation to a compelling communicative that features some romanticist and governmental crippled threads, the Beasts Made of Night bid gets into the morals of powerfulness successful a mode I didn’t afloat expect (but decidedly appreciated).
Alamaxa Duology by Hadeer Elsbai
This duology is the newest connected this list, with publication 1 The Daughters of Izdihar lone having been released astir a period ago. The communicative focuses connected Nehal and Giorgina, 2 women from other ends of the people divide…but a full batch successful common. Both women person unthinkable powers with h2o (Nehal) and world (Giorgina), but they’re not capable to afloat power them. This is wherever this SFF duology truly gets cooking: portion their reasons for not being capable to wield their powers afloat oregon decently are different, they’re besides akin successful that they’re linked to women’s rights. In this way, Elsbai’s storyworld has roots successful modern Egyptian history, particularly wherever women’s rights are concerned. This is the archetypal publication of a duology that I cannot wait to finish!
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