"The Beheading Game" by Rebecca Lehmann

The Beheading Game (Mar. 24, 2026) by Rebecca Lehmann.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Disgraced, beheaded, died. Awoke, sewed on ... survived? The story starts in the hours after Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, has been beheaded. She’d been falsely accused of incest, adultery and high treason. And she hadn’t given the king a male heir. She finds herself unceremoniously in an arrow chest, grabs her head and borrows a woman’s sewing kit to sew it back on. Just another day of a woman being proactive! She’s gone from a genteel upbringing to a royal life and now has to disguise herself as a commoner to blend in. She’s learning as she goes, and she’s got a lot to learn. She knows her world as a living, breathing queen, not as the dead returned to life dressed like a working-class woman. She doesn’t realize the shopkeeper is sizing her up for weaknesses, and the fenlanders are not the simpletons she envisions. A prostitute who saves her becomes a trusted friend, but she hesitates to tell Alice her biggest secret. Anne tells her that she needs to find her daughter before harm comes to her. While she would truly love to see Elizabeth, she means to exact revenge and set in motion Elizabeth’s ascension to the throne. She’ll have to sneak into Whitehall Palace and slip into the one place Henry VIII is ever alone (and no, that place is not the bathroom). Anne is out for revenge. An eye for an eye ... or how about a head for a head?

            Wander through the wilds of England during the Tudor reign of 1536. The adult fiction tale blends speculative fiction and magical realism in a historical fantasy with an alternate history. It is crafty and inventive, vicious and macabre. There is danger and unpleasantness, and no one who’s easily queasy should read this. Lehmann’s novel is bold, upsetting, triumphant, vulnerable and strong. She fashions a new future for one of history’s most maligned women. She gives voice to one who was historically mouthy.

"Ink Blood Sister Scribe" by Emma Törzs

Ink Blood Sister Scribe (May 30, 2023) by Emma Törzs.

<This is a standalone novel.>

The Kalotay family guards ancient, rare books of magic. The magic in them is typically finite, not to be rechargeable, but they might do anything from spell a person invisible to allow someone to walk through walls or even to pass non-living objects through mirrors. Joanna has been tasked with maintaining the library’s wards after their dad is killed by, unbeknownst to them at the time, a vampire book. Meanwhile, Esther was told at age 18 that she must move every year on November 2^nd to protect her sister, so she’s normally done this every year for a decade. She tried to stay somewhere once and someone attacked. Now she’s decided to stay in Antarctica, but she notices the mirror magic. She has never been able to feel magic and therefore can’t read spells, can’t be affected by spells, and wards do not make her feel horribly ill, but she recognizes the blood on the corners of the mirrors. Is the person who killed Esther’s mother after her? Esther’s path diverges with Nicholas – an anemic Scribe who’s slowly bleeding to death with all the spells he’s written, but also cannot read – and Collins, Nicholas’ bodyguard. Nicholas looks expensive and smells expensive and has a posh English accent to go with his look. Collins is American, but due to his magical staff NDA, he can’t talk about many things, including his own life. Together, they will uncover secrets originating from their own parents and find a world of magic far more sinister than they could’ve imagined.

            I’m blown away by this debut, speculative fiction novel with its immersive-yet-contemporary world-building, rich tone, complex plot of twisty turns, engaging characters and straightforward system of magical books. It is spellbinding and has dark notes, but the story is balanced with threads of hope and humor. This astute and sophisticated fantasy novel lured me in straightaway, wrapping me in extraordinary enchantment. What an incredible, indelible novel!

            P.S. Beware of any vampire books. “A vampire is a fifteenth-century spell that protects activated books. It kicks in as soon as anyone attempts to add their blood to the spell in progress...”--Nicholas to Joanna, Esther and Collins (p.282)