It’s Tuesday and so it’s time for this week’s Top 5 Tuesday post. Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted by the lovely Meeghan at Meeghan reads!! For details of all of the prompts for Apr to June, see Meeghan’s post here
All this month, I will be linking my Top 5 Tuesday posts to #WyrdandWonder which is taking place all this month. The four elements are perfect for choosing fantasy novels although this week’s topic proved to be quite difficult. That’s mainly because I was trying to stay away from dragons as I’m saving them for next week’s topic of Air or Flight.
There are a lot of fantasy books with fire in the title but quite often, fire as an element doesn’t appear to be that important. These are the five that I eventually came up with where fire is a fairly key element. Meeghan gave an alternative theme of Lightning and a couple of my books use that.
The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
I love this trilogy by Melissa Caruso. In the Raverran Empire, magic is strictly controlled. Mages are taken as children and ‘tethered’ to a member of the Falcon Corps who control when the mages can use their magic. Zaira is that most dangerous and rare of mages, a warlock who can raise fire with a gesture.
The magic system and world building are brilliant but it’s the characters of Amalia and Zaira that make this trilogy so good. Not to mention the Crow Lord!
Storm Queen by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Darkover novels are definitely Science/Fantasy, a genre label that seems to have disappeared now but was quite common 20 or 30 years ago. StormQueen was the first Darkover book I read about 40 years ago but I loved the whole concept of a planet where mental powers were enhanced by the use of matrix crystals.
The towers have been carrying out breeding programs and marrying couples with the aim of producing more and children with strong powers. Dorilys is the product of one such program and she can connect with and control the weather. She can also tap into storms and bring down the lightning but her powers end up being too powerful for her to control.
Lion of Senet by Jennifer Fallon
Jennifer Fallon is an Australian fantasy author whose work I really enjoy. The Lion of Senet is about a land with two suns whose people endure scorching heat and the dangers of erupting volcanoes.
Pearl of Fire by C Chancy
I really loved this stand alone book. It’s a brilliant combo of fantasy, Science fiction and a detective novel all in one.
Caldera City is built in the heart of a volcano but war is coming and bombs are being laid. Allen Helleson has to find who is responsible before dragons die and the entire city goes up in flames.
In the Shadow of Lightning by Brian McClellan
This is the only one that I haven’t read in this week’s top 5. It’s right at the top of my TBR but I’m waiting for the paperback to be released. I have no idea how big a part lightning plays in it though.
Next week, we’re onto the element of air and flight. There will be dragons!!!!!!!
Wicked Witch's Blog 
I’ve not read any of these as I am a newbie to fantasy, but will keep them on my fantasy wishlist, Janette.
I found a new science fantasy book earlier this year. It was self-published I’m 2020, then was picked up by a publisher, edited, and released last year after winning the NZ SFF award for 2020: The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And loved the uniqueness of the world building (like grub bullets and mushroom houses).