But we would be really remiss if we didn’t tell you unequivocally about one of the best (and most prolific) writers to find her way onto our Goodreads shelves over the past several years: Victoria Schwab (aka VE Schwab).
I first heard about Victoria when I was in my first rush of Young Adult novel obsession. I was spending hours in the YA Fiction section of my local bookstore, and the newest releases were consistently calling my name. I picked up Victoria’s debut novel, The Near Witch, based on the summary alone and put her on my “authors to always read” list right then.
Since then, she’s written a few more young adult novels (check out The Archived) , Vicious,the book that awesome anti-heroes are made of, and one of my absolute favorite adult fantasy series, Shades of Magic. That series has one of the most fully realized and potent magical world-building that I’ve ever read. It’s engrossing and gorgeously written.
Vengeful is Here!
And now, Victoria has some new projects headed our way. TODAY the sequel to Vicious hits shelves. Vengeful is comic-book superhero meets revenge and evil masterminds BUT IN PROSE FORM. Here is the official summary:
A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions―#1 New York Timesbestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.
Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.
But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought―and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.
With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.
And coming out next year, Victoria has her first foray into ACTUAL comic books with the graphic novel prequel to her best-selling Shades of Magic series, The Steel Prince #1.
Written by #1 New York Times bestselling author V.E. Schwab and torn from the universe of the Shades of Magic sequence, this all-original comic book prequel to A Darker Shade of Magic is perfect for fans of bloody, swashbuckling adventure and gritty fantasy!
Delve into the thrilling, epic tale of the young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the king of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic!
The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape.
There, he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa…
I had the opportunity at San Diego Comic Con this year to sit down with Victoria and talk (mostly) about The Steel Prince, her writing process and how she gets all of that cinematic action on the page. You can hear our whole interview right now on the Totally Normal podcast! Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any other author interviews. You never know when we will get to sit down with your favorite!
Listen here (or wherever you get your podcast fix)!
If you would like to get your own copy and see Victoria in person, she is headed on tour for Vengeful this week! Check out if she will be in a bookstore or library near you. Tell her That’s Normal sent you.
