Genre Definition and Recommendation #14

Genre Definition and Recommendation is a feature where I will define a genre and a sub-genre definition and the make some recommendations.  

Fantasy - Definition found on Wikipedia

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common. Fantasy is generally distinguished from the genre of science fiction by the expectation that it steers clear of scientific themes, though there is a great deal of overlap between the two, both of which are subgenres of speculative fiction.

High/Epic Fantasy- Definition found on Wikipedia

is a sub-genre of fantasy fiction, defined either by its taking place in an imaginary world distinct from our own or by the epic stature of its characters, themes and plot. Quintessential works of high fantasy, such as A Song of Ice and Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and The Belgariad, have both of these attributes. Accordingly, works where the fantasy world impinges on our world, or where the characters are concerned only with adventure or personal goals (as in sword and sorcery fiction) are less likely to be classed as high fantasy.

My Recommendations: 

They all seem to be well known books this week, but just in case they are new to anyone out there.

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

  

        

Choose: A quick death…Or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear..

Candlewax by C. Bailey Sims

  

        

An Ancient Prophecy. A Powerful Relic. An Insatiable Evil. When all three converge, the fate of every living thing will be in peril. All her life Catherine had hoped to see a fairrier cat. No book, no scroll provided to her by her tutors had ever mentioned this legend, much to her frustration, and now-at the worst possible time-she was getting her wish. Only, in her wish the cat wasn't about to kill her. Fleeing an arranged marriage, sixteen-year-old Princess Catherine teams up with the legendary 732-year-old fairrier cat Spelopokos to stop the onslaught of omnivorous trodliks that have awakened, and a rejected suitor might just be the one warrior she desperately needs. A medieval fantasy novel of adventure, romance and horror for readers 12 and up, Candlewax won Connecticut's Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children's Literature, Young Adult category.