Book banning has been on the rise across the nation ever since conservative politicians and parents turned their culture-war sights on books. While many books have faced challenges and bans, LGBTQ+ books are the most frequently targeted. Although conservatives claim that they’re removing “obscene” or “sexually explicit” books from schools, the real purpose behind the movement has always been to censor any book that doesn’t align with the right-wing agenda. Hence, books about women’s issues, abuse awareness, Black history, and LGBTQ+ topics are most frequently being pulled from school libraries and even from public libraries. Many states have begun passing legislation that makes it easier to pull books from schools by the hundreds or even to instigate statewide book bans.

The post San Francisco Woman Fights Book Bans by Shipping LGBTQ+ Books to Conservative States appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Sunfyre

Described as the most beautiful dragon ever to live, the golden-scaled Sunfyre was the personal mount of Aegon II. Sunfyre served a pivotal role in the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war between the forces of Aegon II and his half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen that tore Westeros apart. Sunfyre allowed Aegon II to win a number of decisive victories, including the Fall of Dragonstone, which dealt a fatal blow to Rhaenyra’s campaign. The victory was a pyrrhic one, as Sunfyre later died of the wounds he sustained in the battle against the dragon Moondancer, after eating Rhaenyra Targaryen alive, of course.

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10. Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg

In terms of raw strength in one single body, Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg, known to The Giants as Mag the Mighty is the most powerful sentient being in the Known World. Sure there might be even BIGGER giants in the Far East in Essos, but we don’t know for certain. Mag the Mighty makes the most powerful warrior in Westeros The Mountain look like a twig. He is king of the giants. Why? Because he’s the BIGGEST. He was able to rip through the iron gates at the foot of The Wall, and able to decimate an entire squadron of the Nights’ Watch before finally being brought down.

The post The Most Powerful Characters in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire,’ Ranked appeared first on The Mary Sue.

10. Yarrick: The Omnibus

What is a commissar’s duty, you ask? Heretical question. You should know already. A commissar is responsible for maintaining the morale of the troops of the Astra Militarun in their glorious battle against the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. Who was Sebastian Yarrick? The greatest commissar of all. Beneath the black banners of vengeance, even when all hope was lost, Commissar Yarrick led his forces to victory time and time again. These texts will tell you how. Unsurprisingly, it was through example. And a liberal use of the chainsword.

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10. The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness‘ central thesis is the gay agenda. Hooray! Specifically, the idea of gender roles and the gender spectrum as a concept. The novel is set on an alien planet where a sophisticated species is able to choose their gender at will, leading to an entirely different outlook on the nature of gender itself. It’s a fascinating glimpse into a society unconcerned with reductionist philosophies like bioessentialism and other pseudoscientific hoo-ha. Everyone is just vibing according to how they want to be perceived. It’s the future liberals want.

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Fantasy can either take place in a fantastical world unlike our own (high fantasy) or in a mundane world like ours where fantastical elements creep in (low fantasy/magical realism). “Dark” means that it includes spooky/horror elements. And there we go!

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The Great Gatsby

I’m coming in hot to say that The Great Gatsby, despite a conspicuous lack of kisses, is one of the greatest romantic novels of all time. It’s really more of a romantic elegy. The romance already happened, and now the characters are looking back upon it. Despite what roaring ’20s Hollywood adaptations would have you believe, the source material’s tone is one of sheer melancholy. It feels like looking at old Polaroids of a party you went to long ago. That’s the point of the book!

The post 10 of the Most Heartbreakingly Romantic Books Ever Written appeared first on The Mary Sue.

1. Star Wars: Light of the Jedi: The High Republic

Ever wondered what happened in the centuries-long span between The Old Republic and the Era of the Empire? With Star Wars: Light of the Jedi: The High Republic, now you don’t have to! This book details the Golden Age of the Jedi, an Era known as The High Republic. What was the High Republic? An era where freedom and liberty ruled, and the Jedi Order was at the height of its power. Good times, good times.

The post The 13 Best ‘Star Wars’ Audiobooks to Listen to in 2024 appeared first on The Mary Sue.

As book-banning efforts sweep the country, the right-wing politicians and parents behind the movement often target books that deal with topics that don’t align with the conservative agenda or that give young readers necessary resources for navigating things like sex, pregnancy, and sexual identity. Hence, books like Unbecoming are becoming all the more important as the books young readers have access to are restricted.

The post Dr. Yasmin Opens Up on Her Debut YA Novel Tackling Abortion, Pre-Release Book Ban Attempts appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Spanning three seasons, three worlds, and one interconnected universe to rival the MCU, Sarah J. Maas has created a rich world packed full of heart-pounding adventure, inspiring romances, and well-thought-out magic systems that hold up well even under the scrutiny of hundreds of thousands of readers around the world.

The post From Maas-ive Highs to Lows, All SJM Books Ranked appeared first on The Mary Sue.

10. The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass

The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass is an anomaly inside an anomaly. Stephen King, undisputed King of Horror fiction, wrote a seven-part dark fantasy meganovel about gunslinger knight errant Roland Deschain and his pilgrimage to a transcendental tower that is responsible for holding King’s multiverse together. It’s a beautifully weird series, made beautifully weirder by this flashback novel where Roland tells the tragic story of his first love, and his first loss. It’s a gut-wrenching romance about two kids who fall victim to a superstitious world at war, and the fallout that turned Roland from romance protagonist to weathered anti-hero.

The post 10 Steamy, Spooky Horror Romance Novels To Get Your Heart Racing appeared first on The Mary Sue.

10.Paladin’s Grace

He’s the holy servant of a dead god, she’s a perfumer with a nose for uncovering intrigue. It’s a match made in high fantasy heaven. After a meet-cute involving fleeing from highway brigands, this adorable pair must put their heads together to solve a mystery in the court of their kingdom! It’s a total comfort read, like eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s with your eyeballs and heart. It doesn’t matter that the plot can get a little bit messy at times. Love is the messiest thing of all, right? That sounded wrong.

The post Craving Some Spicy Escapism? These Are the 10 Best Fantasy Romance Books for Adult Readers appeared first on The Mary Sue.

10. The Percy Jackson Series

The gods of Olympus have inspired authors for millennia, and the Percy Jackson series picks up the Olympic torch. The story begins with the titular Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old boy who has greatness thrust upon him when he is chosen on a quest to capture a thief who has stolen the most dangerous weapon in all of Greek myth: Zeus’s lightning. The series unfolds in a spellbinding young adult Odyssey.

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Hannah was publishing novels for almost two decades before she had her first major hit. Firefly Lane came out in 2008, and the novel about a pair of best friends navigating life together kicked off a new chapter in the author’s career. Years later, her novel The Nightingale would become an international best seller and a multiple-award-winner. These two books have both been optioned for the screen, with Firefly Lane getting the Netflix series treatment in 2021.

The post Kristin Hannah Wants to Make Us Cry … And We Love It! appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Keep scrolling for 10 of the best horror novels of all time, ranked to the best.

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Book bans have been skyrocketing across the country lately as conservative parents and politicians push for censorship of any books that don’t fit the right-wing agenda. Books that tackle race, LGBTQ topics, or women’s issues are most commonly targeted. In Republican states, legislators have begun signing book-banning laws, which threaten hefty fines and even prison time for teachers or librarians who don’t adhere to the censorship guidelines. Often, these laws include purposefully vague language to allow parents and politicians to abuse the law and successfully ban or remove any book by falsely labeling it “obscene” or “sexually explicit.”

The post Utah Emulates ‘Fahrenheit 451’ With Statewide Book Bans and Calls for Book Burnings appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Moms for Liberty is a far-right extremist group with origins in Florida. One of the organization’s biggest initiatives has been leading book bans and censorship in schools across the nation. Since 2021, the group has persistently targeted any book that references race, the LGBTQ+ community, or touches on women’s issues. It even created a 111-page document targeting numerous books and compiling passages out of context to make them appear questionable. Many parents now utilize this misleading guide to find books to challenge and ban in their local schools without ever having to read them. Some Moms for Liberty members have also become serial book banners, each singlehandedly filing hundreds of complaints at their local school districts, which cost libraries unfathomable amounts of labor and resources to review.

The post Conservatives Are Predictably Banning Books About Book Bans From Florida Schools appeared first on The Mary Sue.

Widely recognized as one of the greatest authors of our time, Le Guin had always been a major advocate for the arts and other writers, and now, even after her death in 2018, that legacy will be carried on.

The post Writing in Ursula K. Le Guin’s House Sounds Like a Dream, Right? That Dream Can Now Come True appeared first on The Mary Sue.

The Watchers, which hits theaters on June 7, tells the story of Mina (Dakota Fanning) trying to survive trapped in the woods of Ireland after she finds herself locked in a room with three strangers. All four of them must follow the rules of the Watchers to stay alive but not everything is as it seems. The foursome has to let creatures observe them at night and learning about what is hiding in the trees is enough to keep us all terrified! Who isn’t afraid of what is lurking in the darkness?

The post Win a Signed Copy of ‘The Watchers’ From Dakota Fanning and Ishana Night Shyamalan appeared first on The Mary Sue.

The Hunger Games is a dystopian series set in the fictional country of Panem, where the wealthy Capitol maintains control of the oppressed Districts by forcing their children to participate in the deadly Hunger Games. Every year, each of the 12 remaining districts gives up a boy and girl as tributes to participate in the Games, where they will fight to the death until one remains. When the series starts, the Games are in their 74th year, when Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are named as the District 12 tributes, but there has been much fan interest in the numerous past victors and tributes of the Games, such as Haymitch.

The post The New ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Is Likely To Explore Haymitch’s Time in the Arena appeared first on The Mary Sue.