Deadly and misunderstood magical forces reawaken, and a would-be knight finds himself drawn to his people's historic enemy in the action-driven, atmospheric, and romantic dark fantasy Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons (The Sky on Fire).
The Idallik Order raised Mathaiik to become one of them since he was orphaned as a child, but at the age of 22, he has little chance left to demonstrate the magical skill to become a knight. Instead, he hides the strength of his innate botanical magic, lest the order believe he is a tool of the necromancers they have sworn to fight. Then strange, ferocious tree-beings attack the order's stronghold. Math seeks shelter for the order's children and makes a horrifying discovery in the fortress's enchanted maze: the preserved body of Kaiataris, one of the "grim lord" necromancers who nearly destroyed humanity long ago. Math accidentally wakes her, and she defeats the plant monsters. Soon Math is on the run under suspicion of treachery from his order, with the allegedly evil necromancer as his only ally. Against Math's expectations, Kaiataris is funny, spunky, "the sort of beauty that heroes from legends once went to war over," and she's never even heard of a grim lord. She also warns of a coming magical imbalance that, if unchecked, will end all life.
Lyons creates a weird, arresting world of tree zombies, magical knights, and lost histories. The connection between caring Math and spitfire Kaiataris carries the day in this plant-pocalyptic sword and sorcery stand-alone novel. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads