New YA Fantasy Novels: Mind Games, The Devouring Gray and Song of the Abyss

Issac Asimov distinguishes science fiction from fantasy saying sci fi is grounded in science and is therefore possible, fantasy is not grounded in reality, thus is not possible. My taste in fantasy novels leans toward stories in realistic settings with fantastic elements, which make the three novels I'm recommending this month difficult to categorize.  Mind Games by Shana Silver is set in a school for geniuses which connects the community with a Hive Mind.  When someone begins erasing people's' memories by manipulating the Hive Mind, students must work together to save their futures.  The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman  is the first in a new series set in the town of Four Paths, where four families are responsible for keeping a monster imprisoned in a parallel dimension called The Gray. Song of the Abyss by Makiia Lucier is a standalone fantasy in the Tower of the Winds series, which introduces a new story line involving Reyna, an explorer and map maker, who must cooperate with Prince Levi from a rival kingdom to determine why pirates are attacking their ships and abducting the sailors.  Although Mind Games is classified as Sci Fi, The Devouring Gray as Paranormal, and Song of the Abyss as Fantasy, they all take place in realistic settings, but none of them seem very possible.

In Mind Games, Arden attends an exclusive school where the entire community is connected by a Hive Mind, a collective consciousness that allows them to share their knowledge, thoughts and resources.  Arden has figured out how to hack into the Hive Mind to copy memories from one student and give them to another.  She runs a lucrative business where she sells student memories to kids who didn't do their homework or want to experience something vicariously.  When a boy named Sebastian shows up whom she's never seen before but is supposedly her boyfriend, she realizes someone has been tampering with her own memories.  Not only has she lost blocks of time, but Sebastian has lost all his memories.  They were supposedly working on their final project together, but now on the eve of their presentation, there is no trace of the project in any student memories.  The race is on to find the hacker and get their memories back, before they lose all they have worked for and each other.  This action-packed YA debut is filled with suspense and romance and poses perplexing issues about identity.

The Devouring Gray is the first book in a new series set in Four Paths, a town in upstate New York which harbors a monster imprisoned in a parallel dimension called The Gray.  The town's founding families, the Hawthornes, Carlisles, Saunders and Sullivans, are tasked with keeping the Beast at bay.  When teens from each family turn 16, they must perform a ritual to reveal magical abilities, which will allow them to keep the monster contained and protect the town.  Violet Saunders, whose mother returns with her to Four Paths after her sister's death, is thrust into this drama just as her magical abilities are beginning to surface. She meets Justin Hawthorne, Harper Carlisle and Isaac Sullivan, who are at odds after devastating results from performing their rituals.  They each curry Violet's favor, thinking she is the key to defending the town against the beast which is killing townspeople with greater frequency.  The third person narration jumps between characters during simultaneous action and expertly manipulates revelations about the townspeople and their secrets.  Although reminiscent of Netflix's Stranger Things, the complexity of the family histories and the teens' magical abilities used to fight "the Gray" create a unique mystery that will make readers anxious to read the sequel.

Song of the Abyss, the followup to Isle of Blood and Stone (Tower of the Winds series), introduces Reyna, who is an explorer and mapmaker for her royal homeland of St. Jon Del Mar.  As the story opens, she is sailing home, when pirates attack her ship and take the sailors prisoner by bewitching them with a siren song.  Reyna escapes with her maps and swims to shore where she meets Prince Levi of Lunes, who is grieving the death of his father.  After hearing her story, he insists on taking her to her ship, which they find abandoned, aside from the corpses of sailors who were old or infirm.  Levi insists she return to Lunes with one of his men, but she, fearing he will steal her maps, escapes when they get to the harbor and boards a ship bound for home.  When the emissaries from her kingdom sail to the Lunerian king's funeral, they, too are abducted.  Together Reyna and Levi uncover the disturbing truth about all the missing men, who have been taken to a kingdom in the north.  They travel to the kingdom under the guise of delivering a shipment of clay and devise a rescue plan once they find the men.  This romantic sea-faring adventure, complete with ghosts, sirens, magic and romance, will keep readers on the edge of their seat.  Although set in the Tower of the Winds world with some recognizable characters, this book is a standalone fantasy with an exciting new plot and cast of characters.