Furyborn
★★★g
For those looking for some serious girl power in their “Game of Thrones”style epics, the impressive start of a time-bending, intertwining fantasy trilogy features not one but two powerful young women. In the world of Atrias, certain folks with elemental magic can control one aspect of nature (fire, water, earth, etc.). Prophecy tells of one who wields them all, and she will be either the savior Sun Queen or the destructive Blood Queen. After Rielle Dardenne uses her abilities to save her best friend, crown prince Audric, from assassination, the king tests her with seven trials to see which queen she might be. Her story is told in parallel to that of Eliana Ferracora, an indestructible bounty hunter 1,000 years later who teams with a dangerous rebel to find her kidnapped mother and take on the evil Undying Empire. It’s a bit slowgoing at first thanks to the ambitious world-building over two timelines, but the pair of heroines jump off the page amid the cinematic sprawl.