Race the Sands

This fantasy novel came out of nowhere for me. The novel centers around the concept of rebirth; specifically, that the worst members of society are reborn as “kehoks”, ferocious monsters that take a variety of forms, but are condemned to a life of rage trapped inside their monstrous bodies. For sport, the people hold the Becaran Races, where humans risk their lives to ride these creatures and compete for prize money while the winning kehok is freed from the form that it’s trapped within.

Against that backdrop, the novel follows Tamra, a retired kehok racer who has now become a trainer, who desperately needs to win the Races to raise enough money to prevent the local temple from taking away her daughter. To do so, she needs to find a kehok with the speed and will to win, and a rider who she can train to tame it and guide it to victory.

Part Seabiscuit, part palace politics and maneuvering, part commentary on societal boundaries and castes -- the novel brought a ton of unexpected enjoyment on several levels. In a genre where the norm is to make everything at least a trilogy, it was refreshingly stand-alone and complete. The only downside? I finished and immediately wanted to spend more time with the characters.