Consisting of The Fever King (released March 2019) and The Electric Heir (March 2020), the Feverwake Series by Victoria Lee is a thrilling, beautiful, heartbreaking, and truly significant story.
The first book, The Fever King, follows Noam Alvaro, a survivor of a magical plague that kills almost everyone it infects but leaves the survivors with extraordinary powers. Very much alive and now clearly a witching, Noam is given a chance to use his new abilities, his powers, as part of the government. Noam’s real agenda, though, is to use this opportunity to make a change for the refugees.
The second book, The Electric Heir, finds Noam in the middle of a deadly predicament as he tries to play double agent between being Lehrer’s right hand slash protégé and a member of a group who plots against him.
With the sequel’s release nearing (less than a month to go!), this might be the perfect time for you to set your sights to this incredible Science Fiction series. Here are several reasons why you should pick up The Fever King and its sequel, The Electric Heir:
1. It has complex characters
Do you want layered characters that will make you fall in love? A main character that will have you rooting for them? Do you want morally gray characters? How about a blurred line between the hero and the villain? The Feverwake series has all of them!
Noam Alvaro is an excellent character, one full of passion and determination, and you’ll be immediately drawn to his voice and his thoughts. Dara Shirazi, on the other hand, is a fascinating character with a bitter facade and a soft heart. And of course, Lehrer is one compelling and complex character that will definitely intrigue you and keep you guessing. These three characters, along with the minor characters, will definitely pull you into the story.
Also, in The Fever King, you never really know who’s the hero and who’s the villain, you don’t know who’s the ally or the enemy. You just can never be sure until you’ve reached the end of the book.
2. The writing style and prose is magnificent
Lee’s writing style and storytelling will truly evoke every emotion possible out of you. Melancholy, anger, fondness, sympathy, confusion, shock… everything! She knows just how to sway the reader with every scene or with every thought of the character.
There’s also the fact that Lee’s prose is beautiful and poignant, and will leave you in awe one way or another.
“And what had been a black sky transformed into a sea of glittering lights, a galaxy bursting from the fabric of space in vermilion and violet, all those stars and planets spinning inexorably inward toward a brilliant core.” – The Electric Heir
3. The magic system is unique and intricate
The unique magic system in these books is based on science. In the first book, it’s explained in detail how the magic works and how witchings use and control their magic only by understanding the scientific process. This continues in the sequel as Noam learns more about his magic and continues to improve in using it. It’s intriguing and definitely adds to the ingenuity of the series.
4. It tackles important themes and issues
Both books tackle important themes and issues with such regard and care. The Fever King mainly tackles racism and discrimination among refugees—those are the main points of the plot. The Electric Heir, on the other hand, tackles politics and military with such depth, as well as sexual abuse, physical abuse, abusive relationships, and more. These books do not shy away from these things, and the author did such an excellent job in addressing these significant themes.
“…when you’re a teenager, and especially with people in power … they aren’t consensual. They can’t be, by definition.” – The Electric Heir
With that said, these books contain content that might be triggering for some. Fortunately, the author has detailed content warnings for both The Fever King and The Electric Heir on her website for the benefit of the readers.
5. It has bisexual rep and gay rep
Noam identifies as bisexual in the books. Dara, on the other hand, identifies as gay. Other minor characters identify as queer as well, which is just delightful to see!
“And I meant it when I said I wasn’t gay,” Noam said. Ames looked disbelieving, but she didn’t pull away. Noam smirked. “Bisexual isn’t gay.” – The Fever King
6. It has a slow burn romance full of tension and angst
When I say full of tension and angst, I really do mean full of tension of angst. Noam and Dara spent half of the first book spiting each other. Noam believes that Dara hates him, and yet, he can’t help but feel attracted to Dara.
“But you hate me, Noam thought as he stared at the side of Dara’s face, the elegant lines of his features in profile so beautiful but always so, so cold.” – The Fever King
The angst, especially escalates in the The Electric Heir when Noam and Dara find themselves in a new, complicated (and dangerous situation) and they’re not exactly sure where they stand. Reconciling and fixing their relationship (both platonic and romantic) here in this sequel is an uphill battle, and readers will definitely find themselves aching for these two.
7. The first book has already been adapted into a Webtoon
Late June last year, the author announced that The Fever King has been acquired by Webtoon and will be published as a webcomic. It’s gotten a lot of buzz since then. Currently, The Fever King (Webtoon) has 35 episodes and a rating of 9.73. You can catch new episodes every Sunday!
If you’re looking for new books to pick up, something that will hook you in and will surely stay with you, the Feverwake series might just be it. And what do you know? Maybe it’ll be your next favourite thing, too.
*Any quote from The Electric Heir mentioned in this article was taken from an e-ARC and therefore may differ from the final copy.
