A prophetic sign sets events in motion, and three people from different races journey for a common destination, each meeting difficulties along the way. In The Emperor’s Harvest, R. A. Denny reimagines elements from the biblical account of Christ’s birth in a fantasy setting. In this world, normal humans live with people who have feet like ducks, folks who are scaled like lizards, and others who can glide like flying squirrels. Readers might struggle to follow the story’s viewpoint switches, from first-person to third-person and back again. Main characters’ stories become narrative seeds left to germinate into a larger saga of future installments.

Best for: Young adults and older readers.

Discern: Some violence, especially people of certain races being slaughtered for bounty; one final religious ceremony involves duck-people sacrificing other duck-people, and even duck-people men castrating themselves.