magic realism (literature)

When seventeen-year-old Magpie Lewis discovers a magical world in her backyard, she uses it and its powers to enact her revenge on all those who have wronged her.

The Greek goddess Aphrodite recounts two tales of tragic love during WWI to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: "Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another?" but her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music.

Al Jeery, a loyal member of the Cardinal's personal guard, is pulled from his duties at Party Central to investigate a murder mystery that draws in the dead, the City's Incan forefathers, the imposing figure of the Cardinal, and the near-mythical assassin Paucar Wami, who can kill anyone without fear of retribution.