The Helm of Midnight is a dark, suspenseful, fantasy thriller. Ambitious world building, a multi-faceted magic system, and an exploration of the connected themes of morality, trauma, and family do the heavy lifting in this jack the ripper style mystery investigation.
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Why? Why did I wait so long to read The Ikessar Falcon? Like, seriously why? I mean yeah I’ve got a lot of books on my TBR and this was just one among many. But I could have bumped it up the stack a bit. I should have bumped it up the stack a bit. I loved The Wolf of Oren-Yaro so why didn’t I read the follow-up right away? Why?
Look, here’s the takeaway you need from this review…you don’t even need to read the rest of it if you don’t want to…the one thing I want to get across if nothing else is this…
If you’re not already reading The Chronicles of The Bitch Queen, you should be because this series is just damn fantastic.
There. That’s it. That’s the whole point of anything else I might have to say about this book and this series. If you want a little more keep reading.
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Sometimes a book will just put you off kilter. Either in a good way or a bad way you end up unsure of what’s up or down. I kinda felt that way while reading The Unbroken by C.L. Clark. By the end I felt off and I’m still getting my bearings locked on to how I really feel about it.
The Unbroken is a story about colonialism, identity, rebellion, faith, love and betrayal. Clark weaves these themes into the narrative and what emerges is a tapestry that will move you, even if a few threads seem a little out of place.
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Do you ever read a book, series, or author because you intentionally want to be wrecked? That seems weird right? Like it’s one thing for a book to wreck you and to enjoy how good it was, and it’s another to seek it out because you want it. I feel like that with Sarah Chorn’s books. I know what to expect now and eagerly look forward to what they will do to me. I think that’s because Chorn writes about pain and emotion so well. She has a way of getting into the soul of her characters and into yours. And all the while she protects the reader so they feel safe on the journey. It’s a marvelous skill I’m not even sure she’s aware she possesses. Sarah Chorn has quickly become one of my favorite authors and is on my auto-buy list. If you haven’t started reading her books you should rectify that situation.
Today I give you my review of Oh That Shotgun Sky, book 1.5 in the Songs of Sefate. An exploration of fate through pain, emotion, and trauma…with a glimmer of hope and healing.
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Whenever I read a second book in a series I’m always a little concerned it will suffer from that dreaded sophomore slump. This doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a BAD book, just that it isn’t as good as the first. Often this is because it spends a lot of time serving as a bridge between books 1 and 2 and is really just developing character and narrative arcs for the big payoff in the final installment. This is nothing new to us who love to read fantasy and sci-fi series. I’d say we kind of expect it. So, when I sat down to read The Fires of Vengeance I expected a book I’d like, a book that would be entertaining, but a book that would ultimately get me from book 1 to 3 without wowing me. That isn’t what I got.
In The Fires of Vengeance, Evan Winter delivers a book that is even better than his first.
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Kings of Paradise was my first read of the new year, and it set the bar high for everything to come after. I can’t tell you just how much I enjoyed this book. This is dark, epic, and intimate fantasy that will linger with you for a while. It will give you thrills and make you shudder; it will pose questions and make you ponder them.
This is self-published fantasy at some of it’s best. I just wish I’d read it sooner…
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Today I bring you an encore performance of the Vultures tour hosted by Storytellers On Tour! That’s right…the band had left the stage but you stuck around hoping there might be more. And your devotion paid off because today I give you one last review from this epic tour.
Ok…in reality this is a non-sanctioned encore performance because I got behind on my review due to work and an ice storm and then I got sickly, and I couldn’t get it posted on my scheduled date. But I promised everyone involved I would get it done as soon as I could and here it is. After reading the review please be sure to scroll down for more information about Luke Tarzian and where you can find the book and a giveaway. And though the tour is already over be sure to check the tour schedule for other reviewer sites to read what they had to say. The giveaway is U.S. only of two paperback copies of Vultures that as of the time of my post still has a few hours left in it, so be sure to enter for a chance to win.
Now, on with the show…
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Welcome to my stop on the Rise of One tour hosted by Storytellers on Tour! After reading the review be sure to scroll down for more information about Dixon Reuel, where you can find the book, additional stops on the tour, and a chance to enter to win a free copy of the book!
With a somewhat atypical twist on the vampire and zombie genres, Dixon Reuel delivers a fresh take on each with Rise of One. I was initially drawn to this book and the tour because (A) I like vampire stories, and (B) I like zombie stories. So what about a book that combines the two? I’ll tell you now that Rise of One wasn’t what I was expecting.
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I’m always nervous to start reading a book that I’m also going to review when that book has already received gobs of praise from other readers. I’m always worried that it will be a letdown for me and I’ll be that one guy who craps on what everybody else loves. Thankfully, in the case of Jade City this isn’t the case.
Jade City is a vivid, gritty, gangster fantasy. I seriously enjoyed this read.
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A beautifully written character driven story about place, belonging, and inequality that left me yearning for more. I can’t express how much I truly just fell into this novel, like sinking into a warm comfortable bed and never wanting to leave it.
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