Review Redo: Chasing Graves

Recently the Self-Published Fantasy Month Team posted a list of some self-published fantasy recs for those who have not read much self-published fantasy and don’t know where to start with finding a good book to read. Our hope was to offer up a few suggestions each while admitting the list would leave out a bunch of great books and authors. I hate leaving out great stories so I decided to re-post the reviews of all the self-published fantasy books I’ve really enjoyed over the last few years. Over the coming days and weeks I’ll be re-posting them here in the lead up to Self-Published Fantasy Month. My hope is you might find one that catches your interest for September!

Today’s installment is Chasing Graves by Ben Galley. I reviewed Chasing Graves back in June of 2019 as part of a massive blog tour with TheWriteReads.

Ben Galley Blog Tour: Chasing Graves Review

I was contacted back in April about participating in a crazy blog tour event hosted by TheWriteReads. Over 100 bloggers reading and reviewing one of four books by independent fantasy author Ben Galley. I chose Chasing Graves as it had been on my list of want to read titles since it was published and I figure this was a great opportunity to knock it out. I was sent a copy of this book by TheWriteReads as part of this blog tour. Now…Let’s jump right in…

Seven Blades In Black Review

Author: Sam Sykes
Series: The Grave of Empires Book 1
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date:  April 9, 2019
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 704 (661 + Extras)
Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars

I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher.

Seven Blades In Black is the dark, gritty, sarcastic, epic, guns, swords, and sorcery revenge story you’ve been wanting, even if you didn’t know it.

The Poppy War Review

Author: R.F. Kuang
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date:  May 1, 2018
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 527

(I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher. I read it in May and did not take notes at the time so I’m lacking in some details I would have otherwise included. This review is also longer than normal as I address the YA controversy surrounding it.)

R.F. Kuang has delivered a gritty, dark, and violent debut to our fantasy libraries.

Month In Review: June 2018

Wow is it already July? Half the year has already gone by. That just feels crazy. Well, it’s time for another Month In Review And A Look Ahead, and this one is pretty interesting. To me at least.

June was a pretty spectacular month at Off The TBR and at the same time not much happened. I didn’t post a single book review and I had the best month ever in terms of traffic on the blog along with the single most viewed post I’ve ever had. Now, that isn’t saying much since this little ole blog has only been around since November 2017, but I’m kinda excited about it. Ok…here’s what happened…

Waiting On Wednesday: Ravencry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and continued now by Tressa at Wishful Endings under the heading “Can’t Wait Wednesday” where readers and bloggers share and discuss books they are excited about reading and which have generally not yet been released. I’m sticking with “Waiting On Wednesday” just because I like the way it rolls off the tongue.

U.S. Edition

Author: Ed McDonald
Publisher: Ace (In U.S.) and Gollancz (In UK)
Series: The Ravens Mark (Book 2)
Length: 384 pages (Paperback US) / 432 pages (Hardcover UK)
Publication Date: August 21, 2018 (U.S.) / June 28, 2018 UK

Blood Of Assassins Review

Author: RJ Barker
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
Format: Paperback
Pages: 436

4.5 of 5 Stars

(I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

RJ  Baker delivers an action packed, mystery filled adventure in Blood Of Assassins. If you were worried about a sophomore slump following Age Of Assassins put your concerns aside and pick this one up immediately. Blood Of Assassins is even better than its predecessor.

Age Of Assassins Review

Author: RJ Barker
Publisher: Orbit
Published: August 2017
Format: Paperback
Pages: 393

When an attempt is made on the life of the heir to the Kingdom of Maniyadoc, Merela Karn and her apprentice Girton Club-Foot are called in to investigate. Queen Adran wants to know who hired the assassin and root them out before more arrive. Only Merela and Girton are no ordinary investigators; not members of the royal guard or local watch, they are in fact two people one would least likely to expect do this job. They are assassins themselves, employed not to take a life, but to save it.

“To Catch An Assassin, Use An Assassin.”

Age Of Assassins is like a smooth but complex red wine, easy and inviting to consume yet the mystery of its flavors keeps you wondering what comes next. It’s part grimdark fantasy, and part mystery novel with a slight YA feel but is definitely adult fiction. I wanted to drink from this bottle until it was gone and had to force myself to put it down or I’d have been up all night and missed work the next day.

Best Books Of 2017

It feels a little strange to be writing this post today. I started 2017 with a goal of trying to see just how many books I could read in the year. There was no set amount, I was just going to note a few words about them as I went and post pictures to facebook and twitter with pictures of my bedside bookshelf as it filled up with each read. By the end of the year I was blogging and writing reviews. So who knows what I’ll be doing this time in 2018.

Last night I took a look back at my list. I read 47 books in 2017. I’ve discovered that’s not a lot compared to some of you but I feel pretty good about it. I’ve put the full list at the bottom of this post. There’s some really good books in that list. I didn’t get to read as many works published in 2017 as I would have liked and there were a lot of great books to come out in the SFF world this year. I wish I could have got to more of them.

Anyway, for this post I’ve listed the seven books that I either gave a five star review on the blog, or that I would have given a five star review had I been blogging at the time I read it. Four of the seven are debuts! Not all of them fall into the speculative fiction focus of the blog but I do read a wider selection. You’ll even notice some history books at the bottom where I’ve listed all the reads of the year. So here you go…my best of 2017 in the order I read them.

Blackwing Review

Author: Ed McDonald
Publisher: ACE
Published: October 2017

“Slowly realizing I like grimdark more than I thought I did.” That was my reaction just a few chapters into Ed McDonald’s dark, gritty, and bloody debut, Blackwing. If this book doesn’t make you a fan of the grimdark genre nothing will.

Hope, Reason, Humanity: The Misery Breaks Them All.

“Under its cracked and wailing sky, the Misery is a vast and blighted expanse, the arcane remnant of a devastating war with the immortals known as the Deep Kings. The war ended nearly a century ago, and the enemy is kept at bay only by the existence of the Engine, a terrible weapon that protects the Misery’s border. Across the corrupted no-man’s-land teeming with twisted magic and malevolent wraiths, the Deep Kings and their armies bide their time. Watching. Waiting.”