Book Review: Demons, Ink by Clayton Snyder

Banner of cover image of Demons, Ink by Clayton Snyder superimposed over zoomed in and blurred image of same cover. Test says, "Book Review: Demons, Ink" and "Off The TBR"

This review first appeared on Beth Tabler’s Before We Go Blog as part of the current Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (#SPFBO) competition. I’m a member of Beth’s #SPFBO reviewing team and Demons, Ink was in my initial batch of books to read. I enjoyed it so much I selected it as a semi-finalist. I held off on publishing the review here until now so as not to confuse my blog with any of the official judging blogs for the competition. Ultimately Demons, Ink was not chosen as our team’s finalist, but now that the first phase of the competition is over I wanted to circle back and post the review here as well in order to show some love for a book I really enjoyed. I hope you’ll give it a go as well.

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Book Review: Jade War by Fonda Lee

Banner image of cover of Jade War by Fonda Lee superimposed over a zoomed in version of same cover. Text reads "Book Review" and "Off The TBR"

I’ve returned to the world of Fonda Lee’s The Green Bone Saga and let me tell you it was such a good experience! Jade War is just as engrossing as it’s predecessor Jade City, but now on a more global scale. I previously described Jade City as being a “vivid, gritty, gangster fantasy.” Well, Jade War doubles down on that description and throws in some serious character and plot development ensuring it doesn’t fall into that dreaded sophomore slump, but instead stands up and carries the torch for this series as it continues on to the next installment in Jade Legacy.

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SPFBO 7 Review: Demons, Ink by Clayton Snyder

Zoomed in image of portion of cover for Demons, Ink by Clayton Snyder.

Yesterday my SPFBO 7 review for Demons, Ink by Clayton Snyder went up over on Before We Go Blog. This was my selection from my initial batch of books to move on to the next round in the team’s selection process, and the first selection for the team as a whole. We may end up with 9 or 10 books in that second round and from those we’ll narrow it down to a few semi-finalists, and then a finalist.

Anyway, I enjoyed this read and hope you’ll check it out. Click below to be taken to to the review.

Demon’s, Ink Review

As always if you don’t know about SPFBO it’s an annual contest hosted by author Mark Lawrence with 300 self-published fantasy books/authors split between ten judges or judging teams that will eventually work it’s way to a final winner. Check out the SPFBO Webpage for more details and the SPFBO 7 Page for more on this year’s books and judging teams. I hope you’ll follow along!

Book Review: Jade City

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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What I’m Reading: The Haunting of Tram Car 015

Off The TBR_ What I'm Reading

This is going to be a quick post because it’s 8:30 PM and we just got home and settled for the night after taking the kids to tutoring after work and then getting dinner. I want to get to reading, and I’m probably going to keep an eye on the Iowa Caucus results.

I know I just posted a What I’m Reading post like two days ago. These will probably be spaced out a little more in the future as I typically read about one book a week, but I only had about 30 pages left in Legacy of Ash before I posted about it, and my current read is a novella which I can finish in one or two days. Continue reading

Vicious Review

OctoberSpookyReads

A dark, page turning superhero revenge tale inhabited by morally challenged supernatural characters, brought to life with V. E. Schwab’s quickening prose.

“Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong” – Back Cover Blurb.

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Book Haul: Self-Pub Fantasy Month 2019 Edition

SelfPubFantasyMonth

Earlier this week there was a sale going on for books related to the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (#SPFBO). A bunch of self-published/indie authors got together and put their books on sale for $0.99 each. Most of the books were part of SPFBO5 that is currently underway, but there were a few books and authors from SPFBO4 that I noticed.

Anyway, what’s important for this conversation is there were a bunch of self-published/indie books on sale. This of course meant I had to buy some. Because you know, there was a book sale going on. It’s what one does.

I bought five books. I’m pretty sure at least one of these will be read and reviewed for Self-Published Fantasy Month in September though I haven’t decided which one or whether there will be more than one.

Here’s what I picked up… Continue reading