I was first introduced to Dragon Mage by one of my blog cohorts, David S. When I saw the very large, self-published adventure fantasy with the giant dragon on the cover… I was all in. My initial excitement was only exacerbated by some of the great reviews that were floating around about the book. Needless to say, expectations were high; and, spoiler alert: Dragon Mage does not disappoint.
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Cover Reveal: Usher House Rising (The Madeline Usher Series #1) by Don Roff
Review: Taken (Alex Verus #3) by Benedict Jacka
Review: Villainous by Stonie Williams
After reading the graphic novel Villainous, I had mixed feelings. The story itself had all the tropes of a new superhero team/character coming together, but it felt rushed. I would’ve loved to get a bit more about Matilda’s relationship with her parents, to set the tone of her obligations to succeed. Also, every character from the Coalition or Villains felt one-sided or lacked depth, superficial. I understand this is hard to accomplish in comics or graphic novels, but a page or two on each character might have just provided motivations, personalities and some foundations for their character arcs. Like Showdown seemed to be a womanizer. It might have been a better read to see it in action (more than a frame or two), so we hate him as much as Matilda does early on. Also, some characters’ powers weren’t clear in the little time we spent with them, therefore when big action occurred, it was hard to understand the stakes in between them.
Review: Writing In The Dark by Tim Waggoner
As a starting writer working on a monster-horror novel, I’m always looking for books teaching how to improve my craft. And Tim Waggoner’s Writing in the dark didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was the first one I read focused on the Horror genre. When I started reading, I had just finished the first draft of my novel “From the mist”. I feel confident the 2nd draft will be that much better from the tips and tricks I learned from Tim.
Review: Call of the Bone Ships (The Tide Child Trilogy #2)
The Call of the Bone Ships is part 2 in R.J. Barker’s The Tide Child Trilogy, and, in my opinion, while it does represent an expansion on the first book in the series, The Bone Ships, and presents some similarities it is also very different in a lot of ways. That being said, I still found it to be a very enjoyable read.
Cover Reveal: Katy of Clay by U.L. Harper
Review: The Warded Man (Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett
The Warded Man, published as The Painted Man in the UK, is one of the best epic fantasy books that I have read in a long time. Like most of the things I read, for one reason or another I put off reading this one entirely too long. Because of my manic compulsion to buy everything I see that even remotely piques my interest, I bought this book several years ago and it has languished in my TBR ever since.