Synopsis Game of Thrones meets The Powder Mage in this intrigue-filled flintlock fantasy where ravenous spirits haunt the skies, magic slowly destroys its wielder, and sorcerous elites pull the hidden threads of power. The upstart matriarch of a fallen house, Kasia Niezik has sworn to destroy the elusive Crimson Court who assassinated her father. They are near immortal, […]
Epic Fantasy
Review: Dream of Death City by P.J. Nwosu
Synopsis Chilling, dark fantasy with a heavy dose of Sherlock Holmes in this new series of twisty mysteries in fantasy worlds. Pale moths haunt an icy frontier. Beneath the shadow of a drowned death god, a frozen body is unearthed from the snow. Investigators arrive to a superstitious island to solve a brutal crime. Among […]
Review: A Pale Box on the Distant Shore by P.J. Nwosu
Synopsis A silent killer stalks the slum towers of Death City. In the shadow of a drowned death god, a young soldier risks his life to solve a violent crime. To catch a killer, Soldier Honnan Skyin carves a bloody trail over the behemoth bones of a dead giant and through the deepest forest of a […]
Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch
Synopsis An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most […]
Review: Pyres in the Long Night by P.J. Nwosu
Synopsis A vast, rotting city set aflame by Purge House. A crowd gathers in the shadow of the Red Palace to watch the pyres burn. A bitter ex-soldier infiltrates the city’s greatest gold house, determined to locate the slave he seeks. Diem Lakein might not like what he finds. Welcome to the Red Kingdom. Pyres […]
Review: Drumindor (The Riyria Chronicles #5) by Michael J.Sullivan.
Synopsis HE PLANNED TO OBLITERATE AN ENTIRE CITY. HE THOUGHT NO ONE COULD STAND IN HIS WAY. BUT HE HADN’T HEARD OF RIYRIA. When a master-craftsmen dwarf is fired, he threatens retaliation. The rogues-for-hire known as Riyria are commissioned to find and stop him. Traveling to the paradise resort of Tur Del Fur, the two […]
Book Review: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
TL;DR Review: Beautifully lush writing, noble and compelling characters, and a story that takes its time to build to an emotional ending. Synopsis: From the critically-acclaimed author of The Fionavar Tapestry comes an epic fantasy novel of love, both courtly and forbidden, and two kingdoms endlessly opposed… Blaise of Gorhaut is a warrior. He fought […]
Review: In Solitude’s Shadow (Empire of Ruin Series #1) by David Green.
Synopsis War Comes For Those Who Forge It. And It Never Forgives… Haltveldt is a nation built on bloodshed. With the Order of Sparkers brought to heel, Emperor Locke wields his mages – and their magic the Spark – like a weapon as he wages a war of genocide. But the enemies of his empire […]
An Inkling of Flame by Z.B. Steele
Synopsis Tell me how it happened… Layne was a soldier, conscripted to fight under the Fox in a vengeance fueled march. He, and his friends, were due for a fated confrontation, one that has ended in blood and loss. Now, the inquisitors want to hear every detail of his conscription, his training, and the duel […]
Review: The Songs of the Drowned by Anna Stephens
Synopsis A fantasy epic of freedom and empire, gods and monsters, love, loyalty, honour, and betrayal, from the acclaimed author of GODBLIND. For generations, the forests of Ixachipan have echoed with the clash of weapons, as nation after nation has fallen to the Empire of Songs – and to the unending, magical music that binds […]
Book Review: With His Father’s Sword (The Empire of the Beast) by T.M. Carruthers
TL;DR Review: The Count of Monte Cristo meets Kingdom of Heaven by way of Gladiator. Synopsis: I am Harald Fairhair, illegitimate son of a dead land. I am Harald Lionheart, breaker of chains and champion of the arena. I am Harald the bastard, and I have destroyed the world. Hear Harald’s own words as he […]
Review: Monstress, Volume 9: The Possessed (Monstress) by Marjorie Liu and Illustrated by Sana Takeda
Synopsis Maika, Kippa, and Ren return to their own world to discover a full year has passed in their absence—and Zinn is back in the clutches of Maika’s father, the megalomaniacal Lord Doctor. From the relative safety of the pirate-controlled Spice Islands, Maika and her friends must regroup, recover, and find a way stop the […]