Synopsis: ‘Staggering, marvellous and gripping’ Grimdark Magazine ‘An adventure that’s rich in darkness and bloodshed’ SFX THE TIME HAS COME.SEKINOWARI – THE LAST WAR – HAS ARRIVED. The breakneck conclusion to the trilogy that started with We Are the Dead. To beat the ultimate evil, sometimes the price is more than you can pay . […]
Grimdark
Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty
Sons of darkness smashes open the fountain of originality, spilling insidious plot, incredible characters, and grim violence. I loved this book. Described as the Indian ASoIaF, it has feuding families, politics, war, and deceit in equal measures, but tops this with inspired world-building and a plot that starts as embers and ends as a blazing inferno.
The Ember Blade (The Darkwater Legacy #1) by Chris Wooding
Synopsis A land under occupation. A legendary sword. A young man’s journey to find his destiny. Aren has lived by the rules all his life. He’s never questioned it; that’s just the way things are. But then his father is executed for treason, and he and his best friend Cade are thrown into a prison […]
Book Review: Black Stone Heart (The First Step On The Obsidian Path) by Michael R. Fletcher
Synopsis THE FIRST STEP ON THE OBSIDIAN PATH A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past. There was a woman. […]
Review: The Martyr (The Covenant of Steel #2) by Anthony Ryan
As far as I’m concerned Anthony wrote what I would class as a perfect fantasy book and its an easy 10/10 for me.
The Hand that Casts the Bone (The Vanguard Chronicles #2) by H.L. Tinsley
The Hand that Casts the Bone is a fantastic sequel, closing the door on any feared second book syndrome with its highly recognizable characters, fascinating plot, and outstanding characterization.
Review: The Blood of Outcasts (The Bane Sword Trilogy #1)
There’s a lot to love about TBoO, especially its acronym, but it’s an incredibly bloody, gritty, ronin romp that’s well worth checking out.
Book Review/Tour: The Spawn of Spiracy (A Disaster of Dokojin #2) by Jesse Nolan Bailey
Synopsis The Sachem has fled his Fortress. Many fear that he intends to turn on the Decayer Device. Hoping to stop this, Annilasia resolves to track down the Sachem. But her plan falters when she discovers that, should the Sachem succeed in turning on the Device, the dokojin attached to her will rip her apart. […]
BOOK TOUR/REVIEW: The Blood of Outcasts (The Bane Sword Trilogy #1) by D. A. Smith
Synopsis What if spilling your own blood was the only way to save yourself? Masako escapes the Lord Council with only her life intact, her clan shattered and master dead in wake of disaster she wrought. It is her cursed blood that cries out, and a godsborne that answers. By the power in her blood, […]
Review: Age of Ash (Kithamar #1) by Daniel Abraham
As a lover of science fiction, I can appreciate the breaking of the status quo. Every so often, genres like cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic fiction came in to stir shit up and make it messier, so to say. But fantasy, I’ve found, is much more comfortable resting on its laurels—challenges to foundational fantasy conventions have been slower, and few and far between. In the last decade or so, though, the intention from authors to actively challenge fantasy’s history has been growing.
Daniel Abraham’s newest novel Age of Ash, book one in The Kithamar Trilogy, seems to do just that. It tackles the notion of “epic fantasy,” questioning the epic-ness of it all and how big battles and a fast pace have dominated that landscape. But beyond that, Age of Ash is a heartfelt story that grounds itself in genuine characters in grim circumstances. What follows is a novel that is epic in its ideas and execution, but relatable in its perspectives and emotions.
Review: We Men of Ash and Shadow (Vanguard Chronicles, Book 1) by H.L. Tinsley
Synopsis ‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ is the first book in the Vanguard Series and follows the journey of protagonist, John Vanguard, through the dark and corrupt city of D’Orsee. A Grimdark gas lamp novel, ‘We Men of Ash and Shadow’ explores themes of redemption, loyalty, and betrayal against the backdrop of a world […]
Review: Age of Ash (Kithamar #1) by Daniel Abraham
From New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author Daniel Abraham, co-author of the Expanse, comes a monumental epic fantasy trilogy that unfolds within the walls of a single great city, over the course of one tumultuous year, where every story matters, and the fate of the city is woven from them all. Kithamar is a centre […]