Synopsis Sheriff Errol Thorpe’s life is chaotic, brutal, and above all, solitary. After an unimaginable loss years ago, all he feels is the compulsion to seek vengeance. But when a vulnerable family arrives in town, facing an ugly future, he is pulled headfirst into a web of violence, secrets, and things he never imagined. In […]
Low Fantasy
Book Tour and Review: Memories of Blood and Shadow (Book 1) by Aaron S. Jones
Synopsis Guilt cuts sharper than the deadliest of blades. Tavar Farwan lives alone past the Undying Sands. During a violent storm, he is attacked by two young warriors claiming a need for vengeance for pain from ages past. Tavar defends himself, killing one of the intruders and leaving the other to bleed on the floor. […]
Book Tour Review: Oil and Dust (The Elemental Artist, Book 1) by Jami Fairleigh
Synopsis When all has been lost, we find ourselves… Out of the ashes of destruction, a new world has arisen. The plagues of the past—the worship of greed and pursuit of power—are gone. Now, the communities that remain in this post-apocalyptic world focus on creating connections, on forging futures filled with family and love. And […]
Review: The Gifts by Liz Hyder
I really enjoyed The Gifts. Told from several perspectives it starts with a hook and doesn’t let you go until it is over. This is a story that is both incredibly dark but told in such a way that the real darkness of the story never actually really comes to the surface.
I spent all of the book rooting for the women, and towards the end I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen. It became hard to put down as I just wanted to know what was going to happen.
Review: A Touch of Light (The Ashes of Avarin, Book 1) by Thiago Abdalla
Synopsis How far would you go to resurrect someone you love? Would you change who you are to show you belong? The world of Avarin is tearing itself apart. The Domain worships life, its leaders lead eternal lives and death is a shame that must not be mourned. But, for the clans to the south, […]
Review: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Synopsis Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city […]
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: The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf #1) by Richard Swan
Synopsis From a major new debut author in epic fantasy comes the first book in a trilogy where action, intrigue, and magic collide. The Justice of Kings introduces an unforgettable protagonist destined to become a fantasy icon: Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor’s Justice, who is a detective, judge, and executioner all in one. But these are dangerous […]
Review: The Isle of a Thousand Worlds (The Weirdwater Confluence, Book 2) by Dan Fitzgerald
Synopsis An aging alchemist seeks the key to the Universal Tincture said to unlock the Thousand Worlds of the Mind, but she never expected to solve the riddle of the hermetic heart. A meditation acolyte travels the mystical social media known as the Caravan and finds that the Thousand Worlds lie just below the surface, […]
Review: The Living Waters (Weirdwater Confluence, Book 1) by Dan Fitzgerald
Synopsis All painted-faced nobles can choose to go on a roughabout at some point when they are young adults to experience life outside of their luxury and comfort. Usually these experiences lead to uncomfortable situations that are short lived and the nobles are well watched over by trained professionals. However, when two nobles, Temi and […]
Review: Priest of Lies (War for the Rose Throne #2) by Peter McLean
Synopsis Tomas Piety has been many things: soldier, priest, gangster…and spy. As Tomas’s power grows, the nobility better watch their backs, in this dark and gritty epic fantasy series. People are weak, and the poorer and more oppressed they are, the weaker they become–until they can’t take it anymore. And when they rise up…may the […]
Review: Priest of Bones (War for the Rose Throne #1) by Peter McLean
Following the story as told/written by Tomas Piety in first person, the reader is met with a matter of fact recounting of events that reveals a character who is choosing to share his story, while also keeping some of the details to himself. This is all done while commenting on it all in a manner that, I don’t want to say is bleak, cause it’s not really that, more like with very few fucks left to give and heavily influenced by the protagonist’s principles. This sort of unreliable narrator is the kind that fascinates me the most, especially because when done well, and I’d argue that McLean did it brilliantly, it reveals more about the characters themselves than what they’re actually telling the reader. At the same time, this makes for a fast moving story that doesn’t waste time on world building through long expositional paragraphs, but rather only focuses on the relevant details and events.