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.
Fantasy
Draigon Weather (The Legacies of Arnan #1) by Paige L. Christie
Synopsis Draigon Weather The brutal, drought-bringing heat that arises from the colossal, near-mythical Draigon, is a fell portent, heralding the doom of a striving woman. When Leiel’s mother is Sacrificed to the Draigon to relieve the terrible drought, Leiel is marked by the shame brought to her family. She must leave school, relegated to a new […]
Series Review: The Age of Madness by Joe Abercrombie
The Age of Madness series consists of three books: A Little Hatred, The Trouble with Peace, The Wisdom of Crowds. It is also part of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law universe, but it is hard for me to place exactly when this story takes place in relation to the rest because it was a very long time ago that I read them. Suffice to say, though, The Age of Madness fits perfectly within Abercrombie’s grimdark theater.
Review: The Living Waters (Weirdwater Confluence #1) by Dan Fitzgerald
The Living Waters is the first in a new duology from Dan Fitzgerald, the author of The Maer Cycle trilogy of books. I haven’t read his other series, but they are now definitely being shuffled closer to the top of my TBR, as The Living Waters grabbed ahold of my heart from the first page and didn’t let go. It’s a story bursting at the seams with adventure, wonder, and heart, and it’s one that has catapulted itself to the top of my favorite reads this year.
Review: Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn
Among Thieves is the debut novel from author M.J. Kuhn, but you’d never guess that from reading it. Among Thieves is a slick heist novel centered around a group of outlaws planning and attempting the heist of a priceless object from the one place in the world that may be impossible to burgle and the last man in the world they’d wish to piss off. What follows is a story chock full of adventure, mayhem, and snark. I’m so angry that I sat on this ARC for so long!
Review: The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne
Gwynne has seriously delivered in this epic beardy saga. All three of his protagonists would warrant their own separate story, so their three spectacular narratives entwine into a true behemoth of a book.
Review: The Liar of Red Valley by W.L. Goodwater
A wildly imaginative urban fantasy!
Review – Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons (A Miss Percy Guide #1) by Quenby Olson
Synopsis Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon. Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves… Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a […]
Review: Sistersong by Lucy Holland
Sistersong by Lucy Holland is heartbreakingly beautiful. I had never heard of ‘The Twa Sisters’ murder folk ballad but looked it up after I finished reading. Sistersong proved to be as evocative as the ballad is.
Book Tour: Shadow Shinjuku by Ryu Takeshi
Shadow Shinjuku is a Japanese crime thriller and Ryu Takeshi’s first published novel. It is so interesting that the synopsis mentions noir, as well, because that was the vibe I got while reading it. I found the combination of urban fantasy, crime noir, and thriller to be fascinating. The book also has some supernatural elements, too, so it is hard to nail this book down to one genre.
Recommended Reading: Dragons of Terra by Brian Naslund
I had been putting off reading Brian Naslund’s Dragons of Terra series until it was finished because I was afraid once I started reading it I would not want to stop. I had heard it was absolutely addictive, plus adventure fantasy is my favorite, and also, well, you know, dragons, so I was not interested in waiting a year for book 2, and another year for book 3. And I could not have been more right in that decision. Had I had time between books it would have driven me absolutely bonkers. This is the kind of series that makes me want to shout from the rooftops… *ahem*… let me clear my throat:
READ IT NOW!
Now that the yelling is out of the way, let’s get to the details of what makes this series so good.
Review: The Shadow Sect (Netherdei #1) by Peter Hackshaw
Synopsis Falken Calder dreams of becoming Immortal. But as a mere scullery boy in service of the fabled Ardent Lunar Sect, his chances of rising through the ranks are slim. There is only one way he can take up the title of cultivator – to Awaken before he comes of age. Time is already running […]