All aboard for an early contender for 2024’s best fantasy Synopsis For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor’s ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain. Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique […]
Fantasy
REVIEW: Buzzard’s Bowl (Tragedy of Cedain #2) by John Palladino
SYNOPSIS Cedain continues to collapse. Ashmount’s destruction shatters the Magicai while the culprits responsible continue sabotaging the world. All the while, the next season of Buzzard’s Bowl begins and Edelbrock, in his constant fight for survival, desires a vengeance he can only find in the arena. Seradal and Villic find themselves in the middle of […]
Review: Sins of the Mother (The War Eternal Series #4) by Rob J. Hayes
Synopsis In her darklight the world will burn. Eskara Helsene is missing. She left her queendom, her friends, her children, even her own name behind. No one has seen the Corpse Queen for a decade. Someone is murdering Sourcerers, forcing them to reject their magic and opening scars in reality, and monsters from the Other […]
Book Review: The Blood Stones by Tori Tecken
TL;DR Review – A brilliant, complex, engaging story that had me reading compulsively from start to finish. A familiar yet fresh fantasy epic. 5 stars. Synopsis: His name is not worthy. A traitor is executed, his name ripped away from history. Now the kingdom stands on the brink of a succession war that could bring […]
Review: Partial Function: A Wuxia-inspired Epic Fantasy by J.C.M. Berne
Synopsis: If Taken starred Michelle Yeoh and was set on a Jurassic Park – inspired Cradle. Monster hunter Akina Azure inherited the most powerful weapon in the martial world before retiring to a peaceful life raising her twin girls. The Reaver has them kidnapped, thinking Akina will trade that weapon for their safe return. Will […]
Review: Uncanny Times (Huntsmen #1) by Laura Anne Gilman
I found this first entry in the Huntsmen series an excellent start to a hopefully long saga that promises good times, feels, sibling shenanigans, and lots of action. Also, there’s a molosser dog with one upturned and one downward ear as the animal companion and his name is Botheration. Need I say more?
Review: One Life Left (Nick Holleran Series #3) by David Green
Synopsis ONE LIFE LEFT Nick Holleran’s life in Hell is about to get a whole lot worse. Failing to learn from his previous escapades, Haven’s one and only Paranormal Detective stumbles through life, and makes deadly enemies in all the wrong places. Implicated in a growing number of murders, Nick scrambles to clear his name […]
Review: From Cold Ashes Risen (The War Eternal Series #3) by Rob J. Hayes
Synopsis The Corpse Queen Comes. Eskara has lost everything. The War Eternal has cost her everything she loves, and the Iron Legion has taken the rest. Yet there is something that is still hers, something that kept her warm during her time in the Pit. Anger and a lust for vengeance. First on the list […]
Australian & New Zealand Author Showcase No 16 – Louise Holland
Today I have the honour of hosting the Sixteenth author showcase focusing on the awesome talent originating from Australia and New Zealand. The idea came to me whilst seeing so many of the book community gathering at recent conventions in the US and UK. And once my FOMO had subsided, I got to thinking about […]
Review: Under an Azure Sky (Elysia Dayne #1) by Wil Chan
Synopsis: Elysia Dayne is a renowned hero, mercenary, and monster slayer famed for killing a dragon in single combat. At least, that’s how the bards tell it. However, there was a time when she thought that dragons were beautiful. The jaded sword master accepts a job along the unforgiving borderlands to rescue Princess Isabella Solemaine, […]
Review: How the Fox Runs by J.O Ellis
Synopsis Alise, an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane, wants nothing more than a life of freedom in the forest she loves. Charged with the murder of her lover, Alise is convinced she has been framed. Motivated by this belief she manipulates, cheats and steals her way out only to be captured by […]
Review: The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue Series #1) by Christopher Buehlman
Synopsis Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler […]