Synopsis: When a new enemy comes to power Rothgar’s ruling family and friends are forced to ally with old rivals. Faced with betrayal from within their own clan Rothgar’s survival is by no means certain, as an ancient and malevolent magic grows in strength and threatens all he holds dear. In the remote land of […]
Sword and Sorcery
Review: The Blackfire Blade (The Last Legacy #2) by James Logan
I can now safely say that Logan breezily surpassed my expectations with The Blackfire Blade, making everything that worked great in book one even better, avoiding previous mistakes, and vaulting right over the feared sophomore slump. Indeed, this series is quickly and easily carving out a spot for itself as the perfect entry into the genre for new fantasy readers, and as a comfort read for those of us seasoned in classic epic fantasy. Everything I said for book one remains true; Logan’s worldbuilding is strong and, his take on beloved tropes, fresh and engaging.
Review: Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Adrian Tchaikovsky writes DnD, turns everything you thought you knew on its head, and writes the perfect length book. Spiderlight is a very classic quest story at it’s heart, our band of misfits (the classic cleric, rogue, mage etc) are following a prophecy in which they will defeat the Dark Lord. Simple, classic, already a great story. Then we have a Spider turned into human form (and, yes, you will sympathise with him), and a journey through some of the darkest parts of the land, where deeper personalities are revealed, and darker storylines take place.
Review: The Second Death of Locke (The Hand and the Heart #1) by V.L. Bovalino
This is a deeply romantic and epic tale of what it means to be loyal and love so much you’d be willing to sacrifice anything, but also a cautionary one of when to recognise that a life built on a cycle of sacrifices is perhaps one of too high a cost. What if instead of dying for love, you live for it, and fiercely so?
Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Not only is the narrative voice beautiful and engaging, but it is downright heartbreaking at times. Harrow’s narrators don’t merely talk to the reader but they transport us into this account of impossible choices and we can only follow along hoping for the best but emotionally preparing for the worst.
Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Synopsis: Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten. Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the […]
Review: The Sovereign (Magic of the Lost, Book 3) by C.L Clark
The Sovereign brings princess Luca and soldier Touraine together one last time in the thrilling conclusion to C. L. Clark’s beloved queer political fantasy trilogy. Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering plague will decimate her people […]
Review: The Light of Kasaban by Thomas Howard Riley
Synopsis: In the brutal desert city of Kasaban, the old gods have had their statues crushed to powder by invading Priests, with magick forbidden to anyone but themselves. Merely being born as one of the magi makes even infants into fugitives, and the Priests and their spies are always watching, ready to toss their enemies […]
Review: Only a Grave Will Do (Malitu #3) by James Lloyd Dulin
Synopsis: On the march towards war, blood is both a promise and a gamble. Newly dubbed the Hero of Anilace, Kaylo is thrust into leading a rebellion against insurmountable odds. His people are dying, if not in labor camps, in occupied cities as everything that makes them Ennean is stripped away. In two generations, the […]
Review: No Safe Haven (Malitu #2) by James Lloyd Dulin
Synopsis: Anger will not be quenched by blood alone. The Missing, a rebel army that is little more than a rumor, may be Kaylo’s only path to exact his vengeance against the empire that claimed his home and killed his family. If it means a chance to balance the blood he owes, he will steal […]
Review: Protocol of Valor (The Legacy of Boulom #0.5) by Timothy Wolff
Synopsis: Where reality fails, dreams are eternal. After saving the realm from the wrath of the gods, crystal sorceress Everleigh Bennet hopes to return home and relax with her family. Instead, she finds her lover, Felix, imprisoned by the God of Wisdom in a scheme that threatens to remove his free will forever. Everleigh must […]
The Fall of Selvandrea (The Draemeir Chronicle #1) by Tim McKay
Synopsis: Remember the wolf. Remember what’s out there in the dark. Valdaris was a middling artillery captain before his people fell to a conquering rival. Then he fell further still, snatched from the battlefield by a ruthless cult and cast into the depths of ultimate evil. Transformed by powers he can’t begin to understand, Valdaris […]