The atmosphere The Anguished Earth creates is top notch, melding the horror tinged, Dark Age setting with the backdrop of an active outbreak of a deadly disease. As you follow a state appointed Justice on the trail of escaped child murderer, you feel the unsettling sensation of darkness lurking in every corner.
Dark Fantasy
Review: Ember and Steel by Donna Morgan
Synopsis: The gods are gone. Magic is lost. Vengeance is nigh. There is death in the north; entire settlements slaughtered in the night by unknown hands. But dead things do not rest. Mages and scholars from across Breitho search for answers, to no avail. The church clings to a whispered prophecy to bring back the […]
Review: The Worth of Scars: 1 (The Scarred Saga) by Gabriel Farrell
Synopsis: A bookworm, a brothel madam, a gangster, an aristocrat, a widow and a war hero walk into an inn – though it turns out there’s nothing funny about what happens next. For humanity’s ancient enemy the Serafin are rumoured to have returned, and the old man who assembled such an unlikely band believes these […]
Review: Imbued (The Imbued Duology #1) by Helyna L. Clove
Synopsis Calla has no memories of her childhood except for hazy, recurring nightmares. Working as a servant in Kiriong, the picturesque terrace garden home to one of the most influential families in the Kamphua Dominion, she’s content to live a simple life. As long as no one finds out about the forbidden magic stirring under […]
Review: Hero of the Imperium (Warhammer 40K, Ciaphas Cain #1) by Sandy Mitchell
Synopsis The first Ciaphas Cain omnibus In the 41st millennium Commissar Ciaphas Cain, hero of the Imperium, is an inspiration to his men – at least that’s what the propaganda would have you believe… READ IT BECAUSE Enjoy tall tales of adventure and derring-do in Commissar Cain’s memoirs (annotated by a sarcastic inquisitor). T’au, necrons […]
To Catch a Witch (A Story of the Temere Novella) by E.L. Montague
Synopsis Caught in a scandal with Lord Arle that draws the attention of King Harald’s Inquisition, Shenagh is forced to flee her home into the Dark Wood. The young hedge witch, pursued by Master Macon den Lough and his henchman, Cobb, is tested by the forest’s rugged terrain, dangerous predators, and legendary monsters. Review When […]
Review: Fire in the Hearth (Scars of Magic #2) by Steven Raaymakers
A stunning return to the Scars of Magic series, improving on just about everything while retaining the brutal survivalist tale of Esterra Stake.
Review: Darkmage (Rhenwars Saga #1) by ML Spencer
Synopsis Darien Lauchlin has already lost everything. Now the only thing he has left to lose is his soul.The Well of Tears was created to harness the power of the Netherworld to prevent a magical apocalypse. Now Darien Lauchlin is the last surviving mage capable of reversing the destruction the Well unleashed. Darien will be […]
The Heresy Within, The Ties that Bind, book 1 by Rob J Hayes
Synopsis: For generations the Inquisition has stood between humanity and the forces of darkness. It has failed. Thanquil Darkheart is a witch hunter for the Inquisition, on a holy crusade to rid the world of heresy. He’s also something else… expendable. When the God Emperor gives Thanquil an impossible task, he knows he has no […]
SPFBO XI Review: The Way We Were Hunters by Brien Feathers
Synopsis The trouble with the Fallen is they look human. The Fallen are the children born affected by the Drakon, otherworldly beasts that arrived on a meteor and devastated Rosya in a decades-long war. Now, as the nation heals and moves forward, a second conflict looms. This time the enemy is not the Drakon, but […]
Review: Daughter of Crows (The Academy of Kindness, #1) by Mark Lawrence
Synopsis: Set a thief to catch a thief. Set a monster to punish monsters. The Academy of Kindness exists to create agents of retribution, cast in the image of the Furies – The Kindly Ones – against whom even the gods hesitate to stand. Each year one hundred girls are sold to the Academy. Ten […]
Review: Brutal (The Brutal Sword Saga #1) by James Alderdice
Synopsis He has no name. His past is a mystery. His future is etched in blood… The Sellsword knows an opportunity when he sees one. When he rides into the border city of Aldreth, he can tell that the power struggle between two feuding wizards needs a solitary spark to ignite into all-out-war. As he […]