TL;DR Review: Irish history brought to glorious life with magic, manipulation, battles, and intrigue aplenty. Synopsis: They think they’ve killed the last of us… 981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her son – and herself – but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend […]
Epic Fantasy
Review: The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien De Castell
Synopsis ‘Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We’re going to kill them first.’ Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he’s wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn’t protect his frail body from a light breeze. […]
Review: The Radiant King (Astral Kingdoms #1) by David Dalglish
Synopsis Six immortal siblings. Five sworn to peace. One demands a throne. Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Death cannot claim them. For hundreds of years, the ever-living ruled with ease. Yet when the world is nearly broken beneath their reign, the humbled six swear a They will sit […]
Book Review: Legend of Uh by Aaron N. Hall
TL;DR Review: Fun, easy-reading adventure with an upbeat, humorous flavor. Enjoyable and suitable for all ages. Synopsis: Sir Dashing Junior was only knighted because they couldn’t knight his father twice. Now he’s determined to prove he’s worthy of his new title. With an aspiring ranger, an awkward friar, and a book-loving orc, DJ will venture across […]
Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch
Synopsis An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most […]
Review: Drumindor (The Riyria Chronicles #5) by Michael J.Sullivan.
Synopsis HE PLANNED TO OBLITERATE AN ENTIRE CITY. HE THOUGHT NO ONE COULD STAND IN HIS WAY. BUT HE HADN’T HEARD OF RIYRIA. When a master-craftsmen dwarf is fired, he threatens retaliation. The rogues-for-hire known as Riyria are commissioned to find and stop him. Traveling to the paradise resort of Tur Del Fur, the two […]
Book Review: Grave Empire (The Great Silence Book #1) by Richard Swan
TL;DR Review: Bigger, more epic, and far more horror-drenched. A brilliant start to a tonally different but no-less-engaging new trilogy in one of my new favorite fantasy worlds. Synopsis: Blood once turned the wheels of empire. Now it is money. A new age of exploration and innovation has dawned, and the Empire of the Wolf stands to take […]
Book Review: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
TL;DR Review: Beautifully lush writing, noble and compelling characters, and a story that takes its time to build to an emotional ending. Synopsis: From the critically-acclaimed author of The Fionavar Tapestry comes an epic fantasy novel of love, both courtly and forbidden, and two kingdoms endlessly opposed… Blaise of Gorhaut is a warrior. He fought […]
Review: In Solitude’s Shadow (Empire of Ruin Series #1) by David Green.
Synopsis War Comes For Those Who Forge It. And It Never Forgives… Haltveldt is a nation built on bloodshed. With the Order of Sparkers brought to heel, Emperor Locke wields his mages – and their magic the Spark – like a weapon as he wages a war of genocide. But the enemies of his empire […]
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Synopsis A heretic thief is the empire’s only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris. Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is […]
Book Review: With His Father’s Sword (The Empire of the Beast) by T.M. Carruthers
TL;DR Review: The Count of Monte Cristo meets Kingdom of Heaven by way of Gladiator. Synopsis: I am Harald Fairhair, illegitimate son of a dead land. I am Harald Lionheart, breaker of chains and champion of the arena. I am Harald the bastard, and I have destroyed the world. Hear Harald’s own words as he […]
Review: Monstress, Volume 9: The Possessed (Monstress) by Marjorie Liu and Illustrated by Sana Takeda
Synopsis Maika, Kippa, and Ren return to their own world to discover a full year has passed in their absence—and Zinn is back in the clutches of Maika’s father, the megalomaniacal Lord Doctor. From the relative safety of the pirate-controlled Spice Islands, Maika and her friends must regroup, recover, and find a way stop the […]