hooked. The vibrant world, imagining an empire of seasonal, migrating islands, and the relatable cast of characters had me fully invested to the end. But it was the richness of her prose and worldbuilding, and the gut-punch weight of the book’s many twists that left me aching for more.
Thankfully, Stewart’s sophomore effort and the sequel to The Bone Shard Daughter does not disappoint. In fact, The Bone Shard Emperor swiftly ups the ante, dealing with the fallout of its predecessor and building political and emotional pressure in captivating ways. With morally grey characters (in a morally grey world) that I can truly root for and a world with a deep, mysterious history I want to know more about, The Drowning Empire series just keeps getting better.
Orbit
Five Reads for 2022
It has become a bit of a tradition for me to post a list of five of the books I am looking forward to in the coming year (though, in this case, as I am a little late getting it written – it is actually books for this year). The list of phenomenal books being released in 2022 is endless, so choosing five is so hard. But, here it goes: Five Reads for 2022 (BE WARE: some synopsis may contain spoilers for previous books).
Review: The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne
Take it from me and the other 9 people on this blog that have reviewed it, Shadow of the Gods is a brilliant read!
Review: Engines of Empire (The Age of Uprising #1) by R. S. Ford
Synopsis “An excellent start to a new series: fast-paced and engaging, with a properly epic setting and a cast of characters I look forward to seeing more of.” –James Islington, author of The Shadow of What Was Lost “Epic fantasy fans listen up: This is the good stuff. Highly recommended.” —Kirkus (starred review) From an unmissable voice […]
Traveling Cloak’s Top 10 Reads of 2021
Hi, book friends! Welcome to my 2021 Top 10 List. This is always a difficult post for me to write, because I feel like I read so many great books, and I do not want to leave any out. But, life is about choices, so I have done my best.
According to Goodreads, I clocked 24 five-star reads in 2021, so I had to make some tough decisions. I decided to keep it to 10 so the post is not too long.Some of those books, though, are from the same series, so I have give those one line instead of having them take up 2 or 3 spots. Also, these are books I read in 2021, regardless of release date. Now, let’s get to the fun stuff: here are my Top 10 books I read in 2021!
Eleni’s Top Reads of 2021
Hello as always dear reader or listener,
If you’ve been around me and my writing/tweeting even a tad throughout this past year, odds are you’ve seen me happily ramble about any one of the books or series on this list. I could talk about what I loved from each of these for dayyyys, that is a known fact, but for this post I thought I’d keep it to cover extravaganza and one or two quotes from each. Needless to say that I rec every one of these with eyes closed but if you’re feeling like you need more convincing, I’ll link my reviews (if I’ve written one) with each title, otherwise if you just want a quick chat about them, you know where to find me!
Ashley’s Top 10 Reads in 2021
Reflecting on my favorite books of the year is one of my favorite December activities. Here are my top 10 reads in 2021.
Review: Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson
Far from the Light of Heaven is the latest release for noted SciFi author Tade Thompson (also known for The Wormwood Trilogy and the Molly Southborne series, among many others). This book is about a space mission gone awry. It is very murdery and includes rogue AI plus aliens. I was not the biggest fan of how everything was put together, but read on: this may be the very kind of book you connect with.
Review: The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire #2) by Andrea Stewart
The Bone Shard Emperor is the 2nd installment in Andrea Stewart’s The Drowning Empire series. This is one of the most unique fantasy stories I have read; in fact, the first book in the series, The Bone Shard Daughter, was one of my (and many others’) favorite books of 2020 (read that review here). With all of the great elements at play in this book and the way the story progresses, I am not surprised to see The Bone Shard Emperor receiving similar accolades.
Author Chat: Fonda Lee
Join FanFiAddict’s Adrian M. Gibson and author Fonda Lee for a chat about The Godfather, Dune and Hong Kong action films, her early career, what she’s learned from publishing books, martial arts, building a fictional world from scratch, writing compelling and complex characters, the release of Jade Legacy, saying goodbye to The Green Bone Saga series and much more.
Review: Blood of the Chosen (Burningblade & Silvereye #2) by Django Wexler
Blood of the Chosen is book 2 in Django Wexler’s Burningblade & Silvereye series, and the follow up to Ashes of the Sun (the first in the series, published in 2020 – a book which I also enjoyed. Read that review here). Blood of the Chosen does a great job of upping the stakes and keeping the tension high. I loved this book.
Author Chat: Andrea Stewart
Join FanFiAddict’s Adrian M. Gibson and fantasy author Andrea Stewart for a chat about her wild, long journey to get published, the origins of The Bone Shard Daughter, writing sequels and planning a trilogy, worldbuilding, morally grey characters, painting and much more.