C. J. Daley
Received this one from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Tordotcom! The narration done by Helen McAlpine was awesome. Good accents, differing tones and variations. Nice and quick.
This has all the feel of an old school classic fantasy, without any of the additional background world building or lore. As a novella, it gets to the point awfully quick, while some of the additional bits that the author dropped did make the world feel whole to me, like maybe they knew it much deeper than they wrote it out. For me, that works quite well. There’s certainly a line where a lack of information can feel like it’s genuinely missing, but this toed that line just enough with its epitaph-esque interlude chapters, bringing a historical background to why they are on the hunt. IE., a complete and somewhat linear story that doesn’t stray from the plot, while appearing to take place in a whole, fleshed out world/universe.
This novella feels like it spawned from the single line of, “I am no man” and went on from there to become its own thing. A feminist, sapphic dragon hunting novella that packs a punch against toxic masculinity and gender roles. And Knight Maddileh is knocking down those barriers and putting mouthy squires in their places.
This was quick, enjoyable, and features quite a twist that I was not ready for. I do wish the actual situation with the dragon was longer, as it appeared like it would be the focal point, and with such a beautiful cover, I was imagining Smaug or GoT level battles in my mind, but there is certainly room for more…and an already announced sequel.
Received this one from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Tordotcom! The narration done by Helen McAlpine was awesome. Good accents, differing tones and variations. Nice and quick.
This has all the feel of an old school classic fantasy, without any of the additional background world building or lore. As a novella, it gets to the point awfully quick, while some of the additional bits that the author dropped did make the world feel whole to me, like maybe they knew it much deeper than they wrote it out. For me, that works quite well. There’s certainly a line where a lack of information can feel like it’s genuinely missing, but this toed that line just enough with its epitaph-esque interlude chapters, bringing a historical background to why they are on the hunt. IE., a complete and somewhat linear story that doesn’t stray from the plot, while appearing to take place in a whole, fleshed out world/universe.
This novella feels like it spawned from the single line of, “I am no man” and went on from there to become its own thing. A feminist, sapphic dragon hunting novella that packs a punch against toxic masculinity and gender roles. And Knight Maddileh is knocking down those barriers and putting mouthy squires in their places.
This was quick, enjoyable, and features quite a twist that I was not ready for. I do wish the actual situation with the dragon was longer, as it appeared like it would be the focal point, and with such a beautiful cover, I was imagining Smaug or GoT level battles in my mind, but there is certainly room for more…and an already announced sequel.
Received this one from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Tordotcom! The narration done by Helen McAlpine was awesome. Good accents, differing tones and variations. Nice and quick.
This has all the feel of an old school classic fantasy, without any of the additional background world building or lore. As a novella, it gets to the point awfully quick, while some of the additional bits that the author dropped did make the world feel whole to me, like maybe they knew it much deeper than they wrote it out. For me, that works quite well. There’s certainly a line where a lack of information can feel like it’s genuinely missing, but this toed that line just enough with its epitaph-esque interlude chapters, bringing a historical background to why they are on the hunt. IE., a complete and somewhat linear story that doesn’t stray from the plot, while appearing to take place in a whole, fleshed out world/universe.
This novella feels like it spawned from the single line of, “I am no man” and went on from there to become its own thing. A feminist, sapphic dragon hunting novella that packs a punch with its toxic masculinity and gender roles. And Knight Maddileh is knocking down those barriers and putting mouthy squires in their places.
This was quick, enjoyable, and features quite a twist that I was not ready for. I do wish the actual situation with the dragon was longer, as it appeared like it would be the focal point, and with such a beautiful cover, I was imagining Smaug or GoT level battles in my mind, but there is certainly room for more…and an already announced sequel.
Received this one from NetGalley, so thanks to them and Tordotcom! The narration done by Helen McAlpine was awesome. Good accents, differing tones and variations. Nice and quick.
This has all the feel of an old school classic fantasy, without any of the additional background world building or lore. As a novella, it gets to the point awfully quick, while some of the additional bits that the author dropped did make the world feel whole to me, like maybe they knew it much deeper than they wrote it out. For me, that works quite well. There’s certainly a line where a lack of information can feel like it’s genuinely missing, but this toed that line just enough with its epitaph-esque interlude chapters, bringing a historical background to why they are on the hunt. IE., a complete and somewhat linear story that doesn’t stray from the plot, while appearing to take place in a whole, fleshed out world/universe.
This novella feels like it spawned from the single line of, “I am no man” and went on from there to become its own thing. A feminist, sapphic dragon hunting novella that packs a punch with its toxic masculinity and gender roles. And Knight Maddileh is knocking down those barriers and putting mouthy squires in their places.
This was quick, enjoyable, and features quite a twist that I was not ready for. I do wish the actual situation with the dragon was longer, as it appeared like it would be the focal point, and with such a beautiful cover, I was imagining Smaug or GoT level battles in my mind, but there is certainly room for more…and an already announced sequel.
I received an audible code from the author for review, John Pirhalla does a good job with the narration, offering up a nice southern drawl and differing, distinct voices for each character.
I was interesting in this one and it was on my radar for the cover alone. I actually only read the blurb after starting it! This is an alt history novel that mixes fantasy, action, and humor into its gunslinging antics. Elias Faust is the marshal of Blackpeak, and while he may only believe in shooting people that deserve it, he does seem to do so an awful lot. A fist fight here, some disagreements there, larceny. The first couple of parts of the book start off with typical, mostly time period correct, tomfoolery. The fantasy element is quite toned down, and I found that it worked well with its slower buildup (the fantasy buildup is slow, the novel is not). And within this groove I found myself really enjoying it.
The later part of the book, when things started heating up, the fantasy element is heightened as well, and within that I struggled a bit. The magnate is out for revenge, trying his hardest to wrangle up Faust and stop him from turning his entire plot topsy-turvy. There are celestial beings(?), as well as semi-conscious reanimated corpses, and then a strange somewhat Trueblood-esque coyote situation that confused me a bit. A bunch of which kind of felt like possible eldritch town-lore, but lacked a bit of the horror and darkness to solidify it for me. Faust’s ability to survive and be guided felt kind of fantasy dream sequence-y to me, which is something I always struggle with.
Regardless, for a unique blend of western and fantasy, this gunslinging marshal does have a lot of fun to offer. And with the audio, it was an effortlessly fun thing to listen to. The dream sequence part, which I avoided details because [spoilers] is a known personal issue for me, and I’m sure others will not feel the same whatsoever. So grab your colts, load em, and saddle up.
I received an audible code from the author for review, John Pirhalla does a good job with the narration, offering up a nice southern drawl and differing, distinct voices for each character.
I was interesting in this one and it was on my radar for the cover alone. I actually only read the blurb after starting it! This is an alt history novel that mixes fantasy, action, and humor into its gunslinging antics. Elias Faust is the marshal of Blackpeak, and while he may only believe in shooting people that deserve it, he does seem to do so an awful lot. A fist fight here, some disagreements there, larceny. The first couple of parts of the book start off with typical, mostly time period correct, tomfoolery. The fantasy element is quite toned down, and I found that it worked well with its slower buildup (the fantasy buildup is slow, the novel is not). And within this groove I found myself really enjoying it.
The later part of the book, when things started heating up, the fantasy element is heightened as well, and within that I struggled a bit. The magnate is out for revenge, trying his hardest to wrangle up Faust and stop him from turning his entire plot topsy-turvy. There are celestial beings(?), as well as semi-conscious reanimated corpses, and then a strange somewhat Trueblood-esque coyote situation that confused me a bit. A bunch of which kind of felt like possible eldritch town-lore, but lacked a bit of the horror and darkness to solidify it for me. Faust’s ability to survive and be guided felt kind of fantasy dream sequence-y to me, which is something I always struggle with.
Regardless, for a unique blend of western and fantasy, this gunslinging marshal does have a lot of fun to offer. And with the audio, it was an effortlessly fun thing to listen to. The dream sequence part, which I avoided details because [spoilers] is a known personal issue for me, and I’m sure others will not feel the same whatsoever. So grab your colts, load em, and saddle up.
I won the special edition hardcover during a Twitter giveaway and decided to bump it up my TBR to add another read in for May. The hardcover has this great cover art, and the chapter pages had a nice fox image to match the story.
This is a grief horror that mixes backwoods magic with a story of revenge. Our main character is seeking vengeance for wrongs done to her family, but she doesn’t want to do so alone. Therefore she uses her herbal magic and an undead fox to bring back part of the soul of her father. I enjoyed as the story unpeeled how the magic was done, using water from behind the family home, and herbs from where he was buried to link the ceremony together.
But how much he remembers, and how well he will take this resurrection into the body of an animal, are up in the air. And will he be an accessory to the vengeance, or the unwanted voice of reason?
In a short number of pages, the author does a great job of creating such a bleak world and atmosphere. In that way, it reminded me of one of my favorite zombie reads, Worse Than Dying by Brett Van Valkenburg. While Undead Folk is post apocalyptic, there hasn’t been an entire eradication of the human race, though humanity can be awfully dark. Our main has to face this darkness, while trying to manage her own grief, and certainly some darkness of her own, all in the name of survival.
While this does take the reader through different phases of the main’s grief, I was surprised that it was a bit less sad than I was expecting, but then again, it did have a big focus on revenge. Either way, it certainly sits on the shelf of grief horror with the likes of Clay McLeod Chapman’s latest, Stay on the Line.
I won the special edition hardcover during a Twitter giveaway and decided to bump it up my TBR to add another read in for May. The hardcover has this great cover art, and the chapter pages had a nice fox image to match the story.
This is a grief horror that mixes backwoods magic with a story of revenge. Our main character is seeking vengeance for wrongs done to her family, but she doesn’t want to do so alone. Therefore she uses her herbal magic and an undead fox to bring back part of the soul of her father. I enjoyed as the story unpeeled how the magic was done, using water from behind the family home, and herbs from where he was buried to link the ceremony together.
But how much he remembers, and how well he will take this resurrection into the body of an animal, are up in the air. And will he be an accessory to the vengeance, or the unwanted voice of reason?
In a short number of pages, the author does a great job of creating such a bleak world and atmosphere. In that way, it reminded me of one of my favorite zombie reads, Worse Than Dying by Brett Van Valkenburg. While Undead Folk is post apocalyptic, there hasn’t been an entire eradication of the human race, though humanity can be awfully dark. Our main has to face this darkness, while trying to manage her own grief, and certainly some darkness of her own, all in the name of survival.
While this does take the reader through different phases of the main’s grief, I was surprised that it was a bit less sad than I was expecting, but then again, it did have a big focus on revenge. Either way, it certainly sits on the shelf of grief horror with the likes of Clay McLeod Chapman’s latest, Stay on the Line.
Another of her Amazon original short stories, I honestly love seeing these pop up randomly.
Years ago, one of the friends made an enemy of an up and coming writer by not including him in their anthology. The scorned writer then launched a campaign of hate that spanned an entire friend group and multiple years.
Now, much older, and some of them even grandmothers, they tend to reminisce over drinks and cheeses…oh and discuss murder. The short story that follows is one of revenge, nostalgia, and grudges held. Atwood continues her craft with lightning quick prose and witty writing.
They might never get all the way up to murder, but laxative filled hash brownies is awfully funny.
Another of her Amazon original short stories, I honestly love seeing these pop up randomly.
Years ago, one of the friends made an enemy of an up and coming writer by not including him in their anthology. The scorned writer then launched a campaign of hate that spanned an entire friend group and multiple years.
Now, much older, and some of them even grandmothers, they tend to reminisce over drinks and cheeses…oh and discuss murder. The short story that follows is one of revenge, nostalgia, and grudges held. Atwood continues her craft with lightning quick prose and witty writing.
They might never get all the way up to murder, but laxative filled hash brownies is awfully funny.