C. J. Daley

Thank you to the author for the audio code for my enjoyment!

If the cover art and title haven’t signified enough for you yet, this is cozy fantasy. A newly popular genre, with releases like Legends and Lattes and Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, however I had yet to dip my toes into it. So Quaint Creatures was a first, and I went in knowing next to nothing other than what the word ‘cozy’ meant. I was pleasantly surprised, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Norrik Softstep is a magical animal veterinarian, oh and a giant…but he’s awfully gentle! With visits from the likes of drakes, chimeras, and gryphons, and a slew of creatures I can only imagine came from the mind of the author, this felt like a much better managed concept of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. And yet I loved how it differentiated itself with a world full of different creatures and beings too. Like Minotaurs, frost fairies, orcs and elves, to even the unlikely with skeletons, zombies and ghosts. It was refreshing and unique, and the author is one hell of a narrator.

I also really liked that the novel features an undertone of a mystery as well. It opens up with the main character being asked to inspect a mysterious and magical crate that was confiscated. Norrik and his wife are also still investigating their home, as the halls and tunnels seem never ending. It’s not without tension, nor is it lacking action, it just has this laidback, friendly approach to its writing that makes it as smooth sailing as it is page turning.

I would highly recommend bumping this up your TBR regardless of if you are new like me, or already a fan of the sub genre.

So this is a reread for me. I recall listening to it and reviewing it, and as I just finished season two the other day I remembered this and looked for it and it was entirely gone. No review on audible, Goodreads, or my instagram. So maybe I dreamed it. Oddly fitting.

Tangle in the Dark is a prequel to the Amazon Original show. It features Tourmaline Larou (whose actor, Karla Crome, does the narration for this...quite well too) as the main character, her time as a student at university, and the beginnings of her relationship with Vignette. It serves to further deepen the characters, especially as this deals with some of the world's classism between even the same races, before the show itself starts to show the darker side of the world's feelings between the races. As a student, budding poet, and nighttime partygoer, Tourmaline has to learn to overcome some of her preconceived notions about those that maybe are outside of her own social class. It makes their relationship seem more real, as their attraction to each other also teaches them about themselves. It's also interesting to see simply because the world they are in, and the lives they are living, in the show are so drastically different from what we read here. It gives off possible ideas for what the show could have looked like during peace times (if we can even believe those are possible).

Enjoyable, a bit refreshing in how different it is, and quick.

Thanks again to the authors for the audible code! The narration by Jennifer Pratt, who took over with book 2, really sells the story and her voice work is great.

This is the third and final book in The Prophecies of Ragnarok trilogy. The first, Hotel Fen, is almost like a fantasy/romance mixed with hotel horror. The second, Monster Ridge, amps up the fantasy content, really bringing out the Norse Mythology, and getting more into the characters’ pasts. And this third one, really takes off from there. The consequences of book two have started The Great Winter, bringing all of earth to survival basics, and Ragnarok has begun.

Our star-crossed and forever-(ill)fated lovers, Victor and Silje, are still just trying to make it work. Why does that always seem to involve someone chasing them, attacking or kidnapping them, or them having to try to save the world/universe?

There is character growth in this one even though it’s pretty all-out action. Their past-selves bleed more and more into their present-selves, bringing with it strengths and abilities long forgotten. Angers too.

I was pleasantly surprised by the action in this one. While molded by Norse Mythology, the authors clearly weren’t afraid to write this as their own. I think it’s probably because of the recent Thor movies (naturally) but this feels like almost ‘superhero level’ action—and I mean that in a good way. And with that, there is of course sacrifice…to save everything, something or someone is gonna have to give. It felt worth it, it felt earned, and yes it hurt like hell (Hel). And I’m still so happy that it wrapped up with just a dash of hope.

These two authors have cooked up a well done trilogy, and I would love to see more people talking about it!

Thanks to Shortwave Media for the physical arc!

Read this in a single sitting, which as a novelette might not be that crazy, but I’ve been having trouble focusing for periods of time. So this one really grasped me and I ran with it.

A hurricane hits a small coastal town, taking the lives of multiple loved ones, and yet not damaging the long-dead payphone. When folks start looking for a way to grieve, to move on, to speak to them one more time, they may just find what they need in the phone booth, but will it be enough…Or even too much?

As much as this is a drama and a story of loss, this really fits into what I’ve come to think of as grief horror (which I may or may not have picked up from author Katherine Silva?). Beats of the unthinkable, perhaps supernatural, tinged with people dealing with horrible loss. It could all be taken as in the heads of those grieving, but what if it’s not? Not to mention the crazy black and white illustrations throughout by Trevor Henderson definitely add an additional layer of darkness to the story.

And big shout out to Shortwave for the quality of this one. For the art it has these nice thick pages and the book itself felt solid. Just like an old school Scholastic Goosebumps book.

Revived my book club this month, and luckily enough my suggestion got picked!

This one was suggested for my Intro to Indie Horror + Representation post that I did in April under trans rep, and it has been on my radar since posting. Naturally I’m stoked it got to jump up my TBR with the book club selecting it.

With that being said, I actually didn’t read the blurb, just went straight in. I was pleasantly surprised to head right into a supernatural mystery. Emberly and Conner are tasked with investigating a rather atypical circumstance that befell their boss’ son. And I absolutely loved the fact that they kind of were forced to become their own type of detectives. When a trip to Cranberry Cove turns up more questions than answers, Emberly is sent on a journey to unravel what’s inside.

There’s something about the 2’s, and like room 217 at The Overlook, Cranberry Cove’s 2A is the latest haunted hotel room that will keep you up at night waiting for a knock. Why are only men attacked or disappearing? Where is the person or entity even coming from?

I really enjoyed how the author made a point to spell out how their boss had gone out of his way to take care of Emberly’s needs, and to ensure that everyone treated her as the woman she was. Meanwhile the novella itself is tackling themes of toxic masculinity and gender ideas. Conner feels a need to ensure Emberly’s safety, however he doesn’t seem to understand that that feeling can come from caring, and not because he’s the man. And clearly Emberly is prepared to care for herself!

A quick, spooky, and unique read. Worth checking out.

The author sent me a very nicely signed paperback, and I’m lucky to have received it! This is a novel set within the author’s A Relics of War world, but it is a standalone story.

The novel opens up to Owen, a knight of the five kingdoms, on the eve of battle. He is alone, with just the city guard to rally the defenses. The way this started made it compulsively readable, as I just had to know what was going to happen. The fact that the author then practically subverts the expectation with there being little to no opening action, was what I thought was a strange choice at first, but ended up being a hit. It leaves the reader on the edge of their seat for the remainder of the novel…a “when is the action finally happening” that was never far from the front of my mind.

The Murkor, the race that was attacking, then turned saviors, add a dynamic to the novel I wasn’t expecting. The author makes you like them several times, through Owen and Aj’ana’s relationship for one example, to just keep reeling us back in with reminders of the humans’ captivity. I thought it was a unique display of Stockholm syndrome and how back and forth the process can be. The Murkor are not so free themselves, yet they are often complicit, while at other times they stick their necks out for the humans. It’s just the right blend to make you wonder the entire time.

After a very unexpected left turn, that gives the novel its name of Serpentus, we finally have our fully built climax. The mental, physical, and emotional ties are all set perfectly, with Owen at the forefront of bearing them all. It adds a layer of humanity onto what may be considered a loss of it. And the action that follows certainly pays off as well. Gods, several races, and the righteousness of fighting for freedom, explode into a terrifying and personalized description of battle.

I recommend everyone check this one out. Whether you are already a fan of the Relics of War trilogy, or a newbie like me, this one is well written and well done.

I received an audible code to judge for the Indie Ink Awards, so thanks to the author and organizers. Richard Pendragon’s narration was great and added to the overall enjoyment for me.

The novel is a modern vampire urban fantasy. It starts with Ezra’s final boxing match before he’s ready to skip town again. Enter Killian, his last opponent, and so much more. From there, the novel spirals out of control, with estrangement and loss, deception and deceit. Oh, and vampires of course.

Through no fault of Ezra’s, naturally, some awful things happen to him, and therefore little choice is left when an injury threatens his life. Waking up a vampire certainly changes things, but I loved how grounded the novel read. The author does a great job of keeping the story going as it already was, only amping things up and adding in more supernatural elements over time. It made it read as a very personal story.

I also enjoyed the various bits that the author changed about what people think of vampires, especially as they were all done very underhandedly, which made them feel real to the story itself. Stakes to the heart, bullets, blood, this is a world of its own. I did like that there was a concert scene, as well as some later on werewolves, both of which felt like an Underworld club scene-esque nod.

The ending had stakes, the emotional connect was well made, and the somewhat supernatural explosion at the end read as warranted. This is not a typical read for me, but boy did I enjoy it. It was refreshing and different.

This is a prequel novella to Zodak: The Last Shielder, however it may be best referred to as a precursor, as it’s entirely its own story.

Although I read these almost back to back, I found there to be little connection to Zodak at all, unless I just entirely missed it (totally might have). That’s not a bad thing at all, I was just keeping my eyes and ears peeled for those little threads to start seeding their way in. Set two hundred years before Zodak, I expected maybe something more direct in the prequel area to the shielders, but I’m still not mad at all with a more separate story.

Where Zodak follows a young character’s journey through finding out he may be more than just a farm boy, Throne Born is a story of splintering peace, political intrigue in multiple courts, deceptions, and betrayals. This difference might also be why it felt so totally different and unrelated to me as well. This novella is also on less of a grand scale. There are stakes, and things are very real, however it never quite gets off the ground to the level in which Zodak felt, which was awfully epic. With that being said, it’s also a simplified, more personal story as well, which absolutely worked in the novella format. Love, jealousy, and pride collide in a natural fashion, but still in a big enough way.

Enjoyable and worth checking out! I read Zodak first, and would probably suggest it in that order. While this does not follow the recent format of prequel being released after the novel, there was just more of what I loved in the full release that hooked me and made me want to go back. The Epilogue, the King’s Coda, read almost like something you’d find in Tolkien’s Appendices, and for that, I really enjoyed its addition.