C. J. Daley
This is the finale (currently) to the Skyward Flight novellas. This one stars Jorgen, and it was a perfect conclusion to the current story arc. I will absolutely triple down now and say that these are absolutely necessary reads for Skyward series fans (this one especially), both for your enjoyment, and also for the furthering of plot points and relationships. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't anyway honestly. They're delightful.
As they are novellas they are fast, action packed, and wonderfully paced. Yet again Suzy Jackson shows her depth and abilities with the narration, and I'm glad they didn't pick someone else to do this Jorgen-centric one. I can't wait to own the hardcover collected version that comes out later this year.
I chose this book based off the cover and I would make that decision 10/10 times. I always judge books by their covers, but in a good way. This is an accompanying novella to the debut novel The Dragon's Reign by the same author, which I have not read yet, but damn do I want to now.
This is an action-packed, gut-punching novella. Written simply, but written well, and it's one hell of a good ride! Also, even though it's only 100 pages, the author somehow makes a crazy twist work??? The night I picked it up, I almost couldn't put it down...and I wasn't happy that I had too. Once again, a bit of personal information, but I'm a HUGE shark fan—shark week, shark movies, shark novels, anything. The cover alone is worth having on a shelf, but a fast paced, claustrophobic deep sea disaster story? Unbeatable.
Is it a megalodon? A giant squid? A supernatural sea dinosaur? All of those in one? Is it linked to the disasters in The Dragon's Reign? What would you do if a shark-monster larger than a cruise ship attacked? Read and see!
This is one that I got for Christmas off of my wishlist. It ended up there based off the awesome cover art, and I'm glad to own it. I'm happy to say that I'm equally pleased with the book's insides as I am with the cover.
This novel is a concise, complete mystery/thriller. It's not huge on action, but it gives you a blood-pounding feel of actual fear and panic. It's written very well, and I was interested throughout its entirety. One quote that honestly made me drop my jaw was, “Her fingertips kept hovering back up to her throat, drifting towards her arteries to check her pulse, an obsession she was sure she'd never shake.” I don't normally talk personal stuff in reviews, but this is one way my health anxiety manifests itself, I actually personally do this. So for me, this read as such a genuine feeling, one that I didn't know others felt or did; the true feeling of panic. So the protagonist and I got along just fine, I immediately felt akin to her.
I will say this is a very supernatural/paranormal mystery. Think of a ghost-like mystery. Parts of the ending made me think of the Fear Street Netflix trilogy. Hopefully that will narrow it down for you in terms of taste. For me, this was totally fine and even up my alley. I personally believe it was executed quite well. Absolutely worth your time to buy, read, and support.
Full disclosure, I only read this for The Malady, as I could not find it elsewhere, but the cover is cool anyway and it's a cheap collection. With that being said it's also a weird and completely nonsensical collection...so I'll just tell you what I rated them and move on.
The Malady is a Tristan and Iseult/Arthurian reimagining, retelling, or alternative version. I won't lie and say I've read the original, but I know for sure this is not it. Morholt arrives on the shores of Brittany with gaps in his memory and a scar on his head...meanwhile Tristan lies abed with a groin wound that's festering. It more or less boils down to changing and saving the legend by having Branwen and Morholt fall madly in love instead. It's definitely weird overall, but personally a 3.5/5* for me.
The rest of the featured stories:
The Witcher and The Edge of the World short stories which appear in The Last Wish. I gave The Last Wish 5/5The first chapter of Blood of Elves which I gave 4/5
The first chapter of Baptism of Fire which I gave 4/5*
I've read several things by this author now, but very nicely received this as a Christmas gift, so this is my first physical book by him! I really want to highlight the pocket size of this book because I love it. Crack the cover open, read it one-handed in the bath, eating a sandwich, walking your dog, scratching your leg...it's great.
This story is concise, heartfelt (as is this author's usual!), interesting, and original while still reminiscent of others. It is, and isn't, your typical outbreak or zombie story. It also is, and isn't, your typical survival story. The opening of the story and the first person perspective added weight to the confusion, and to me it reminded me of Bird Box by Josh Malerman. The retelling of personal experience through their survival felt to me like the premise of World War Z by Max Brooks. The overall description of the Gatherings (the zombie/monster/thing) were something I pictured in my head that was very Stranger Things-esque, even though that show does not feature zombies whatsoever...but give this a read and then tell me what you picture!
What would you do if something that was meant to bring the world together, actually destroyed it? How would you cope, how would you survive? This is only a single persons tale of what they did, but now it's time to GATHER.
This is a great, quick, one-sitting read. It's absolutely worth your time, money, and effort to read. Please give it a shot!
The author very graciously sent me a copy for my reading pleasure. This is a horror novella from Native American mythology. I have always loved mythology, so getting to see some from a history I don't know much about was very cool to me.
This novel starts off at a pace that's 100% right from the first sentence. At only 81 pages, this novella packs in horror, both bodily and monstrous, a masterful twist, action, and heart. It is both retelling the mythology for a new age, and also still tackling the race issues of the period. While not going into incredible detail on it, it certainly doesn't shy away.
Overall, I'm never really sure where I stand on unreliable narrators. But within this story itself, everything is so up in the air as to what's really happening, that it really worked on me, and it fit nicely. In a way reminiscent of Agatha Christie's doctor in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, this one might have converted me a bit here. There's a snake in the grass.
Absolutely worth a buy, digital or physical. The cover is cool, so there's nothing wrong with this one being on your shelf. Perfect for horror fans looking for a quick, sickening read!
The author very graciously sent me a digital copy for my reading pleasure. The cover of this book right off the bat made me want to read it, it's elegant, it's beautiful. If only I had known that it was also very dark! This is a scifi/thriller with twists and turns, and a heist?!
This book is very elegantly written, with flowing prose, beautiful vocabulary, and wonderful imagery. It can be a shock to get into, because most books are not written in this style, but it's very worth it! I will say it took me around 200 pages to get into the story (slightly longer than usual), but after that I was completely hooked and flew through it. It's definitely a slow burn, but it absolutely pays off.
This story covers perhaps more genres than I've ever seen? And I mean that in a good way, I'm impressed. It's a coming of age story, a trauma story, a science fiction story, a thriller, a heist story, a mystery, a beautifully historical story, and also kind of a horror. Somehow all of this is put into 465 pages and it really works. I mean how do you overcome being whipped 86 years into the past without mixing some craziness in?
There are some great characters here, and they differ greatly. There's the book smart, reclusive protagonist, his adventurous sister, a hygienically-challenged roommate, a bathtub gin guy, and an Ed Gein reminiscent baddie. What more could you ask for?
If I had to give one criticism, I'd say that at some points, the beautiful vocabulary, which I did love, would kind of bleed into the dialogue of characters that didn't have the believability to talk like that. Not impossible to get passed, but I did notice.
Absolutely worth a read, and with a cover like that, absolutely worth having on a shelf! I need a physical copy stat.
The second book in The Wheel of Time series. I decided to continue on after finding the first book kind of lackluster because I watched the show and heard it was kind of pulling from books 2 and 3 as well as the first. Although I personally find the show to be lackluster as well unfortunately...
This may be a semi-hot take again, but I am finding this author's writing to be so incredibly dull. You have to read hundreds of pages in between the action, and the action isn't really good anyway. The amount of just traveling in these books is insane (and at least in The Eye of the World it was tensed with them being chased...). I once again did the audio for this one (which is still weird with the split male and female perspectives, but I at least am used to it now) and at the end of this one there was also an interview just like the first one. The author kind of says stuff against the genre (and TOLKIEN) in terms of wanting to be different, and yet he still manages in 1400 pages to write nothing really different at all? I mean that's not to say there isn't some good stuff, but avoiding others tropes does not mean you're not just falling into other ones...
I think the Great Hunt falls short in terms of characterization. For me, I didn't love the first, but I wanted to know more and see more. In the sequel, I don't think there's any character development. Yet again Matt and Perrin are hardly in use, and Rand says the same 4 sentences the entire time. Egwene becomes increasingly annoying, and Lan and Morgaine are pretty much MIA?
The climax picked up in the slightest bit, and I did find myself invested. Weirdly enough, two back-to-back not great reads and I still find myself interested in continuing? Is this self punishment, or is there something more to gain here?
This is another author that very graciously sent me a copy for my reading enjoyment. I was excited to read the blurb for this one because I don't really see too much indie scifi and that was pretty cool. I think this would be best pegged as scifi/thriller, but like action thrilling, not mystery thrilling. Scifi action thriller. That's a thing right?
Let me tell you, this book has some unbelievable nonstop action. I mean, 99% of it. Also some unbelievable violence too, and I mean like horror genre level too. In between all of the eye-popping, “are you serious” bits, it's also filled with a lot of heart. Or rather, a lot of heartbreaking sadness. Like down to the very depths of your being, sadness. But where else could the death of loved ones take you in a novel that is for the most part about love being our saving grace?
In a perhaps near future world where cloning humans has not only become a possibility, but a truth, where would you go? What would you do? Beings that are as strong as us, smart as us, look just like us, probably won't take lightly to being a lesser science experiment for long...
If I had to highlight one gripe of mine (in the hopes of being constructive with my criticism) the author here used an unbelievable amount of metaphors, similes, and imagery in what is perhaps striving towards being a distinct voice or as descriptors. They were not necessarily bad, but in places it could be very distracting and take away from the action or a hard hitting section.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, please follow the author and check out the link in his Instagram bio for the book and it's also available online (Amazon and the like)!
This author was so freaking nice to me that he also offered me his sequel! A home run. To me this is an exemplary sequel. Honestly a beautiful showcase of how to up the stakes, up the world building, up the characters, up the chaos, up the action. Every page keeps you turning and turning and turning for more. And the character arcs are just chef's kiss
I'd really like to highlight the author's choice of multiple POVs in first person because that choice always amazes me. Not only are you fully fleshing out characters in a world all their own, but you're becoming each one of them every time the novel gives them voice. It's a choice that not every author can commit to and nail, and this is very much so a success.
I love the writing style in its young adult ease, but with the world crushing chaos that's taking place, they're all hit with just absolute violence. In many ways, both books are truly a coming of age story, but these characters get a baptism by fire. And talking about violence, this one amps up the body horror like you would not believe. At many points I even found it reminiscent of Nick Cutter style body terror, especially in the feral descriptions. It's so descriptive that I so easily imagined it taking place on a movie screen, and I honestly wish it would become one. Fantasy/horror is not something we get to see!
Gods, devils, demons, ferals. When the stakes are godly, what exactly can humans do? Do they even deserve to do something? To change? This sequel shows us some political intrigue, unbeatable violence and war, betrayal, paranoia, and pain. Perhaps a small sliver of hope?
“And when you're this low on the totem pole of human morals, those small differences strike harder.” I loved this quote from the morally decrepit character Hazel Golding, whom in being unbelievably terrible, is also lovable.
Once again, so totally worth your time, effort, and money to obtain and read these. The covers are so mind-blowing-ly beautiful that I had to order both to have for my collection. Have you read this or the first in the duology yet??? What are you waiting for?
The author of this one very graciously sent me a copy in OCTOBER (I just checked) so sorry for the delay here. I loved this book. I loved it. An absolutely wonderful idea and it read as not only fresh and revitalizing, but enjoyable on every page. I picked it up right from the beginning and was immediately absorbed. Honestly, I was sold on this novel in like the first five pages. Actually, the author and I had previously talked about how much I loved the watercolor-style cover art, so I was kind of sold on it before even starting it.
The story may follow fairytales or mythology, but if it does, I was not familiar with it, so this was wholly original and new for me to read. It doesn't follow a typical fantasy format, nor does it just hand you the “chosen one” and not reward you for buying in. Twists, turns, betrayals, yearning. You name it. This story has it. And I want more. It made me laugh, it made me tear up, it made me think twice about what I was reading because of the body-horror level description, and the action was well placed and well described as well.
The fianna (shapeshifting deer) and the humans and hunters are at an uneasy peace. Will it last? Will there be a giant stag god? I don't know, read for yourself...
Absolutely worth your time, money, or energy to read.
The Autobiography of Santa Claus as told to: Jeff Guinn. Guinn is known as a great biographer, and as this actually reads like it's a real biography, I'll give him that. However if this was really at all enjoyable, than I would have had it finished before Christmas. This dragged. It spent an unbelievable amount of time in the “pre-Santa” timeframe and it cuts out right when it's getting good. I think I've always personally looked at Santa Claus as an aside to Christianity, or like Christmas' capitalism cousin. But this biography really doubles down on Santa, or “Saint Nicholas” really really being tied to Christ. Which is fine really, that's not what I disliked overall anyway. But what I find the most disturbing here is the gross misrepresentation of world history. Whereas Santa Claus is mostly known as mystical or magical and therefore whimsical and silly, this is written as a TRUE story and biographical piece and therefore it is truly adult. Therefore, I cannot forgive the way history is told. Instead of elves, Santa recruits real people. These people are hardly ever nobodies and the book just reads like a weird, and stupid name-drop piece. Not to mention his choices aren't even saintly people or good people? One of them is Attila the Hun?? Also at one point the good Christian St. Nick calls Charlemagne a “good and just leader” and didn't he drown hundreds of thousands of people for not converting? The onus is not on you Santa to support Christians who are bad... To me it just read as a really weird, misleading story rather than an uplifting and whimsical one. Which is honestly, all Santa Claus ought to be.
Personally, I did not like this, and the closest I've been to a DNF in a long time.
This is such a beautiful and poignant piece. I actually read this at work on a slow day and it really just truly entirely enveloped me. I got interrupted once and I was really shocked to still be at work, I was so fully absorbed.
The author has such a way of making a small amount of pages hit home on every one of them. I really feel like this short had a way of mixing genres that felt like an in-between to The House Plant and Petrified Women (also by this author and 100% worth reading), in the sense that from Jordie's perspective the experience of the hospital is both a lesson in grief and also terrifying. Many points in this felt like a drama, or a lesson in love and family. While others, those that are the ways he feels in the hospital itself, feel like reading horror in the way they are described and felt through his experience with it. Not to mention that suicide in general, as well as a death of a parent, or grief in general, are horrifying, destroying things to live through.
Absolutely worth your time.
The Visitor by Sergio Gomez was advertised for me as a suggested read and I purchased it immediately based off the cover art. Once I got it and realized it was an indie author, I was even more stoked. I don't know why but I'm apparently really attached to holiday horror reads this year (because I have even more). Holiday cheer? Holiday fear?
This novella takes place during a terrible snowstorm on Christmas Day. What starts as a possible misfortune-to-celebration story turns dark before you know it. One of my favorite things about the story is the otherworldly scifi feel from this particular visit...I won't say more, you'll have to read it for yourself, but this holiday horror is a wonderful, bloody Christmasy adventure. A quick, easy read to add to the collection.
This is another author that I met through bookstagram that very very kindly offered me a copy of his book for an honest review.
This is an enjoyable entry into a supernatural world. It has both thrills and chills, and will make you think twice about moving into any old, remodeled buildings. At about 180 pages, it gets right to it, not pulling any punches even right from the prologue.
The inclusion of the effected tenants hearing music that drew them upstairs made me think more than once to the music going off upstairs in Home Before Dark, and the flute-like music luring people in Little Heaven, which gave me that same creep factor while picturing it (even though VERY different things are going on in the different stories).
I think if this was written into a longer novel, or seeing that there is also a prequel novella maybe we could see a sequel, the author could really amp up the trapped feeling, and this would hit as a spectacular claustrophobic-horror series.
What would you do if the place you called home turned against you, hostile? Wouldn't let you leave? Wanted you to stay...forever?
I will say that this is a good horror for someone that is typically really scared of horror, because it wears a lot of itself on its sleeve. It doesn't cloak what's happening with jump scares or ambiguity. It gets right into the meat of the story and tells you exactly what's happening. This might be at the cost of overall spookiness, but I think it'll translate very well for the same reason.
The author, Victor Vahl, very kindly sent me a copy to read! So here's a bit of a review!
The story starts out as what I thought would be a kind of monster jump-scare, discovery kind of novel. However it quickly turns into something different, worse.
To me, one of the scariest kinds of horror is good psychological horror. Something that can get inside your head, something that can get to you. It's funny that the blurb mentions the Lighthouse because while I was reading I was thinking to myself that I was finding it really frustrating to continue. Kind of exactly how I felt sitting through the Lighthouse in the theater. Finally I realized that it wasn't the writing that was frustrating me in a negative way, but the story itself pulling me along for the journey. It was making me feel what the characters had to be feeling. Although I have yet to watch the 2002 movie Cabin Fever, I feel like this is probably right on par with what people will think and feel (although please note both plots are vastly different!). Both because of setting, and the actual term of ‘cabin fever.'
What if you were not only stuck, but you were actually transported to another place, time, world, or reality? Trapped has a whole new meaning when there's no where else to go, when there is no home. To me this was incredibly cool (I mean horrific) and original. It's unlike anything else I've read so far honestly.
Definitely worth a read for any horror or psychological horror fans. Or maybe even not for horror fans because honestly it's written with an easy, but we'll done style to it. The book can be bought in multiple formats right off Amazon!
Well, I've done it. Here I am at the end of the sequel to The Look of a King. Wow. And just more wow.
Tom Dumbrell takes every bit of the first book and just amps it up for the full effect in the sequel. This book carries heart, wonder, excitement, surprise. Get ready to be on the edge of your seat from page one. You'll get to see some characters you know and love, and meet even more along the way. Each character brings a purpose and poise to the story, building onto what other characters have laid out as the foundation. You'll laugh, you'll weep, you'll reread paragraphs and say, “wait WTF!?”! I am writing this literally seconds after finishing and I am already thinking about a reread. Don't even get me started on book three...
Mildly spoiler-y from here on out FYI:
One quote that really stopped me dead in my tracks (which rarely ever happens, if at all...) was:
“The Verderan army descended upon the city like red wine spilled over a tablecloth, tainting all in its path.”
Like I actually stopped and reread it, savoring it. There had just been description of the archers on the walls and soldiers being shot. I was actually mentally picturing people being shot and blood flowing. The likening of the men descending upon the city in droves to red wine, mixed with my mental picturing of the blood of war, just really hit so well for me. And let me tell you, what the author does here from around pages 245 to 275 is just truly something else. Something special. The action and tension and stress that is packed into this is something other writings try to do with hundreds of pages. Yet Tom does so with a nimbler hand.
Many parts of the climax within this novel remind me of other things I love, and in the best way. The reserve guard at the keep just really speaks to my soul as a spiritual nod to the old men and children gathered to help in the battle of Helm's Deep. The archers on the walls certainly were described in a way that had me picturing the pouring rain in the Two Towers film as they yelled, “FIRE!” The catapults raining destruction on the city really felt like watching The Return of the King, or for an even more straightforward historical nod, the Kingdom of Heaven. Fran being missing/ as a character really reminds me of young Arya Stark, as well as Wendell just really giving me extreme Lord Varys vibes for the entirety of the time we spent with him. With all this being said, I mean it in the best way possible, as these things I saw as little links highly enhanced my enjoyment overall.
This book certainly delivers on some added perspectives which was a desire I had after finishing book one. I'd once again like to double down that the author could add more and more and the tale would only become more intricate and beautiful. Just like the writing of George R. R. Martin, which is a writing style I likened the author too after finishing the first novel.
As a novel, this is a 5/5* all day long. As a sequel, I wish I could give this novel a 6/5* for real. Don't hesitate, read this book. If you haven't read The Look of a King yet, there's still plenty of time, and they're really so worth it.
This is another book that was very nicely sent to me by the author. Don't get me wrong...I in no way offered a review, or promised to write one, nor did he even ask for me too...
But I really enjoyed what he wrote here in his story, so therefore I WANT to talk about it!
When reading the back of the book, I found myself interested right off the bat. I mean, this stuff is right up my alley anyway, but I did wonder how it would stand out from the rest too...
To me, this has a very medieval, crusader-style England/Europe feel to it that I really liked. As a fantasy tale with no magic system, it was definitely nice to see this story feel more grounded like a story you'd hear in history.
The twists and turns in this story definitely have a George R. R. Martin-esque weaving to them, but as it's told in only two perspectives it's easy to follow for those that aren't that huge into gigantic tales. I will say though that I did enjoy it to the point where I wondered about the characters we get to meet. And in that sense, means I would have read more perspectives and more storylines, which is the most Martin feeling part of all.
I'm really not even sure what else I can say because I want to remain spoiler free, but I need more people to read this, so that I can talk more openly about it. And I definitely need a sequel.
5/5* please find/buy/read it immediately.
This was another story that was very nicely given to me as an ARC reader.
At the beginning of Jeremy Ray's stories there's a nod to Pixar's little shorts before their movies and how much he loves them and wants to honor them with little micro-stories before his own pieces. I love that and I particularly loved that for this piece because this entire story could read like a Pixar release.
It follows a legitimate house plant in a story of love, death, grief, forgiveness, and growth. It should be silly and yet it pulls at all your heart strings instead. I was once again attached to my phone from start to finish, just like with Petrified Women. You'll feel a genuine pit in your stomach and maybe some tears in your eyes as well. I think it's a point in the authors favor as well that he can write such gripping drama and also horror. I feel like it's not often enough that we see authors doing more than one genre well.
I absolutely encourage you to pick this up. You can find all of Jeremy's work via the link in his bio on Instagram, and everything (paperback and digital) is available through Amazon!
I really wanted to read this after seeing that there was going to be a show, and then even more so when I saw there was supposed to be accompanying movies to go with it. As much of a fantasy person as I am, I never really had a desire to read it before honestly. Even though most of bookstagram loses it over the series. But like, a 15 book series?! Why
I'm sure my opinion will make a few people disappointed, so I'm sorry for that, but I definitely don't mean for it to be a hot take at all. I started reading the physical book. I have the 30th anniversary edition hardcover, which I think is very nice. At around 300 pages I still wasn't all that drawn into it, and with me not getting through it in September, and wanting to read horror for Halloween, I switched to the audio instead. I figured this way, I'd still finish it, I'd avoid a DNF on something I wanted to know about, and I'd have time to read physical horror.
300 pages in left me started the audio on chapter 19, so I can't speak to anything before that. The audio is supposed to be a male and female narrator, which I believe people rave about them online...it wasn't that I disliked either of them, but I was just very surprised when they were trading chapters. I guess I figured they'd share voices or something similar, so that threw me off. What I found even weirder though was the fact that the trading off was wildly uneven. I feel like the female narrator had like 5 chapters throughout the entire book? Unless she read everything prior to chapter 19???
Anyway, there is obviously some masterful world building in this novel, but to me it was at the extreme detriment of everything else. Sometimes entire chapters would span something that was only very loosely attached to the entire story to the point where I'd forget where I was? The entire 800 something pages is all build up and then I felt like the climactic fight was maybe 15 minutes long, and very confusing at that? I feel like I also need to talk about the dream chapters. I am never really a fan of dreaming/dream prophesies in the novels I read, but I mean this guy really knows how to beat a dead horse of a trope doesn't he. There's probably 1/8th of the story in dreams where the same thing (almost) happens every time and it doesn't exactly progress anything??
I'm still interested in seeing if the series improves though.
I've heard that the show will pull from books 2 and 3 as well and I think that's a really good idea cause honestly not much of anything happens in this one.
The author very kindly offered me a copy to go nicely with my spooky October reads.
This novella is very fast paced and adrenaline inducing. I was sucked in immediately and I honestly couldn't put it down. I read it, in its entirety, while lying down in the dark in bed. Definitely spooky! I will say I think I did kind of see some of the twists and turns coming, but that did absolutely nothing to prepare me for them, nor did it alter my enjoyment whatsoever. Thoroughly a heart-pounding novella of infatuation, manipulation, abuse, and horror.
The wooden, petrified women reminded me of the super eerie flower-people from Annihilation. If you haven't seen the movie look it up and I'm sure you'll see what I meant after reading!
I was super impressed and happy with the inclusion of a content warning to start the entire thing off. Definitely a thoughtful inclusion that is often not even thought about by authors.
Would gladly read more of this writer's work! You can find all of his work at the link in his bio on Instagram, as well as updates on his page, so give him a follow!
You may want to take this with a grain—or handful—of salt...but this was one of the most drawn out, and boring, novels I have ever experienced I think. This made me read so much slower than my usual pace and very nearly put me into a reading slump, which I next-to-never experience. I was actually real real close to a DNF, which if you know anything about me by now, it's probably that I never stop while reading a book, but wow I found this one tough. The worst part is that I'm not even sure what exactly I didn't enjoy.
Although most sexual scenes were glazed over, there is a VERY in depth fisting scene, as I'm sure you've read about by now, so be sure to be on the lookout for that. I thought the characters were enjoyable with the exception of Zhu talking about her stolen identity and fate which happened damn near 900 times too many. Personally a 2.5/5* for me. Below are two favorite quotes from this book that are just so ridiculous as to be perfect.
“That motherfucker. Fuck eighteen generations of his ancestors!”
“I opened those gates myself, and I left that betraying piece of dog shit to his fate. May those Hu bastards kill him painfully so he can eat bitterness in hell and all his future lives!”
This book was sent to me by the author and his wife so I could continue my Tolagon journey.
I mean, just look at this cover art...I'm so stoked it's in my collection.
This book definitely has a lot of the things I wanted from the first book in it. The pace is fast, the characters have better growth, the Tolagon-orb power is explained and shown more. We get new enemies, further explanations of the old ones, and new crisis. This book went to places I didn't expect and I have no idea where it could go next! I definitely preferred reading than listening, so I'll double down on saying read these, physical or ebook! Definitely a blast, and I'll be on the lookout for more!
Check out the author/series pages for links and get yourself a copy stat, or amazon if you have prime!
Folks, I finally did it. It was my plan to read this book in the first half of ‘21. When I had set myself that guideline I more so had like January 15th in mind, but June is still the first half, so BOOM. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite covers, I had to have it immediately when I saw it. I wish I had read it immediately too!
What really could I say about this book that hasn't been said before? Regardless, I'll try in my own words I suppose... to me, this book is the most successful in its attempts to feel like medieval chivalric knights and court. It does start slow, and for the most part, it is entirely a slow burn anyway, but each section builds up and there is action or raised stakes to feel the pressure. This novel is also super successful in its attempt (and to me success) in being a full fledged standalone epic tale. Yes, from start to finish there are some things that you'd call unnecessary to the overall story, but this one tome is the characters' entire lives. And boy did I love these characters entirely. They are so fleshed out and each decision they made made sense even if it made me angry. Ead being both a lady of court and a secret badass assassin is a combination that worked really well for me, she ended up being my favorite. Sabran has probably the most traumatic life of a book character I've seen, and she still ends up staying strong. I actually wish we saw more book time of her being badass. And Loth is a great example of a virtuous man, perhaps the best in Virtudom, but at the same time, he's not so trapped in faith that he can't actually exhibit those virtues in the face of change.
Another thing I really think hit as a huge success for me was the different continents and cultures and races shown here. Although a complete fantasy world, having things from the real world mirror onto theirs was a great way to lock in how absorbing the world is. Although there is hate and ethnocentric feelings towards each other, they all have to put those feelings aside to save the world together. Division isn't an option.
To avoid spoilers I will just say that the ending did feel a little “Harry Potter,” aka a tad rushed. Especially when dealing with something of such a size and scale as this book. In HP we come to accept the endings because there was always more, this one however did leave me feeling just a little slighted, although it was good! I guess with such a slow burn, we could never really receive as long of an ending as the build up...
And here is a quote I really liked and read several times before moving on, “Gone are the days of heroes...From North to South and West to East, your world will burn.” To me this felt Tolkien-esque in the sense that the scale was grand. I enjoyed it a lot.
If you're afraid to jump into this book because of the size, I say just so it. You don't have to read it fast. Give it a shot.