The Rogue (Sons of Ferassi #1)
The Rogue’s prose and characters are solid, and the pacing for the first half is good, but as the narrative progresses and starts to build toward the climax it began to feel like it needed more time to mature. That might sound weird, but neither of our two main characters have any real connection to […]
Crystalborne Sigils fantasy book
There’s quite a bit I liked about indie-fantasy book Crystalborne Sigils. The magic system is comprehensible and detailed but versatile, the pacing is smooth and consistent, and the characters decently complex. Its strongest element is probably the first odd third of the book, where we are introduced to our characters and the setting.The Atturei empire […]
Four Puppet Kings and a Fool
four puppets kings and a fool High-fantasy book review The indie-fantasy book Four Puppet Kings and a Fool is either a book of intense right-wing political allegory, or one that drew inspiration heavily from conspiracy theory, and I lean more towards the former. There’s manufactured pandemics where the main character rails against lockdowns, […]
A Bad Place to be a Hero
A Bad place to be a hero High-fantasy book review A bad place to be a Hero starts slow, needing to introduce our three primary characters, their motivations, quirks and various criminal situations before the plot kicks fully into gear, where upon the story becomes more of a mystery. The mystery elements […]
A Touch of Light – fantasy book
A touch of light High-fantasy book review Actual rating 2.5 While competently written, the fantasy book A Touch of Light just failed ever really catching my interest. I think there are several reasons for this and I’ll start with the characters. The characters are solidly constructed, given decent personalities, individual motivations, […]
Fata Morgana -sci-fi
fata morgana High-fantasy book review We Listened to the time- travel science-fiction book on audio, enjoyed the narrator. On a technical level, Fata Morgan is excellent, introducing the readers to the large cast of the bomber crew in a way that is both interesting and builds attachments: the characters are fairly diverse […]
Open Sorcery -fantasy
open sorcery High-fantasy book review The fantasy book Open Sorcery is a book based on the premise of Magic operating like coding in a modern world setting. It executes this premise excellently, both from the feel of how the spells are crafted arduous over a period of days or weeks, to how the magic system […]
The Stone of Farewell -Tad Williams
the stone of farewell High-fantasy book review The Tad Williams book Stone of Farewell improves on the Dragon Bone Chair simply by virtue of beginning more immediately, the conflict has already begun and the characters must endure or attempt to influence it according to their situations. (As opposed to the lengthy beginning a […]
Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons book review
For me, Miss Percy’s can best be described as ‘fine’ despite its components being largely strong: the prose is strong, the main character is well defined with a fare bit of complexity, and I usually very much enjoy period pieces. Even the pacing, which is superficially part of why i didn’t enjoy the book more, […]
Ever the Night Road by Michael Breen book review
Ever the Night Road feels like a coming of age adventure novel, driven very much by a main protagonist that feels lost about her place in the world, with what she wants being denied to her by the world. You add in some soft magic, some horror elements, and a grand sense of mysticism and […]
A Song For the Void -fantasy
A SONG FOR THE VOID HISTORICAL-HORROR book review Full of slow, brooding, and often macabre, eldritch horror, A Song For the Void (goodreads) is well written and delivers excellently on its time period. The ‘Charger’ is wonderfully tangible in the way it operates, from the ship itself to the command structure and interactions […]
Mythera Chronicles: The Lost Athenaeum- fantasy
Mythera Chronicles fantasy book has a strong foundation, with solid world building and fairly complex characters, but the pacing is too quick, often diminishing the values of these foundations by allowing only superficial or glancing attention to be payed to them. Our main character visit a major dwarf settlement while in the course of their […]
The Umbral Storm by Alec Hutson
the umbral storm High-fantasy book review From page one, The Umbral Storm immersed me in its world, a world full of fantastical imagery and strong creative depth. The scenes of the first couple chapters are alive in the cracking of bark, and chill, blanketing mist in a forest of mountainous trees. The world […]
Broken Souls – fantasy
broken souls High-fantasy book review I found the first odd third of Broken Souls (basically the prequel stories) difficult to progress through. This is largely due to Lura’s side of the narrative as she is compelled into prostitution and sexually assaulted multiple times, and I just found none of it an enjoyable narrative, […]
Roil Book Review
I listened to the audiobook for Roil and the narrator was good, but nothing extraordinary.If you like darker fantasy and distinctive world building, Roil is a good offering. The characters are solid, and out two main leads feel particularly human with a good mixture of flaws and personality that makes it easy to invest in […]
Beyond the Atmosphere book review
A quick, easy read, Beyond the Atmosphere introduces into a complex setting of warring species, internal intrigues, widely distinct cultures. This setting, the variety of the cultures in particular for me, is the book’s strongest feature: from the insectoid Masters to the Founders who retreated to an entirely different dimension, it is an interesting setting […]
Into the Violet Gardens book review
There is a good story in Into the Violet Gardens, dealing with government betrayal and the abuse of ‘others’/racism, but its prose and narrative composition make it difficult to enjoy and sometimes difficult to follow.On the subject of its prose, the book makes excessive, and most often weak, use of similes, sometimes as many as […]
Aerovoyant Book Review
Aerovoyant is a complicated review for me: it is well written, the characters are complex (Alphonse in particular) and the pacing is strong, making for an entertaining read from start to finish; but it is also driven by a message (the author expresses as much in the foreword) and there were many times during the […]