Synopsis:

Druss, Captain of the Ax, is the stuff of legends. Tales of his battles are told throughout the land, and the stories expand with each telling. But Druss himself grows older, until finally, the warrior turns his back on glory and retreats to his mountain lair. There he awaits his old enemy: death. 

But far below, the barbarian Nadir hordes are on the march. All that stands between them and the Drenai people is a mighty six-walled fortress, Dros Delnoch—a great citadel that seems destined to fall. If it does, the Nadir will sweep inexorably across the land, killing all who oppose them.

Reluctantly Druss agrees to come down from his mountaintop to lead this last, hopeless fight. Lost causes mean nothing to him—he has fought in such battles a thousand times in a thousand lands. And he is a hero to inspire a new generation of warriors. He is Druss the Legend.

Thus begins David Gemmell’s most celebrated novel—an unrivaled classic of mythic heroism and magnificent adventure. . . .

Review:

I’ve officially had people telling me to read David Gemmell for years now. He’s a writing legend best known for his Heroic Fantasy tales. Legend is his first novel and probably one of his best-known works, and often recommended for newcomers to Gemmell’s work. I chose it mostly on a whim, but I’m glad that I did.

Of the plot summary, there is little to say. The story focuses almost exclusively on the siege of the walled city of Dros Delnoch by the Nadir invaders. An aging legend named Druss, Captain of the Ax, is convinced to fight one last time against truly hopeless odds. What follows is very much a classic siege story, filled with action, betrayal, page-turning tension, and magic.

It wasn’t the plot, though, that seized my attention. It was the characters and the heart with which they’re written. These are hard men and women, shaped by hard times and constant strife. They’re not as complex as what we’ve come to expect in more modern fantasy, but they’re compelling all the same.

The Siege of Dros Delnoch is a tale of bravery, courage, and honor, and I’ll confess, is exactly the sort of story I’m a sucker for. Gemmel is rightfully considered one of the foundational voices in Heroic Fantasy, and after reading Legend I better understand why.

Legend was published in 1984, and while it still largely holds up, there are some signs of its age. The very ending of the story, in particular, incorporates a fair amount of deus ex machina that probably wouldn’t survive a developmental editor these days. That being said, I was enjoying the characters enough that I was in a pretty forgiving mood.

If you’re looking for a tale of honor in warfare, loads of action, and compelling characters, Legend is a great book to crack open.

Synopsis:

Nearly a thousand years ago, the tyrant-sorcerer Mordechai betrayed his people, forged a weapon of darkness, and led an assault against the Middle Kingdoms to claim the throne of Reality. He slaughtered the defenders, broached the Shimmering Door, ascended to the Unseen Realm, and sought to make himself a god at the Heart of the World. Only at the last moment was he thwarted—by the sacrifice of a young woman, Lightbringer, who slew the Servant of Darkness and ended his terrible campaign.

But now evil stirs in ancient strongholds, and blood-rituals claim the lives of innocents throughout the cities of the world, and fearsome shadow-monsters have reappeared to feast upon the living. The Servant has been resurrected. His armies have grown. His power has swelled. And he has resumed his bloody war against the free world. Again he marches for the Shimmering Door and the Heart of the World; and now there are few who remain to stay his hand.

Only a young forest girl, Ashera Eldibara, has any hope of standing against Mordechai. She bears the Sword of Light, the fabled weapon of her predecessor, and its magic hums in her bones. Others stand at her side as protectors and guardians—a wizard, a warrior, and a huntress, each prepared to sacrifice all in the last desperate struggle against the Servant of Darkness.

But they are few, and Ashera is young and untrained, inexperienced in the ways of magic and warfare—and the monstrous armies that she faces are vast and powerful . . . and already hunting her.

The Servant is not just a love letter to classic high fantasy, this is a John Cusack holding a boombox up to the Mount Rushmore of classic high fantasy: Tolkien, Brooks, Jordan, and Weis/Hickman.

Woodland girl, Ashera, is tied to an ancient prophecy and like all good classic fantasy stories, and she is tasked with defeating a resurfaced dark lord. What unfolds in these ~800 pages is a journey we’ve seen plenty of times but can never ever get enough of. Add in some excellent side characters and we have ourselves a boiling pot of porridge.

I mean it when I say this is classic fantasy to a ‘T’. We have a champion and a dark lord after the World’s Heart. We have the Light v Dark, aka good v evil. We have swords of Light and Dark (oh my). We have a ‘farmboy/girl save the world’ trope. We have demon beasties who are just here to kill Team Good Guys/Gals. We have dark wizards who work for the dark lord. Good wizards who help our champion. A literal slow build journey from humble beginnings to prophecized leader. Literal Prophecies (this is obvious since the series title is Prophecy of the Five). Woodland elves. Dwarves. Faeries. This tome is bursting with classic fantasy concepts and each one of them is reverent to the very idea of said tropes, almost to a fault (of which I absolutely adore).

And while we’ve seen so many books trying to adhere to the classic style and the greats, it really takes a deft storyteller to make you feel like you are witnessing something new. Greer is one of the most gifted storytellers I’ve read in awhile, hands down. His cozy-ish Garden Knight stories are so visceral, so elegant in their prose, I knew without a doubt The Servant would be the same. And it was! The prose, the pacing, the characters and their arcs, just so well done. The almost 800 pages felt like 200 because I was so engrossed in this story. Greer is a master at painting a scene, letting it breathe as needed. He doesn’t just ram details down your throat, hoping you catch the taste of what he is cooking, no he simmers on low, throwing in dashes of lore, pinches of action, heaps of character.

That said, I can see how this won’t be a story for everyone. It’s classic for a reason: it takes its time. We spend nearly 150 pages with Ashera in her home village before the shit hits the fan. Much of what happens here seems like it shouldn’t have a point other than being fluff, but trust me, it all serves a purpose to build up Ashera’s arc. Characters we meet are given so much life, and when things happen, you feel terror for them when the demon beasties and bad wizards show up. And even when Ashera finally leaves her home and begins her book 1 plot (there are 5 planned books in this series), it still takes its time, especially when it comes to her learning her magic. So if you are looking for fast pacing and all out action, you won’t get this here.

The vast majority of this book is told through Ashera’s POV, probably close to 85% or more. She, like every farmboy/girl character before her, starts off very naive to things, but she isn’t just a cardboard cutout for worldbuilding to be dumped on. She has a lot of character depth in the beginning, especially her relationship with her sister Kyrina and the twins Talia and Tovin (who also have magic). There is a realness to the relationships in this book and I commend Greer for making sure to build these up as they define Ashera throughout the book. The other two POVs are Penedur (a warrior sent to protect her, think Aragorn) and Cenhelm (a guard working for the dark lord). Penedur is fun, and he helps guide Ashera in a great way, slightly turning the hardened warrior trope on its head a bit. Cenhelm is barely seen, we only meet him way later in the book, but I have to assume we will get more with him in the rest of the series. We also have Kirin as our resident good wizard, and then Shayelin, a character I won’t delve into for spoiler reasons.

I won’t lie, I don’t read a ton of classic fantasy as much anymore, mainly because it’s hard to stand up next to the greats, or to even take those classic tropes and make them fresh again. But it was super refreshing with The Servant. I cannot wait until book 2, I just know Greer will give me another great story! So if you need some classic fantasy in your life, definitely go pick this up when it releases on June 28!

Synopsis:
The epic naval fantasy trilogy concludes, as Sam, Mary and Benedict play a deadly game of war and espionage on the high-seas. Perfect for fans of pirate-infested waters, magical bestiaries and battling empires, by authors such as Adrienne Young, L. J. Andrews and Naomi Novik.
In the wake of the events of Black Tide Son, Hart flees into pirate-infested waters to shelter on the island where former rogue James Demery and the Fleetbreaker, Anne Firth, now rule.
Reeling from their discoveries about the truths of the Mereish-Aeadine war, Mary and Samuel hover on the precipice of a terrible, world-altering choice – they can stay silent and maintain their good names, or they can speak out and risk igniting total war across the Winter Sea.
Meanwhile, Benedict captains The Red Tempest, a lawless ship of deserters and corrupted mages in search of an Usti spy with incendiary stolen documents. Benedict is determined to make the truth known, consequences be damned.
As rumours spread of a new Ghistwold sprouting in the Mereish South Isles, Mary and Samuel sail once more into intrigue, espionage and an ocean on the brink of exploding into conflict. They must chart a course toward lasting, final peace, at the heart of the age-old battle for power upon the Winter Sea.

Review:

Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you are well and your summer is off to a great start. I cannot say the same unfortunately, due to a loss in the family, but I am here because I turned to what comforts me most and that is stories. Especially ones I know are a safe haven.

Thanks to the lovely folk at Titan Books, I have once again been graced with an early peek at my most anticipated read of the year. This time, with the epic conclusion to a series that has become very dear to my heart. You know the feeling when you’re positively vibrating for the last installment but you’re also not ready to let the story and characters go? Long caused me this in spades with her Winter Sea trilogy! How very dare.

Minor spoilers for books 1 & 2 of the series ahead. Very minor, I promise. Borderline non-existent even.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again verbatim: H. M. Long raises the bar on what epic high-seas fantasy and character work are supposed to be. And she does so spectacularly, by grabbing you by the proverbial lapels and flinging you into edge of your seat action, humor, and so much heart.

This third and final installment only cemented it further by wrapping up this transporting tale in the most satisfying of ways, for many a reason.

Long picks up the story not much time after the events of Black Tide Son and the author takes no issue with plunging you directly into intense and breakneck action right from the get go. The opening 25% truly felt like the Donald Glover meme from Community, with me, the unsuspecting reader, cheerily walking into a room (see, port, iykyk) in flames and it all going progressively more and more downhill from there. Fittingly, I should add, considering who our first pov protag is in this book. Long puts your feelings through the wringer from the very first chapter, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad one, but whatever the context, you are inevitably reeling. But it hurt so good, as they say. In fact, if I had to describe the overall effect this book had on me it would be by saying it was killing me softly for all of its 416 pages.

Long shines in her character work the most, and that is where the heart of this trilogy lies, for her protagonists have grown and developed so much throughout the course of the story that I felt actual pride for them, as if they were my own friends succeeding and maturing. Not to do any disservice to the plot itself of course, as it was twisting and winding, and also optimally paced, in a way that propels you forward without tiring you out, yet you never quite know where it’ll lead next or which otherworldly monster might suddenly appear to ruin a character’s day. If book two was a slow-burn under some aspects, book three has nothing slow about it. It looks back at you once and boisterously tells you to keep up with a roguish smile.  And you will, even pushing through the proverbial stitch in your side, because you will simply not want to put this book down.

It is nearly impossible to do all the central themes of this book justice without spoilers and I do not want to risk diluting effect of the previous two books if you haven’t read them yet, dear reader, so I need to be vague. But trust me when I say that if you’re looking for a trilogy with well-rounded and perfectly imperfect characters that you can’t help but root for, even the antiheroic ones you least expected to be siding with, then this is the series for you. From proper villain decay to restitution and responsibility, from questions of agency and freedom to finding one’s path forward even if it’s not what you’d originally wanted or expected.

The world of the Winter Sea is one of mesmerizing magic, high stakes, unforgiving elements, and badass action. Its cadre of characters do not leave you wanting, avoiding clichés and presenting archetypes in a way that is fresh and rich. There truly is something for everyone, be it camaraderie to die for, a romantic plot that will have you clutching your chest from the feels (they are goals, just chef’s kiss goals), political intrigue and conspiracies whose threads you seek to unravel along with the protagonists, wisecracks and humor that hit the spot every time, or moral frustrations that will have you pulling your hair as the characters learn priorities and which way their loyalties lie. Because nothing is ever quite as it seems and even when you think you know the characters and their drives by the third book, they will still surprise you. Not in a rug pull way of “the author needed an ex machina and this was the easiest way, character consistency be damned”, but in a way that still makes perfect sense for each character arc. Said in a better way, I was always pleasantly surprised but never confusedly shocked.

Not only was I immensely satisfied with how Mary and Samuel faced the action and where they eventually ended up but also with the ways they both grew as individuals and as a team overall throughout the trilogy – seriously the development of his attitude toward Mary going from “must protect the helpless damsel because I’m a gentleman” in book one, onto “the damsel is actually a highly capable and lowkey feral and formidable woman” throughout book two, and finally “we’re safer and more effective when working as a team” with book three, was utterly impeccable – but I am truly bowing to Long’s mastery in delivering a true antihero, whose guts I positively hated in book one, and for whom, by the end of this third book, I was feeling my chest tighten in sympathy to his struggle to redeem himself in order to be worthy of something I will not spoil. Hell, even his journey to accepting whether he wanted to in the first place, held me veritably captive.

Like, I am not sure I can fully explain to you dear reader how unforgiving of a person I am over certain things, and the fact that Long never once panders or sweeps anything under the rug to make the character more palatable and to wrap things up in a neat bow, was masterful. She instead works hard to show the nuance and difficulty in the rehabilitation and penance and the work they must still do to make up for their past. That, I could get behind so well. Bluntly put, she doesn’t excuse the asshole but at least you get to understand him and maybe even hope he will make the right choices going forth. Simply the fact that you are rooting for that to happen after the events of the first book alone, is testament to an expertly woven tale by a powerhouse storyteller.

Red Tempest Brother is everything you want in a series conclusion. It reunites you with beloved characters one last time, keeping you on the edge of your seat the whole time, while enthralling you with wondrous and epic ambiance you’ve loved and have been transported by throughout the whole series. The Winter Sea trilogy is one I will find myself rereading often in the future and if you haven’t yet started it, dear reader or listener, now is your chance to binge the whole thing in one go. Trust me, you’ll want to.

This final installment comes out July 8^th so run to preorder it now; an epic tale of brave and sassy seafarers awaits.

Until next time,
Eleni A.E.

P.S: as always, a major shoutout to mah boy Charles who is truly the mvp in every single one these books because he is Best Boi and the ever delightful foil to someone else. No, I will not elaborate.

Synopsis:

Set in a world where magic is forgotten, monsters lurk in the dark woods, and honorable soldiers are few, this utterly gripping epic fantasy tells the story of two flawed humans, an out-of-practice wizard and a hot-headed sargent, who are thrust into the heart of a mystery that threatens to unravel their kingdom’s fragile peace. 

Shunned by the soldiers he commands, haunted by past tragedies, Sargent Holt Hawley is a broken man. But the child of a powerful ally has gone missing, and war between once peaceful nations is on the horizon. So, he and his squad have been sent to find a Vigilant. They are a rumored last survivor of an ancient and powerful order capable of performing acts of magic and finding the lost. But the Vigilants disappeared decades ago. No one truly expects Hawley to succeed.

When he is forced to abandon his men, he stumbles upon a woman who claims to be the Last Vigilant. Enelda Drake is wizened and out of practice, and she seems a far cry from the heroes of legend. But they will need her powers, and each other, to survive. For nothing in the town of Scarfell is as it seems. Corrupt soldiers and calculating politicians thwart their efforts at every turn.

And there are dark whispers on the wind threatening the arrival of an ancient and powerful enemy. The Last Vigilant is not the only myth returning from the dead.

Review:

Putting together a well-crafted mystery within an expansive fantasy world is no easy feat, but Mark A. Latham managed to combine both with his latest book The Last Vigilant, the first in a new series. 

Even more than the mystery or the world, Latham’s two protagonists are the best part of the book — a great foundation he can build a multi-book series off of. First up, we’ve got Sargent Holt Hawley — a career soldier who has seen things and done things he can’t undo. His past haunts him even as he tries to fulfill his duties, which takes him to a remote woods at the beginning of the novel to find a Vigilant. 

Understanding what a Vigilant is will go a long way to understanding the book. Years before the events of this book, there was an entire order of VIgilants — people capable of magic and almost like agents of the FBI of Latham’s fantasy world. Hawley’s quest to find a Vigilant brings him to the doorstep of Enelda Drake — the title character. She was once a powerful Vigilant and as the book progresses we see that wisdom and power slowly reveal itself as the mystery at the core of the book becomes apparent as well. 

Of course, if we have a mystery, it’s only natural to put a character in the “Sherlock” role and that is Drake. And just like Sherlock had his own eccentricities, Drake has her own, including social anxiety and other quirks that present themself from time to time. If Drake is our Sherlock, then Hawley is the “Watson,” the eyes and ears for the audience. In that role, I’m not sure if he succeeds quite as well since Hawley has some major trauma from his past he must deal with, putting his career and his life in jeopardy just as the case is ready to reach its apex. 

It’s only natural that there will be comparisons to Robert Jackson Bennett’s Ana and Din books (A Tainted Cup and its sequel A Drop of Corruption). Bennett’s books are truly some of the best books I’ve read the past two years, so the comparison is a little unfair, but both are mysteries and both are fantasy novels, so the comparisons will come. 

The book’s pacing is a little lethargic at times and characters do a lot of talking in rooms, but when the action comes, it really hits you over the head. The mystery at the heart of the novel appears bad but a tad benign early on, but the brutality of the truth is horrific when it’s all revealed. Overall, the ending is fantastic and Latham really sets up the characters for future sequels and has them in roles that are both at the same time new and old for them. 

I enjoyed The Last Vigilant and look forward to what Latham has up his sleeve for the second Kingdom of Oak and Steel novel. 

Thank you to Orbit for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

A powerful, layered weaving of myth, prose and pure imagination – The Ships of Merior continues an epic fantasy series perfect for enthusiasts of The Dark Tower and Earthsea.

The second volume of Janny Wurts’s incomparable series following Arithon and Lysaer, two brothers forced to take opposite sides in a relentless conflict.
After defeating the malevolent fog that blighted Athera, Arithon and Lysaer battle the throes of the Mistwraith’s insidious retribution: a curse set upon them at their moment of triumph compels them each to seek the other’s downfall.
Lysaer, the charming and charismatic Lord of Light, drives his brother out of hiding and hounds Arithon with a massive army at his command. Meanwhile Arithon, Master of Shadow, the sensitive mage who prefers music to violence, must take to the seas to evade capture and strike back against Lysaer’s mighty war host.
Locked into lifelong enmity, the brothers’ pursuit of each other’s destruction will test the foundations of human morailty, even as threat to the world’s deepest magic rides on the outcome.
The Ships of Merior weaves a rich and complicated tapestry, bringing readers deeper into the mystical world of Athera. Striking a balance between epic scope and intricate subtlety, the Wars of Light and Shadow is a must-read series for readers of intelligent fantasy.

Review:

I don’t know if any series in recent memory has captured my attention as fully and completely as Janny Wurts’ The Wars of Light and Shadow series. The first book, The Curse of the Mistwraith, jumped immediately to the top of my “best of the year” list, and I was almost afraid to continue the series, as it seemed impossible for anything that followed to live up to the promise of that opening salvo.

I shouldn’t have worried.

The Ships of Merior is a worthy second entry in the series. It continues to follow the adventures of the half-brothers Arithon and Lysaer, and that’s about all the summary I’ll provide in my effort to avoid any spoilers.

All the hallmarks of the series remain strong with this second entry. The prose is rich and complex, rewarding the careful reader. The worlds are ancient and brimming with magic. Characters are layered and nuanced. This is particularly true of Arithon in this entry, but applies to even minor named characters.

There are a few features of this story, though, that elevate it beyond other great epic fantasies. The first has to be the razor sharp focus on the two half-brothers. I think often of the phrase “epic yet personal,” and I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything that embraces that ethic more than WoLaS. This is a sprawling, ancient world with dozens of plot threads weaving the story at any one moment, and yet the spotlight is relentlessly focused on the cursed brothers. Every small detail eventually leads back to Arithon and Lysaer.

I think this is one of the reasons why this series hits the emotions as hard as it does. Every worldbuilding detail is in service of character.

This second novel also began to introduce another aspect of the series that I can only imagine will become a common theme, which is how seemingly small and insignificant decisions lead to tremendous change. Time and time again, there’s a small action or decision which seems entirely insignificant. In most series, it would be. Yet here, nothing is wasted, and these seemingly meaningless choices quickly become world-altering.

Reading that last paragraph, it almost sounds forced, but the genius of this series is that it isn’t. It instead feels like the most natural thing in the world.

I’m fascinated by the theme of “Choice” that runs through this tale. Many writers have tackled the theme in their work, but I can’t think of any who have explored it in such a powerful fashion. I’ve mentioned already the small choices that have world-changing effects, but this stands in stark contrast to the curse of the mistwraith that poisons the half-brothers. A minor character’s choice, freely made, might change the world, but the protagonists with the power to change the world at their slightest whim are denied many of their most consequential choices due to the curse’s influence.

That stripping away of choice both drives the story forward and haunts me, long after the last pages are finished.

In short, even though I was doing everything in my power to slowly savor this story, I ended up plowing through these pages in fairly short order, and I can guarantee I’ll be moving on soon to book 3. This series has the feel of a masterpiece in the making, and I’m thrilled to be on the ride.

Synopsis:

An orphan, without a trueborn name, returns to the city of her birth to uncover her past. Hounded by the servants of the Dark God and dying from the poisonous mist that covers the land, her path leads to one of the magical seals protecting the holy ruin of Eminence.

A father, murdered and reborn, aims to bring down the floating fortress hovering over his homeland. Burdened by loss, he’s willing to sacrifice his soul to free his city and get revenge for the destruction of his family.

A mother, captured and bonded to a daemon, kills in the name of the Dark God so she can free her tortured daughter. Relentless in her vengeance, she hunts the one person who could end her suffering: the man who would destroy her vile master.

A drake, the banished hatchling of a failed advisor, seeks his father’s stolen horns. Untested, he desires to right his father’s wrongs in the eyes of the gods and restore his family’s honor.

As all converge in the occupied desert city where the world’s fuel source is mined, one family’s bond will be tested. Old betrayals will resurface, anger and resentment will flourish, but one thing remains clear: blood rules all.

Review:

I was drawn to The Godsblood Tragedy by the promise of a dark fantasy rich in intricate world-building and religious law. I got that in spades, which I will come to in a moment. What hadn’t registered when reading the description was the fantasy/scifi mix, the blend of magical tapestries amid a belching steampunk environment.

Bill Adams, take a bow. Now this is a world I can revel in.

The lore is fantastic and blends seamlessly with the environment Adams has created for us. The darkness of his city, the descriptions that provide a vivid yet sordid eye’s view upon a poisoned world, place you at its black heart. He also populates it with some truly malevolent characters, whose acts are brutal and savage yet delivered without caricature. They revel in what they are, understand the choices they make, and written with a depth that pleases a fan of three-dimensional antagonists (i.e. me). And then we have a tortured and tangled family, torn apart and remade who form the core of the many POVs Adams uses to bring this tale of revolution and revenge to life. And for this fan of Moorcock’s Eternal Champion, a daemon-possessed dagger whose role and interactions have you rapidly turning the pages.

Amid all this praise, I implore the reader to be patient. Adams has a complex world to unfold, filled with magics and cults, religions and realms. It takes time, and like the best of fine teas, it needs to steep. His word choice can have you reaching for a dictionary, and some of the prose has a rhythm you need to tune into. But it’s so worth it. Keep going. Superb.

Synopsis

From the author of the emotionally devastating epic fantasy series The Spellbinders and the Gunslingerscomes…well, the complete opposite of that.

“Cheeky, sharp, humorous, Pratchett-esque. A bit silly, but in the best way possible.” -Andy Peloquin, bestselling author of the Darkblade series

“Delightful and fun.” -K.E. Andrews, SPFBO 9 finalist and author of Hills of Heather and Bone______________________

It begins and ends, as things do, with a girl throwing a birthday party for a dragon. Or it would, if things were ever that simple.

Generations ago, the Inquisition of the Priory of the Thrice-Dead Prophet decided that dragons were a great evil and it was their duty to banish them from the land of Nóra. The dragons weren’t (they just grew tired of the bother and migrated north), and the Inquisition didn’t (they just pretended otherwise), but that’s beside the point.

Though evidence of dragons still existed, it remained within the realm of smugglers, ne’er-do-wells, and people with too much time and money on their hands…until a hatching egg finds its way into the hands of a young girl named Ailís.

Now, with the first newborn dragon seen in generations in her company, Ailís finds herself beset by merchants, brigands, Inquisitors, and a greedy governor, and all she wants to do is throw a birthday party for her dragon.

And you thought planning a party for your kids was tough.

Review

I had the chance to read this for the Indie Ink Awards, which is awesome because it was already on my mountainous TBR and I had a kindle version bought. It’s sequel, Dragon Along, just dropped btw! 

A somewhat cozy fantasy, this book is filled to the gills with wit, and I found it to be quite laugh out loud funny to be honest. Which is no small feat for me as reading just does not translate that way usually. There’s humor for all ages and even the supporting cast is rich with callback jokes and witty jabs. Check out my highlights on goodreads/kindle if you want an idea…

Ailis and her brother get sent to the market for eggs, and while they do technically meet the requirement for their assignment, it isn’t exactly what their mother had in mind. You see, the inquisition has outlawed dragons, dragon paraphernalia, even dragon talk (unless you’re talking about how terrible and nasty they were). The kids never really understood why, especially with their uncle saying it was nonsense, but it didn’t matter all that much to them. That is until they brought home Pilib. Who you ask? Oh, just a dragon egg that naturally hatches almost immediately. Their mother is furious, curious, and scared out of her depths as the children don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation. Naturally, as one does, Ailis decides to throw him a birthday party. 

The world the reader is presented with is rich and layered in history. I found there to be enough given away while also hinting at how much more there was. It struck me as a talent, as the author has made it accessible to children, while the extra depth can appeal to adults. The characters feel like they inhabit this world, like they’re ingrained in it, and although it’s about a little girl who has a dance recital, it feels like the world couldn’t exist without them. And although it’s unlike any fantasy I’ve ever read, I’m sure she will carve her name in its history in the stories to come all the same. 

Also wow, baking? Did this story make me want sweet treats? Yes! (Except for maybe the first pie?). The bread described in the beginning was mouth watering. I could almost imagine the smells like I had stepped into a bakery. The smorgasbord of pies at their uncles, featuring sweet and savory concoctions, made me wonder why we use any other vessel to deliver food other than the pie? I’d yet to read a fantasy that made me want to bake a pie and also pet a baby dragon, but here this is. I can’t wait to get the sequel.

Synopsis:

Irdessa the Undying, a renowned arena fighter in Fohrvylda, has escaped imprisonment but at great cost. Broken and alone, she must outwit and outfight her pursuers.

Basalt Kale, a failed Consonant monk of the lowest order, embarks on a quest to improve Ausgan but discovers vile secrets of his order that he cannot abide.

The heathens of Fohrvylda amass ships and beasts of war to sail the Faithless Sea and assault the monks of Ausgan, who will greet the steel-bearing invaders with elemental destruction.

Review:

Violence & Vigilance is action-packed from cover to cover featuring an array of unlikely heroes and conniving villains. It has a unique magic system employed by one side of the story, and gritty cunning by the other. There was a lot of setup done in preparation for the rest of the series (which is forthcoming, I hope.) It was a really fun read.

The way the story was relayed was a little unusual, in that there weren’t any true “main” characters. There were two distinct storylines, but each was presented from the viewpoints of a variety of characters involved in that storyline. I wasn’t immediately clear how the two story arcs related to one another, but after a while, that did become clear.

The first arc was set on the island of Forhvylda, and begins in a gladiatorial-style arena. Forhvylda is run by Vretos, a man said to be unkillable. He’s ruthless and doesn’t tolerate failure from his subordinates. His ultimate goal is to launch his fleet of ships, known as the Heathen Tide, in an attack on another island, but he can’t launch until conditions are just right. With a ruler like Vretos, there’s bound to be some dissent, though it will need something to spark the populace into outright rebellion. There were two standout characters for me in this story arc: Irdessa (who begins the story as a conscripted gladiator), and Kraus (who is crass and barbaric, very rough around the edges…but he grew on me over time.)

The second arc is set on the island of Ausgan, which is ruled by mages. Their leader is Intemrus, who is also said to be immortal. The mages have a strict hierarchy that requires not only innate talent to ascend, but also a cutthroat mentality to outcompete everyone else. The mages use Consonance, which is a blend of singing and elemental power that allows them to bend even their island’s weather to their wills. Throughout this story arc, Ausgan is dealing with native unrest, while simultaneously preparing for the Heathen Tide. Kale was by far my favorite character of this arc; he’s an anomaly amongst the mages, and his unusual ability throws a major wrench into some of the others’ plans.

With so much going on, it’s no wonder this is a massive book. I bought it as an ebook, so I didn’t realize its length until I’d been reading a while and the percent completed had only ticked up a tiny bit (Goodreads lists it at 643 pages, which might be my longest read so far this year.) But it was written so well, and the story was so engaging, that the length didn’t bother me.

Overall, this was a great first-in-series with some memorable characters and a ton of action that I definitely recommend.

Synopsis

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire’s greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.

Review

The Tainted Cup was one of my favourite new fantasy books of last year and I was very excited to dive into the sequel. This inventive fantasy mystery series is set in a world where giant monstrous leviathans are a constant threat, following a pair of detectives in service to a vast empire who use their unique skills to solve murders. In the empire, many people have magical augmentations that give them abilities that are usually uniquely suited to their role in the empire’s bureaucracy. This includes our narrator, Din, whose perfect memory makes him an adept detective, especially when partnered with his ingenious and eccentric partner Ana.

In this second instalment, Din and Ana are dispatched to investigate another gruesome and mysterious death at the empire’s fringes, in which a man seems to have been kidnapped from a locked room and subsequently brutalised. Yet this doesn’t feel like a rehash of the first book, because this time we get a glimpse into the world outside of the empire as our protagonists are sent to Yarrowdale, a distant canton which hosts the Shroud, a kind of bizarre organic fortress where workers dissect dead leviathans to harvest their magical properties on behalf of the empire. The inventive worldbuilding keeps a sense of freshness to a story that could easily become formulaic.

Of course, it’s the characters who steal the show, and they’re very much out of their comfort zone in this new setting. Din struggles between his own ambitions and his duties to the empire, while Ana is her usual utterly chaotic self and their banter-filled interactions are endlessly entertaining. As before, the protagonists are surrounded by an array of colourful characters, and I particularly loved Malo. Din’s narrative voice is perfect to tell this story, with both humour and vulnerability contrasting his often wild and unpredictable mentor. It gives me Sherlock and Watson vibes, but still feels fresh and new.

As with the first book, the story starts with a strange death and swiftly gets more complex with stakes that climb higher as Din and Ana are drawn deeper into the mystery. Bennett deploys pacing expertly to keep tension high and the mystery is so well-crafted that I had trouble guessing what would come next and was left staring open-mouthed at the page when it all came together seamlessly.

I’m always happy when a sequel lives up to its predecessor and that was certainly the case here. A Drop of Corruption maintains the quality of the first book in the series while building on the world and the characters and delivering a hugely entertaining story. If Bennett wasn’t already on my auto-buy authors list, I’d have to add him to the list for this series alone. Masterful stuff!

Synopsis

Grahme has wanted to be a druid for as long as he can remember. Talented but headstrong, he runs afoul of a despotic, mind-controlling mage during his initiation quest. The price of failure is death. Intrigue and distrust has turns his order against him. Haggard, hunted and without his magic, Grahme must make impossible sacrifices or lose everything, or worse, be banished.

Review

The author very kindly sent me an audible code for this one, and my last year being what it was, it took me longer than I expected. I’m so glad I got to it though. “God this was fantastic,” was my mini review as I clicked 5 stars and that pretty much sums up how I felt the entire read. 

In this novel we follow Grahme on his journey to become a druid. Through personality clashes, disagreements and deceptions, as well as some outright tampering, he finds himself filtering through multiple mentors. These clashes get so severe that he is appointed leader of his own quest to prove himself just so the option isn’t taken away from him. He must return with a ghost orchid, a little know flower with heavy implications. Family issues, the druid council on his heels, and a mind-controlling mage in play, this is a multi-layered, coming-of-age, sprawling epic fantasy. 

The main character of Grahme was absolutely stellar. His personality feels spot on, and even with all his flaws and mistakes, he still has enough hero built in to carry a story. He shapes up to be a pretty awesome reluctant hero, and as you experience his growth, his power even surprises you. The author gives the reader heavy emotional scenes, tasking revelations and payoffs, and still enough wit and humor to keep the reader grounded. The narration by James Meunier was fantastic, and his portrayal of Grahme gripped me from the jump.

The way the druid magic works felt reminiscent of the Animorphs series, but in a way that tickled nostalgia but also felt like its own thing. It also felt much more adult, and although it’s a fantasy, it felt almost real in its explanation. Grahme and the other druids can take the shape of various animals. All they have to do is know the animal’s shape as well as allowing themselves to truly become them. That’s not to say there aren’t some shocking limitations, but I loved reading through all of their differing choices. 

The action sequences are spaced well, with gripping descriptions, and I found that I cared for everyone as I felt for them through Grahme. The scene of the druids holding off the approaching attack until they could escape under the cover of night was so tensely plotted that I had to finish it even though I had made it home…just sat and listened in the parked car. You have to give this one a go