Mage’s Blood by David Hair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Moontide Quartet (Book #1 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 704 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 27th September 2012 by Jo Fletcher
The first half of Mage’s Blood challenged my patience, but the pay-off—and hopefully the rest of the series—in the second half was bloody rewarding. …
ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books—in exchange for an honest review.
A Chorus of Fire by Brian D. Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Sorcerer’s Song (Book #2 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy
Pages: 448 pages
Published: 4th August 2020 by Tor Books
A great page-turning sequel that’s incredibly easy and comfortable to read.
“The scales of mortal hearts are tilted in favor of love. It is in this their virtue is made manifest.”
Solo Leveling by Gi So-Ryeong & Jang Sung-Rak
Series: Solo Leveling (Season #1)
Genre: Fantasy, LitRPG, Progression Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Petrik’s Review: 5 of 5 stars
I will level (pun fully intended) myself with you; this was by far the most badass and engaging LitRPG I’ve ever read. …
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Series: The Dresden Files (Book #2 of planned 23 or 24)
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 432 pages (US Kindle edition)
Published: 4th March 2010 by Orbit (UK) & 1st January 2001 by Roc (US)
Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden has a new case to solve: The werewolves are here. …
Review copy of audiobook received from the author in exchange for an honest review
Blight Marked by Josh Erikson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Ethereal Earth (Book #3)
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Published: 11th March 2020 by Josh Erikson (self-published ebook) and Audible Studios
Josh Erikson has utterly upped his game in Blight Marked. A heady concoction of compelling character development, interesting worldbuilding, exhilarating action scenes and great humour, the only thing that made it even better was Erikson’s stellar self-narration. …
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, dystopian
Published: March 2016 by Gallery/Saga Press (US) and Head of Zeus (UK)
I’ve been meaning to read Ken Liu’s first collection of short stories for a quite a while. His translation for two of Cixin Liu’s books in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy was excellent and I’ve heard a lot of great things about the titular short story of this collection.
In my opinion, the preface alone warrants at least a 5-star and an award. Liu’s writing is utterly beautiful and profound, and one can clearly see how talented and intelligent this author is just from reading his preface to the collection. I’ve highlighted at least half of it because it was so well-written. …
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
This entire series has my name written all over it. A plucky, intelligent heroine. Literary references galore. Dry, sharp British humor. An alternate history where every single British citizen is obsessed with the written word to the point of religious zeal. Tongue-in-cheek character names that fit their eponymous charges perfectly. The essential involvement of one of my very favorite classics, Jane Eyre. And yet, for some reason, The Eyre Affair fell a bit flat for me. I still enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. However, my hope is that my reading mood will have shifted by the time I continue with the series, and that Thursday’s series will become one of my favorites. It deserves to be.
“Take no heed of her…. She reads a lot of books.”
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Dresden Files (Book #1 of planned 23 or 24)
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 332 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 4th March 2010 by Orbit (UK) & 1st April 2000 by Roc (US)
Storm Front is an introductory and page-turning installment to a beloved urban fantasy series.
I am not much of an expert on urban fantasy sub-genre, I certainly haven’t read as much urban fantasy compared to high fantasy, and almost all of the majority of urban fantasy series I’ve thoroughly loved has been UF series that took place in a fictional world rather than ours; The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee and The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett are a great example of this. Many trusted readers and friends of mine who understands my reading taste, however, have convinced me that if there’s one urban fantasy series—with a contemporary setting—that I would end up loving, it’s The Dresden Files by Jim Bucher. Well, here I am, I’m officially starting my journey with this series.
“There is no truer gauge of a man’s character than the way in which he employs his strength, his power.”
The Copper Promise by Jen Williams
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Copper Cat (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy
Pages: 544 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 13th February 2014 by Headline (UK) & 5th July 2016 by Angry Robot (US)
The Copper Promise should’ve been classified as a collection instead of a full novel. …
ARC provided by the publisher—Pan Macmillan—in exchange for an honest review.
A Time of Courage by John Gwynne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Of Blood and Bone (Book #3 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Published: 2nd April 2020 by Pan Macmillan (UK) & 7th April 2020 by Orbit (US)
A Time of Courage is a stunning masterpiece that proved yet again that John Gwynne is a force to be reckoned with; primed and poised to joined the ranks of the greatest fantasy authors.
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