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Book Review: The Fangs of War (The Blood and Steel Saga, #1) by E.J. Doble

Book Review: The Fangs of War (The Blood and Steel Saga, #1) by E.J. Doble

Cover art illustrated by Diego Spezzoni

The Fangs of War by E.J. Doble

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Sun Eater (Book #1 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 575 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 11th January 2022 (Self-Published)


It is an impressive feat that a young 21-year-old writer wrote and published a grimdark fantasy debut the like of The Fangs of War.

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Book Review: A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan

Book Review: A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1) by Marie Brennan

Review copy provided by the author’s agent—Zeno Literary Agency—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Todd Lockwood

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Book #1 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Word Count: 98,000 words

Pages: 334 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 5th February 2013 by Tor Books (US) & Titan Books (UK)


A Natural History of Dragons is a very different kind of fantasy book compared to what I usually read, and it provided me with a refreshing reading experience despite its flaws.

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Book Review: Voice of War (Threadlight, #1) by Zack Argyle

Book Review: Voice of War (Threadlight, #1) by Zack Argyle

Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Omer Burak Onal

Voice of War by Zack Argyle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Threadlight (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 382 pages (Hardcover edition)

Publish date: 19th of March 2020 by Zack Argyle (Self-Published)


Promising beginning. Readers weren’t exaggerating when they said Voice of War by Zack Argyle is a great Sanderson-lite fantasy novel.

“The Rite of Revelation was such an important event for a parent, but would a parent really love their child less based on the color of their eyes? Love is not a calculated result of features and faults. Love is the unseen thread binding two souls together no matter the externalities.”

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Book Review: The Dollmakers (The Fallen Peaks, #1) by Lynn Buchanan

Book Review: The Dollmakers (The Fallen Peaks, #1) by Lynn Buchanan

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on The Dollmakers

ARC provided by the author’s agent in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Ashley Mackenzie

The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Fallen Peaks (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 400 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 114,000 words

Published: 13th August 2024 by Harper Voyager


The Dollmakers is guaranteed to be a contender for one of the strongest fantasy debuts of the year 2024.

“Shean enjoyed thinking. Logic was a comfort— as long as she had a plan, she had direction, a guide to follow and mull over and think and rethink until she’d thought of every possible outcome to every possible event.”

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Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Cover art illustrated by Dave McKean

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Pages: 201 pages (Lyra’s Books Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 31,000 words

Published: 2nd July 2002 by Harper Collins


Coraline is the best book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. And maybe, all this time, I might have picked the wrong Neil Gaiman books to read.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

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Book Review: Winter’s Heart (The Wheel of Time, #9) by Robert Jordan

Book Review: Winter’s Heart (The Wheel of Time, #9) by Robert Jordan

Cover art illustrated by Scott M. Fischer

Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: The Wheel of Time (Book #9 of 14)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 705 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 238,000 words

Published: 7th November 2000 by Tor Books


This was so damn rough. Winter’s Heart is easily the weakest book in The Wheel of Time so far.

“A man who trusts everyone is a fool and a man who trusts no one is a fool. We are all fools if we live long enough.”

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Book Review: The Trials of Empire (Empire of the Wolf, #3) by Richard Swan

Book Review: The Trials of Empire (Empire of the Wolf, #3) by Richard Swan

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit Books—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: Martina Fackova

Cover designed by: Lauren Panepinto

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Empire of the Wolf (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy

Pages: 496 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 164,000 words

Published: 6th February 2024 by Orbit (US) & 8th February 2024 by Orbit (UK)


The Trials of Empire bestowed readers with a different direction and satisfying ending to Empire of the Wolf trilogy.

“One of the greatest feats of human cognisance is to realise and accept that every being capable of thought has a life as complex as one’s own.”

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2023)

Between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023, I read 80 books + 177 manga/manhwa volumes (76.8k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read this year.

  • Rereads aren’t included.
  • One book per series.
  • The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time this year. Non-2023 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for two best novellas and two short stories I read this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)

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Book Review: Kingdoms of Death (The Sun Eater, #4) by Christopher Ruocchio

Book Review: Kingdoms of Death (The Sun Eater, #4) by Christopher Ruocchio

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Kingdoms of Death.

ARC provided by the publisher—DAW Books—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Kieran Yanner

Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Sun Eater (Book #4 of 7)

Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera, Science Fantasy

Word Count: 200,000 words

Pages: 544 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 8th March 2022 by DAW Books (US) & Head of Zeus (UK)


Ruocchio gets what I love to read in science fantasy. Every book in The Sun Eater series has become one of my favorite books of all time, and Kingdoms of Death is not an exception to this claim.

“Art, great art, serves as a reminder of invisible things and of their manifestation in things visible.”

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