Ascendant’s Rite by David Hair
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Moontide Quartet (Book #4 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 848 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 5th November 2015 by Jo Fletcher
Against all odds, Ascendant’s Rite was a tension-fused and satisfying conclusion for The Moontide Quartet.
“Life is a series of transactions. We all give to receive.”
The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Eyes of the Dragon is billed as both King’s only high fantasy and his only novel that could be classified as a children’s book. I wasn’t sure how successful he’d be with either of those things, but now I really wish he would write more of both. This book so radically exceeded my expectations that, even though I’ve come to passionately love King’s work, I couldn’t help but be surprised. I loved everything about this, and it’s the first King novel I’ve ever read that I could comfortably recommend to literally anyone of any age.
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Age of Empyre by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book 6 of 6)
Genre: Fantasy, high fantasy, classic fantasy
Published: 5th May 2020 (Grim Oak Press)
Age of Empyre proves once again that Michael J. Sullivan is a masterful storyteller that really knows how to captivate and conclude a well-crafted tale. As I turned the final page, I couldn’t help feeling that I’m going to miss all the wonderful characters that I’ve grown to love.
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Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Dresden Files (Book #4 of 25)
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 379 pages (US Kindle edition)
Published: 4th March 2010 by Orbit (UK) & 3rd September 2002 by Roc (US)
Summer Knight was super fun, and I expect the quality of the series can only stay consistently good or better from here on out. …
Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erikson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars.
Series: Malazan Book of the Fallen (Book 7 of 10)
Genre: Epic fantasy, grimdark fantasy
First published: 2007 by Bantam (UK) and 2008 by Tor (US)
I will not be the first to extoll the astounding breadth and depth of the Malazan world with its extensive history, a multitude of races, richly diverse cultures and a huge cast of characters. I may also not be the first to admit how lost I sometimes feel, wandering through this labyrinth of intricate worldbuilding.
Reaper’s Gale was the first volume in the Malazan Book of the Fallen which, to my delight, continued directly from the previous book. There was no whiplash from the sudden change in plot lines from one book to the other in the past six books. Almost all the subplots from the previous novels led into this one with a lot of known main characters showing up one way or another, all of which descended upon the Letherii Empire.
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The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved everything about this book. I’m not really sure why I’m surprised by this, but I am. I expected to like The Drawing of the Three in the same way that I liked The Gunslinger, but I love it with the same ferocity I do The Stand. It is, in my opinion, the most powerful and successful entry into the portal fantasy subgenre since C.S. Lewis penned The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Yes, it’s really that good.
“Because the difference between seeing and not seeing can be the difference between living and dying.”
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Book of the Ice (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction
Published: 21 April 2020 by HarperVoyager (UK) and by Ace (US)
A scintillating start to this new series!
Omens are difficult and open to interpretation but if the oracle that touches your newborn dies moments later, frothing at the mouth, it is hard even with a mother’s love to think it is a good sign. In such cases a second opinion is often sought.
If the old adage that you’re only as good as your last book holds true for authors, then it’s hardly a surprise that one of my most highly anticipated book releases of the year was The Girl and the Stars. Full disclosure, that’s a complete understatement. Mark Lawrence delivered an emphatically stunning and satisfying conclusion with Holy Sister, finishing off his The Book of the Ancestor (TBOTA) series in some style and simultaneously pushing my hype levels for his next project through the roof (although I am still not over some of the heartaches he caused me). I did not think I could be more excited. That was until I heard that his new book was set in the same world as that previous series. It’s safe to say that if I had access to a Delorean, I’d have read this quite a while ago.
*For those who have not yet read TBOTA series, you are welcome to read The Girl and the Stars first. You won’t be missing out on anything that will take away any understanding or enjoyment from this read.
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Unholy War by David Hair
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Series: The Moontide Quartet (Book #3 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Erotica
Pages: 800 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 30th October 2014 by Jo Fletcher
Unholy War should’ve been titled I’mhorny War. By far, the most pointlessly lusty fantasy book I’ve ever read, and no, not in a good way. …
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I was so disturbed by this book. My Dark Vanessa is incredibly thought-provoking and raises a ton of great questions. I’m glad that I read it. And I’ll never read it again. (Side note: Everything being explored in this review is pretty much referenced in the book’s synopsis, so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything. But if you want to go into this book truly blind, you might want to skip this review.)
“To be groomed is to be loved and handled like a precious, delicate thing.”
The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Sisters of the Winter Wood was incredibly promising. It’s a heavily Jewish book with lovely fantasy overtones. There are shapeshifters and mysterious newcomers peddling forbidden fruit and a deeply atmospheric forest, as well as a central sibling relationship and deep religious questions to ponder. It sounded made for me. So made for me that I ignored the fact that it’s YA. I should’ve known better. While I enjoyed the plot and the structure, the usual YA all-consuming romances and the characters’ inner struggles with coming to know and accept themselves were cloyingly overabundant and negatively impacted my reading experience. However, I feel like this is on me, not the book. I should know by now that YA usually doesn’t work for me. I was almost as disappointed by this book as I was by Uprooted, which I think is comparable in setting and atmosphere.
“To love means to sacrifice everything that you are.”