January 2024 - Novel Notions

Book Review: The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

January 30, 2024 Celeste Comments 0 Comment

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Orbit/Redhook, in exchange for an honest review.

The description for The City of Stardust captivated me as soon as I read it. Here’s what hooked me: “A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.” There are so many things that grab me in that little synopsis. A “seductive, magical underworld?” Sign me up. “Power-hungry scholars?” Forever and always. Fickle gods and family curses? Yes, please. While I did get all of those things, the story itself didn’t land quite as solidly for me as I had hoped it would. …

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

January 27, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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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Cover Reveal: The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories (Mage Errant Anthology) by John Bierce

January 25, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Hi everyone! Petrik from Novel Notions here.

We have an incredibly exciting post today. And there is something a bit different about today’s cover reveal. Not only I am honored to reveal the cover art of The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories, a collection of short stories in the Mage Errant series by John Bierce, but John Bierce himself is also here to give the detailed process of his cover art creation. I’ve seen and read some of John Bierce’s collaborations with Aaron McConnel and Lee Moyer, and I am always amazed by the process and result. I won’t take much of your time, I will let John Bierce himself reveal the cover art of The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories!

Cover art illustrated by Aaron McConnel and Lee Moyer …

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

January 18, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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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Book Review: Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

January 14, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art by Dusan Markovic

Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 784 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 23rd November 2022 by Mythology Press (Self-Published)

Heliotrope is a good one-off standalone character-driven fantasy reminiscent of the classic adventurous fantasy novel. …

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Book Review: The Prophet of Edan (The Edan Trilogy, #2) by Philip Chase

January 12, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by Kyra Gregory

The Prophet of Edan by Philip Chase

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Edan Trilogy (Book #2 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 610 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 21st June 2023 by Philip Chase (Self-Published)

For better or worse, The Prophet of Edan is a heavily action-packed sequel to The Way of Edan. …

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Cover Reveal: The Doors of Midnight (Tales of Tremaine, #2) by R.R. Virdi

January 10, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Hi everyone! Petrik from Novel Notions here.

We have an incredibly exciting post today. Gollancz has asked Novel Notions to host the cover reveal for one of my most anticipated fantasy sequels of 2024: The Doors of Midnight by R.R. Virdi! This is the sequel to The First Binding, one of my favorite fantasy books in the year 2022. It has been a while since the first book was first released, and I won’t take too much of your time. It is an honor for me and Novel Notions to share the enchanting cover art of The Doors of Midnight, the second book Tales of Tremaine series by R. R. Virdi!

Cover art illustrated by Felipe de Barros …

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Book Review: The Heart of What Was Lost (The Osten Ard Saga, #3.5) by Tad Williams

January 5, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Osten Ard Saga (Book #3.5 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 222 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 78,000 words

Published: 3rd January 2017 by DAW Books

The Heart of What Was Lost is the action-packed epilogue to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, and it is also a great setup to The Last King of Osten Ard. …

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