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Month: August 2025

Book Review: Winter’s Chill (The Nordic Wars, #2) by Morgan L. Busse

Book Review: Winter’s Chill (The Nordic Wars, #2) by Morgan L. Busse


Winter’s Chill by Morgan L. Busse
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Winter’s Chill picks up right where Winter’s Maiden left off. We continue following Brighid and Kaeden, with occasional secondary perspectives thrown in. Busse takes us to the White City in the southlands, and back to Bear Clan territory in the north. I loved learning more about the Eldaran through Kaeden’s perspective. But even more, I loved exploring the lore and power of the Bear Clan alongside Brighid. While not as tense and fast-paced as its predecessor, Winter’s Chill is just as compelling. The expansion of the world and the growth of the characters made for an engaging reading experience.

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Book Review: Winter’s Maiden (The Nordic Wars, #1) by Morgan L. Busse

Book Review: Winter’s Maiden (The Nordic Wars, #1) by Morgan L. Busse


Winter’s Maiden by Morgan L. Busse
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Winter’s Maiden is the first installment in the Nordic Wars, a Norse-inspired fantasy brimming with compelling characters, intense action, and fascinating worldbuilding. Fans of John Gwynne, rejoice! This novel scratches the same itch as Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen in terms of mythos, and his Bloodsworn Saga in terms of setting and characters. I was swept away by this epic tale from start to finish, and I immediately dove into the second installment, Winter’s Chill, as soon as I read the final page.

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Book Review: The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy, #2) by James Islington

Book Review: The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy, #2) by James Islington

ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art by Jaime Jones

The Strength of the Few by James Islington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Hierarchy (Book #2)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fantasy

Pages: 736 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 240,000 words

Published: 11th Novermber 2025 by Saga Press


We’re not at the end of 2025 yet, but I believe The Strength of the Few by James Islington has secured the best fantasy book of the year award. This is the finest sequel I’ve read since Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson and The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu.

“The power to protect is the highest responsibility.”

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Book Review: The Crier Stone (The Chaos Grid #2) by Lyndsey Lewellen

Book Review: The Crier Stone (The Chaos Grid #2) by Lyndsey Lewellen


The Crier Stone by Lyndsey Lewellen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Chaos Grid was thoroughly enjoyable, and I honestly felt that it could have worked as a standalone novel, even though part of me wanted more of the story. I’m so glad Lewellen didn’t leave it there. The Crier Stone is a phenomenal sequel, improving on its already excellent predecessor in almost every way. We are thrown right back into Juna’s story where we parted from her at the end of that first book. From the very first page of The Crier Stone, the pace is fast and the plot is tense. There is a depth here that was hinted at in The Chaos Grid without being fully realized, in terms of character development and worldbuilding and the underlying tale of faith at its core. I was enraptured from start to beautiful finish.

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Book Review: The Chaos Grid (The Chaos Grid, #1) by Lyndsey Lewellen

Book Review: The Chaos Grid (The Chaos Grid, #1) by Lyndsey Lewellen


The Chaos Grid by Lyndsey Lewellen
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I love retellings, especially stories that riff on either a fairytale or a Bible story. Some stories—like “Beauty and the Beast” or the Book of Esther—have been retold often. I’ve read quite a few takes on both of those, some of which have been wonderful. But then there are stories that reimagined less frequently, like the story of Jonah. I can only remember encountering one other loose retelling of that particular tale, but it didn’t hold a candle to this book in terms of originality. The Chaos Grid is the first half of a duology that blends Mad Max with the Book of Jonah, set within a post-apocalyptic, dystopian Texas. I found it fascinating and unique, fast-paced and compelling. There was never a dull moment in this first half of the story, and it left me hungry to know what happens next.

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