Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Last Kingdom (Book #12 of 13)
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: 346 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 3rd October 2019 by HarperCollins
Sword of Kings is the penultimate installment of The Last Kingdom series, if it wasn’t, I would’ve given up reading the rest of the series. …
Cover art illustration by: Patrick Foster
Reaper by Will Wight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Cradle (Book #10 of 12)
Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia
Pages: 465 pages
Published: 2nd November 2021 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)
Will Wight, I’m so tired of saying this statement on so many books in Cradle, but once again, Reaper is the new best book of the series so far.
“An ant had a better chance of resisting a boot.”
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Magical Realism
Pages: 246 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 15th September 2020 by Bloomsbury
A genre-blending, memorable, and melancholic standalone novel.
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Tide Child (Book #2 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy
Pages: 482 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 24th November 2020 by Orbit
A great sequel that doesn’t shy away from developing the characters through harsh circumstances.
“We are nothing, Shipwife… If we do not try we are nothing. You are right there. Better to lose it all for what is right than to live in fear.”
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Martina Fackova
Cover designed by: Lauren Panepinto
The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Empire of the Wolf (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 432 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 22nd February 2022 & 24th February 2022 by Orbit
The Justice of Kings was totally addictive. A truly riveting tale about law, war, morality, and justice.
“Empires are built and maintained with words. Swords are a mere precedent to the quill.”
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by: Books Covered
Of Blood And Fire by Ryan Cahill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Bound and the Broken (Book #1 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 494 pages (Hardcover edition)
Published: 20th March 2021 by Ryan Cahill (Self-published)
Of Blood and Fire may not bring anything new to the genre, but it’s certainly another great modern take on classic fantasy.
War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Last Kingdom (Book #11 of 13)
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: 401 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 2nd October 2018 by HarperCollins
The beginning of the end started with a bang. …
This review was written the 2nd of July 2017
Cover art by: Ian Leino
Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Books of Babel (Book #2 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk Fantasy
Pages: 381 pages (US Kindle edition)
Published: 28th July 2014 by Josiah Bancroft (Self-published) & 22nd August 2017 Orbit Books
Raven’s Shadow by Anthony Ryan, The Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan, and now, The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft; I’ll be surprised if this series doesn’t end up becoming the next successful self-published to traditionally published fantasy transition.
Arm of the Sphinx is the second book in The Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft. The story continues months after the end of the previous book. Each chapter still begins with memorable and philosophical quotes such as:
“We are, each of us, a multitude. I am not the man I was this morning, nor the man of yesterday. I am a throng of myself queued through time. We are, gentle reader, each a crowd within a crowd.”
Cover art illustrated by: Janny Wurts
To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 704 pages (Mass market paperback edition)
Published: 1st January 2002 by Harper Voyager
A great fantasy standalone that will make you know how it feels to live for five days in a fantasy world.
This is the first time I read Janny Wurts’s solo work; prior to this, I’ve read The Riftwar: Empire trilogy that Wurts co-write with Raymond E. Feist within this year. The Riftwar: Empire trilogy, to me, has become one of my favorite trilogies; I am stunned that it took me this long to finally get around to reading that trilogy. Janny Wurts is often well known for her work on Riftwar: Empire trilogy and her magnum opus: Wars of Light and Shadow. I’m fully intended to read her magnum opus but before I get around to reading Wars of Light and Shadow, I thought it might be better for me to read her standalone novel first. The reason behind this is that many fans of her works have mentioned that it’s better to read To Ride Hell’s Chasm first to get an idea of Wurts’s prose, which is significantly more difficult than the one in The Riftwar: Empire trilogy, and they’re not wrong on this. I will talk about this more in the review below.
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Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 432 pages (US Hardcover edition)
Published: 2nd October 2012 by Ace (US)
A bleak historical fantasy/horror about life, death, faith, and hope. …