Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath
Rise of the Ranger by Philip C. Quaintrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Echoes Saga (Book #1 of 9)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 538 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 5th May 2017 by Quaintrell Publishing (Self-Published)
Rise of the Ranger is a promising beginning to another classic fantasy series told with a modern voice. …
Hi everyone! Petrik from Novel Notions here.
We have an exciting post today. Novel Notions will be hosting the cover reveal to The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish! This is the first book in the upcoming new series, The Vagrant Gods, by David Dalglish. In addition to the cover art below, I also had the chance to chat with David Dalglish about some details related to the cover art and the premise of the novel. I won’t take too much of your time with my introduction. I’ve read and enjoyed The Keepers trilogy, and I’m so looking forward to reading this novel. Without further ado, here’s my conversation with David Dalglish, and also the cover reveal to The Bladed Faith!
Cover art illustrated by Chase Stone
Cover designed by Lauren Panepinto …
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
ILLBORN by Daniel T. Jackson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Illborn Saga (Book #1 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 714 pages (Paperback Edition)
Published: 19th March 2021 by Troubador Publishing (Indie)
By the Lord, this was amazing. Illborn is an absolutely compelling character-driven epic fantasy debut. …
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
Reviewed by Adam Weller
Cover art illustrated by: Pen Astridge
Empire of Shadows by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Coraidic Sagas (Book #3 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 610 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 25th January 2022 (Self-Published)
Alicia Wanstall-Burke’s Blood of Heirs fashioned one of the more devious second-book cliffhangers in the trilogies I’ve read in recent years. Up until the last few chapters, the story of Lidan, Loge, Ran, Sellan, and others twisting the fates of the Northern and Southern empires was an entertaining saga with strong-willed characters you could get behind. But its last few chapters really stood out, as it set the story careening off into truly exciting territory, and I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Empire of Shadows to see how the final pieces were going to fall. …
Cover art illustrated by: Nico Delort
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, Retelling
Pages: 480 pages (US Hardcover Edition)
Published: 10th July 2018 by Del Rey (US) & Pan Macmillan (UK)
If Uprooted is my Hell, then Spinning Silver is my Heaven.
Five years. It’s been exactly five years since I’ve read Uprooted by Naomi Novik. Honestly speaking, I never intended to read Spinning Silver. I consider Uprooted one of the worst fantasy novels I’ve read, and I had no motivation in trying out more of Novik’s works for five years. However, after hearing from many readers—one of them being my friend, Elliot Brooks—who disliked Uprooted that Spinning Silver worked wonderfully for them, my curiosity was piqued. And then, another good friend of mine—Mary—who also disliked Uprooted decided to sent me a copy of Spinning Silver. She said that Spinning Silver is one of the best standalone novels she has ever read. So here I am, nodding my head and adding my opinion to their praises; they were all 100% right. Spinning Silver is one of the best standalone novels I’ve read. This high rating you’re seeing is not a fairytale. It’s well-deserved, and Spinning Silver rightfully deserves the gorgeous cover art (US edition) illustrated by Nico Delort. …
Cover Illustration by: Daniel Dociu
Leviathan Falls by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Expanse (Book #9 of 9)
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Pages: 543 pages (Kindle Edition)
Published: 26th March 2019 by Orbit
My last review of 2021 is for the conclusion to the first big space opera series of novels I’ve ever finished to its completion, and I’m glad it’s The Expanse. …
War Lord by Bernard Cornwell
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Last Kingdom (Book #13 of 13)
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: 333 pages (Hardcover edition)
Published: 15th October 2020 by HarperCollins
It’s over. I finally finished The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell, and it was an impressive conclusion. …
This list is also available on my Booktube Channel if that’s what you preferred: https://youtu.be/wZY-JG9HUgQ
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 (2021)
It’s that time of the year again, y’all. 2021 is ending in a week. This year, I managed to read 130 books. This number includes 72 traditionally published books, 21 self-published/indie books, 37 manga volumes (I’ve read so many more manga volumes but I’ve decided to only include 37 here.)
In comparison to the previous years, whether it’s by pages count or the number of books, this is my lowest reading performance so far. There are details behind this reason, but really when it comes down to it, it’s because this is the first full year I became a Booktuber. In addition to reading and writing reviews, now I also record, edit, and upload videos to my YouTube Channel. My reading “performance” definitely suffers because of it, but not going to lie, I’m happy to make that sacrifice. As for the quality of the books I read, this is another incredible reading year, so let’s get to it immediately. As usual, I will be applying a few rules into this list:
Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list in order 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 within this year.
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. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2021! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page …
Hi everyone! Petrik from Novel Notions here.
Today, we’re here to bring you a beautiful cover reveal of A Black Deal, this is the second novella in the Pandemonium Rising series by Michael Sliter. I’ve read and enjoyed the first two books + a novella in the series, Solace Lost, Wisdom Lost, and Valley of the Free. It has become a tradition for me to keep on revealing the cover reveal to Sliter’s books, and I’m honored that he has continued to bestow me with the honor. I personally think that this is one of the most underrated grimdark fantasy series right now. If you love character-driven grimdark fantasy series, and yet haven’t read this series, I highly recommend this series to you! Without further ado, here’s the cover reveal to A Black Deal!
Cover art: Rene Aigner …
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by : Ian Leino
The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft
My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Books of Babel (Book #4 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy, Steampunk
Pages: 672 pages (US paperback edition)
Published: 9th December 2021 by Orbit
The Fall of Babel is not just a title; it is a state. A state where the quality of the series ends up.
Josiah Bancroft, please do not read this review. I love your previous books, and I would prefer your memory of my thoughts on your books remains that way; leave it in the state of innocence and happiness just like Senlin before he entered the Tower of Babel. Now, let’s get on with the review.
“You could resent yourself for your imperfect enjoyment of your life, but that seems to me like a never-ending chore. A thankless one, too. I think that if we really knew how good our lives were while they were good, we’d be too scared to do anything, change anything. We’d never take a risk, or explore, or grow. You can hate yourself for not fully appreciating your happy days while you had them, or you could look back and be warmed by the memory, couldn’t you?”