Charmcaster by Sebastian de Castell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Spellslinger (Book 3 of 6)
Genre: Fantasy, YA fantasy
Published: 17th May 2018 by Hot Key Books (UK) and 18th September 2018 by Orbit (US)
Charmcaster was yet another entertaining and engaging read from Sebastian de Castell.
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Cover art illustration by: Patrick Foster
Bloodline 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 keeps on upping his game; Reaper is the best book of this series so far for me and delivers one hell of a payoff!
You would think that the tenth book in a not yet completed series might be prone to losing some steam, and in many cases, you might be right. Regarding Reaper, the book that takes the Cradle series into double digits, you would be wrong. This is of course only my opinion and is greatly influenced by the spotlight being shone on my favourite character throughout, but that is just one aspect of the story. What makes this better than any other for me, is how much the story focuses on teamwork, and just like this plot, Wight has made all the different parts work together to result in what I believe to be the strongest Cradle entry to date and also the most revelatory.
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.
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Green Bone Saga (Book #3 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Published: 30th November 2021 by Orbit (US) & 2nd December 2021 by Orbit (UK)
Devastatingly brilliant, Jade Legacy is a triumphant finale in Fonda Lee’s emotionally powerful character-driven masterpiece.
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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. …
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Biography, memoir, non-fiction, science
Published: Oct 2013 by Macmillan (US) and Little, Brown and Company (UK)
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth was definitely one of the more interesting and compelling memoir of sorts that I’ve read which proffered valuable life lessons. Lessons which in fact seemed to go against conventional thinking and life coaching such as visualising success, not sweating the small stuff and not caring about what others think. Chris Hadfield’s experience as an astronaut – or more importantly, on becoming an astronaut – proved otherwise.
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The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Riyria Chronicles (Book #3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Published: 3rd November 2015 by Riyria Enterprises (self-published)
It should come as no surprise that I absolutely loved The Death of Dulgath, which was just as good if not even better upon reread.
Aside from Sanderson, I have one other major fictional addiction, and that is Riyria. I could never get enough of reading about the duo of Hadrian Blackwater and Royce Melborn, and have read The Riyria Revelations and the first two books of The Riyria Chronicles three times.
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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.”
The Bone Ships by by R.J. Barker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Series: The Tide Child (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: High-fantasy
Published: September 26th, 2019 by Orbit (UK) & September 24th, 2019 by Orbit (US)
Audacious storytelling, with an original, captivating world.
RJ Barker wrote one of my favourite fantasy series of all time, The Wounded Kingdom trilogy. So, when I heard that he was writing a brand-new series called The Tide Child trilogy, I was excited. And by excited, I mean I might have shouted about it to one or two, or seventy random people. I am a huge fan. That said, on my first read I struggled with the start of this book and that influenced my initial rating quite a bit. I still thought this was a very good book in the end, but felt it took slightly long to get there. On rereading this though, I was pleasantly surprised by having an absolute blast of a time and I am happy to say that I misjudged this book a bit.
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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