Browsed by
Category: Petrik’s Reviews

Book Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty

Book Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty

Comments 0 Comment

ARC was provided by the publisher—Leadstart—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: Micaela Alcaino

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Raag of Rta (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Pages: 668 pages (Paperback)

Published: 3rd June 2022 by Leadstart

Mahabharata imbued with A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, & Malazan Book of the Fallen, Sons of Darkness is the best fantasy debut of 2022.

‘Whenever men found it hard to justify success, they inevitably fell back on luck as the reason. And if the success was completely unimaginable to their feeble minds, they called it magic.’

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: Until the Last (The Last War, #3) by Mike Shackle

Book Review: Until the Last (The Last War, #3) by Mike Shackle

Comments 0 Comment

ARC was provided by the publisher—Gollancz—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover illustration by: Tomas Almeida

Until the Last by Mike Shackle

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Last War (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Pages: 784 pages

Published: 21st July 2022 by Gollancz

The Last War is over. Another favorite ongoing series concluded.

The Last War trilogy by Mike Shackle has been one of my favorite ongoing series since I read both We Are the Dead and A Fool’s Hope in 2020. Now that it’s finished, I can safely say this has become one of my favorite fantasy trilogies. And it is undoubtedly one of the most underrated fantasy series out there. Despite talking and shouting about this series so many times for the past two years, it seems like I still need to shout about it more because it seriously deserves so much more recognition. It is shocking how relatively few fantasy readers talk about this trilogy. I don’t think you can go wrong with reading The Last War trilogy if you love reading a war story or military fantasy series. Especially if you love reading a fantasy series that revolves around ordinary people rising up to do everything they can to survive and fight back. At all costs. …

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Veiled Throne (The Dandelion Dynasty, #3) by Ken Liu

Book Review: The Veiled Throne (The Dandelion Dynasty, #3) by Ken Liu

Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by: Sam Weber

The Veiled Throne by Ken Liu

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Dandelion Dynasty (Book #3 of 4)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Silkpunk

Pages: 1008 pages (Hardcover Edition)

Published: 7th December 2021 by Saga Press (US) & 11th November 2021 by Head of Zeus (UK)

The Veiled Throne is a marvelous story. It is a unique and superbly-written first half to the concluding installment of The Dandelion Dynasty.

“Though each individual mortal experiences life for but a score of years, they can draw upon a store of stories left by all their forbearers. The race of humankind grows toward infinity, even as the nature of each individual is limited. Nature may describe tendencies and circumscribe potentialities, but it is within the power of each soul to nurture itself for another life, to imagine a course not taken, to strive for a different view. Through that yearning by the finite for the infinite, the portraits painted by all the mortal eyes may yet piece together a grander truth than our divine understanding.”

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Alloy of Law (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: The Alloy of Law (Mistborn: Wax and Wayne, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Mistborn: Wax and Wayne (Book #1 of 4), Mistborn Saga (Book #4 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Steampunk

Pages: 392 pages (Mass Market Paperback Edition)

Published: 8th November 2011 by Tor Books (US) & 10th November 2011 by Gollancz (UK)

The Alloy of Law is an immensely enjoyable start to the second era of Mistborn Saga by Brandon Sanderson.

“The measure of a person is not how much they have lived. It’s in how they make use of what life has shown them.”

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan

Book Review: Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan

Comments 1 comment

Cover art illustrated by: Gregory Manchess

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Wheel of Time (Book #6 of 14)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy

Pages: 1056 pages (Kindle Edition)

Published: 15th October 1994 by Tor Books

Lord of Chaos could potentially become the best book by Robert Jordan for me. Let the Lord of Chaos rule, and rule it did.

“Asha’man, kill!”

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by: Charis Loke

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Green Bone Saga (Book #0.5 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 144 pages (Hardback edition)

Published: 30th April 2022 by Subterranean Press

The Jade Setter of Janloon is an exhilarating and heartfelt appetizer or dessert to The Green Bone Saga, depending on when you start this novella. …

Read More Read More

Book Review: Sharp Ends (The First Law World, #7) by Joe Abercrombie

Book Review: Sharp Ends (The First Law World, #7) by Joe Abercrombie

Comments 2 comments

Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: First Law World (Book #7 of 10)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Westerns

Pages: 369 pages (UK paperback edition)

Published: 26th April 2016 by Gollancz (UK) and Orbit (US)

Sharp Ends, the ultimate collection of tales from The First Law World by Joe Abercrombie, is a great dessert to provide insights and background for most of the previously established characters in the past six novels. …

Read More Read More

Book Review: Dreadgod (Cradle, #11) by Will Wight

Book Review: Dreadgod (Cradle, #11) by Will Wight

Comments 2 comments

Cover art illustration by: Patrick Foster

Dreadgod by Will Wight

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Cradle (Book #11 of 12)

Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia

Pages: 504 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 5th July 2022 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)

Dreadgod has prepared the series to reach its epic conclusion, but as an installment, Dreadgod was my third least favorite of the series.

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

Comments 1 comment

Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #1 of 6)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 432 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Published: 28th June 2016 by Del Rey

It’s always a great feeling when you start a new series from an author whose work you loved and find out their storytelling skill in their first installment of a series has improved. Well done, Michael J. Sullivan.

On my first read of Age of Myth, I gave it a 3.5/5 stars rating. Five years later, today, I finished my reread of the book. Similar to my experience of rereading The Riyria Revelations, I loved Age of Myth more on my second read. Let me enlighten you a bit on why this reread worked so well. And to do this, I will have to compare my experience of reading Age of Myth and The Crown Conspiracy, the first book in The Riyria Revelations series, and also my reread experience of them both.

“If given a choice between a potentially great hardship and doing nothing, people gravitated toward what was most familiar and comfortable. That was why leadership was needed. To do what was necessary rather than what was easy.”

…

Read More Read More

Book Review: Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Book Review: Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Comments 1 comment

ARC was provided by the publisher—Del Rey—in exchange for an honest review.

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Founders Trilogy (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fantasy, Urban High Fantasy, Science Fiction

Pages: 560 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 28th June 2022 by Del Rey (US) & Jo Fletcher (UK)

Locklands is a truly inventive, emotional, genre-blending, and reality-defying finish to The Founders Trilogy.

“We’re all the result of countless actions and choices made throughout the centuries, and the odds of those actions and choices going the exact same way again are basically nil.”

…

Read More Read More