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We Ride the Storm (The Reborn Empire, #1)

We Ride the Storm (The Reborn Empire, #1)

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We Ride the Storm (The Reborn Empire, #1)We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A new gale of hope for self-published fantasy blows with all its might as Devin Madson summons a new triumphant tornado in We Ride the Storm.

Open up your thesaurus and look up the word “underrated.” Devin Madson’s name truly belongs there. I bloody loved this book, even more than all of Madson’s previous works which were great themselves. You can check my review history and you’ll see that for self-published/indie books that I’ve read and reviewed so far, I’ve given a full 5 stars rating (without rounding up on Goodreads) to literally only one book, The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher. We Ride the Storm is the second occurrence. …

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The Grave at Storm’s End (The Vengeance Trilogy, #3)

The Grave at Storm’s End (The Vengeance Trilogy, #3)

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The Grave at Storm's End (The Vengeance Trilogy, #3) The Grave at Storm’s End by Devin Madson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The storm of vengeance ends here and the graves have been filled. The result? An emotional and satisfying conclusion that fits the tone of the series.

Let me first say that the statistics for this book are mind boggling. The book has been out for almost two years and there are only 15 ratings and 5 reviews on Goodreads; that’s ridiculous! Not only is this trilogy better than a lot of grimdark series out there, Madson has done everything right as a self-published author. Amazing cover? Check. Great content? Check. Admirable professionalism? Check. The only thing this trilogy lacks is exposure and words of mouth. I’m not Mark Lawrence; I don’t have enough followers or friends on my list to bring as much exposure as he did for Senlin Ascends. I can only do what I do best and that is to provide my honest review/opinion and hopefully, it will help Madson’s work get the exposure it deserves. …

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The Gods of Vice (The Vengeance Trilogy, #2)

The Gods of Vice (The Vengeance Trilogy, #2)

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The Gods of Vice (The Vengeance Trilogy, #2)The Gods of Vice by Devin Madson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

No sophomore slump here; this was another great installment for The Vengeance Trilogy.

The battle for the Crimson Throne has split Kisia and it’s time for the characters to choose sides. Prepare for shifting allegiances, betrayal, and revelations. The plot in The Gods of Vice continues immediately after the end of the first book and once again, vengeance and the deadly magic—Empathy—become the central theme. If you’ve read the first book and haven’t read the novella, In Shadows We Fall yet, I strongly urge you to read it now; it’s only 100 pages long anyway. The novella, despite being very short, provides a lot of backgrounds information that is still pertinent to this installment. For example, Empress Li won’t just be a simple name you read; you’ll know so much more about her each time her name gets mentioned. This of course doesn’t mean that you HAVE to read the novella to understand the events in this book, but it will certainly be beneficial in enriching your experience. So why not? It’s fantastic and it will only take two hours (at max) to read. …

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The Blood of Whisperers (The Vengeance Trilogy, #1)

The Blood of Whisperers (The Vengeance Trilogy, #1)

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The Blood of Whisperers (The Vengeance Trilogy, #1)The Blood of Whisperers by Devin Madson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

A thoroughly engaging Asian-inspired fantasy and a super underrated debut.

I’m a man of habit; I usually always plan my TBR. But Devin Madson’s books shot up my TBR and ruined my plans immediately the moment I finished her award-winning novella, In Shadows We Fall, three weeks ago. From the moment I finished the novella, I knew I simply needed to read more set in this world and I’m damn pleased I followed that notion. …

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Book Review: The Ember Blade (The Darkwater Legacy, #1) by Chris Wooding

Book Review: The Ember Blade (The Darkwater Legacy, #1) by Chris Wooding

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

Cover art designed and illustrated by: Blacksheep Design

The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Darkwater Legacy (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 832 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 20th September 2018 by Gollancz

Wooding strikes a magnificently fine balance between classic epic fantasy and grimdark fantasy, making this an amazing start to a new trilogy. …

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The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

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The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is not a review. This is a story, a story about a man who opened the first pages of Mistborn: The Final Empire.

Back in August 2016, there was a man who lived in emptiness. He was probably clinically depressed, but he would never know; he didn’t get himself checked. His heart didn’t ache, his smile was freely given, but he was never happy; he felt empty every day. Damages were added when he realized his hobbies didn’t interest him that much anymore, which resulted in reluctant social interaction with his friends. His insomnia was so acute that he couldn’t sleep without alcohol so he drowned in it every night. These symptoms were most likely the aftermath of cumulative mental damage afflicted by those closest to him. His best friend spread lies about him, his closest cousin stole tons of money from him, and then he lost his job and his then girlfriend dumped him. He was alone. He told himself, this can’t be it. There’s always a way to come back stronger. He decided to do something new; he decided to fully immerse himself in reading novels. There were countless choices out there and he didn’t know what to choose first, but on the 1st of September 2016, he dived into the mist and hope was born. …

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Paternus: Wrath of Gods (Paternus Trilogy, #2)

Paternus: Wrath of Gods (Paternus Trilogy, #2)

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ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Paternus: Wrath of Gods (Paternus Trilogy, #2)Paternus: Wrath of Gods by Dyrk Ashton
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Paternus: Wrath of Gods is a brilliant concoction of mythologies, cultures, and fantasy that fans of urban fantasy definitely must read.

First of all, how awesome is that cover? In my opinion, it’s one of the best indie cover art I’ve ever seen. Then let me proceed by expressing my gratitude to the author for including a RECAP of the story and a list of characters from the first book at the beginning of this sequel. If it weren’t for this, I doubt my experience of reading this book without rereading the first one would be as good. Seriously, I still don’t get why traditionally published authors—except Mark Lawrence and Michael J. Sullivan—don’t do this more often; it is only a few pages long, and is so useful in enabling readers to acclimatize themselves to the world and characters again. So yes, even if it’s been a while since you’ve read the first book, you don’t have to worry about feeling lost. …

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The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

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The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A slow paced book containing an utterly powerful climax sequence; a spectacular middle book for the Mistborn trilogy.

When I first read The Well of Ascension, my experience was that I thoroughly loved it. It’s not until later that I discovered that apparently, a lot of people found the book disappointing. Because of this, I was scared that my reread experience would be ruined. Apparently, there’s nothing to worry about. Yes, it’s slightly an inferior book in comparison to The Final Empire but my overall experience of this reread is that I found the book almost as good as the first time I read through it. …

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In Shadows We Fall

In Shadows We Fall

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In Shadows We FallIn Shadows We Fall by Devin Madson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

In Shadows We Fall is an Asian inspired fantasy that won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella in 2017, and it’s a well-deserved achievement.

I was away on a one week vacation and I barely had time to read anything except during my airplane ride. For this reason, I needed a novella or something short to fill my reading needs and I chose this book randomly because guess what? You can actually get this 108 pages novella for free just by subscribing to the author’s mailing list, which is an amazing gift. I’ll try to keep my review as brief as possible because this is a short book and I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers. …

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City of Lies (Poison Wars, #1)

City of Lies (Poison Wars, #1)

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City of Lies (Poison Wars #1)City of Lies by Sam Hawke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

An alluring debut imbued with a perpetual threat of lies and treachery.

City of Lies is Sam Hawke’s debut novel and the first book in the Poison Wars series. For the same reason as one of my most anticipated debuts of the year—The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang—I was intrigued by this one because of the amazing cover. Yes, I’m a sucker for a book with great cover art and I’m not ashamed of it. The main difference though is that I’ve waited for this one for so much longer than The Poppy War; since last September to be exact, when the cover was first revealed. Other than that, I seriously knew nothing about the book except the fact that two of my favorite authors of all time—John Gwynne & Robin Hobb—have already praised this debut. Now that I’ve read it, I have to agree with them that this is a great debut, but at the same time, it’s certainly different from my usual fantasy read. …

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