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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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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

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.”

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Book Review: Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Book Review: Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

 

Foundryside

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Founders Trilogy (Book #1 of 3)

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

Pages: 512 pages (Hardcover)

Published: 1st August 2018 by Crown (US) & Jo Fletcher (UK)


Thrillingly fun and highly imaginative, Foundryside is one of the most promising starts to a series I have read.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

Hello everyone!   I did wonder if I should keep up with my monthly wrap-up for June or do a half-year recap of best books read so far.   I decided with stick with the wrap-up in the end as I thought my Books of the Month will end up being on the half-year list anyway.

I can’t believe half of 2022 had passed by already.  Hope that all of you have been reading great books so far this year.    Before I start, can I just say that Stranger Things Season 4 was absolutely phenomenal!  I still can’t stop thinking about it, and that ending.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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Celeste’s 5 Star Reads of 2022 (January 1st – June 30th)

Celeste’s 5 Star Reads of 2022 (January 1st – June 30th)

I read 78 books in the first half of 2022. (Which is, I admit, excessive.) Of those, 23 of them have been 5 star reads. (Which is also excessive.) This is in part due to the fact that I’m ridiculously easy to please, but it’s also because I have found some truly phenomenal books (and even new-to-me authors) this year. I wanted to share these with you, in the order that I read them.

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Book review: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

Book review: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson


The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages.”

The Hero of Ages is exactly as epic a conclusion as I remembered. I feared that knowing all of the big twists and reveals might lead to it not being as powerful upon rereading as it was when I experienced it the first time, but those concerns were unwarranted. My anticipation of said reveals made for a reading journey that was just as fulfilling as my first read-through. Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy isn’t quite a perfect series, but it’s very, very close. With fantastic world building, high stakes and palpable tension, mysteries to be solved and a whole plethora of wonderful characters to root for, philosophical musings on belief and hope balanced with brilliant action scenes and some of the most cinematic and interesting magic systems I’ve ever encountered, I don’t think it’s at all a stretch to call Mistborn a masterpiece.

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Cover Reveal: Defiant (Songs of Chaos, #3) by Michael R. Miller

Cover Reveal: Defiant (Songs of Chaos, #3) by Michael R. Miller

Hi everyone! Petrik Novel Notions here.

We’re honored to once again welcome Michael Miller to our blog. When Michael was last here, it was for the cover reveal of his Dragon’s Blade Trilogy and Unbound, the second book in the Songs of Chaos series. This time around it’s for the cover reveal of Defiant, the sequel to his best-selling Ascendant and Unbound! If you are unfamiliar with this series, The Songs of Chaos is a dragon rider epic that takes inspiration from such celebrated works as Eragon and Pern. In Michael’s own words “It’s about a serving boy who defies society to save a blind dragon from death and rises to become a dragon rider. A bit of cultivation/progression magic is sprinkled into this one.”

And now, without further ado… check out the cover art of Defiant!

Cover art by Randy Vargas

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Cover Reveal: The Alchemy of Sorrow

Cover Reveal: The Alchemy of Sorrow

Hi everyone! Petrik here. We have something exciting to post today! Novel Notions will participate in revealing the cover art to The Alchemy of Sorrow, a Fantasy & Sci-fi Anthology of Grief and Hope! I haven’t read this one yet, but everything I’ve heard about it seems to be showing that this is an anthology to watch out for. And before I show you, allow me to quickly show you the details regarding the book!

Title: The Alchemy of Sorrow

Public release date: Nov. 1st 2022

ISBNs for all editions:

eBook – 978-1-952667-92-3 

Hardcover –  978-1-952667-93-0 

Paperback – 978-1-952667-94-7

Audiobook – 978-1-952667-95-4 

Editors:

Sarah Chorn – Lead editor

Virginia McClain – acquiring editor/coordinator

Authors: M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder

Publisher: Crimson Fox Publishing

Pre-order link for ebooks: https://books2read.com/AoS

Pre-order link for audiobooks: https://books2read.com/AoS (currently not available for pre-order in audio but it will be in the next few months)

Print pre-orders coming soon!

And without further ado, here’s the blurb and cover art to The Alchemy of Sorrow!

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