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Book Review: 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

Book Review: 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

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20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

20th Century Ghosts is not the first short story collection I’ve read by Hill, but it’s the first one he released. As a whole, I think it might be a touch stronger than Full Throttle, a more recent short story collection of his I read in 2019. However, I also found the individual stories largely less memorable. It was more even across the board, but that meant that there were fewer that stood out to me. That being said, I really enjoyed my time with this collection, and there wasn’t a single story that I legitimately hated. In a collection of 15 stories, I’d say that’s a pretty fantastic achievement. Below are micro-reviews of each story. …

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Book Review: Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1) by Jay Kristoff

Book Review: Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1) by Jay Kristoff

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Cover art illustrated by Kerby Rosanes

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Empire of the Vampire (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 725 pages (UK Hardcover)

Published: 7th September 2021 by Harper Voyager (UK) & 14th September by Tor Books (US)

Empire of the Vampire is an infuriating novel. And yet, at the same time, it is also a brilliant and bloody epic post-apocalyptic fantasy and vampire story.

“I never thought I’d find such peace in simple reading. The words were a kind of magic, taking me by the hand and sweeping me into lands unseen, times unremembered, thoughts unimagined. Through all my years in San Michon, all the blood and sweat and darkling roads I walked, I learned one of my greatest lessons sitting in that Library with those girls in the still of the night.
A life without books is a life not lived.”

…

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Book Review: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Book Review: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

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Fairy Tale by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“That much is true about songs (and many stories) even in my own world. They speak mind to mind, but only if you listen.”

Fairy Tale has been one of my most anticipated reads of the 2022 since it was announced. I preordered it in February, the day it first became available. So to say my expectations were sky-high would be an understatement. Reading anything you’ve been looking forward to for that long with your hopes for it residing somewhere in the clouds is always a tenuous undertaking. While Fairy Tale didn’t disappoint, it couldn’t quite live up to the hype in my head.

“it’s the stories of our childhood that make the deepest impressions and last the longest.”

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Book Review: Age of Swords (Legends of the First Empire, #2) by Michael J. Sullivan

Book Review: Age of Swords (Legends of the First Empire, #2) by Michael J. Sullivan

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Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti

Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #2 of 6)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 528 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Published: 25th July 2017 by Del Rey

Age of Swords is another win (with one issue) from Michael J. Sullivan.

“There always seemed to be a better way, except when it came to people. Once broken, people couldn’t be repaired.”

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Book Review: Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga, #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

Book Review: Kingdom of Bones (The Echoes Saga, #5) by Philip C. Quaintrell

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Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

Kingdom of Bones by Philip C. Quaintrell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Echoes Saga (Book #5 of 9)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 592 pages (Kindle Edition)

Published: 6th May 2019 by Quaintrell Publishing (Self-Published)

With Kingdom of Bones, I am halfway through the super underhyped series: The Echoes Saga. …

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Book Review: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Book Review: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

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The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Orbit Books, in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by a two-pronged attack of adorable cover art and interesting comparisons. I was told that this book had Howl’s Moving Castle vibes, and I can only see that if I squint, and only as regards that personalities of the main characters. I was also informed that it was basically You’ve Got Mail but in a fantasy world, and I get this comparison even though I’ve never actually watched that movie. (Yes, yes. I know. I promise to rectify that eventually.) While romance hasn’t been my genre of choice this year because I read so much of it last year, I decided to give this a go anyway simply because I thought the premise sounded fun. And I’m so glad that I did, because The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was a snarky delight of a rom-com housed in a fascinating fantasy world. …

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Book Review: Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks

Book Review: Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks

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Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I became friends with Andrew Franks on TikTok before I realized he was an author, because I enjoyed his taste and his content. When he reached out offering a code to the audiobook for Prey Without Ceasing, I was both excited and nervous. I tend to shy away from reading books written by people I’ve developed any kind of relationship with, because I try to be as (kindly) honest as I can be about every book I read, and this has cost me relationships in the past. But the synopsis of this book called to me so strongly that I accepted his offer and also purchased the Kindle book so I could tandem read and make notes. I made the right decision. This was definitely a book worth reading, and I related to portions of it so deeply that it was painful. …

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Book Review: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Book Review: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

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The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Atmospheric, transportive, and often terrifying, The Hacienda was a captivatingly creepy place to visit. I’ve been looking forward to The Hacienda since before its publication. But, true to form for me, I kept putting it off once I had it in my hands, partly because I have such a plethora of books on my shelf calling my name that leads me to constant distraction, and partly due to a slight fear that I wouldn’t love it as much as so many other readers who had already read it and adored it with every fiber of my being. But the stars finally aligned, and a TikTok friend offered to buddy read it with me. While I didn’t adore it as much as some other readers, I did very much enjoy it.

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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

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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: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery, by Brom

Book Review: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery, by Brom

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Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brom is almost distressingly talented. Not only is the man a brilliant artist, he has a deft hand and quick wit when it comes to storytelling. Krampus was the first book I had ever read by him, and it was one of my top reads of 2021. This book didn’t hit me quite as hard, but it did prove to me that Krampus was definitely not a one-off. Slewfoot is an exploration of control through religion, the subjugation of women under the patriarchy, the dangers of suppression when mingled with superstition, and the near mystical ability of nature to heal herself from wounds inflicted by man. And on top of all that, it’s just a fun, if brutal, story.

“Angels must often do dark deeds in the name of the Lord.”

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