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Book Review + Cover Reveal: Dark Sea’s End (Beyond Ash and Sand, #1) by Richard Nell

Book Review + Cover Reveal: Dark Sea’s End (Beyond Ash and Sand, #1) by Richard Nell

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I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo

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

Cover art illustrated by: Felix Ortiz

Cover art designed by: STK.Kreations

Dark Sea’s End by Richard Nell

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Beyond Ash and Sand (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Word count: Roughly 80k words

Published: 1st June 2021 by Richard Nell (Self-Published)

Dark Sea’s End is a heart-pounding return to the world of Ash and Sand, and I’m sure the future of it will be as brilliant. …

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Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2020)

Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2020)

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The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 Lists. Check out his portfolio, he’s brilliant.

This list is also available on my Booktube Channel if that’s what you preferred: https://youtu.be/1gXaV7SQVio

 

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2020) …

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Book Review: Kings of Heaven (Ash and Sand, #3) by Richard Nell

Book Review: Kings of Heaven (Ash and Sand, #3) by Richard Nell

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

Cover illustration by: Derek Murphy

Kings of Heaven by Richard Nell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Ash and Sand (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Pages: 411 pages

Published: 1st September 2020 by Richard Nell (Self-published)

Kings of Heaven has carved Ash and Sand as one of the best fantasy trilogies I’ve ever read.

“A man fails in only two ways, my son. He quits, or he dies.”

…

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Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2019)

Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2019)

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The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 Lists. Check out his portfolio, he’s brilliant.

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2019)

Here we are, we’re reaching the end of 2019 very soon! This year, I’ve read and reviewed 115 books (96 traditionally published books + 19 indie books.)

It’s lower than the previous two years, but I must say that it’s been another incredible reading year for me. Putting the high amount of 4.5 and 5 stars books I’ve rated this year into consideration, I will be applying four rules into this list; doing this will help me give appreciation to more authors, and I’ll be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) rather than having only a few authors/books hoarding the list every year.

  • Rereads don’t count.
  • One book per author.
  • Unless specified, the books listed here are published this year.
  • Number one spot aside, none of these are in particular order. All have merit, and most have different strengths that make them stand out from each other; it’s too difficult for me to rank them accordingly.

All the books listed below received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2019! (Full reviews of these books can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)

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Petrik’s Top 10 Books of the Year So Far (January 1st, 2019-June 30th, 2019)

Petrik’s Top 10 Books of the Year So Far (January 1st, 2019-June 30th, 2019)

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The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 10 List. (More info on this at the end of the post.)

Between January 1st, 2019 and June 30th, 2019, I’ve read and reviewed 61 books (33.6k pages). So far, it’s been an incredible reading year. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. The rules are:

  • Rereads don’t count.
  • One book per author.
  • The book listed here are not exclusively published this year.

Do note that although this time there’s a rank to this list, I highly recommend every book listed below because I loved all of them immensely and they received a rating of 4.5 (rounded up on Goodreads) or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here we go! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)

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Kings of Ash (Ash and Sand, #2)

Kings of Ash (Ash and Sand, #2)

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

Kings of Ash by Richard Nell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kings of Ash triumphed over its predecessor in almost every possible way.

Kings of Ash is the second book in Richard Nell’s Ash and Sand trilogy. It’s the sequel to the highly praised Kings of Paradise, but the fans of the previous book don’t need to worry about stumbling into the infamous middle book syndrome here. Kings of Ash surpassed the previous book’s quality and it can all be boiled down to one reason: this is Ruka’s book. I mentioned this in my review of Kings of Paradise: “Ruka’s POV was easily one of the best anti-heroes POV I’ve ever read in grimdark fantasy,” and I stand by my words, even more so after reading this installment. Kings of Ash is a different kind of book from its predecessor; it’s much more character-driven. Almost the entire narrative was told from Ruka’s POV and I’m incredibly satisfied by this decision. Nell offers a deep exploration of Ruka’s character and it makes the storyline feel more intimate. More importantly, this storytelling style shows Nell’s greatest writing strength as an author – his characterizations.

“A lioness cares nothing for the shriek of jackals, old woman. Now hear this, and hear it well—if she had raised me to hate, I would kill you and all your kin, and no man or god could stop me.”

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Top 10 Self-Published Books I’ve Ever Read (As of November 28th, 2018)

Top 10 Self-Published Books I’ve Ever Read (As of November 28th, 2018)

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Photo on the left: All the self-published physical books (except Beyond Redemption) that I own right now.

The title of this article is pretty self-explanatory already. As of November 28th, 2018, I’ve read and reviewed 52 self-published books; this number includes indie books that were originally self-published and now have been traditionally published. I’m making this post because some of my friends and followers on Goodreads have asked me to make one. But, more importantly, I’d like to stress the importance of two things before I get to the list. Feel free to skip this if you just want to go to the list immediately. …

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Kings of Paradise (Ash and Sand, #1)

Kings of Paradise (Ash and Sand, #1)

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Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Kings of Paradise (Ash and Sand #1)Kings of Paradise by Richard Nell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally got around to review Richard Nell’s highly acclaimed indie debut, Kings of Paradise. My verdict: an impressive grimdark debut.

I was first offered to review Kings of Paradise by Nell himself back in November 2017. Back then, Kings of Paradise had around 20 ratings and I simply didn’t have time to read it because I was swamped by ARCs, review copies, and Oathbringer’s release, which was also in November; I told Nell that I’ll give his book a read in 2018. I certainly didn’t expect that the book would garner 150 new ratings and many extremely positive reviews; I’m pretty sure there’s a Nell fan club being formed already. I won’t bother you with rearranging the synopsis into my own words, the blurb is spoiler-free and you should read that if you want to know what the plot is about. I’ll start off this review immediately with my favorite part of the book, Ruka’s storyline. …

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