Fantasy Archives - Novel Notions

Book Review: Where Darkness Dwells (Song of the Solas, #1) by Andrea Renae

July 23, 2024 Celeste Comments 0 Comment

Where Darkness Dwells by Andrea Renae
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Where Darkness Dwells is a lush, beautiful story with a radiant core of hope. It doesn’t shy from darkness, but it also doesn’t revel in it. Instead, it exposes the weak underbelly of that darkness, dwelling on the fact that, no matter how thick the darkness may seem, the Light is always able to overcome it. We might not understand why the darkness has held dominion for so long, or why the Light didn’t reclaim its rightful throne sooner. But we can know that a battle between the two forces is inevitable, and we rest assured of the fact that Light will win. …

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Book Review: The Curse of the Mistwraith (Wars of Light and Shadow, #1) by Janny Wurts

July 15, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Janny Wurts

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Wars of Light and Shadow (Book #1 of 11)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 611 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 233,000 words

Publish date: May 1993 by HarperVoyager

The Curse of the Mistwraith is the start of a super ambitious epic fantasy, and it is a book that will require your 100% concentration. …

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Book Review: Kavithri (Ghosts of Ethuran, #1) by Aman J. Bedi

July 2, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by Giby Joseph

Kavithri by Aman J. Bedi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Ghosts of Ethuran (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 448 pages (Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 111,500 words

Publish date: 16th of May 2024 by Gollancz

Imagine an engaging Indian-inspired steampunk fantasy debut reminiscent of The Poppy War with an empathetic heroine with a rein on her wrath. That’s Kavithri. …

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Book Review: The Daughters’ War (Blacktongue, #0) by Christopher Buehlman

June 5, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by Marie Bergeron

The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: Blacktongue (Book #0)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 416 pages (Kindle edition)

Publish date: 25th of June 2024 by Tor Books (US) and Gollancz (UK)

The Daughters’ War is a very different kind of prequel novel from The Blacktongue Thief.

“One who has studied and thinks oneself capable might be undone to discover how much less one knows than one thinks.”

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The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin

May 28, 2024 Celeste Comments 0 Comment

The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the publisher, Quill Tree Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl Who Kept the Castle is the epitome of cozy fantasy, especially for middle grade to young adult readers. It feels like being dropped into a Studio Ghibli movie — in fact, one of the regions of the kingdom is called Ghibli. (And the capital city is Retnec, an anagram of center. Can you guess where on the map that city might reside?) There are lots of tiny nods to other classic fantasy stories, like the works of Tolkien and Diana Wynne Jones. But even outside of the fun little Easter eggs, this is a delightful book in its own right. (I stated above that it’s cozy fantasy, but it might be more fitting to call this cozy-adjacent. Because while the setting and storytelling feel very cozy, there are definite stakes to this tale.) …

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Book Review: Deathless (Annals of the God Eater, #1) by Rob J. Hayes

May 27, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Eshpur

Deathless by Rob J. Hayes

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Annals of the God Eater (Book #1 of 3), The God Eater Saga

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 196 pages (Kindle edition)

Publish date: 23rd of July 2024 by Rob J. Hayes (Self-Published)

Deathless was, unbelievably, even better than Demon; this is an intense and dark political epic fantasy done right.

”It takes more than one person to birth a conspiracy. “

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Book Review: The Tropic of Serpents (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #2) by Marie Brennan

May 24, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Review copy provided by the author’s agent—Zeno Literary Agency—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by Todd Lockwood

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Memoirs of Lady Trent (Book #2 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Word Count: 98,000 words

Pages: 331 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 4th March 2014 by Tor Books (US) & 20th June 2014 by Titan Books (UK)

The Tropic of Serpents precisely portrayed why I hate jungles.

“There is no faster way to harden my determination than to assume I will fail at something.”

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Book Review: Hell For Hire (Tear Heaven Down, #1) by Rachel Aaron

May 13, 2024 TS Chan Comments 0 Comment

ARC received from author in exchange for an honest review

Cover Art by Luisa Preissler.

Hell For Hire by Rachel Aaron

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Tear Heaven Down (Book 1)

Genre: Fantasy, urban fantasy

Release date: 4th June 2024 (self-published)

Please allow me to repeat myself, again. Rachel Aaron has never ever failed to deliver an effortlessly engaging story filled with lovable characters, and an amazing, yet accessible, worldbuilding that is uniquely hers. It came as no surprise that Hell For Hire has all her usual winning trademarks and is possibly her best first book in a series so far.
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