Fantasy Archives - Page 2 of 65

Book Review: The Trials of Empire (Empire of the Wolf, #3) by Richard Swan

February 2, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by: Martina Fackova

Cover designed by: Lauren Panepinto

The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Empire of the Wolf (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy

Pages: 496 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 164,000 words

Published: 6th February 2024 by Orbit (US) & 8th February 2024 by Orbit (UK)

The Trials of Empire bestowed readers with a different direction and satisfying ending to Empire of the Wolf trilogy.

“One of the greatest feats of human cognisance is to realise and accept that every being capable of thought has a life as complex as one’s own.”

…

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2023)

January 27, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2023)

Between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023, I read 80 books + 177 manga/manhwa volumes (76.8k pages).

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read this year.

Rereads aren’t included.
One book per series.
The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time this year. Non-2023 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for two best novellas and two short stories I read this year. Without further ado, here are the top 15 (or 19) books I’ve read this year! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.) …

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Book Review: Kingdoms of Death (The Sun Eater, #4) by Christopher Ruocchio

January 18, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Kingdoms of Death.

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

Cover art illustrated by Kieran Yanner

Kingdoms of Death by Christopher Ruocchio

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Sun Eater (Book #4 of 7)

Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera, Science Fantasy

Word Count: 200,000 words

Pages: 544 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 8th March 2022 by DAW Books (US) & Head of Zeus (UK)

Ruocchio gets what I love to read in science fantasy. Every book in The Sun Eater series has become one of my favorite books of all time, and Kingdoms of Death is not an exception to this claim.

“Art, great art, serves as a reminder of invisible things and of their manifestation in things visible.” …

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Book Review: Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

January 14, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art by Dusan Markovic

Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 784 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 23rd November 2022 by Mythology Press (Self-Published)

Heliotrope is a good one-off standalone character-driven fantasy reminiscent of the classic adventurous fantasy novel. …

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Book Review: The Prophet of Edan (The Edan Trilogy, #2) by Philip Chase

January 12, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

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

Cover art illustrated by Kyra Gregory

The Prophet of Edan by Philip Chase

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Edan Trilogy (Book #2 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 610 pages (Paperback edition)

Published: 21st June 2023 by Philip Chase (Self-Published)

For better or worse, The Prophet of Edan is a heavily action-packed sequel to The Way of Edan. …

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Book Review: The Heart of What Was Lost (The Osten Ard Saga, #3.5) by Tad Williams

January 5, 2024 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art illustrated by Michael Whelan

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Osten Ard Saga (Book #3.5 of 7)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 222 pages (Kindle edition)

Word Count: 78,000 words

Published: 3rd January 2017 by DAW Books

The Heart of What Was Lost is the action-packed epilogue to Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, and it is also a great setup to The Last King of Osten Ard. …

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Book Review: The God is Not Willing (The Witness, #1) by Steven Erikson

December 22, 2023 Petrik Leo Comments 2 comments

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

Cover art illustrated by Steve Stone

The God is Not Willing by Steven Erikson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: The Witness (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Military Fantasy

Word Count: 191,000 words

Pages: 496 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 16th November 2021 by Tor Books (US) & 1st July 2021 by Bantam Press (UK)

The God is Not Willing made me sad. It might be time for me to admit everything in the Malazan universe beyond Malazan Book of the Fallen is not for me.

“Longing. Look for it, in every crowd, and you will find it. Paint it any colour you choose: grief, nostalgia, melancholy, remembrance, these are but flavours, poetic reflections.”

…

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Book Review: The Great Change (and Other Lies) by Joe Abercrombie

December 19, 2023 Petrik Leo Comments 0 Comment

Cover art by John Anthony di Giovanni

The Great Change (and Other Lies) by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Age of Madness (Book #0.5 of 3), First Law World (Book, #11 of 11)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Grimdark fantasy

Pages: 120 pages (Hardback)

Published: 30^th September 2023 by Subterranean Press

The Great Change (and Other Lies) is a terrific and thought-provoking insight into the behind-the-scenes of creation and revolution in The Age of Madness.