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Tag: Grimdark Fantasy

Book Review: Beyond Redemption (Manifest Delusions, #1) by Michael R. Fletcher

Book Review: Beyond Redemption (Manifest Delusions, #1) by Michael R. Fletcher

This is a repost of a review I wrote in 2017.

Cover art illustrated by Richard Anderson

Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Manifest Delusions (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 495 pages (129,000 words)

Published: 16th June 2015 by Harper Voyager


I don’t think I truly knew what I was signing up for when I started reading this book because it was beyond anything I could ever dream of, and was insanely marvelous.

Beyond Redemption, the first book in the Manifest Delusions series by Michael R. Fletcher is what I foresee as the beginning of a magnificent series in the grimdark fantasy genre.

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Book Review: Eleventh Cycle (Mistland, #1) by Kian N. Ardalan

Book Review: Eleventh Cycle (Mistland, #1) by Kian N. Ardalan

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

Cover art illustrated by: NinoIs

Cover art designed by: Shawn T. King

Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Mistland (Book #1 of 4)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

Pages: 802 pages (Paperback)

Published: 1st February 2023 (Self-Published)


Eleventh Cycle is one of the best books I’ve read. Berserk and Dark Souls fans, this page-turning epic grimdark fantasy novel is written for us.

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Book Review: The Lonesome Crown (The Five Warrior Angels, #3) by Brian Lee Durfee

Book Review: The Lonesome Crown (The Five Warrior Angels, #3) by Brian Lee Durfee

Cover art illustrated by: Richard Anderson

The Lonesome Crown by Brian Lee Durfee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Five Warrior Angels (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 1088 pages (Paperback)

Published: 29th November 2022 by Saga Press


The Lonesome Crown is a massive fiery, brutal, and unpredictable concluding volume to The Five Warrior Angels trilogy.

“One must cease trying to control every little thing. Let the rivers of time flow, let the waters run where they may, for what destiny is yours shall remain the same and polished from the journey.—THE WAY AND TRUTH OF LAIJON”

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Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2022)

Petrik’s Top 19 Books of the Year! (2022)

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 (2022)

Between 1st January 2021 and 28th December 2022, I’ve read 65 novels + 162 manga/manhwa volumes (69k pages).

Please read this first. 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. 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 within 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 within this year. Non-2022 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 (rounded up on Goodreads) or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Honorable mentions are for books I rated 4.5 stars but I didn’t round up the ratings. And I will also mention my favorite novellas first 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: Priest of Crowns (War for the Rose Throne, #4) by Peter McLean

Book Review: Priest of Crowns (War for the Rose Throne, #4) by Peter McLean

Priest of Crowns by Peter McLean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: War for the Rose Throne (Book #4 of 4)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Pages: 481 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 4th August 2022 by Jo Fletcher


Priest of Crowns is a heartbreaking, ferociously blood-soaked, and unforgettable ending to the War for the Rose Throne.

“This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.”

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Book Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty

Book Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty

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

Cover art illustrated by: Micaela Alcaino

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Raag of Rta (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Historical Fantasy

Pages: 668 pages (Paperback)

Published: 3rd June 2022 by Leadstart


Mahabharata imbued with A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, & Malazan Book of the Fallen, Sons of Darkness is the best fantasy debut of 2022.

‘Whenever men found it hard to justify success, they inevitably fell back on luck as the reason. And if the success was completely unimaginable to their feeble minds, they called it magic.’

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Book Review: Until the Last (The Last War, #3) by Mike Shackle

Book Review: Until the Last (The Last War, #3) by Mike Shackle

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

Cover illustration by: Tomas Almeida

Until the Last by Mike Shackle

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Last War (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Pages: 784 pages

Published: 21st July 2022 by Gollancz


The Last War is over. Another favorite ongoing series concluded.

The Last War trilogy by Mike Shackle has been one of my favorite ongoing series since I read both We Are the Dead and A Fool’s Hope in 2020. Now that it’s finished, I can safely say this has become one of my favorite fantasy trilogies. And it is undoubtedly one of the most underrated fantasy series out there. Despite talking and shouting about this series so many times for the past two years, it seems like I still need to shout about it more because it seriously deserves so much more recognition. It is shocking how relatively few fantasy readers talk about this trilogy. I don’t think you can go wrong with reading The Last War trilogy if you love reading a war story or military fantasy series. Especially if you love reading a fantasy series that revolves around ordinary people rising up to do everything they can to survive and fight back. At all costs.

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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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Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2021)

Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2021)

This list is also available on my Booktube Channel if that’s what you preferred: https://youtu.be/wZY-JG9HUgQ

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 (2021)

It’s that time of the year again, y’all. 2021 is ending in a week. This year, I managed to read 130 books. This number includes 72 traditionally published books, 21 self-published/indie books, 37 manga volumes (I’ve read so many more manga volumes but I’ve decided to only include 37 here.)

In comparison to the previous years, whether it’s by pages count or the number of books, this is my lowest reading performance so far. There are details behind this reason, but really when it comes down to it, it’s because this is the first full year I became a Booktuber. In addition to reading and writing reviews, now I also record, edit, and upload videos to my YouTube Channel. My reading “performance” definitely suffers because of it, but not going to lie, I’m happy to make that sacrifice. As for the quality of the books I read, this is another incredible reading year, so let’s get to it immediately. As usual, I will be applying a few rules into this list:

Please read this first. 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. 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 within this year.

  • Rereads aren’t included.
  • One book per author.
  • The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time within this year. Non-2021 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. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2021! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page

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Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds (The Age of Madness, #3) by Joe Abercrombie

Book Review: The Wisdom of Crowds (The Age of Madness, #3) by Joe Abercrombie

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

Cover illustration by: Tomas Almeida

The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Age of Madness (Book #3 of 3), First Law World (Book, #10 of 10)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Grimdark fantasy

Pages: 529 pages (UK Hardback)

Published: 14th September 2021 by Gollancz (UK) & Orbit (US)


Joe Abercrombie is a genius storyteller. The Wisdom of Crowds is one of the best books of the year, a masterfully crafted conclusion to The Age of Madness trilogy.

“What is the point of gathering knowledge if one does not pass it on? What is the point of growing old if one does not try to shape the future?”

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