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Tag: Grimdark

Book Review: The Fangs of War (The Blood and Steel Saga, #1) by E.J. Doble

Book Review: The Fangs of War (The Blood and Steel Saga, #1) by E.J. Doble

Cover art illustrated by Diego Spezzoni

The Fangs of War by E.J. Doble

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Blood and Steel Saga (Book #1 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 575 pages (Hardback edition)

Published: 11th January 2022 (Self-Published)


It is an impressive feat that a young 21-year-old writer wrote and published a grimdark fantasy debut the like of The Fangs of War.

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

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

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

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

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: 30th 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.

“Greed was the one thing in the diamond trade, after all, that could always be relied upon.

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Book Review: A War to End All (Manifest Delusions, #3) by Michael R. Fletcher & Clayton W. Snyder

Book Review: A War to End All (Manifest Delusions, #3) by Michael R. Fletcher & Clayton W. Snyder

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

Cover art illustrated by Andrew Maleski

A War to End All by Michael R. Fletcher & Clayton W. Snyder

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Series: Manifest Delusions (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 535 pages (Kindle edition)

Publish date: 18th September 2023 (Indie)


A War to End All is a philosophical and tepid conclusion to a brilliant grimdark fantasy series.

“The Old Gods were broken by wars and plagues of the mind, left reeling like the most bloodied veterans. Infected with horror at the cost of their actions, they retreated into dementia. Insanity as escape. Seeking to free themselves, they fled to a world of delusion, a world uncorrupted by jealousies and psychoses. And yet, in the end, even this they would pollute. So deep their need, so desperate their flight from their bitter past, they ignored the one truism all must bow before. Belief defines reality.”

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Book Review: The Mirror’s Truth (Manifest Delusions, #2) by Michael R. Fletcher

Book Review: The Mirror’s Truth (Manifest Delusions, #2) by Michael R. Fletcher

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

Cover art illustrated by John Anthony Di Giovanni

The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Manifest Delusions (Book #2 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 375 pages

Published: 28th November 2016 by Michael R. Fletcher (Self-Published)


This is why I love grimdark fantasy. The Mirror’s Truth is grimdark fantasy at its best and it deserves only the highest of praise from me.

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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: Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion, #1) by Krystle Matar

Book Review: Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion, #1) by Krystle Matar

Legacy of the Brightwash by Krystle Matar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Tainted Dominion (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Murder Mystery, Romance

Pages: 664 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 18th February 2021 by Imburleigh Publishing (Self-Published)


I thought I would end up disliking Legacy of the Brightwash. I was wrong.

“You should still help… Even if you don’t think you’re good at it. The best way to learn something is to not be good at it first.”

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DEATH’S BEATING HEART (THE WAR ETERNAL #5) BY ROB J HAYES

DEATH’S BEATING HEART (THE WAR ETERNAL #5) BY ROB J HAYES

Death’s Beating Heart by Rob J. Hayes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Grimdark, Adult
Pages: 480 pages
Published: 26th December 2022, Self-published

Note: spoilers from the previous The War Eternal books below.

A powerful ending to a fantastic series, Death’s Beating Heart delivers equal measures of pain and triumph that grants Eskara Helsene the legacy she deserves.

At the end of book four, Eska’s daughter Sirileth crashed a moon into the surface of the planet to prevent the world’s destruction from The Maker. Sirileth killed countless thousands to save millions. But the planet’s environment has become unlivable; there is no direct sunlight, crops are dying, the water is dirty, and kingdoms are focused on their own survival instead of working across borders to find solutions. Oh, and there’s an unspeakably powerful immortal entity called Norvet Meruun that is conquering all of Sevorai, and threatens to cross the rift into Ovaeris. It’s up to Eska, Sirileth, and the fear-devouring horror Ssserakis to raise a resistance before the planet either dies from neglect or is destroyed through invasion.

Eska is such a compelling character because she is consistently misunderstood. Although she is the boogeyman to her peers, she usually has best intentions in mind: she’ll defend her family and friends at all costs, taking no prisoners along the way. She is also prideful to a fault; she is responsible for unspeakable horrors, but also gravitates toward taking on extra guilt for actions of which she had little influence. Hayes has also done an excellent job writing Eska’s struggles with depression. The listlessness and desire to shut off during times of anxiety or crisis felt genuine and visceral. Eska is presented with excruciating choices where there is no easy solutions, and although she might be the most powerful Sourcerer on the planet, she’s just as vulnerable and human as the rest of us.

But not all is gloom and doom! This is a grim novel, but it is also an absolute blast to read. Hayes’ Otherworld creature design impressed me to no end. I won’t spoil the details, but Flowne and Kekran are two of my favorite monsters I’ve read in recent memory. They are powerful and horrifying and launched some of the best battle scenes in the entire series.

Death’s Beating Heart is a story about sacrifice and consequences, and how far a mother will go to protect what she loves. All throughout Eska’s narration, the reader was tantalized with foreshadowing and references, and Hayes managed to pull all the strings together beautifully for an epic, memorable conclusion. The first half of the book took its time setting the table, but the feast of an ending made it up for its relatively slower start.

Fans of grim fantasy with dark humor, high sorcery, epic battles and characters with singular voices will find a lot to love in The War Eternal series. Highly recommended.

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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