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Book Review: The Lightning Tree (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #0.5) by Patrick Rothfuss

Book Review: The Lightning Tree (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #0.5) by Patrick Rothfuss

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I read The Lightning Tree in Rogues anthology.

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Kingkiller Chronicle (Book #0.5 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 58 pages (Available in Rogues anthology)

Published: 6th July 2015 by Titan Books (UK) & 1st July 2014 by Bantam (US)

Cozy, sweet, and memorable, The Lightning Tree is a must-read novella for every fans of Bast and enthusiast of The Kingkiller Chronicle.
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Book Review: The Kingdom of Liars (The Legacy of the Mercenary King, #1) by Nick Martell

Book Review: The Kingdom of Liars (The Legacy of the Mercenary King, #1) by Nick Martell

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

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legacy of the Mercenary King (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Mystery

Pages: 608 pages (US hardcover edition)

Published: 7th May 2020 by Gollancz (UK) & 5th May 2020 by Saga Press (US)

The Kingdom of Liars is a solid debut that’s quite challenging to get through at first, but the second half offers rewarding experience to those who read the novel to its completion.

Similar to many cases with debuts by an unknown author in the past, my interest to read The Kingdom of Liars, the first book in The Legacy of The Mercenary Kings series by Nick Martell, was sparked due to the gorgeous cover art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme (US edition) and Richard Anderson (UK edition). Additionally, both Brandon Sanderson and James Islington—two authors whose works I immensely loved—gave high praise to this debut. How could I even resist reading this book!?

“It’s the long con that wins in the end, Michael. The people who do things worth remembering are the ones willing to wait decades to achieve it.”

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Book Review: Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path, #1) by Michael R. Fletcher

Book Review: Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path, #1) by Michael R. Fletcher

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

Black Stone Heart by Michael R. Fletcher

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Obsidian Path (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy

Pages: 487 pages

Published: 1st April 2020 by Michael R. Fletcher

Insanely brilliant. Fletcher did it again. Black Stone Heart is one of his best works so far, and Fletcher has finally crafted something as good as his Manifest Delusion series with this one. …

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Book Review: The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3)

Book Review: The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3)

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

The Light of All That Falls by James Islington

My rating: 6 of 5 stars

Series:  The Licanius Trilogy (Book #3 of 3)

Genre:  Fantasy, Epic fantasy, High Fantasy

Published: 12th December 2019 by Orbit (UK) & 10th December 2019 by Orbit (US)

A breathtakingly audacious masterpiece of epic fantasy, The Light of All That Falls is an emotionally satisfying and flawless conclusion to the phenomenal Licanius Trilogy.
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Book Review: The Unspoken Name (The Serpent’s Gate, #1)

Book Review: The Unspoken Name (The Serpent’s Gate, #1)

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

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Serpent Gates (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy, Science fiction

Published: 20th February 2020 by Tor (UK) & 11th February 2020 by Tor Books (US)

The Unspoken Name is a commendable fantasy debut with fascinating worldbuilding ideas.

With so many fantasy debuts cropping up every year, it is not an easy task to differentiate oneself from the rest. In this respect, Larkwood has created an interesting setting that blended old-world god worship that bestows magic, and science fiction or technological elements such as skyships and a dimensional plane called the Maze of Echos through which these ships travel via portal gates. Technology aside, the setting still feel very much like most classic fantasy, mainly because of the prevalence of gods and magic.
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Book Review: The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3) by James Islington

Book Review: The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3) by James Islington

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

The Light of All That Falls by James Islington

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series:  The Licanius Trilogy (Book #3 of 3)

Genre:  Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 864 pages

Published: 12th December 2019 by Orbit (UK) & 10th December 2019 by Orbit (US)

The Light of All That Falls is an absolute marvel, a prodigious finishing touch to an ingeniously plotted series.

Here’s a little statistic to give you an idea of how much I loved this book and series. If you look at my Goodreads profile, you can take a look at my list of favorite authors. Inside this list are authors who have written three or more books—that I’ve read, of course—to be included in my “favorites” shelf. Before today—out of approximately four hundred books I’ve read—there were eight authors on this list. With one trilogy, and without a shadow of a doubt, I’m going to include James Islington as the ninth author to join my list of favorite authors. Binge reading this trilogy for the first time blew me away, and I’m already looking forward to rereading it in the future. If you stumbled upon this review without having read the previous books in the trilogy, rest assured that this review will be spoiler-free; no details regarding the plot will be mentioned. There is, however, a better option for you, pick up The Shadow of What Was Lost and begin binge-reading this astounding series. Now. …

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Book Review: An Echo of Things to Come (The Licanius Trilogy, #2) by James Islington

Book Review: An Echo of Things to Come (The Licanius Trilogy, #2) by James Islington

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An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington

Petrik’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

TS’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

Genre:  Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 752 pages

Published: 24th August 2017 by Orbit (UK) & 22nd August 2017 by Orbit (US) …

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Book Review: The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy, #1) by James Islington

Book Review: The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy, #1) by James Islington

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The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

Petrik’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

TS’s rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series:  The Licanius Trilogy (Book #1 of 3)

Genre:  Fantasy, Epic fantasy

Pages: 736 pages

Published:  3rd August 2014 (self-published). 8th November 2016 by Orbit (US) & 10th November 2016 by Orbit (UK). …

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Book Review: Ravencaller (The Keepers, #2) by David Dalglish

Book Review: Ravencaller (The Keepers, #2) by David Dalglish

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

Ravencaller by David Dalglish

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Keepers (Book #2 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 576 pages (UK paperback edition)

Published: 19th March 2020 by Orbit (UK) & 17th March 2020 by Orbit (US)

There is no lull moment in Ravencaller, this action-packed sequel brings well-written morally grey characters and bloody macabre into one package.

First of all, I’m usually not a fan of sudden cover changes in the middle of a series, but this is, in my opinion, one of those rare cases where the new cover artist did a better job than the previous artist. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the cover art of Soulkeeper, but I LOVE the cover art of Ravencaller that’s done by Paul Scott Canavan; it looked spectacular, and it’s more fitting for the series. Second, look at the Ravencaller in the cover art, it reflects what’s written in the text of this book and—this is very important—it reminded me of Eileen the Crow from one of my favorite games: Bloodborne! Lastly, I know I mentioned last year in my Soulkeeper review that I’m going to read more of Dalglish’s books, especially his Shadowdance series, I’m ashamed to say that I wasn’t able to achieve this yet. After reading Ravencaller, it’s even more evident that I HAVE to read Dalglish’s Shadowdancer series because this sequel was even better than the first book which I already highly praised.

“Humans have always been reactionary creatures obsessed with the present, ignorant of the past, and fearful of the future.”

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Book review: The Bard’s Blade (The Sorcerer’s Song, #1) by Brian D. Anderson

Book review: The Bard’s Blade (The Sorcerer’s Song, #1) by Brian D. Anderson

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bard's blade

The Bard’s Blade by Brian D. Anderson

My rating : 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Sorcerer’s Song 

Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy

To be published: January 28th, 2020 by Tor books

 

I would like to thank the publisher, Tor books, for providing an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and the quotes included may change in the released copy.

The Bard’s Blade was a winning bet! This is the 2nd book I started on a whim last year based solely on a recommendation from Petrik and it worked superbly. Gripping and moving, the first installment of Brian D. Anderson’s newest series made me ridiculously ecstatic and sat proudly in my top 3 reads of 2019.

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