Cover art illustrated by Patrick Foster
Waybound by Will Wight
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Cradle (Book #12 of 12)
Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia
Pages: 518 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 4th June 2023 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)
Packed with enormous action scenes, Waybound closed the final chapters of Cradle fittingly.
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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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Cover art illustrated by M.L. Wang
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Dark Academia, Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Steampunk
Pages: Not available
Word Count: 120 000 words
Published: 25th July 2023, Self-published
Unbelievable… She did it again. Blood Over Bright Haven is proof that no one writes standalone fantasy books as good as M.L. Wang. Full stop.
“Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort. God over all.”
This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.
Cover art by Aliya Chen
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Cosmere
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 479 pages (Kindle)
Published: 1st July 2023 by Dragonsteel Books (Kickstarter) & 11th July 2023 by Tor Books (US Ebook)/Gollancz (UK Ebook)
This was utterly brilliant and satisfying. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter will be the best of the secret project novels, and it is easily one of Sanderson’s finest books in his career. …
Cover art by: Mansik Yang
Mother of Learning: ARC 3 by Domagoj Kurmaić
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Mother of Learning (Book #3 of 4)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Web novel
Pages: 743 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 6th September 2022 by Wraithmarked Creative (Indie)
Mother of Learning has been one heck of an entertaining ride, and the beginning of the end is here. …
This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on Morning Star and Red Rising Trilogy.
Morning Star by Pierce Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Red Rising Saga (Book #3 of 7)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy
Pages: 518 pages (Paperback Edition)
Word Count: 173,000 words
Published: 9th February 2016 by Del Rey (US) & 11th February 2016 by Hodder (UK)
Morning Star is an absolutely prime conclusion to the first trilogy in Red Rising Saga, my favorite sci-fi series of all time to date.
“If this is the end, I will rage toward it.”
This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on The Dragonbone Chair.
Cover art illustrated by Donato Giancola
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn (Book #1 of 3), The Osten Ard Saga (Book #1 of 7)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Classic Fantasy
Pages: 703 pages (Hardcover edition)
Word Count: 288,700 words
Published: 25th October 1988 by DAW Books
Incredible. The Dragonbone Chair is an absolutely brilliant transition from classic to modern epic fantasy.
“When you stopped to think about it, he reflected, there weren’t many things in life one truly needed. To want too much was worse than greed: it was stupidity—a waste of precious time and effort.”
ARC provided by the publisher—Saga Press—in exchange for an honest review.
The Will of the Many by James Islington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: Hierarchy (Book #1)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Science Fantasy
Pages: 640 pages (Hardcover edition)
Word Count: 240,000 words
Published: 23rd May 2023 by Saga Press
This is not an exaggeration. The Will of the Many by James Islington is the best fantasy book with a magical school trope I’ve ever read since The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
“The power to protect is the highest of responsibilities… When a man is given it, his duty is not only to the people he thinks are worthy.”
ARC provided by the publisher—Tordotcom—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art illustrated by: Jaime Jones
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: Standalone
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 160 pages (Hardcover edition)
Published: 11st April 2023 by Tordotcom
Judging this by my novella standards, Untethered Sky is one of the best standalone novellas I’ve read.
“We cannot know the price others pay for their good fortune.”
ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Of War and Ruin by Ryan Cahill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: The Bound and the Broken (Book #3 of 5)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Pages: 1481 pages (Kindle edition)
Publish date: 19th of January 2023 by Ryan Cahill (Self-published)
Of War and Ruin is Cahill’s golden ticket to the pantheon of the fantasy greats. This mid-season finale to The Bound and the Broken is 430,000 words of glorious epic fantasy.
“Where I come from, there is nothing more important than your honour. But honour is not determined by the perception of others. It is in how you see your own deeds. Treat him the way you believe he should be treated.”