Wolf’s Empire is a space opera with, as strange as it may sound, the Roman Empire set at it’s heart.  Imagine a world in which the Roman Empire continued to go from strength to strength dominating not only the known world but eventually branching out into space to eventually embrace an empire spanning the galaxy.  This story imagines a Rome set 7,000 years in the future and yet still brings to us an empire with conflict at it’s core.  The story is one of revenge and involves a young woman who goes to great length to avenge the deaths of her mother and brother and also to try and break free of the unwanted role placed upon her by society. I must say that I really did enjoy this read.  I had a few qualms here and there and I did wonder how a Roman theme would lend itself to such a futuristic story but on the whole I think the authors did a great job of bringing to us a sweeping story of revenge that actually evolves into so much more than I ever anticipated. Firstly, a little background.  Accala Viridian is a noblewoman, from House Viridian, one of the…

A departure from his Raven’s Shadow trilogy, Anthony Ryan’s latest novel The Waking Fire is the start of a new series featuring a compelling blend of fantasy, adventure, and intrigue. And if there was one thing I learned from reading Queen of Fire, it’s that Ryan has a talent for writing amazing scenes of battle on the high seas—which are also plentiful in this new book. Then, there are the dragons. Oh, we mustn’t forget the dragons. In this fascinating new world of The Draconis Memoria, no other commodity is prized above what the people call “product”, a deceptively innocuous term for something in fact truly magical and amazing: Dragon’s blood. By itself, product is unremarkable—volatile and dangerous, even—save for the powers it bestows to a very small slice of the population known as the blood-blessed, those rare men and women who are literally one in a thousand. Their abilities that manifest are so advantageous and formidable, that entire industries have been dedicated to the harvesting of dragon blood, either from hunting the creatures or taking it from those kept in captivity. Unfortunately though, over-exploitation has depleted their numbers in the wild, and those in the Ironship Syndicate who have…

Catalia Fisa is a powerful mage and clairvoyant hiding out from her murderous mother. What’s a girl to do when she runs away from home? Why, she joins the circus of course! Posing as a fraudulent soothsayer and going by the name of Cat the Great, Cat’s been able to stay off the radar for years. Too bad for her that mommy dearest isn’t the only person interested in dragging Cat back home, kicking and screaming … This really shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Cat’s more than just your average mage or clairvoyant (of course). She’s the Kingmaker, a type of clairvoyant born every few hundred years with the power to detect any lies or disloyalty, and thus she can make kings rise – or fall. And the brilliant strategist and former warlord Griffin, known as Beta Sinta, wants Cat to ensure that his family’s reign will be long-lasting. Griffin’s sister is Alpha Sinta, the supreme authority in the Sintan territory, and she needs Cat’s abilities. And Griffin’s not going to take no for an answer. We get to know Cat, Griffin, and Griffin’s most loyal men very well as the ragtag group makes their way – some more…

Last year I picked up Prudence, the first book of a new series starring the daughter of Alexia Tarabotti and Lord Conall Maccon from Gail Carriger’s celebrated Parasol Protectorate novels. I never did get into Alexia’s series after I dipped my toes into Soulless and realized it was not to my tastes, but the story of Prudence Alessandra Maccon Akeldama AKA “Rue” was entirely a different matter. My first outing with her and the crew of The Spotted Custard was an adventure of courage, comedy, and discovery which I enjoyed a lot more than I expected. And so, craving more of the same from this sequel, I dove into Imprudence with enthusiasm. This book takes place in the aftermath of Rue’s return to London from India. The entire country is still reeling from knowledge she and her friends brought back from deep in the mysterious jungles, and our protagonist has even gotten a severe dressing-down from the Queen herself. Rue, however, is unperturbed, excited to finally reach her majority and to enjoy all the freedoms that will no doubt come with it. What she doesn’t realize though, is how much her life is about to change. Lord Maccon, Rue’s werewolf…

Julia Verne St. John’s fantasy steampunk alternate history novel The Transference Engine became one of my most anticipated releases of 2016 when The BiblioSanctum hosted the cover reveal for it earlier this year. The first time I glimpsed that beautiful cover was also the first time I’d heard of this book, and both the protagonist and the world sounded fascinating to me. A mystery involving necromancy, set in an alternate 1830s London that’s run on magic and machines? No way I wasn’t going to love this. In spite of my excitement though, by the time I was through the first few chapters, I realized I was probably going to have to adjust my expectations. These first few dozen pages or so introduced us to Madame Magdala, the proprietress of the Book View Café, a magical library where patrons can sit and read while enjoying a cup of coffee and freshly baked pastries. However, the café’s centerpiece is a magical book sorting contraption designed by Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, a literal search engine that can find any book you ask for in the library’s collection. Magdala and Lovelace—the woman who will one day become the world’s first computer programmer—go way…

It Happened One Doomsday is, I think, the first in the start of an urban fantasy series with sorcerers, demons and possessed cars!  I must say from the outset that I really enjoyed this, it was a very easy read, I thought the characters developed well along the way, it had plenty of pace and I genuinely hope there will be more books down the line.  Basically, this reads like the start of a UF series and it ends on a note that promises more to come – but I genuinely don’t know if more books are planned *raises one eyebrow hopefully in Mr MacNaughton’s direction*? I don’t want to give too much away so, briefly, this is a book about the end of the world – okay, more a plot to end the world.  Seven cunning sorcerers (known here as harbingers) have hatched a plan to wipe the slate clean and start again and the survival of everyone will be in the hands of a barely magical, crystal toting woman who desires a normal life with her dentist boyfriend. At the start of the story we’re introduced to Dru, a young woman with a smidgeon of magical ability that allows her…

Having only read (and enjoyed) the first adventure of Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater, I didn’t enter into Age of Myth with the same expectations a long-time fan of Michael J. Sullivan might have. As such, I’d like to think I was able to read it a bit more objectively, and treat it more like a mass market debut than a long-awaited graduation from the indie shelves. There’s no doubt that Sullivan is a decent writer, and I admire his dedication in not just plotting out by actually writing all 5 books in the series before allowing one to see print. In an era where we often wait so long between books, and where publishes drop authors mid-series, that effort provides a level of comfort to the reader. It’s a double-edged sword, though, because I swear you can feel that comfort permeating the text. While I largely enjoyed the read, I didn’t feel there was any real drama or danger to the story. It felt like a comfortable, connect-the-dots kind of read, and I never felt as if the stakes were truly high enough to justify all that effort. The other (huge) problem for me was the characters – or, at least, half of them. The elves I quite…

Last year, I was taken quite off guard when Ink and Bone (which was not on my radar until I received a copy form the publisher) blew me away and earned a 5 star review. This was a book that I had zero preconceived notions or expectations of. I had not read Rachel Caine previously and had no idea what her world or characters would be like. In other words, everything was brand new for me in Ink and Bone. I had hoped that Paper and Fire could carry that momentum but unfortunately found that it faltered for me a bit more than its predecessor. I have to warn you, this review was difficult to write in that I felt I had more complaints mainly because I have a 3.5 star review for a book following a 5 star review. So, please keep in mind that the book is still good. I just explain many reasons that prevented this from being another 5 star book for me. I do feel that some of my loss of excitement came from already being familiar with the world. Yes, the Library is evil. They hoard and control all of the books and information. I…

The Dragon Round is a fantasy adventure with plenty going on and a protagonist hellbent on revenge. At the start of the story we meet Jeryon, Captain of the Comber with plenty of experience under his belt.  He’s a fair man but also a company man through and through and one who believes in acting by the book.  Unfortunately as Jeryon and his crew are making a headland for home the shadow of a dragon appears on the horizon.  The choices are limited.  Hope the beast hasn’t spotted them, hope it’s simply not interested or engage in a fight with very little chances of success.  Jeryon favours the quietly, quietly approach in the hope that the dragon isn’t interested but it seems that certain members of his crew have different ideas and the temptation of a dragon and the wealth that all it’s component parts rendered down would bring seems too great an opportunity to pass on for some of them.  I won’t go into all the detail of what takes place next but the outcome is that Jeryon ends up with a mutinous crew, he’s given the captain’s chance and, accompanied by his apothecary known as Poth (who refused to…

I must admit, I cracked the spine on Pathfinder Tales: Bloodbound with no little trepidation. It was to be my first exposure to the Pathfinder universe, and I had no idea what to expect. While I have fond memories of cutting my genre teeth on the old TSR novels, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms haven’t stood up well over time. That said, I find I actually appreciate their Ravenloft horror/fantasy world more now than I did back then, so entering into the Pathfinder world with vampires and clerics seemed like a good choice. Having closed the book on my first Pathfinder journey, I’m pleased to say F. Wesley Schneider put together a pretty solid novel that incorporates some of the universe’s overall world-building, but which is still accessible to a new reader. I feel like I came out of it understanding at least one corner of the world, and definitely curious to know more. As for the story itself, this is largely a gothic horror story, within the setting and time period of a pseudo-medieval fantasy. There are so many little elements here that make it all work. The settings include including drafty old castles, sprawling places of worship, and an…