Black Wolves may be a daunting read as it is a massive book and I know sometimes readers are deterred by that. The thing is, though, it is also a massively impressive book. Scaling it down would be a disservice to the story and quite honestly the story deserves to be read. I have not formulated my ‘best of the year’ list, but I can tell you this book will appear on it as it is easily one of the best epic fantasies I have read recently. I have not read any books by Kate Elliott before. This is evidently placed in the same world as some of her other series, but features a completely new set of characters. So for anyone wondering if you need to read her previous books prior to this, I would tell you I felt great about reading experience despite having read none of the other books set in this world. Rarely have I read a book where the timing and execution of flashback scenes has worked so well with tension/suspense. The integration of these scenes was incredibly well executed. Initially, we are introduced to Kellas, a daring young man who has just completed and…

City of Wonders is book three in James A Moore’s Seven Forges series (Seven Forges being No.1 and The Blasted Lands No.2).  Seven Forges got off to a very intriguing start, The Blasted Lands built strongly on that foundation and left us with a rather jaw dropping finish then City of Wonders came along and left  no doubt that this series is firmly planted in the land of Epic.  Truly this is turning into a series to be reckoned with. I’m not really going to go over much into the plot because it’s going to be very easy to spoil elements of the story that are best revealed as the tale progresses and, whilst talking of spoilers, although I try to avoid them it’s quite possible that this review may contain some revelations for the first two books so please be aware of that.  Also I would say that in order to enjoy the world created by Mr Moore you should start from book No.1 – at least I think so. At the start of the story war is upon the Fellein Empire and masses of people are seeking refuge in Old Canhoon (or the City of Wonders as it…

Karina Sumner-Smith’s genre defying Towers trilogy draws to a close with Towers Fall, a series-ender that successfully lives up to the potential promised by the first two books. I remember being impressed when I first read Radiant, surprised that it was the author’s novel debut. I went on to read Defiant and was again blown away by the story’s premise and world building, and it feels deeply satisfying now to have come this far with our protagonists Xhea and Shai. Things really started heating up in the second book, but now they are at a boiling point. The people of Lower City thought they would be given time to rebuild after the recent catastrophic events, but instead they are handed an ultimatum: Those on the ground will have three days to leave their homes, or the Central Spire will destroy them all. Xhea and her ghostly companion Shai find themselves in the middle of the conflict again, attempting to rally the people to fight back and defend their homes. Through their experiences together, both have learned much about their special connection and respective magical abilities, but will it be enough? The Lower City has been revealed to be something more than…

The Beast of Barcroft went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting, in fact, on reflection, I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but whatever it was this surpassed it in many ways and I hope there will be more instalments in the future. We start the story finding out about the neighbour from hell, Madeleine Roux.  Well, that’s probably a bit of an extreme description but it’s certainly the way her neighbours feel about her.  Madeleine likes to feed the birds and critters.  Basically, each and every day she places food out on her back porch.  Unfortunately, as you may know, or have found out, if you place food outside it doesn’t just attract the soft and fluffy animals that you want – it attracts everything, free food is free food and nothing gets attracted more to a big mess of vittles than vermin and Barcroft is swiftly becoming overrun. Pull up a pipe in your garden and it will likely be followed out by a slick wave of rats. Ben McKelvie and his girlfriend have just bought a house in the area thinking they were moving up a little in the world.  Little did they suspect that…

The Shards of Heaven is a captivating story, that presents some alternative theories for how and why some events in history may have unfolded as they did. Following Julius Caesar’s death, there is a struggle for power between Cleopatra, Marc Antony and his young son and his adoptive sons. Cleopatra is seen as outsider by many and so there is civil war. This story and time period has so much going for it in terms of story! Who doesn’t love delving into the political machinations of war and succession challenges? I loved how the speculative aspect was woven into the story in such a way, that it just felt natural. It takes real events and adds just a dash of something fantastical that helps explain well known stories revolving around gods and religion. Things like how Moses parts the red sea. I feel like I have to fess up, history was never my subject. I am really, embarrassingly, under informed on so many things. But, that also means that when I read a book like this, I have no idea what will happen, which can be fun. Honestly, I think even if I did, I would not have cared. The…

Another great day, another chance to win a great book!  Updraft has been out for a little while now and this is a reminder that perhaps you should read it.   If you live in the U.S. or Canada be sure to enter to win a copy.   Welcome to a world of wind and bone, songs and silence, betrayal and courage. Kirit Densira cannot wait to pass her wingtest and begin flying as a trader by her mother’s side, being in service to her beloved home tower and exploring the skies beyond. When Kirit inadvertently breaks Tower Law, the city’s secretive governing body, the Singers, demand that she become one of them instead. In an attempt to save her family from greater censure, Kirit must give up her dreams to throw herself into the dangerous training at the Spire, the tallest, most forbidding tower, deep at the heart of the City. As she grows in knowledge and power, she starts to uncover the depths of Spire secrets. Kirit begins to doubt her world and its unassailable Laws, setting in motion a chain of events that will lead to a haunting choice, and may well change the city forever – if…

Stephen R. Donaldson is an author who (for better or worse, depending on how you feel about its deliberately unlikable protagonist) is largely identified by his three Thomas Covenant trilogies. It’s such a massive epic, and such a defining force in the fantasy genre, that it’s easy to forget he’s also written a pair of lighter portal fantasies (Mordant’s Need), an even darker science fiction saga (The Gap Cycle), a contemporary mystery series (The Man Who), and multiple short stories and novellas. The King’s Justice is his latest collection, pairing two wildly different novellas in a surprisingly slender volume. Together, they make for an interesting read, showcasing two sides of his narrative talent. First up we have the title story, The King’s Justice, which actually has something of an Old West feel to its flavor of traditional fantasy. Here we encounter a mysterious figure in black, known only as Black, who arrives in the village of Settle’s Crossways on the trail of murder. This was a dark, violent sort of tale, complete with magical compulsions and abhorrent sacrifices, that walks the sword’s edge between justice and vengeance. For such a short novella, there’s actually a lot of history and mythology hinted at in its pages, making it feel…

As usual, this review will be spoiler free for Reign of Iron, however, (also as usual), there may be spoilers for the previous books in the series. In this case I wanted to give an extra reminder/warning, because I discuss how a *huge spoiler* for the series from book two impacted this book.   IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CLASH OF IRON — DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW       Angus Watson has shown he has some serious guts when it comes to his writing. We were left with a complete game changer at the end of the previous book and I am impressed with how Watson handled everything after. Honestly, it was something that could have gone horribly wrong in terms of story telling. But this final book proved that Watson knew what he was doing. The death of a major character, actually, I would argue THE major character from books 1 and 2 was a huge risk. I mean, for all the talk of authors like Martin showing their characters no mercy and killing them at will, I have to say there has never been a death in ASoIaF as shocking as what we read at the end of Clash…

I’ve been lucky enough to receive many unsolicited books from Skyhorse Publishing in the last six months or so, but this book from Skyhorse imprint Talos is, ironically, the only one of their books I’ve requested. And boy, what a book! I nearly passed it by when it popped up on Edelweiss, simply because I have way too many review books as it is. But I thank all the Chinese gods and monsters mentioned in this story that I didn’t pass it up. The Girl With Ghost Eyes will surely be one of my favorite books of the year, and I’m already bemoaning the fact that it’s over, and I don’t know if there will be any more books set in this world! (Note to self: must check with author!) What makes this book so unexpectedly wonderful are two main ingredients: the vibrant magical world, and the characters. The story is set in Chinatown, San Francisco in the late 1800s, a community of immigrant Chinese workers, some of who can perform powerful magic. The story is told by Xian Li-lin, a young woman who is cursed with yin eyes, or “ghost eyes,” which means she is able to peer into…

I read a whopping number of books last year. Like, the final tally was probably somewhere close to 200. And out of the dozens upon dozens of books, do you know which one stood out to me the most? Juliet Marillier’s Dreamer’s Pool. It should come as no surprise then, that its sequel Tower of Thorns is hands down my most anticipated novel this fall. Heck, most anticipated novel this year. We’re talking, if there’s one book I need to read in 2015, THIS. IS. IT. So, please understand now when I say I need a moment to pull myself together. I’m still trying desperately to come up with the words to describe how I felt about this novel, without coming off as a gushing, fangirly lunatic. After all, it’s not every day that I get to read a book that I’ve been dying for, only to have that book exceed all my expectations. What can I say? Tower of Thorns, you were utter perfection. Juliet Marillier, you are truly amazing. Yeah, that whole trying-not-to-be-a-gushy-fangirl thing. Not really working out, is it? Let me start again, all proper-like this time. Tower of Thorns is the direct sequel to Dreamer’s Pool….