Kaye Lynne Booth's Blog: Writing to be Read, page 45

Call for Submissions

Its the start of a new year and time to announce the call for submissions for the annual WordCrafter Press short fiction contest. For 2024, the theme will be dark fiction of any genre: Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Dark Humor, Horror, Noir… I’ll even accept romance, if the story is dark.

The submission deadline is April 30, and the as yet, untitled anthology will be released in October. All submissions will be considered for publication, and the winning story is guaranteed a spot in the anthology. Follow the submission guidelines below.

Submission Guidelines

WordCrafter Press is looking for original short stories with dark elements. Previously unpublished stories only.

Genres: Any genre as long as the story is dark.

Length: up to 5000 words

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2024

Pay: Royalty share

Rights: First Anthology Rights and audio rights as part of the anthology; rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole. 

Open to submissions from January 1 through April 30, 2024.  

Submit: A Microsoft Word or RTF file in standard manuscript format to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com

If you don’t know what standard manuscript format is, review, for example, https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/

Multiple and simultaneous submissions accepted.

Find some helpful tips for submitting short fiction here, but mainly just follow the guidelines.

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Submit your story with a cover letter to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com with “Submission: [Your Title]” in the subject line and pay the $5 entry fee below.

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Contest Entry

Enter the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest for a chance at an invitation to the Visions anthology and a grand prize $25 gift card.

$5.00

Click here to purchase.

Book Review: Passing Through Veils

About the Book

A fusion of Shirley Jackson and Gillian Flynn, Passing Through Veils is a gripping psychological thriller about Kathryn Fields who moves into a run-down Georgetown, D.C. townhouse in hopes that restoring it will be a metaphor for her own rehabilitation from the recent nervous breakdown that derailed her promising career.

But when she discovers a forgotten vanity behind a false wall in her bedroom and the secrets hidden there, the veil between the real and the surreal is abruptly pierced, and the ghost of a beautiful woman who was murdered in this very townhouse escapes to seek revenge.

Is this simply a fantasy of Katherine’s damaged psyche?

Or have her own demons finally escaped to torment her?

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Passing-Through-Veils-John-Harrison/dp/168057423X/

My Review

Passing Through Veils, by John Harrison is a perplexing paranormal thriller with twists and turns to keep readers guessing. Deceit and intrigue mark this cold case story delves into an unsolved murder that took place 30 years ago. But the dead don’t rest and may be out for revenge.

Kathryn is looking for a new start after a breakdown that sent her to mental hospital. Now she’s trying to pick up the pieces and build a new life, in a new job and a new house. But something in the house won’t let the past lie, driving her to search for the truth. But to solve the murder, she is forced to confront the demons of her own past, threatening to unravel her sanity. When she gets too close to uncovering what really happened in this house so long ago, she doesn’t know where the bigger threat comes from, the spirit that prompts her to learn the truth, or the murderer who is about to be revealed.

A paranormal thriller that will keep readers guessing until the final scene. I give Through Passing Veils five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Reviews: Lines by Leon & The Inyan Beacon

About Lines By Leon

Lines by Leon is an eclectic mix of poetry, prose, and short stories that address the subjects of loss, struggle, human behavior, and environment in both humorous and thought-provoking ways. The author invites his readers to laugh, think, cry, and meditate on the wide variety of topics. Scattered throughout the book are sketches of various subjects, many that relate to the poems and stories they illustrate; others speak for themselves.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Lines-Leon-Poems-Prose-Pictures-ebook/dp/B0BQCPP5WW

My Review of Lines By Leon

Lines by Leon, by Leon Stevens is an entertaining collection of creativity that showcases the authors talents in prose, poetr and drawing. The poems are lighthearted and positive, although I did feel a bit of sadness when reading “The Sock”. The drawings are well done, the sketches are amusing, and all offer the reader something to think about in a new or unique way.

It’s brief, but entertaining. One can’t help but smile. I give Lines by Leon four quills.

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About The Inyan Beacon

Part science fiction, part spaghetti Western, part speculative fiction, The Inyan Beacon is a short story set in the distant future. Earth’s moon, now called Maka, after a failed terraforming attempt, is the site of a lone stone tower. Tatanka (Tank) Cody, descendant of Buffalo Bill Cody, and his synth companion, Compass are determined to get inside the tower. Although they might not find what Tank is so sure will be there.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Inyan-Beacon-Teagan-R%C3%ADord%C3%A1in-Geneviene-ebook/dp/B0C3Z7G2C6/

My Review of The Inyan Beacon

The Inyan Beacon, by Teagan Riordan Geneviene and Dan Antion, is a brief tale that feels like a small piece in a much bigger puzzle. Teagan jumps right into the story, but it takes a moment for the reader to orient. Once there, it is easy to emmerse oneself into the story, but before you know it the tale has come to its conclusion. I think I would have preferred to know what they were looking for a bit sooner to give me a better sense of purpose for the characters. I applaud Geneviene and Antion for providing this story with a beginning middle and end, making it a complete story; something many shorts fail to do.

It caught my interest, but was too short. I wasn’t ready to stop, and would have been willing to follow the characters through to the next adventure. I guess I wanted more. I give The Inyan Beacon four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review: “Bats in the Belfry” & “Heart of Clay”

About Bats in the Belfry

Ace Ventura meets the Addams Family!

A shambling horde of new cases hits Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. in the Unnatural Quarter. Dan and his gang—including his ghost girlfriend, feisty lawyer partner, cop best friend, and little vampire half-daughter Alvina—are out to seek justice, solve mysteries, and keep their heads on straight … or at least attached.Alvina’s singing lessons for the Banshee Tabernacle Choir end on a sour note when the troll choir director plunges to her death from a high belfry, and the only witness is a deaf-as-a-post gargoyle who sits too close to the loud bells.A frustrated imp, woefully unsuccessful in betting on the nightmare races, is dead certain that his bookie BatGN (GN for “gender neutral” to avoid copyright issues) is cheating him.Francine, the salty bartender at the Goblin Tavern, is worried when One Fang the vampire—her on-again, off-again suitor—disappears without a trace.A shady vendor discovers a market for living shrunken heads that are conversational as well as decorative, but the demand by far exceeds the supply.A heartless therapist has ulterior motives when she counsels zombies, distracting them from their woes to concentrate not just on brains, but on self-improvement as well.There is much at stake in the Unnatural Quarter, and it’s up to Dan Shamble to keep the streets dark and safe for monsters and humans alike. After all, the cases don’t solve themselves!This zombie detective puts the P.I. back in R.I.P.

My Review of Bats in the Belfry

I received a digital copy of Bats in the Belfry through author Kevin J. Anderson’s Bats in the Belfry Kickstarter campaign back in March. I love Anderson’s Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, so I jumped right in and backed this Kickstarter campaign. I knew right off that I wanted to read this book. In fact, I kept checking back to see if it was finished and my early digital copy ready, even though I had received other rewards already and had plenty to read.

I was not disappointed. Bats in the Belfry was one of Dan Shamble’s most intriguing cases yet. Dan Shamble is on the scene when the troll choir director plummets to her unnatural death from the church bell tower, and the only witness is a deaf gargoyle in the belfry, who claims to not have seen a thing. He’s also looking into a crooked betting claim at the Nightmare Races.

For tickle in your tummy and a giggle in your heart, Dan Shamble is always sure to please. He may have Bats in the Belfry, but he gets five quills from me.

About Heart of Clay

Heart of Clay was a short story in the Dan Shamble P.I. series which was offered soley as a Kickstarter reward, so it isn’t available through distributors. I’m including my review here to demonstrate the value I got from backing the Bats in the Belfry Kickstarter campaign at the $5 tier level.

My Review of Heart of Clay

Heart of Clay is a short story by Kevin J. Anderson, from his Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, which I received as a stretch goal reward in digital format. In the past, I have reviewed many books and stories from this series, because I truly enjoy the characters in the absurd world Anderson has created, post Big Uneasy. Perhaps because this is a short story, rather than a novel, I didn’t feel that it had the same depth as the other stories in the series. But there was plenty of the undead and unnatural humor which the Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. books are known for.

Someone is killing golems, the legendary Excaliber is missing, and Dan Shamble vows to find it. Dragons, ogres, werewolves, ghouls, vampires, mummies, trolls, and more. A walk through the unnatural quarter offers more than a few chuckles as Dan Shamble looks for clues to solve the case.

Short, but funny. Heart of Clay fun quick read with some of my favorite unnatural characters. I give it four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

My Interview on “Write Any Genre”

Mary Deal was kind enough to interview me on Write Any Genre. Drop by and check it out. It’s pretty awesome.

Kaye Lynne Booth

Dark Origins – Letters to Santa #DarkOrigins #Christmas

Picture credit: Cake art by Robbie Cheadle. Santa and a Christmas Elf packing books into Santa’s toy sack.

Thomas Nast, an illustrator and cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly between 1857 and 1887 can be credited with kickstarting the process of sending letters to Santa. Nast’s depictions of Santa Clause largely shaped the way we now view Santa Clause. Even Santa’s backstory of being from the North Pole was influenced by Nast, who used his Santa illustrations to spread cheer to both the young and the old.

Picture credit: https://recollections.biz/blog/thomas-nast-santa-claus/. The image shows Santa seated at his desk and going through his mail. He is sorting letters into stacks labeled “Letters from Naughty Children’s Parents” and “Letters from Good Children’s Parents”.

This is an extract from a work in progress of mine titled Silly Billy goes to England. It’s all about Christmas letters.

“I was worried. Willy and I had only just written our Christmas letters and it was noon on the 24th of December. What if Father Christmas didn’t get them? I was sure his elves were busy the day before Christmas. It was all Dad’s fault. He shouldn’t have cancelled the plane tickets he’d booked in France. We would have gotten back to England much quicker if he hadn’t relied on the free flights provided by Eurostar. Mind you, when the trains were cancelled due to the snow, I thought we’d be stuck in Euro Disney over Christmas. That would have been awful. I’d had enough of the crowds and dirty toilets in the park.

Mom helped us write our letters as soon as we woke up. I had a list of ten books that I wanted on mine and a Star Wars Lego playset. Mom was pleased when she heard my wish list and smiled at me.

Willy didn’t have any books on his list. Willy wanted a Star Wars light sabre, the knights costume he had seen in Euro Disney, a police lego set, a wooden sword and shield, a big tin of chocolates (all for him – no sharing) and ten knights and a dragon. Mom looked less pleased about Willy’s list. He had no books on it and Mom said he was being greedy. She wrote three books on Willy’s list and didn’t add the last three items on his list.

Mom decided that now was the time to teach us boys a life lesson about being greedy at Christmas. She opened her laptop computer and Googled “letters to Santa through the ages”. A list of letters written by children from long, long ago came up in response to her search. Mom read them to us.

The first letter was written by a boy who lived in a place called Sumter in South Carolina. Mom said that South Carolina is in America. I want to go to America. I want to visit the Disney Land in America.

This letter was written in December 1883. Mom read the following:

“Dear Old Santa Claus

I call you old, because Papa says, you are the same “Santa Claus” that lived when Grandpa was a little boy, and he is over 75 years old now. Papa says that you are either at the North Pole, or in Norway or Russia today, he don’t know exactly where, but if I write you through the Watchman and Southron you will be sure to get my letter, as it is a very popular paper and goes everywhere.

Dear Santa, please come and see us once more next Monday night. Papa says times are so hard and money so scarce, that he is afraid you won’t be able to come and make us have a “Merry and Happy Christmas.

You mustn’t buy and bring us expensive presents, but only some little trifle to make our hearts glad.”

This letter made me feel a bit sad when I thought about all the things I had put on my wish list. The next two letters were even worse, and I felt tears coming into my eyes when I thought about the children who wrote these letters so long ago.

“Dear Santa

I hope you will enjoy your Christmas, as I intend to enjoy mine. O, how glad I am that Christmas is so near and that the dear child Jesus was born so many years ago when laid in a manger. I hope we will enjoy our Christmas better than the last one, as our dear good father die the 14 of Dec. We have miss him very much and will miss forever. I hope I will see him once again not in this world; but in heaven. Teresa Riedmiller Mom said that this letter was published in a newspaper called The Chicago Tribune on 22 December 1895.

The next letter that Mom read was from a time she called “the Great Depression”. Mom said that this was a time when all the people in the world were very poor. There were no jobs and lots of families were homeless and hungry. Mom said that throughout the Great Depression, which lasted for more than ten years, children wrote to Father Christmas, who these children called Santa Claus. Many of the letters asked Santa Claus for jobs, money or schoolbooks instead of toys and games. Some of the

children posted their letters to the White House in Washington D.C. Mom said that this is where the America president lives. The children hoped that the American president at that time, President Roosevelt, who cared so much about the American people, could somehow get their Christmas wishes to Santa Claus. Mom read that one letter to Santa Claus during the Great Depression was address as follows: Santa Claus in the Happy Land where there is no depression. The letter said the following:

“Dear Santa Claus, State street: I am a little girl, 7 years old, and I’m afraid that you won’t call at our house, because we are so poor. Father has to work hard all day and mother is sick and says we needn’t expect anything. Please when you are on the west side if you will just call and leave a little book or something I will be much obliged. You can’t come down the chimney, because it is too small, but I will open the door if you knock.”

Willy did not appreciate the life lesson Mom was giving us. He started to wriggle and kick the back of the settee.

Mom ignored him and read us a story that she said was written by a man acting as Father Christmas when he visited a boy in a Children’s Hospital on Christmas Day in 1960. This is what she read:

In the hospital was a boy called Bobby. When I met him he had tubes running every which way and had been in the hospital most of his life. Bobby looked up at me and said “Santa, what do you do with pain?”

I replied: “Well, because of my crooked fingers, I can’t even point straight to the North Pole, so I have to take Advil. What do you do with pain?”

Bobby said “I take pain and put it in a box and wrap it with tissue paper and bright ribbon and throw it away.”

“Why” I asked.

“I can’t show pain” said Bobby.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It hurts my Mother’s heart,” he replied.

Mom stopped there thank goodness. I had tears streaming down my face and Willy was standing on the floor jumping up and down, wanting to get going.

We put our letters on the counter and got ready to go shopping. There was no food in the house as we had eaten everything before we left for France. It was still snowing outside, and it was very cold. Dad didn’t want to drive far in the bad weather, so he said we would shop at the nearby city of Canterbury.”

Picture credit: Cake art by Robbie Cheadle. A Bible and white arum lilies.About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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WordCrafter News: Special Christmas Edition – Looking Forward to 2024 & Early Call For Submissions

Looking Forward to 2024 WordCrafter Press

2024 promises to be exciting at WordCrafter Press and I am thrilled to tell you about it.

In January, book 2 of the Women in the West series, Sarah launches on Kickstarter and its going to be a good one. Rewards will include not only early digital and signed print copies of Sarah, but Special Edition Illustrated copies of both Sarah and Delilah, never before offered.

In March, Sarah will be released through distributors, and will be available at your favorite online retailers. I’ll be launching with a book blog tour and giveaway, so be sure and watch for that.

In April, Poetry Treasures 4: Natural World will be released through distributors. (The cover pictured above is just a fill in.) Featuring poetry written by guests of the 2023 “Treasuring Poetry” blog series with Robbie Cheadle. There will be a book blog tour for this book, with audio/video readings by the poets.

In May, my nonfiction writing reference book, D.I.Y. Author will be released through distributors, and will be available at your favorite online retailers. If you’re an author on a shoestring budget determined to find ways to write and sell books, this book is for you. Naturally, a book blog tour and giveaway will accompany this release.

In July, we have a Kickstarter campaign planned for my children’s book series. I’ll be releasing the first three books in the My Backyard Friends series, Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, Timothy Turtle Discovers Jellybeans, and Charlie Chickadee Finds a New Home. After a first illustrator experience which turned sour, these books have been awaiting an illustrator for eight years. But I finally found one, whose illustrations I am proud to have featured in my books, Robbie Cheadle. If you know her, you might be familiar with the wonderful illustrations she’s begun to do recently, and you’ll understand why I am so thrilled to have her as an illustrator. These stories feature animal and bird characters in tales that each teach a social lesson. With Robbie’s beautiful illustrations, they are not to be missed.

In August, the first three books in the My Backyard Friends series will be released through distributors, and will be available at all your favorite distributors. I’ll be launching with a book blog tour and giveaway.

In September, a by invitation only themed anthology, Tales From The Hanging Tree, will be released through distributors and launched with a book blog tour and giveaway, with audio/video readings by the authors.

In October, the 2024 WordCrafter anthology will be released. Each year I release the annual anthology in October, which is just a scary month. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I love scary stories, and other scary stuff, so releasing in October is condusive to dark fiction. In 2023, we had a great line-up of dark and scary stories in Midnight Roost, so we’re going with a dark fiction theme again this year. It will include both by invitation submissions and contest submissions that are worthy, and feature the winning story from the contest. (See Call for Submissions below.)

WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services

I’m happy to announce that in 2024, WordCrafter will be adding Book Trailers to our list of quality author services. We will have three different trailer designers available to choose from: myself, Robbie Cheadle and DL Mullan, and they will be offered at affordable prices.

Other services offered include editing and publishing services and WordCrafter Book Blog Tours. I still have time slots available for editing services into 2024. Learn more at Write it Right Quality Editing Services.

Writing to be Read

On Writing to be Read, 2024 promises more of the new monthly blog series, “POP with Jeff Bowles”, which has been well recepted. A blog series about all things POP, the first Wednesday of every month.

We also have a new addition to the WtbR team. Starting in January, DL Mullan will be bringing us another new blog series the first Friday of each month, “Undawntech: Technology and the Creative Arts”. Be sure to check it out and give Dawn a big welcome.

Call for Submissions – 2024 WordCrafter Anthology

It’s time for the Call for Submissions for the 2024 WordCrafter Anthology, which we’re calling “Dark Fiction” for now. Dark fiction is the theme: horror, paranormal, dark fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction. Any genre as long as it is dark or scary will do. I’m leaving it wide in the hopes of bringing in a diverse selection of stories that will keep readers awake at night.

Submission Guidelines

Genres: Paranormal, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Dark Humor, Speculative Fiction any combination there of.

Length: up to 5000 words

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2023

Submissions open January 1 and close on April 30. Watch for the January 1 post for full submission guidelines and contest entry.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All!

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Join Kaye Lynne Booth & WordCrafter Press Readers’ Group for WordCrafter Press book & event news, including the awesome releases of author Kaye Lynne Booth. Get a free digital copy of her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, as a sampling of her works just for joining

Book Review: The Light is Dimmer

About the Book

Embark on an unforgettable journey in The Light is Dimmer, a captivating blend of literary fiction and fantasy that will leave you breathless. In a world where corruption runs deep, Lucky Barlowe, an orphaned teenager, finds himself caught in a web of deceit and treachery that even the gods are entangled in.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Light-Dimmer-Samara-Katharine/dp/B0C4WMV12M/

My Review

The Light is Dimmer, by Samara Katherine was a very different kind of book for me. I don’t remember how I came by this ebook, but I know it was the cover that drew me to it. A burning crown. Somehow that image raised my curiosity and I wanted to read this story.

It turns out to be à journey into mythological fantasy, with god’s and goddesses who are all too human in many ways. When gods and humans mix, there’s no telling what will happen. But, these gods are not infallible and they make their share of mistakes in god-sized proportions. And when they go mad, they do that in god-sized proportions, as well.

Lucky is an orphan, living in the streets when the Siren chose to bless him, turning his poor but simple life upside down. A god and a mortal, both seeking love and family, both injured by losses. Can they each learn to trust again and let themselves be loved?

The writing style of this author was off-putting to me. This might just be a personal thing, but I found it hard to discern who was speaking a lot, and found myself having to reread to keep things straight in my mind. I also found it a bit puzzling when the character whom I thought was the protagonist was killed off not even halfway through the book. I later could see why the author had structured the tale in this manner, but I still thought it an odd choice.

A story with unusual structure and style, which unravels nicely in the end. I enjoyed reading The Light Is Dimmer. Quite different from anything that I’ve read before. I give it three quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review: Truth

About the Book

TRUTH … nothing but the truth
Locked away in the dirty bin – that’s what they called it – a big metal box for the criminally insane. The no-hopers, left to fight for scraps. And fight for their lives.
I thought I would die in that place. Until the priest arrived.
Father John said he believed in me. And that he believed he could save me.
All I had to do was be truthful – the whole truth and nothing but.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/TRUTH-James-Crow-ebook/dp/B086764D1K/

My Review

I reviewed this book’s counterpart, Dare, back in 2018. (You can read my review of Dare here.) I only gave it four stars, because I quite frankly, wasn’t sure what to think of it. At the end of book 1, our heroine, Danielle, is headed off to prison for at least three murders. I picked up a copy of the sequel, Truth, by the same author, James Crow, because I couldn’t imagine where this tale could possibly go from where we left off. Crow had my curioustity raised just by the fact that the sequel exists. Both books venture past erotica into bizarre, and they are definitely not for the faint of heart, with sex, violence and really kinky BDSM stuff floating over the pages like a tantalizing main course, followed by a scrumptious dessert, with more than a few bites in there that are really tough to chew.

There are no lengths Danielle won’t go to in order to gain her freedom, and enemies may become allies faster than you can blink. A prison break that exchanges one kind of cage for another, dragging Danielle into a bizarre world where nothing is sacred, murder seems to be an everyday occurance, and everything revolves around sex. Trapped, it seems there’s no where to escape to, except to the deepest chasms of her mind, and that, my friends, can be a very scary place. Once again, as readers, we’re faced with decifering the unimaginable truths, from horrifying fantasies to determine what’s real and what isn’t.

The lesson in Truth is that it’s okay to sin as long as you do pennance, and Danielle quickly finds the truth in that. Although I found the events in this story extremely shocking, (and I don’t shock easily), for some reason I couldn’t seem to put it down. I give it four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review here.

Book Review: Roll

About the Book

It was supposed to be just another Sunday night fantasy role-playing session between friends…

But after years of playing, the game had become so real to David, Tyrone, Scott, and Melanie that all their creations now had existences of their own.

And when the four outside players decide to end their game, the characters inside the game world—warriors, scholars, and the few remaining wielders of magic—band together to keep their land from vanishing.

Now they must embark on a desperate quest for their own magic. Magic that can twist the Rules enough to save them all from the evil that the players created to destroy their entire realm.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Hexworld-Roll-Portal-Fantasy-Adventure-ebook/dp/B091G3MJCB

My Review

Roll, Book 1 in Kevin J. Anderson’s Hexworld series is an intriguing fantasy about a roll playing game from the other side of the board. I acquired this book as a Kickstarter stretch goal reward from the Dragon Business campaign.

A world was created for the game, and Hexworld takes on a life of it’s own, with the players sending characters on perilous quests for their amusement. But when the players grow bored with game and one decided to end it, destroying the world, three characters vow to fight back and protect Hexworld from total destruction. Delreal, a strong warrior, Vailret, a near-sighted historian, and Bryl, a half-sorcerer set out on a quest to save Hexworld, and their stronghold after a band of marauding ogres take it over. To do so, they must travel long distances, meet interesting peoples of each hex they travel through, battle a cyclops, and outwit a dragon, all while staying within the rules of the game and their own personal limitations, making new and interesting friends along the way who join them in their quest.

I received a digital copy of Roll as a stretch goal reward from one of Kevin J. Anderson’s Kickstarter campaigns. I found this story and its unusual characters to be enchanting, drawing me back again and again. I give it five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.