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Review – The Grey Bastards (The Lot Lands #1) by Jonathan French

Who knew half-orcs could be sexy?I was looking for a book that was an easy read, something to cheer me up as I sat through the latter end of my period of COVID and this book was suggested numerous times to me.To everyone that did recommend this book, you guys were on the money. Who knew half-orcs could be sexy?Live in the saddleDie on the hogWhat do you get when you breed Sons of Anarchy, Tolkien, westerns and a dash of Spanish conquistadors? You get Jonathan French’s The Grey Bastards, book one of The Lot Lands, an action packed, rollicking, filthy, fun ride of a story. Set in a brutal and sometimes unforgiving world, we follow our main character, Jackal, a half-orc who belongs to The Grey Bastards, a group of hog riding half-orcs who protect their lands, and the lands of humans, against full-bloodied orcs, savage centaurs and the haughty, vicious elves. Jackal, along with his close friend Oats, and the only female half-orc to join the hoof, Fetching, they uncover a plot that threatens to destroy their way of life and the lands that surround them.The first thing I should point out is that the humour in this book is filthy, vulgar which I found frequently hilarious. So if this kind of dirty sex humour isn’t your cup of tea, then maybe this book isn’t for you. If it is, read on.What struck me first was the world building and setting that our characters have to survive in. French has created an unforgiving, harsh and relentlessly grim landscape of geography and societies. The dusty tracks, murky swamps and rocky mountains of the Lots mirrors the cruelty and viciousness of the racial division between societies and life in the hoof as a Grey Bastard. This is grimdark, but grimdark done in a way that feels fresh and different to other grimdark novels I have read. Even though there are a couple of key characters who are human, I think the lack of human characters really lends itself to this story and to the feel and tone of the book.What French also does at the beginning of this book, at least this is how I felt, is that he lulls you into a false sense of security. The book opens with a very funny, almost comedic tone, introducing our trio of main characters, Jackal, Oats and Fetching. Then as we learn more about the world, and as Jackal starts to uncover a festering secret within the hoof, French brings in some very dark and disturbing aspects and themes that I was not prepared for and that also maybe triggering for some. As a warning I will say that rape and the ravages of war on women are dealt with in this story and could be very upsetting for some.For me, what really made this book, were the characters, with Jackal and Fetch standing out for me. Both their personality and charm as singular characters shone through brilliantly, as well as their incredibly complex relationship together, which is a key element to the story and the outcome of several important events that take place. Jackal’s relationship with the Grey Bastards leader, the disease riddled and cantankerous Claymaster, is also a highlight of the story, creating some electric and often vicious confrontations. The mirroring of these two with the Sons of Anarchy’s Jax and Clay is not lost on me, neither is the similarity of the names, a direct homage from French to this fantastic tv show which the book shares so much DNA with.Fetching has a really interesting character arc in the story. Being a female half-orc, she is often ridiculed and side-lined by the others and has to fight for recognition and status twice as hard as everyone else. She is rebellious, snarky and a creature of fury when it comes to combat as well as having a complex and ambiguous sense of honour and loyalty. Some of her choices had me nearly throwing the book against the wall.I found French’s prose to be simple and flowing, his descriptions of action and combat was effective and clear and he excelled at dialogue, by far the strongest element for me in terms of his writing. The conversations felt real and contemporary and as mentioned, is frequently sweary and filthy.If you are looking for an exhilarating, action-packed, grimdark novel with a cast of unique and vibrant characters then The Grey Bastards is for you. The mystery aspect to the novel, the investigation into a conspiracy, is really well thought out and planned by French and organically weaved through the story. I loved this and already plan to get book two. I can’t wait to revisit these characters and see what the fate of the Lots will be.I give this 4.5/5 hogs.

Luke Winch,

Co-host/Producer of Make It So podcast.
Host/Producer of Observing The Pattern podcast

Check Out The Grey Bastards

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#SPFBO7 – Reign & Ruin by J.D. Evans

All Magic is Beautiful, even the magic that Makes You Tremble with Fear

 

Reign & Ruin by J.D. Evan surprised me and restored my faith in romantic fantasy, a reader really can have it all.

Not every book is for every person. We know this all too well as reviewers and readers. In the past, I have read a substantial number of romantic fantasy books, some great, some… not so good. The majority of them have a set of set fantasy romance motifs, topes if you will, that snuggly put them into one category or another: Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, protect or savior, revenge, insta-love, or forced marriage. I am not in the hating tropes camp; I think any trope is acceptable if done well.

I don’t need every book to reinvent the wheel; that in itself would become exhausting. What I do need is sympathetic characters, a consistent plot, engaging scenes, and a movement of the story that carries me from one page to the next. So when I say that Reign and Ruin might be one of the best romance fantasy novels I have ever read, take that in the spirit of someone who has been around the block a few hundred times.

Let me explain to you a bit about Reign & Ruin. The story stars two characters; one is the princess and heir to the throne of Tamar, Naime. She is the daughter of a sultan who is slowly losing his faculties and a woman holding the kingdom together with the fierceness of her will and the strength of magic. She is bold and calm because that is what is required of her to ensure the safety and well-being of her people.

Naime never strays too far into one way or another. She doesn’t become a parody of the “girlboss” stereotype; she is herself, wholly, honestly, and unequivocally. Evans could have made a lot of mistakes with Naime. Throwing over her kingdom and goals for a love interest, being false to herself, or just being a bitch as if that was the only way to get ahead. Evans does none of these things. Naime is not fragile; quite the opposite. But she is not all strength; there is a fragility inside her as there would be for anyone under immense pressure. I found her character refreshing and surprising. She also doesn’t need Markham to show her the errs in her strength, that only if she let her guard down, she would be so much better. Screw that.

“You will never find a battleground more relentless and exhausting than a royal court in transition.”

Markam is the younger brother of Sarkum, Tamar’s neighboring country. He is the leader of the military and has come to Tamar to speak with Naime about a possible alliance, one that will benefit both of their lands. Tamar is rich in mage blood but weak in military might. Sarkum is the opposite. Again his characterization could have gone very poorly. He has a type of magic loathed and feared across the lands and is too powerful, so he has been put down, shamed, and shunned for his entire life. This could have led to him being broken, and Naime is the only person who can fix him. It would have cheapened the story if it had been. Instead, Markam is loyal but blind to some things. He is strong, respected, and intelligent. If he had not met Naime, he still would be all of these things and more.

Both of these characters desperately want to save their homelands from The Republic – A land set on anyone with mage blood’s destruction.

These two characters are at the center of deep political intrigue, mental sparing, and culture clashing. I think that even without the romantic elements, this story can very quickly stand on its own with the strength of its fascinating magic system and world-building. All of which are shown and not told. I felt immersed in the courts of beautiful fabrics, baked dusty sands, and frigid frozen landscapes. A plum is not just a plum but a fruit that explodes in the mouth of the reader and drips down their chin.

“All magic is beautiful,” she said, “and terrible. Do you not see the beauty in yours, or the terror in mine? You can stop a heart, and I can stop your breath.”

My only quibble with this story and why I did not give it a perfect score is that it was a touch slow in the beginning. I say quibble, as it truly was compared to how the rest of the book sailed by. This is understandable as it is a complicated and richly cultured world, and the setting explains how the characters relate to each other and their respective courts.

Reign & Ruin is a romantic fantasy story that appeals to die-hard lovers of romance and fantasy. Something that is not easy to do, as one usually takes a back seat to the other. I am so glad that SPFBO introduced me to this book, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the series.

Score 9.5/10

Check Out Reign & Ruin

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Tour – Stringers by Chris Panatier

Couldn’t Open the Pickles

 

Ben Sullivan, the lead protagonist of Stringers, Chris Panatier’s new novel, has a wild view of the world. Imagine having a mind that is chockful of useless information, information that has somehow inexplicably been there your whole life. Add in heaping loads of social awkwardness, and you have Ben. His whole life has been full of oppressive details about the mating habits of animals, exotic watches, fly lure creation, and not much else. 

We start our story with Ben at work making an exotic and beautiful fly lure, and he is being accosted by a customer Jim. Jim would like “oneuh them boom trains then.” Ben reminds Jim that he can have one of them boom trains flys for some cold hard currency. We segway from the current conversation into the mating habit of moles, dolphins, and porcupines. This intrusiveness of thoughts permeates every waking moment for, Ben. His life is one constant battle against animal sex lives, watches, and fly lures. 

His desperation is apparent. From a character perspective, I think Panatier did a great job with Ben. Ben is more than his quirks, but his battle with his quirks defines who he is out in the world. From there, we segway to the Ben’s Samwise Gamgee, Patton. Patton is a screwup, an often drugged kid in an adult’s body who never could grow up. He is also fiercely loyal. We should all be so lucky to have the caliber of friend that Patton is. 

Again, in a moment of great desperation and curiosity, Ben finds another person in an online group who has similar issues as he has and decides to meet up with them. Patton fears that Ben will be made into a skin vest or something and demands that he comes along. He is always trying to protect his friend. One thing leads to another, and aliens abduct both Patton and Ben. 

Now the real adventure starts. 

This story’s blurb proclaims it to be a bit like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, except instead of towels, the friends are armed with a giant container of pickles and whatever wits the two of them can scrape up together. I found this to be very true. Stringers is an amusing story; it wasn’t “side stitch” funny but undoubtedly funny enough to see how ridiculous this predicament is. 

I also loved how Panatier described space and aliens. It wasn’t hard science fiction, but just enough details, especially about what a stringer actually is, to make my science fiction-loving heart happy. And to top it off, Panatier nailed the ending. None of which I can talk about for fear of giving anything away. 

All and all, this is one of my favorite science fiction reads so far this year. So much so that I will check out Panatier’s The Phlebotomist. I am in for a treat if the writing is anywhere near as fun as this is.  

Check Out Stringers

Chris Panatier lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, daughter, and a fluctuating herd of animals resembling dogs (one is almost certainly a goat). He writes short stories and novels, “plays” the drums, and draws album covers for metal bands. Chris’s debut novel, The Phlebotomist, was on the “Recommended Reading” list for Bram Stoker Award 2020. Plays himself on twitter @chrisjpanatier.

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Review – The Siege of Treboulain by Jed Herne

 

260,000 Words of Very Exciting Game

 

ABOUT THIS GAME

Rule a magical city and defend it from an enemy army! In this epic fantasy game of swordfights, warfare, politics, and romance, can you prove worthy of your throne?

The Siege of Treboulain is a 260,000-word interactive novel by Jed Herne. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

You’re the young ruler of a magical city, trying to lead your people to greatness. When a ruthless army besieges Treboulain, you must martial your troops, rally your people, and defend your city!

Will you take to the walls yourself, using your magic and skill with a sword to inspire your soldiers? Or will you command the defense from a distance, using your sharp tactical mind? Should you fill the moat with traps, train elite magicians, or recruit mercenaries for a surprise attack? With rival politicians attempting to usurp you, what will you sacrifice to maintain order?

Manage your population’s morale – and your dwindling resources – with wise leadership. Expose deadly conspiracies, find love and friendship amidst the turmoil, and prove your worthiness to rule.

Can you save your city against overwhelming odds – and forge a mighty legend?
Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, or asexual.
Explore a magical city filled with rich history, fascinating lore, and arcane secrets.
Find love or friendship with a brave warrior, a wise priestess, a cunning merchant, or a talented artist.
Become a powerful arborturgist and master the magic of the plants.
Command soldiers, plan tactics, and fight in everything from one-on-one duels to massive, history-shaking battles.
Defeat enemies with swordplay, enchantment, spectacular speeches, or trickery.
Manage the city’s internal politics and balance the demands of the army, priests, merchants, and commoners.
Choose from three unique backstories – magician, warrior, or scholar – and learn about your enemy through flashbacks.
Win the respect of your people…or become a tyrant who demands their obedience!
Leave a legacy that will affect your city – and the world – forever.

 

 

Check Out Literature and Lofi’s Review

Purchase Your Copy of The Siege of Treboulain Here

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#SPFBO7 – The Iron Crown by L.L. Macrae

There’s good and evil and a lot of grey in-between.

 

My Thoughts…

Fans of Epic Fantasy and The Hero’s Quest will enjoy this offering from L. L. Macrae. Having personally grown tired of long epic fantasy reads over the years it was refreshing to crack open The Iron Crown and discover that my enjoyment for the subgenre had returned.

If you have a physical copy of The Iron Crown on hand the first thing you’ll notice other than the cover art is it’s a chonker. Coming in at a hefty 563 pages The Iron Crown provides plenty of hours of reading enjoyment. But the surprise for me is it didn’t read like I expected a tome of this size to read. I don’t remember a single time I ever sat bank and thought things were getting too slow or bogged down. The prose and the dialogue is pretty straightforward and at no time did I feel pulled out of the story due to a writing choice.

The book opens with a scene I loved, and it’s a scene that breaks one of those stupid “writing rules” you’ve probably come across…namely that you’re not supposed to start a book with a character waking up. Fenn, one of the main POV characters, comes to in a bog in the middle of a forest after having been asleep or unconscious. He has no idea where he is or how he got there and soon discovers he’s upset a local dragon spirit. Macrae gets away with breaking this writing rule because hey it’s exciting and it’s a great way to just drop the reader into the story. Fenn’s character who we discover is suffering from some form of amnesia becomes a great device by which the world is explained to the reader without the usual irritating method of info dumping. The reader picks up on the worldbuilding right along with Fenn so it feels a little more natural. As someone who hates info dumps I appreciated this writing choice.

So what about the rest of the book? There was a lot I really enjoyed and not much that I didn’t. I’ll start with the negative (or slightly negative) and work my up to the good stuff.

First – the characters. Now I know you may be saying, “hold on…if the characters were a problem how can you like the book?” That’s not what I’m saying so hear me out. The characters were for lack of a better descriptor…fine. For the most part I didn’t love anyone nor did I hate anyone. My absolute favorite character was Apollo who came in like halfway through the book. I kind of wish he’d arrived sooner but I get the decision here based upon some reveals that happen first. But Apollo was the most intriguing for me and I was drawn to his decisions and character arc the most, especially as more of his back story was revealed. Apart from that Fenn was the next most intriguing for me because throughout the narrative there is the question about what happened to him, how did he end up in that bog/forest, why does he have amnesia, and how is his story tied to the overarching narrative plotline. As Fenn goes the story goes so-to-speak. The rest of the characters were just fine though. Not a lot of character development (which I know will bother other readers) but they moved the story from point A to point Z and seemed to serve moving the plot along at the expense of deep development. Now, that also means the reader may not get very emotionally attached to the characters and that’s definitely a consequence…it’s just not one that bothered this reader. The only thing that bothered me about any of the characters was that one can’t feel. As in literally can’t feel anything like heat or cold or pain or well, anything. As I thought about it I wondered how difficult it would be for such a character to go adventuring and not keep falling over and injuring/killing themselves because they can’t feel. Like, have you ever tried to walk after your feet/legs go numb from sitting down in a certain way for too long and that first step your leg gives out because it’s totally numb? That’s what I imagine it would be like.

I’ve already mentioned the writing above so I won’t dwell on it too much now other than to say, no it wasn’t purple prose or flowery, and that wouldn’t work in a book like this one. It was very functional and for me at least it read easily and kept things moving at a clip. It did the job of getting from page 1 to page 563 while keeping me turning the pages and actually wanting to keep turning those pages.

So what did I enjoy the most? The worldbuilding.

Tassar, the world of The Iron Crown is filled with kingdoms and empires and though only a few regions are actually shown you get the feel that there’s a bigger wider world out there waiting to be explored. As with many epic fantasy stories it starts small (on one island, in one forest, in one bog) and more and more is revealed as the story progresses and the protagonists move along in their journey. What was really cool were the dragon spirits. In this world dragons are spirits tied to the land and the elements. Their power waxes and wanes based upon the number of followers they have. They may be very localized like in a particular lake or forest, or may be more far reaching like an entire land region or ocean. They can grant magical powers to human champions who serve them and they have massive power within their particular realms at least as long as people remember them and follow them. I loved this idea of dragon spirits who are like gods, but gods who might be forgotten and die out as newer younger versions gain popularity. And like I mean c’mon…DRAGONS! who doesn’t like dragons?

I also loved the Myr. The Myr is the mysterious enemy. Part horror and nightmare, part spirit, and just kinda scary. They had been defeated by the queen and her iron dragon years ago never to return, or so people thought. But return they have, yet nobody wants to admit it because that would be next to blasphemy. As they move across the land fear grips the populace and the power of the queen and her dragon comes into question. Just enough is revealed about the Myr to let you know they are to be feared but there’s always a mystery about who/what they are and what their motivations are. The amount of unknown about them makes them even scarier and a great threat to the safety and security of everyone even beyond the primary antagonist character our heroes are set against. It soon becomes obvious the Myr are the great threat to civilization and must be overcome. It’s here where the narrative begins to make up for the lack of character depth/development for me. I got hooked by the plot and the worldbuilding even if it does move along kind of as expected at times.

Ultimately the story hit right for me at the time I was reading. There’s good and evil and a lot of grey in-between. There’s mystery and secrets that are only partially explained by the book’s end leaving many questions still to be answered by the next installment. This was an epic fantasy read that didn’t lose me half-way through because the author got the characters lost wandering in circles for no reason. It moved and I could tell it was headed toward a climactic conclusion. I can’t say I was ever hit in the feels with this read but that’s OK. Sometimes I just want a good adventure story that doesn’t have to be overly complicated by emotion or complex characters. I love it when those things happen, but books can be great and enjoyed without all that too.

Score: 8 out of 10 stars

Check Out The Iron Crown

Read Some of our previous reviews of this novel

Blog Tour Review – The Iron Crown by L.L. MacRae

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Duckett & Dyer: Dicks for Hire – The Mystery of the Murdered Guy Playlist

Check Out the Playlist for Duckett & Dyer: The Mystery of the Murdered Guy

GET YOUR COPY HERE



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

G.M. Nair is a crazy person who should never be taken seriously. Despite possessing both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering and a job as an Aviation and Aerospace Consultant, he writes comedy for the stage and screen, and maintains the blog MakeMomMarvel.Com. Now he is making the leap into the highly un-lucrative field of independent book publishing.

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire is his first novel, and in a world with a fair and loving god, it would be his last. Alas, he tends to continue.

G.M. Nair lives in New York City and in a constant state of delusion.

Twitter: @GaneshNair
Instagram: @NairforceOne

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Tour – A Drowned Kingdom by P.L. Stuart

What is A Drowned Kingdom About?

Once Second Prince of the mightiest kingdom in the known world, Othrun now leads the last survivors of his exiled people into an uncertain future far across the Shimmering Sea from their ancestral home, now lost beneath the waves. With his Single God binding his knights to chivalric oaths, intent on wiping out idolatry and pagan worship, they will have to carve out a new kingdom on this mysterious continent―a continent that has for centuries been ravaged by warlords competing for supremacy and mages channeling the mystic powers of the elements―and unite the continent under godly rule.

With a troubled past, a cursed sword, and a mysterious spirit guiding him, Othrun means to be that ruler, and conquer all. But with kingdoms fated on the edge of spears, alliances and pagan magic, betrayal, doubt, and dangers await him at every turn. Othrun will be forced to confront the truths of all he believes in on his journey to become a king, and a legend.

When one kingdom drowns, a new one must rise in its place. So begins the saga of that kingdom, and the man who would rule it all.

Prologue

I stood there, and wept.

I wept not because I had lost so much privilege, my lands, my sigil, and my rank. I was once the Second Prince, and thus second in line to the throne of the greatest kingdom the world had ever seen. I was Second Prince and born with all the advantages accorded to one of my noble birth. But I was Second Prince no more, and no longer able to claim that lofty title. Yet it was not for having lost the position of Second Prince that I wept. Losing my inheritance was lamentable, but that loss could have been even sadder, as I could have lost my head along with my rank. Certainly, that would have saddened me. Still, all that loss was not why I wept.

I wept because no one lived that might cut off my head anymore. I wept, crushed by the enormity of it all. I wept, for none of it was supposed to happen. God help me, I thought, as I envisioned the children, worst of all. It was not supposed to happen to our precious, beloved children, all the little ones of our realm. Innocents, with guileless, laughing faces, who’d lived faultless lives, not yet familiar with sin, all snuffed out. My heart was shattered thinking of them. They were just babes. I wanted to shriek in agony, cry out at the unresponsive, intransient, uncaring waters, at the unfairness of them all being gone.

I prayed for the tens of thousands of souls, but especially for our children. I finished my prayer and made the sign of the Triangle and the Circle, the symbol of our faith, to solidify my devotion. I touched the notch in my throat with my right hand’s index finger, drew a line diagonally to my right nipple, then another line across to my left nipple, then back up to my throat. With that same finger resting on my throat for a moment, I drew an imaginary circle on my chest that would surround the triangle, counter-clockwise, until I reached my throat again. That was the sign, the warding, and the invocation of our Single God, whom I prayed would take the poor dear children into His bosom. That sign was known all over the known world, amongst the godly and the pagan.

It was the most revered sign on the earth, invented by the most revered priest to walk that earth, who was the father of the founder of our race. I wondered how our founder’s father—who perished at the hands of his own son—had felt as he offered himself to the blade of martyrdom. Was he scared, in his last moments? Was he in the ecstasy of sacrifice, of knowing that in death he would soon be close to the Single God? Was he blinded by hatred of his own son for his murder? I knew something of hatred between fathers and sons and thought it was a distinct possibility. Had he felt humbled and unworthy that he should be the catalyst for ensuring our people found their way to the true God? Just as the knife plunged down into his breast, had he felt betrayed by the Single God that he must give up his life? Did he have a crisis of faith in those last moments? Had he felt deserted, as I did under the weight of my responsibilities, despite all those I had with me, and all the potential that lay before me? Had he felt alone?

I was alone too, except for the few men who were steering the ship or tending to the sail above deck with me. I was alone, save for the rest, below in the berth, who likely slept—at least those who could find sleep amidst the nightmares. In my mind, I could picture my survivors in that below deck, screaming, some wordlessly, their voices too hoarse to make any sound, their eyes bulged in horror, their faces constricted in rage, grief, and despair.

I stood at the bow of my ship, the Proud-Stern. From the bow, I had a solitary view of the dark, endless sea. Dawn neared, and with it, our proximity to new lands. My Proud-Stern was the flagship of a fleet of eighteen sailing-galleys, whose oars were all drawn up. So, seventeen long hulls were arrayed behind Proud-Stern as she sliced through the Shimmering Sea, sails stiffened in favourable wind. Our eighteen ships were a pittance of what we islanders were. At its height, our navies numbered almost three thousand ships. Yet, our eighteen ships carried all who were presumed to have survived from our kingdom. Each ship carried one hundred, for a total of eighteen hundred persons. I was alone, but for eighteen hundreds of my people, the last of our kind. I was alone in my sole accountability for all their fates, for good or for ill. I did not wish to be a martyr, like the founder’s father, but I would willingly die to protect all of them, if I needed to.

The reason we almost two thousand persons had left the kingdom, and thus lived, while all the other people had stayed and died, was that we—the survivors—were rebels. We were traitors to the Tri-Crown, the majestic three-part head adornment—part prelate’s cap, part warrior’s helm, part king’s coronet—worn by the monarchs of our island for more than five centuries, which represented my family’s royal power. And I, who was once Second Prince, was the head of the rebels.

It was ironic that I, Othrun, should be called a revolutionary, much less a revolutionary leader. I was the namesake of a man known for inaction, who had a reputation for avoiding trouble at all costs. A man who likely would not have rebelled against his wife’s suggestion of what choice to have for supper, much less revolt against the mightiest realm on earth. While I was not known to be a sluggard like the Othrun I was named for, and considered myself a vigorous man, no one would have believed that my considerable energy would be turned traitorous. But I took to treachery against my lawful king with such apparent zeal, so ably … as if treason ran naturally in my blood and was bequeathed to me by that indolent Othrun I was named for.

I made up for any sloth on the part of that other Othrun. I showed myself to be a man of bolder action than any in recent memory, for I had done the unthinkable: I denounced the royal sovereign, formed a plan for insurrection against him, and raised arms against the Tri-Crown. More than that, I lived to tell the tale. If there had been anyone left except the eighteen hundred with me to write the chronicle, I would have gone down in my kingdom’s annals as the most infamous man of my generation. But the cost of my infamy left me—despite any opportunity it presented—bereft, despondent, and almost numb.

Yet, while I was torn apart inside by the ineffable catastrophe, I would do the same again, many times over. I was a lord, a knight, and a faithful supplicant of the Single God, the One God, the God of Life, Love, and Light. I was a man who broke his oaths to his king to keep his vows to his god. I was shattered, reduced to nothing, but I was still here, thanks to that god and that god’s messenger. Meanwhile, that king I rebelled against, who had forsaken all he should love, all that he should revere, was no more. But I, Othrun, once Second Prince, lived, and I had nearly two thousand followers, the last of our kind. I had youth, strength, and wits. I also had a promise to encourage me: a promise of greatness. But that promise was achieved by rebellion.

A rebellion sprung from lust, betrayal, and blood.

Check Out P.L. Stuart’s Interview Series

Six Elementals Interview – Janny Wurts

SIX ELEMENTALS AUTHOR INTERVIEW – MICHELE QUIRKE

SIX ELEMENTALS AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH T.L. COUGHLIN

SIX ELEMENTALS AUTHOR INTERVIEW – LUCIEN TELFORD

SIX ELEMENTALS AUTHOR INTERVIEW ​WITH ​EVE KOGUCE

Book Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Drowned-Kingdom-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B08VS15WTR/
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Drowned-Kingdom-Audiobook/B09T8XP6WS
Publisher Direct: https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000161648314/P.L.-Stuart-A-Drowned-Kingdom
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60315305-a-drowned-kingdom

About the Author

P.L. Stuart was born in Toronto, Canada. He holds a university degree in English, specializing in Medieval Literature. P.L. is an assistant editor with Before We Go Blog blogging Team, headed by the awesome Beth Tabler. https://beforewegoblog.com/

The best-selling “A Drowned Kingdom”, chronicles flawed and bigoted Prince Othrun’s journey towards change, and his rise to power in a new world after the downfall of his homeland, which is based on Plato’s lost realm of Atlantis. “A Drowned Kingdom” is mentioned in the esteemed Kirkus Magazine’s 2021 Indie Issue among “Four Great Examples of the Genre” of fantasy. P.L.’s next novel, “The Last of the Atalanteans”, Book Two in the “The Drowned Kingdom Saga”, will surface in Spring 2022.

P.L. is an avid supporter of fellow creatives and proud member of the greater writing community, which includes readers, writers, bloggers, editors, literary agents, and more. P.L. currently lives in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. P.L. is married, and he and his lovely wife Debbie have seven children, and one precocious grandchild between them. When not writing, or engaging in author-associated activities, P.L. is a voracious reader, and loves to read and review books, spends time with family, tries to get some exercise time, and watches Netflix.

linktr.ee/p.l.stuart

 

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Review – Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey

What is Kushiel’s Dart About?

“The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good…and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule:  Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission…and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair…and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel’s Dart – a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.”

 

“I read the rest of the book through that lens of conversation”

 

My relationship with Kushiel’s Dart by Jaqueline Carey is complex—which is probably fitting, because the book itself is complex. Let me try to explain myself. This may take a while, surprising no one who knows me.

I picked up this book at the behest of friends. Thomas Howard Riley suggested it, fellow Before We Go blogger Brianna Sinder speaks highly of it. I read it for the great folks at Fiction Fans Podcast so we could discuss it together. And when Brianna and Beth graciously invited me to be a contributor to Before We Go, I said yes and warned them that I would like to focus on smoochy stuff. So it seemed fitting that I would start with the rather infamous Kushiel’s Dart.

I think if it weren’t for the fact that all these people were waiting for me to finish it, I would have put it aside. I’m not sure I would have survived the first chapter, let alone all the many names that Carey needs us to remember to follow the story. But I stuck through it to the end, eventually shifting to the audiobook (my first completed audiobook!) to get through it in time to chat with my good friends Lilly and Sara.

And you know, I’m glad I stuck through. I’m glad I’ve read this book now.

Let’s start with the things I really loved. The world of Kushiel’s Dart is built on the premise that prostitution is akin to worshipping the gods; men and women are chosen by the gods to serve, it seems, and to sleep with them is to worship all that is good and beautiful in the world. At least, that’s how it starts; that’s what the main character Phèdre tells us. And of course, because it’s fantasy, Phèdre is *special*. She has been chosen by Kushiel, the God of Pain (I think?) and she derives sexual pleasure from pain, making her an extreme af bed partner.

This premise of sex as worship lasts all through the first chunk, while she is being groomed and taught everything she needs to know to become a servant of Naamah. But this assertion quickly falls apart the moment Phèdre begins entertaining clients. As soon as she hits the world, she is treated with such blatant disrespect and slut shaming that sometimes I needed to put down the book and catch my breath. At first, I thought it was a flaw, some massively inconsistent worldbuilding, but early on I had an epiphany. Maybe Carey was engaging with a conversation with SFF—and even society as a whole—about how we generally treat women. We will wax poetic about how much we love women, and then in the same breath reduce women to objects for men to fight over. Perhaps Carey has written a scathing indictment of a genre that has historically been unkind to women, relegating them to fair maidens who need rescuing, or whores who cannot be trusted, and cardboard cut-outs of humans who are there to be raped to show how bad (edgy?) the men are.

If you’re starting to get upset, take a breath. I swear I’m not judging. I’ve done it, too.

With that in mind, I read the rest of the book through that lens of conversation. And what Carey has accomplished with this book is stunning. It asks the reader what place sexuality and femininity have in SFF—and then, if you hesitate, it slaps you in the face with a wild fucking scene about cutting for sexual pleasure. This book oozes sexuality. That was unfortunate pun. Moving on! We belong, this book screams. We belong and you can’t get rid of us. The entire plot is arguably moved by women. Phèdre, our horny (and beautiful) heroin, Melisande, our devious (and beautiful) villain, and Ysandre, the queen (I don’t remember if the text calls her beautiful but it’s likely; everyone in this book is beautiful, which I’ll babble about later.) The book discards male characters in the rapid-fire sort of way that so much other SFF discards women, and I’m living for it. Carey has looked us in the eye and watches us squirm and demands to know why it’s different now that she’s doing it to men when dozens of writers before her have done it to women. I applaud her.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I am highly aware of the fact that, with this book, Jacqueline Carey has blazed a trail that many of my friends and I are walking on as we explore the world of romantic fantasy, and what femininity looks like in SFF, and what sex brings to a story. I know Carey is not the only woman publishing in the early 00s. It’s to my chagrin that I haven’t read some of the powerhouses of the era. But I also know that some of my friends said that this was the FIRST book they read that had the plot driven entirely by women and that, my friends, is invaluable.

I’m going to shift now to the stuff that didn’t work for me, and this entirely boils down to the style of SFF Carey wrote.

Like I said at the beginning of this review (blog post?) I almost bounced at the first chapter in which we’re told repeatedly how incredibly beautiful Phèdre is, and I almost bounced again a few chapters later when it clicked with me that everyone we see is described as beautiful. It’s a very specific kind of beauty, too, one that’s graceful and dainty and delicate, and did I mention so very beautiful. And it’s not that I have anything against beauty per se so much as the limitations of the way Phèdre appreciates beauty gets so repetitive that it’s frustrating. It’s a symptom of a writing style that relies on a lot of telling and not much showing in all things and not just the beauty, which made it harder for me to connect to the world at large.

The most challenging for me, though, was how many names we need to remember. Kushiel’s Dart is very much a worldbuilder’s novel. Phèdre lives a relatively sheltered life for the first 500 pages (yeah that’s what I said, the FIRST 500 pages) and so when we need to learn about All The Politics we are taught these things through long pieces of internal exposition, where the narration takes an aside to catch us up. Except I never, ever felt caught up. I couldn’t remember who the political players were and then when I think I finally kinda started to remember their names, oops, they were dead, and then I was checking the Dramatis Personae to see who had just died and whether it was probably important. I really did like the characters we saw on the page (Alcuin was done DIRTY) but we didn’t get a lot from those characters because the narrative favours all those long asides over character interaction.

The sex, wild though it is, can be quite clinical in its description, and the explanation of how Phèdre experiences the pleasure-pain is quite repetitive. Actually the sex is pretty repetitive too, come to think of it. Phèdre gets whipped a lot. (She likes it! Promise! It’s not as traumatizing as it sounds!) But then when she sleeps with people who MATTER emotionally, we don’t get any details at all. It’s like the narrative uses up the sex budget early to tell us how shocking Phèdre’s sex life is, but then when I’m ::ahem:: shall we say “invested,” we don’t get to ::ahem:: feel the weight of those relationships. “Relationships.”

So did I enjoy this book? I don’t know. But that lack of enjoyment is more down to personal style, and considering SFF in the early 00s, I know Carey very much wrote to the style at the time whilst also shaking things up. In that, it’s successful at what it set out to do and I massively appreciate what Carey has done, and what she had to say. It’s an important book for anyone reading or writing romantic fantasy, I think. It’s a trailblazer.

Who should read this book? If you’re a fan of Robert Jordan and you aren’t easily shocked (or you want to be shocked) then I think Kushiel’s Dart is the book for you. I’m told the worldbuilding is a similar style as Jordan, who also writes big dense worlds. And in Kushiel’s Dart, all the spanking is consensual!

 

Read Kushiel’s Dart and the Phèdre’s Trilogy

 

 

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#SPFBO7 – Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher and Clayton Snyder

I have a cold little grimdark-loving heart. And I let out a mighty squee when I saw that this book had made the finals. 

 

Noryska Groans is a dark low fantasy story by the fantastic duo of Clayton Snyder and Michael Fletcher. It is a world that forgives nothing, and your frozen carcass won’t be found until spring.

I am very familiar with Fletcher and Snyder’s work. I have previously read both of their work and knew that they would wreck me with this story. I have a cold little grimdark-loving heart. And I let out a mighty squee when I saw that this book had made the finals. 

“The debt collector, Pyotr, smiled, a slimy thing that seemed to want to crawl around the side of his head and escape to the thicket of his hair.”

The premise of the story follows two voices. The first, Katyushka Leonova, is a woman seeking restoration of her family’s name and the courage to ask for more than the paltry scraps of love and respect offered to her. The other voice is Genndy Antonov, a man trying to survive and support his young family. But he has a particular set of skills that the less savory folks would like to utilize. Their narrative arcs swirl around each other like two tornados until their stories begin the inevitable of slamming into one another. 

Kat is a woman who wants to rediscover and reclaim a life she previously held. At the start of the story, Kat defines herself by the men around her. Her father’s daughter. Her boyfriend’s girlfriend. Her boyfriend is ineffectual and weak, and while he has never hit her, Kat feels battered. She feels like a woman who has been abused by everyone around her for so long she doesn’t know the difference anymore. Kat is told that instead of a typist position she was applying for, she will become a police officer of a sort. It is a trial position, as she is the only woman serving. It is so far out of her comfort zone it is staggering.

“If the world wanted blood, he would give it blood.”

Gen is a man who wants to be different and escape the violence of his soldiering life. He has a young family with a baby on the way and feels a deep need to be a good provider for his wife and baby. At the beginning of the story, he is let go from his job, which means death for his family from the cold or hunger in Norylska. He feels like he has very few options. And when an opportunity presents itself.

Worldbuilding-wise, Fletcher and Snyder’s Norylska is a brutal beast of a place. It has a personality all of its own, a hulking creature that slices open the stomachs of those who are weak to watch their steaming entrails spill across the floor. There is no forgiveness or mercy in the cold north. That idea, that bleakness permeates every aspect of Norylska Groans, from the snow on the ground to the very air the characters breathe. It is evocative and crushing for both the characters and the reader.

The real Norylska or Norilsk squats in northern Russia are home to the world’s largest nickel deposits. It is a brutally cold place and the second-largest city in the Arctic circle. I can see how the duo borrowed the general idea of the city, but they truly made their Norylska all their own. 

The magic of the story, while important to the story arc, felt like it played second to the excellent characterizations. Magic in the story is encased in memory stones. Items that while the user wears them, they experience the memories and personality of every person who had previously worn them. It isn’t a perfect memory transference, but the new user gets the general feel of previous wearers. When they take off the stones, the memories accumulated while wearing them dissapear. You can see how that might appeal to those who have the need to do violence or morally objectionable things. Once the stone is off, poof, the memory is gone. 

“It is neither the job of the institutions of the state nor that of your fellow comrades to support you. Instead, it is your own right, the right of every true patriot, to lift themselves up and build their own fortress amid the injustice of the world. The weak will fall away, leaving true stone behind. Only then can we begin the work of fortifying”

I tip my proverbial cap to Fletcher and Snyder for this bit of magic use. They had to write multiple versions of characters, stone on and stone off. And the characters need to feel right, an extension and blending of the original personality with something else. This isn’t easy to do, and the duo nailed it. The two characters are two halves of a whole. They are very similar when you look at their situations. Both seek to better their lives. Both get sucked into a position they cannot control, like a whirlpool down a drain but with violence. 

There is a prevailing stigma about books labeled “grimdark.” Many people have a gut reaction that if something is grimdark, it is violence porn and that the characters are violent for being violent. I challenge anyone to read Norylska Groans and tell me that. Yes, there is violence, but every scene in this book is purposeful. And while the morality of the story is challenged, there is a realness to these two characters. Their moral code is not black and white but shades of grey as it is with all people. 

My only real issue with the story is the pacing. It felt disjointed, and it slowed down quite a bit in some parts. It was a good story that picked up quite a bit at the end, but the first 75% of the Norylska Groans was difficult for me. Nothing was singing for me, nothing to latch onto that made me turn from page to page. As a reader, even with all the positives, I still had a hard time going from chapter to chapter in the beginning. 

Because of the pacing, I had to give this a lower score. Aside from that, believe me when I say this is a seriously well-done book. Fletcher and Snyder deserve to be in the finals, and I knew going in that this would be a seriously cool world, and they did not disappoint.

Score 6.5/10Check out Norylska Groans

 

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Interview With Author Kel Kade

Kel Kade, New York Times Bestselling author of the King’s Dark Tidings series as well as The Shroud of the Dark Prophecy series which is continuing the story with a new book this next month, Destiny of the Dead.

Last year I got the great opportunity to review the first book in The Shroud of the Dark Prophecy series, Fate of the Fallen where it remained one of my favorite reads of 2021. Fate of the Fallen seeks to challenge the typical hero journey trope and twist it on its head. The story starts with a simple question, “What if the chosen one dies in the first few pages?”

We talked with Kade about the Shroud of the Prophecy series, Aaslo the unlikely and grumpy protagonist, as well as Kade’s writing and what is on the horizon.

[GdM] Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How do you structure your stories? Are you a pantser or plotter? Do you use the post-it note process?

I’m primarily a pantser. I know the major plot points I want to hit at the beginning, but my writing is mostly character-driven. The characters are clearly defined in my mind with all their thoughts and aspirations and faults and ideas, and they make decisions as events unfold that guide the story. I don’t use post-it notes, although I do keep a few notes and character lists in a spreadsheet. Mostly, though, the story and all its threads are held in my mind where I can work and manipulate it with ease.

[GdM] Your worldbuilding and characters read as if they are written by someone who loves to read. Do you read fantasy? If so, have you read anything lately that you loved?

I absolutely love to read, and I especially enjoy fantasy. I like all kinds of fantasy from epic to urban to romance and grim-dark. One of the most intriguing books I’ve read lately was The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan. I loved it for its uniqueness and creativity. The concepts and characters were both refreshing and gritty.

[BT] You have a background in geoscience. Does your experience help your worldbuilding? If so, how?

Geosciences is a field that garners a deep connection with the physical world and all its systems. It collects all the sciences into a picture of completeness that defines that world. I feel that this background inspires me to consider aspects of world-building that might otherwise be overlooked and helps me to understand how all the pieces fit together. Besides the most obvious connections to world-building like rock types, terrain, and geologic hazards, my background in geosciences allows me to think more generally as a scientist who looks for the details, causes and effects, and outliers that make a fantasy world more believable and interesting.

[BT] You self-published King’s Dark Tidings, while Shroud of the Prophecy is through TOR. What are some of the differences between the process of self-publishing versus through a publisher? Are there any similarities?

There are benefits and drawbacks to both self-publishing and traditional publishing. On the one hand, I have more control over what I do with my self-published books. On the other, I am also responsible for all the tasks that would normally be taken care of for me with a traditional publisher like cover art, editing, marketing, and production. Another interesting point is that the two series have attracted different audiences. While my self-published works tend to appeal to those who enjoy e-books and audiobooks, my traditionally published books draw in those who prefer print. That observation is a bit biased, though, since my King’s Dark Tidings series will be released in print for the first time within the next few months. It’s possible that the audiences aren’t so different, although they do vary in the matter of price. I tend to charge much less for my self-published e-books than a traditional publisher and can do so because I earn a higher royalty rate. Adversely, I am dependent on distribution platforms like Amazon continuing to do business in a way that allows me to earn an income. I prefer not to put all my eggs in one basket, and taking the hybrid approach allows me to diversify my income stream so that I can continue my career as a full-time author.

[BT] You mentioned in an AMA on Reddit a few years ago regarding writing Rezkin, “Rezkin didn’t give me a choice. I was writing a different series, and this other character kept interrupting my thoughts. The interactions were so funny and exciting that I had to start writing them down. Rezkin is relentless in demanding my attention.” Did the same sort of interrupting of thoughts happen with Aaslo?

Aaslo has a different feel for me than Rezkin. While Rezkin is energy and action and darkly amusing mirth, Aaslo is cool and calm and a bit grumpy. When writing them, it feels a bit like Rezkin is demanding his story exist while Aaslo could not care less. Mathias and Aaslo’s other companions, on the other hand, want Aaslo’s story told, and Aaslo begrudgingly relents.

[BT] You have the second book of the Shroud of the Prophecy series releasing this month. Can you tell us a bit about where we are in the story?

Destiny of the Dead picks up immediately after the end of Fate of the Fallen. Axus’s initial plans for mass destruction via blight have been foiled; and, consequently, the gods’ interest in Aaslo has been piqued. Not only are the gods confused by Aaslo’s show of power, but so is Aaslo. It’s only natural that the enemy should focus on taking Aaslo down, but while they’re distracted by assassination and impending invasion, a new power rises in the east. Meanwhile, the reaper Myropa is torn between her duty to the gods and her dedication to the world she once abandoned. And Mathias, well, Mathias is just along for the ride.

[BT] Can you tell us a bit about Aaslo as a character? Where did you get inspiration for him? He occasionally reminds me of a grumpy old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

Aaslo is definitely a no-nonsense kind of guy, but he’s also loyal, dedicated, intelligent, and—perhaps more than anything—stubborn. I think his character may have been inspired by my experiences as a geoscientist. I’ve known many geologists, and they’re often the kind of people who immerse themselves in nature and would rather not be bothered by humanity as a whole. Or perhaps he reminds me a bit of myself when I’ve had to get up too early and haven’t had my coffee. Either way, he may not be your first choice for a dinner companion, but he’s definitely someone you want in your corner when worse comes to worse.

[GdM] The relationship that Aaslo and Mathias have rings with so much sincerity. It has just the right amount of snark for two people who have been life-long friends. How did you get the idea of Aaslo carrying Mathias’s head around in a bag? It certainly adds a fun bit of macabre to the story.

I always knew from the story’s inception that Mathias had to die, but I guess a part of me—like Aaslo—wasn’t ready to let him go. Aaslo needed Mathias and Aldrea needs Aaslo, so it’s only natural the two should remain together. I couldn’t have Aaslo dragging Mathias’s whole body around throughout the story, so naturally let’s just take the head! I remembered as a teenager watching the movie Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag, and I always appreciated the dark—and, yes, macabre—humor of it. I thought, wouldn’t that be an interesting way to carry on Mathias’s torch?

[GdM] I love that you play with the hero’s journey and chosen one trope in the Shroud of the Prophecy series. How fun was it to twist things around?

The hero’s journey is, in my humble opinion, one of the most exciting kinds of stories to read. It’s satisfying to take such a time-honored trope and flip it on its head. To take something that has been so well-written and used time and again and make it new is both rewarding and a lot of fun. Plus, it sets the mood for all the macabre strangeness that follows.

[BT] Nick Podehl is a beloved audiobook voice actor who has narrated the Shroud of the Prophecy series and your King’s Dark Tidings series. His voice has become synonymous with your characters for audio listeners. First, how did your working relationship with him start? Second, when you write scenes, do you think about how they will sound with his voice acting?

First, I must say that it is absolutely my honor to have Nick Podehl performing my books. I say perform because the word narration just doesn’t seem to cut it. It was my luck that my audiobook publisher for King’s Dark Tidings, Podium Publishing, chose Nick. I had given them an idea of the kind of voice and performance I would like to hear for the series, and they absolutely delivered. When it came time to choose a narrator for Shroud of Prophecy (SOP), I had to consider that a new voice might help distinguish the new series. After much consideration, however, I decided that my listeners were very dedicated to Nick, and I thought that bringing him in for SOP would make everyone happy.

It’s funny that while writing the books I heard the characters in a certain way, but after listening to Nick’s performance, I do often hear them in his voice. Sometimes, as I’m writing dialogue, I hear in my mind how I think they’ll sound in his voice, and that may influence the way I write them.

[BT] The worlds of King’s Dark Tidings and Shroud of the Prophecy are very distinct. Do you have to do a conscious mental shift when switching between the two worlds?

Because the two worlds are so different, the mental shift between them isn’t too bad. When I mentally travel from one to the next, it’s a bit like going on vacation. That being said, I do have to focus myself for the tone of the books. King’s Dark Tidings feels more like the epic fantasy that it is with many kingdoms and nobles and peasants and mages and warriors, while Shroud of Prophecy is a bit darker and filled with gods and death and creatures, both alive and dead. I have to put myself in certain moods to write with the right feeling.

[GdM] One of the most critical aspects of the Shroud of the Prophecy series, for me as a reader, is the importance of hope. The chosen prophecy comes to a screeching halt very early in Fate of the Fallen, and if there was only one path to salvation, it could have caused despair. Instead, there always seemed to be a glimmer of hope. Is that something that you consciously focused on when writing the story? Or did that develop organically as you got to know the characters and their roles in the world?

I think hope is the natural conclusion of one unifying characteristic possessed by all our heroes in Shroud of Prophecy—the unwillingness to give up. All the heroes, whether they be foresters or thieves or reapers or magi, are afflicted with a stubbornness that drives them to persevere. It’s the nature of the human spirit to require that where there is a will there is a way, and if there is a way, then there is hope. Even in the face of certain failure, if they are unwilling to concede then we can continue to hope for salvation.

[BT] As a thought experiment, if Mathias had lived and started his epic prophesized journey, would Aaslo have stayed amongst his trees and his sleepy village? Or do you think he still would have got pulled into all this world-saving business?

Oh, Aaslo definitely would have joined Mathias and probably grumped about it the entire way. He had made that decision for himself when he chose to meet Mathias on the road that fateful night when Mathias fell. Aaslo would have taken the backseat with ease and allowed Mathias to take on the mantle of the Chosen One, but he would have said his piece when it came to Mathias’s decisions. There would have been plenty of bickering, but Aaslo would have stayed a true friend and told Mathias the truth no matter how much he disliked it.

[BT] Now that Destiny of the Dead is releasing, what is next on the horizon?

I’m currently writing the third book in the Shroud of Prophecy series titled Sanctum of the Soul. When I am finished with that, I will take on King’s Dark Tidings Book 6 and a King’s Dark Tidings side tale that is yet unnamed. I’ve also started an unrelated standalone book that I think will be a lot of fun, so hopefully, I will find the time to work on that a bit.

Read Kel Kade’s Books

 

 

 

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