Beth Tabler's Blog, page 199
March 7, 2022
Review – The Legend of Vox Machina
THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA is a twelve-episode animated fantasy series based around the first season of Critical Role’s expansive multi-hundred-hour Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. The title, Vox Machina, comes from the fact the latter is a cast of voice actors doing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign “live” on streaming. Being all professionals, they certainly brought a great deal more acting than the typical college age or adult gamer did. I should note that I was familiar with Critical Role due to Vampire: The Masquerade‘s LA by Night but not the fantasy campaigns that were a bit too intimidating to get in even for myself.
The premise is in the fantasy kingdom of Tal’Dorei, Vox Machina is considered one of the subpar mercenary groups that contracts against goblins as well as other monsters. They are an eclectic bunch including an ex-nobleman with a gun, orphaned half-elves, a horny bard, a rampaging berserker, a priestess failing to keep them on the straight and narrow, and a naive druidess. They also don’t have a wizard. What the hell kind of group is this?
Recruited to go slay a dragon that has done away with multiple adventuring groups as well as the villages around them, Vox Machina quickly proves surprisingly capable when it is their absolute last option. No sooner do they successfully prove their mettle, though, than they find themselves dragged into a much more personal and horrifying story. A vampire and a necromancer have taken over the family estate of one of their own but are well-beloved outside of their home while they’re still distrusted mercenaries.
Overall, Vox Machina is a pretty good mixture of crass humor and drama. The adventurers are a bunch of incompetents at everything but killing but they are very good at the later. The villains are not silly in the slightest but genuinely monstrous and evil. Despite this show being animated, it is targeted at adults and makes no attempt to shy away from gore or traumatizing situations. We see dozens of people killed, mutilated, and savaged onscreen. In addition to the violence there’s copious swearing, sexual innuendo, and a light bit of nudity.
Honestly, the first couple of episodes aren’t particularly representative of the whole. They are the most “try hard” with Vox Machina being portrayed as a bunch of coinless losers who wouldn’t be out of place in a Seth MacFarlane version of The Lord of the Rings. This changes as their most obnoxious qualities are toned down and the R-rated humor is dialed down for genuine pathos with the second storyline. It gave me a bit of tonal whiplash to be honest and I wish they’d stuck to a more even balance between vulgarity versus drama. Frankly, I kind of wish it had remained more of a farce over tugging the heartstrings.
Representation wise, the series does a pretty good job of showing a different sort of society than typical in Western fantasy. Multiple characters in Vox Machina are bisexual (Vex, Vax, Keylith, and Scanlan) and there’s no social stigma against any of it. The monarch of Tal’Dorei is also black, which helps compensate for the fact the protagonists are pretty lily white except when they’re blue.
The art is exceptional for the series with the character designs being both memorable as fluid in their animation. I think Vex (Laura Bailey) and Percy (Taliesin Jaffe) are particularly well-designed characters. All the cast are well-established voice actors, though, with most of them likely to be memorable to you if you’re an established gamer like myself. I particularly liked Ashley Johnson’s Pike who was the most soft-spoken as well as, well, “sane” member of the group.
It’s a shame this is not an official Dungeons and Dragons adaptation, but the differences are minuscule. The blue dragon still shoots lighting for example, and they call Vecna “The Whispered One” but that’s one of his nicknames anyway. The action is fluid, and you’ll see a lot of it in each episode. It’s like if someone combined Slayers and Hellsing, which is entirely my jam as a Nineties anime fan. If they could get this kind of voice talent for other animated projects, we might finally see proper adaptations of the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance.
Dungeons and Dragons has suffered for the fact it has never been able to make a really good adaptation of its material for the big screen. The best one: Record of Lodoss War was an anime that pretty much ignored its gaming origins. Here, it is very obviously Dungeons and Dragons with the serial numbers filed off, and all the better for it. It has some bumps, hits, and misses but I would say this is a solid 7 out of 10 class levels.
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March 5, 2022
The Books That Made Us – Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Books are such powerful things. They can do more than just entertain. Sometimes they educate, sometimes they share someone’s experiences, and sometimes they grab you and never let go. These are the books that become part of who you are and inform your identity a little bit. I spend a lot of time wondering why certain books become that special part of someone. It’s not just a “favorite book” or even a nostalgia-laden read (although those are great too); there’s more to what forms an identity than just happy memories and good times.
I’ve always loved books, even before I could read. Books were an important part of my house growing up. Every week, my mom would take our old rusted wagon (it used to be red and it might have even said “Flyer” on the side at one point, but it was more rust than anything when it saw most of its use) and pull it several blocks away to the little neighborhood library. My siblings and I would pile as many books as we were allowed to check out into that wagon, which we would then pull home. It was a weekly routine and, looking back, it’s not at all surprising that I love books as much as I do.
I gravitated toward fairy tales and Arthurian legends, especially St. George and the Dragon and The Kitchen Knight (look up the illustrations from the Margaret Hodges books- they’re gorgeous). I really can’t tell you why stories of epic battles and dragons have always drawn my interest, they just have. Over time, fairy tales were replaced by The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, the Narnia books, The Dragonriders of Pern, and Redwall. These are all great books, but I wouldn’t say they’re books that made me who I am. That distinction goes to the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.
This is the part where everyone who has ever interacted with me at all sighs and thinks, “There she goes again” and that’s absolutely justified. I talk about them a lot. But these books are such an integral part of who I am that it’s hard not to mention them on a pretty regular basis. At the time that I stumbled across them, there was a lot going on in my life that I couldn’t control, and much of it was frightening. The Dragonlance Chronicles helped. When life felt gray and I couldn’t find the motivation to move, there was Sturm who also saw life as a dark shroud at times. When I felt small, alone, and impotent, there was Tas, doing the small yet important things. When I felt at war with myself (it was only later that I would be diagnosed with bipolar disorder), there was Tanis who also fought against himself. Not only that, but the books showed that happy endings don’t always come easily. There is sacrifice. There is loss. And sometimes a “happy ending” isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.
I reread The Dragonlance Chronicles at least once a year, more when things are difficult. You can imagine how many times I’ve opened the pages over the last few years. Sometimes I need that reminder that, hey, I’ve made it this far. I’m still doing the small things like Tas. I’m still sometimes fighting against myself. I still sometimes feel surrounded by darkness. But, like Laurana, another character in the series, I know I’ve grown and have hidden strength.
Good books crawl into your heart. Great books leave a piece of themselves behind. They shape you. And sometimes, they help make you.
Purchase a Copy for YourselfCheck Out More Stories From This SeriesThe Books That Made Us: The Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore
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Five More Indie Cyberpunk Novels to Check Out
Cyberpunk remains one of my all-time favorite genres. The wonderful juxtaposition of mankind’s ever greater technological accomplishments against the corporate and government-run dystopias that turn out achievements against us. Also, the (anti)heroic rebels who fight the system even if it’s only to look after themselves.
Cyberpunk is a genre that has a history of being considered past its sell-date at the best of times and outright dead at its worst. I tend to think its a genre that thrives best when you don’t read the big corporate releases but focus, instead, on what’s coming out of the indie scene.
I did a recommendations list of indie cyberpunk before (link: https://beforewegoblog.com/5-cyberpunk-recomendations/) that managed to get the word out about some of my favorite releases by lesser-known authors. Now I’m going to share some more that I absolutely love. I hope you enjoy.
1. The Blind Spot by Michael RobertsonThe Blind Spot is a cyberpunk political thriller, which is rare enough. In the future there’s two communities living side by side outside the Outlands: Scalia City and the Blind Spot. Scalia City is a corporate-ruled seeming utopia with everyone constantly monitoring each other via an ap that lets you check what people are saying about you. The Blind Spot is a decadent Red-Light District of cybernetically enhanced rogues living off the grid. Someone is trying to frame the Blind Spot for terrorism in hopes of getting it shut down. I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a surprisingly taut and well-written work.
2. Mercury’s Son by Luke HindmarshMercury’s Son is a dystopian post-apocalypse story about a cyborg investigator in a Luddite theocracy that reveres Mother Earth. Aware that his position in society depends on pleasing his masters, Valko investigates the murder of an important member of their society but he’s not sure if his superiors want it solved or covered up. Mercury’s Son is a rich novel full of fascinating twists and turns as the protagonist struggles to navigate the no win scenario of trying to be a good man in an utterly corrupt society.
3. Drones by Rob J. HayesDrones is the story of Garrick, a man who has decided to numb himself to all sensation his emotions on the black market. Drones are the slang term for those people who have almost no feeling left in them but provide cheap thrills with the drugs made from them. Unfortunately, the drugs are about to be legalized and that could result in an entire world becoming like Garrick. But it’s like he actually cares, right? I really enjoyed this tale of dystopian capitalism gone amuck and recreational pharmaseuticals sold as medicine.
4. The Finder at the Lucky Devil by Megan MackieThe Finder at the Lucky Devil is another fantasy and cyberpunk hybrid I really enjoyed. Though it’s a bit more urban fantasy than cyberpunk, I still enjoyed it a great deal. It is the story of Rune, a woman who has the unusual ability to find anything that has been lost. Having escaped an abusive ex-husband and his corporate masters, she finds out she’s inherited a mystical bar called the Lucky Devil. This puts her square in the crosshairs of numerous enemies as well as those who would overthrow the current corporate dominance.
5. Psychodrome by Simon HawkeMy final recommendation is cheating but Psychodrome was a traditionally published author that has since been re-released as a self-published novel. In the future, the world’s most popular sport is Psychodrome. You can upload yourself to experience all the thrills and insanity of battle royals on distant worlds as well as simulated environment. The “actors” may get killed but that just adds to the experience. Our protagonist joins because it’s either that or being murdered by his creditors in the Yakuza. Fantastic book.
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March 4, 2022
Review – 36 Streets by T.R. Napper
“36 Streets is an intense and violent cyberpunk thriller that’s set in a futuristic Vietnam and mainly follows the point of view perspective of the 24-year-old gangster and formidable martial artist, Lin Thi Vu – “the silent one”.
In 36 Streets, Napper has created an engaging, vibrant, and deadly vision of the future. The story is gritty, with elements of mystery, and follows members of a crime syndicate as they operate within the 36 Streets. The novel presents a period in time that incorporates memory wiping, brainwashing, and possibilities that the state could be using computer games as a weapon. A quick summary on 36 Streets could be that it’s clever, beautifully written, the world-building is top-quality, and it presents a plausible and frightening take on the future.
Napper is an excellent short story writer and I enjoyed Neon Leviathan a lot, so it’s good to see that he’s succeeded with crafting a commendable full-length debut. It features well-developed characters, who aren’t always likeable, but they are gripping to follow. The majority of the main characters are relatable and engaging and I liked the references back to old songs or movies that we’re familiar with, as well as to popular culture references that are set in Napper’s future but are part of the now to Lin and the 36 Streets.
36 Streets mainly follows “present-day” happenings but there are also flashbacks to earlier periods in Lin’s life (with her family, and when being trained by her master in martial arts) which adds to our lead’s layers and reasonings for her seemingly cold demeanor. One of my favourite scenes is regarding the previously mentioned computer game phenomenon, which is called “Fat Victory”. This lengthy segment could have been one of T.R’s standalone short stories for its impact and completeness, but it fits finely with the overarching themes and adds to the happenings of the main story.
I had a mostly enjoyable reading experience with 36 Streets. My only semi-negative is that some of the villains seemed a bit cartoonish. This might just be the way my mind pictured them though, possibly because of strange mannerisms or quirks, and in the grand scheme of things, these characters have their place and are integral to the plot.
To conclude, with short, sharp chapters that are presented with a dark tone, and also a fitting pace and voice for the story, 36 Streets displays that Napper has huge potential to be a big deal in the adult Cyberpunk scene. This full-length debut, like Neon Leviathan before it, shows that the author has bags of talent and I’ll follow his career closely.
PS. Some of the technology utilised by the characters in this advanced technological age reminded me of those featured in Louise Carey’s Inscape which is another fine, newish cyberpunk novel that has similar vibes and is worth checking out too.”
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March 3, 2022
The Books That Made Me: The Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore
I got into fantasy novels in a roundabout way. As a child, I’d utterly loved the first Final Fantasy game, and spent hours pouring over the game guide looking at bestiaries and lists of spells and maps. When I got older I fell into comics and swapped some with my friend, who gave me a Forgotten Realms comic.
The next time I was at the book store and saw that logo, I knew I had to try it out. And while those first few Forgotten Realms books were of varying quality, one of them stood above the pack: Canticle, by R. A Salvatore.
In his foreword, Salvatore talked about how he’d planned a five-book series around a monk until TSR told him monks weren’t even in the second edition of Dungeons and Dragons, and then asked him to write a series about a cleric instead. His response was “Face it, the cleric is usually the guy who shows up last to the gaming table, a big, stupid smile on his face, saying, ‘Hey, guys, I want to play. What’s the party need?’ To which everyone replies, ‘We need healing. You’re the priest. Shut up and sit down.’”
But of course, it didn’t stay that way, the more he thought about it. A slow-burn character arc of a youth becoming a man and an agnostic’s spiritual journey. A character horrified by violence, one who thinks his strengths are weaknesses because they’re not the strengths of your typical hero, and his gradual realization that they’re far greater.
Cadderly Bonaduce was a priest of Deneir, god of knowledge, but he wasn’t 
particularly concerned with any of it. He loved books and inventing and he had a girl to kiss. He got to live in a massive library dedicated to knowledge and the gods thereof. He was supposed to take combat training and claimed that a yo-yo was an ancient weapon, mostly so he could play with it. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, after all.
His belief in Deneir, too, was one of a shrug. After all, he knew magic clearly existed in the world, so how was there proof that healing magic was divine in nature rather than just another spell? He wasn’t antagonistic towards faith, but he didn’t see the fuss.
A priest of Talona, goddess of poison, snuck into the library and tricked Cadderly into opening a potion called the Chaos Curse that would remove the inhibitions of the inhabitants, forcing Cadderly and his few friends unaffected to head into the catacombs and stop it.
There were five books in the series. The second, In Sylvan Shadows, put Cadderly and friends into an elven forest to repel the same forces that had attacked his library. The third, Night Masks, was a fantastic culmination of his journey to that point, a true epiphany as Cadderly turned from questioning novitiate to true believer, while also contending with powerful assassins. The fourth was Cadderly taking the fight to the villains, entering their fortress, and facing them down. And the fifth was as close to a horror novel as the Realms ever did, as former ally turned traitor Kierkan Rufo became the unliving embodiment of the Chaos Curse and desecrated the library they had both grown up in.
And it had an absolutely perfect ending.
Now, back then I did not play D&D—I didn’t have any of the sourcebooks, nor did I know anyone else willing to play. But when I started? You’d best believe I played a cleric first, and it’s the class I come back to most. And my current character in D&D, the one I’ve been playing for years and well over a hundred sessions?
A young, idealistic cleric of knowledge.
Purchase Your Copies Here
In Sylvan Shadows by R.A. Salvatore
The Fallen Fortress by R.A. Salvatore
The Chaos Curse by R.A. Salvatore
Check Out Some of Our Other Reviews
Review – Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore
#FebruarySheWrote Review Sairō&’s Claw by Virginia McClain
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March 2, 2022
Review – Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore
If Dead Things is anything to go on, I would have to guess the whole series has a noir urban fantasy vibe reminiscent of Felix Castor or John Constantine. There will be obvious comparisons to Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files, but Eric is cold and ruthless, whereas Dresden is snarky. Either way, Dead Things was a gritty urban fantasy done well.
We start the story by being introduced to Eric after he is called home. His sister has been murdered, and Eric is home visiting old haunts. He is also looking for information, and the only way he can get it is by talking to the dead. Through ritual and blood, Eric speaks to the deceased. They are a swarming mass of life-sucking souls held at bay by Eric’s will and attitude alone. This story does not make the paranormal world look charming. There are no hugable and misunderstood souls here. Dead Things’ creatures want to tear you limb from limb and feast on the bloody bits that are left.
“Magic’s like Fight Club that way. You don’t talk about it. Can’t have the regular folk knowing this shit’s real. We might have to share.”
With the bits and pieces of information that Eric gets from the ghosts and the old friends and new enemies he meets up with along the way, Eric begins to pick apart why his sister got killed.
There is a ton of positives about this story. Firstly, Eric doesn’t have a swagger. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good quip and a well-placed swagger, but it has gotten formulaic across urban fantasy. It seems like every new series I read is a clone of Harry Dresden. Not every series needs to be cheeky. Secondly, how necromancy is described hits home how dangerous and otherworldly it can be. This kind of power shouldn’t be taken lightly and isn’t in Dead Things. And while this is a fantasy novel, it does add a gritty realness to the story. I think fans who like their fantasy with a side of grimdark will appreciate this series.
“There’s a difference. Like I’m complex, you’re complicated.”
Eric is a violent person; he has no qualms about throwing down with humans or with the undead. There is a lot of violence and action scenes in the story, and they are done well. Blackmoore writes with a gritty scalpel, and he does not mince words.
Dead Things is a solid start to what looks like a dark and entertaining series for my grimdark-loving heart. I plowed through this book and can’t wait to get to the second book in the series, Broken Souls.
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March 1, 2022
Five Kindle Unlimited Recommendations For March 2022
Kindle Unlimited is a service that can theoretically provide you wuith limitless numbers of books for the price of one normal release every month. For those of us who are fast readers, this is a tremendous blessing. I pretty much have read every single Red Sonja comic ever written thanks to Dynamite Entertainment putting almost all their comics on the service.
However, what we here at Before We Go want most is good Kindle Unlimited books. As such, here is a recommendation of a bunch of entertaining ones that I’ve enjoyed and can say rise above the dross.
If you wish to see previous recommendations, go here:
1. Five Kindle Unlimited Recommendations for January
2. Five Kindle Unlimited Recommendations for February
1 Paternus: Rise of Gods by Dyrk Ashton
Paternus is a fantastic trilogy that is about a secret war being waged between two races of godlike beings behind the scenes. These are the inspirations for humanity’s religions and demons with both sides having multiple beings based on them. It is a fascinating and well-researched set of books. Dyrk Ashton has a gift for making memorable and fascinating characters too. It is a fantastic mythology he’s set up and worth reading for that alone.
AboutDescribed as American Gods meets The Avengers and Supernatural meets The Lord of the Rings, Paternus combines myths from around the world in a modern story of action and intrigue that is “urban fantasy on the surface, but so much more at its core!”
Even myths have legends. And not all legends are myth.
When a local hospital is attacked by strange and frightening men, Fiona Patterson and Zeke Prisco save a catatonic old man named Peter—and find themselves running for their lives with creatures beyond imagination hounding their every step.
With nowhere else to turn, they seek out Fi’s enigmatic Uncle Edgar. But the more their questions are answered, the more they discover that nothing is what it seems–not Peter, not Edgar, perhaps not even themselves.
The gods and monsters, heroes and villains of lore—they’re real. And now they’ve come out of hiding to hunt their own. In order to survive, Fi and Zeke must join up with powerful allies against an ancient evil that’s been known by many names and feared by all. The final battle of the world’s oldest war has begun.
Paternus: Rise of Gods, is Dyrk Ashton’s critically acclaimed debut novel and the first book in The Paternus Trilogy. It has been compared to works by Neil Gaiman, Scott Hawkins, Roger Zelazny, China Miéville, Joss Whedon, and Kevin Hearne.
Bubba the Monster Hunter is one of the funniest, most entertaining urban fantasies you’re going to find among indie authors. Bubba is the strip club loving, monster-hunting, shotgun wielding redneck working for the Catholic Church. Bubba’s first book is an irreverent and hilarious story that I absolutely loved from beginning to end and immediately purchased the sequel to.
About“Cross Larry the Cable Guy with The Dresden Files, and you have Bubba the Monster Hunter”
“Reminds be a bit of Ash from Army of Darkness”
“Hartness spins another tale of redneck mayhem full of his usual sarcastic humor.”
Scattered, Smothered and Chunked collects the entire first “season” of Bubba the Monster Hunter, from his first graveyard-splattering adventure in Voodoo Children to the stunning cliffhanger at the end of Final Countdown! Fans of the rollicking redneck monster hunter will find plenty of value in this massive collection of monsters, strippers, beer and bullets! This collection includes ten Bubba shorts, a Bubba prequel novella, and a bonus Black Knight Chronicles short story!
Voodoo Children – In this first Bubba the Monster Hunter story, everybody’s favorite redneck is chasing zombies through the hills of Tennessee. Follow Bubba through beer joints, strip clubs and graveyards as he and his best helper Bertha (a .50 Desert Eagle Pistol) make sure that what’s dead, stays dead.
Ballet of Blood – In Ballet of Blood, Bubba has to investigate a mysterious touring dance troupe that of course turns out to be more than he expected.
Bubba, backed up as always by the hilarious Skeeter, has to make do with his wits and what weapons he can find backstage at a theatre to get out of his most dangerous adventure yet.
Ho-Ho-Homicide – Everybody’s favorite redneck monster hunter goes undercover as a mall Santa to get to the bottom of a series of mysterious murders. Along the way he encounters snotty kids, annoying mothers, a smokin’ hot elf, the spirit of Christmas and a tribe of fairies that would rather make war than toys!
Tassels of Terror – Bubba’s back, and this time it’s personal! A mysterious fire destroyed a topless club in South Carolina, and Bubba must get to the bottom of the mystery and rescue a missing stripper before more bloodshed ensues.
Cat Scratch Fever – Bubba the Monster Hunter returns in a love story for the ages! Okay, not really. But there are big guns, bar fights, cheap women, cheaper beer, even cheaper one-liners, and a six-foot tiger taking a leak on a headstone. No really, that last part happened.
Love Stinks – Bubba’s back! There’s a cupid on the loose in a nursing home, and he’s wreaking havoc with broken hips, high blood pressure and horny octogenarians! Can Bubba and his pistol-packing nun sidekick save the day before the cupid plants a magic arrow in our favorite Monster Hunter?
Hall & Goats – Bubba’s back, and this time he’s chasing a creature he can’t even pronounce! A mysterious creature called a chupacabra is attacking livestock in Florida, and Bubba’s on the case! But there’s someone else investigating this chimichanga, too! Who is it? Is she hot? Will Bubba get her naked before the story is over? And what the hell is Bubba doing hunting chalupas in a dry county?
Footloose – Bubba hunts a bigfoot in Virginia mountain country and finds so much more, including a hottie federal agent and a blast from his past that will change Bubba’s life forever. And probably not for the better!
Sixteens Tons – Bubba’s back and he’s another day older and deeper in debt! Well, not really, but he’s butt-deep in goblins and running low on bullets! Little green monsters have climbed out of a coal mine in West Virginia, and Bubba’s here to save the day.
Family Tradition – THIS is the story Bubba fans have been waiting for!
How did Bubba become a monster hunter?
What happened to his father?
What will he and Agent Amy have to deal with when they find him?
Join Bubba, Skeeter, Bertha and a lot more of the Bubba clan as we go deep into the past of eve
I am a huge fan of dark fantasy as anyone who reads my work for Grimdark Magazine. However, while the word grimdark comes from Warhammer 40K, there is precious little grimdark in space aside from it. The Skald’s Black Verse takes place on a dark and isolated world where humanity has devolved to barbarism but been reconquered by a expansionist but decaying empire. It has many fascinating characters and truly great writing. Perfect for fans of fantasy or scifi.
AboutBrohr has been lied to, abused.
All he wants is to live in peace, away from the ignorance of his village, to outrun the raging ghost which haunts him.
But a hidden evil seeks to harness Brohr’s fury.
Accused of murder, hunted by ruthless soldiers, Brohr delves the way of the Skald, unlocking forbidden blood magic as he unearths terrible family secrets.
When the red moon is broken, and all is lost, it’s up to Brohr to lead a rebellion, or face the end of the world
Andy Peloquin is one of the most underrated indie authors out there. His Darkblade Assassin series is fantastic, and I love his Cerberus sci-fi assassin series. However, I have a special place in my heart for Child of the Night Guild. It is a fantastic series following a young woman sold as a slave to the Thieves Guild of a city and put through a punishing series of tests before unleashed onto the rest of the city. All she wants to do is escape her life of crime but is that really any better in a city as corrupt as her’s?
AboutThey killed her family. They ripped apart her home. But to repay her debts, she’ll have to sacrifice her innocence.
Robbed of everything she loves, Viola mourns the sudden loss of her mother. Now burdened with an impossible debt to the Night Guild, she’s forced to train as a cunning thief. Subjected to cruelty at every turn, the scrawny criminal apprentice vows to survive long enough to become the kingdom’s best.
Thrown together with unlikely allies, her burgeoning skills draw the attention of sadistic bullies and jealous rivals with dark intentions. But fueled by grief-filled rage, Viola won’t let anything distract her from preparing for The Guild’s most treacherous test.
In a cutthroat den of thieves, can Viola rise to power and outrun a brutal death?
Child of the Night Guild is the first book in the gripping Queen of Thieves epic fantasy series that’s not for the faint of heart. If you like grimdark battles, improbable heroines, and graphic scenes, then you’ll love Andy Peloquin’s unflinching coming-of-age tale.
5 A Wizard's Forge by A.M. Justice
A Wizard’s Forge is a fantastically subversive fantasy that starts with the plucky bookish heroine on an island that knows the truth of a planet’s lost origins being kidnapped then sold into slavery where absolutely none of those qualities matter. She struggles with brainwashing from a charismatic ruler and even escape provides little recourse from her PTSD. It is a book that deals with difficult subjects but has a lot of charm regardless.
Interview With A.M. Justice, Author of A Wizard’s Forge
AboutWizards are forged, not born.
Victoria of Ourtown lived through a nightmare to become the ruthless soldier known as Vic the Blade. Once she wished to explore the world settled by her spacefaring ancestors; now she thinks only of revenge.
Prince Ashel’s carefree days are filled with music, revels, and dreams of a life with Vic. Those hopes die when the thrust of an assassin’s knife drives him to war.
The target of Vic’s and Ashel’s wrath is Lornk Korng, a tyrant whose schemes stretch across a continent and a lifetime.
A mysterious alien race holds the key to a legendary—and lethal—power. Whoever possesses this power will hold the world in their hands. Will they save it, or doom it?
A gripping tale of empowerment and revenge plays out against a breathtaking backdrop of dark fantasy and science fiction.
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#SPFBO7 Burn Red Skies by Kerstin Espinosa Rosero
By jodie Crump 
"And then the stars came out. One by one they gleamed, bright and sharp like polished steel, but one burned a fierce amber, killing off all the winds in their paths. The last gust was barely stronger than a dying breath, a whisper that disappeared behind the trees. Riyan, he recalled suddenly. The dragon of the winds after which the amber star was named. Dragons had been dead for centuries, but the Annals insisted that when they left this world, their spirits became stars, changing in succession to protect their people." burn red skies by Kerstin espinosa rosero 
Burn red skies by Kerstin espinosa rosero Buy A Copy Here What is it about? It starts with a rift that burns a thousand scars into the sky.
It makes the winds stop.
It makes the stars go dark.
It awakens an ancient beast.
And with it, a new reign of blood.
It is the Summoning.
And at the heart of it is fire.
***
When the Summoner’s army blazes through her village, Dove is forced into hiding. Torn from everything she knows, she begins training in the elements with only one goal in mind: to find her brother. She just needs to get past the Summoner’s army—but how can she slay a dragon that is already dead?
What happens when you mix dragons, politics, airships, fascinating characters, and high stakes? You get the well written adventure, Burn Red Skies!
The first thing I noticed about Burn Red Skies is the regard it has for its readers. The author doesn’t condescend to the reader and give long, over-the-top explanations for everything. Instead, it is assumed that the reader will pick things up as the story moves along. I loathe info dumps, so this approach worked well for me. It might cause some readers a bit of confusion at first, but I liked the way the information was given organically as the story progressed.
The main character is Dove who is separated from her brother and whose only goal is to find him. The magic in this world is elemental (more on that later) and she begins training in it as a means to an end. Dove is mute, which is something I don’t usually encounter in main characters. It was so wonderful to see fantasy being more inclusive as far as different abilities. I enjoyed her determination and her strength.
While there are many characters, and the book is told from several points of view, I have to say that I looked forward to reading about Dicker and Merc the most (sky pirates! How cool!). They were just so much fun! Generally, in a book with multiple viewpoints, there’s a character that just doesn’t interest me, but that didn’t happen in Burn Red Skies. Each character brought something to the story. Another thing to note is that I never found it difficult to keep the characters straight. The author gave each one such an original personality and voice that switching back and forth worked just fine. The characters’ story arcs start out completely separate, with characters in separate areas which of course left me curious to know if and how they would finally meet. It’s an ambitious way to tackle storytelling and the author manages it beautifully.
Burn Red Skies features elemental magic, which gave me pause at first because I (incorrectly) thought there was nothing to be done with it that hasn’t been done before. I really love that I was wrong! The magic did more than just give a person a “point your finger and lightning pops out” sort of skill set. Instead, it was nuanced and affected everything from what a person can do to how they heal, or how they handle the sun.
I only have one small quibble which is that the pacing was choppy in parts. Some things that could have used a little more time or focus seemed sped up, and other parts seemed oddly stretched out. This didn’t happen too often and only in a few places throughout the book.
I enjoyed this highly imaginative fantasy and am excited to see the story continue in Rise Red Kingdom.
8/10
Check Out SOME OF OUR OTHER REVIEWS#SPFBO Review and Cut – The Deathless One by Niranjan K.
#SPFBO Review and Cut – The Hand of Fire by Roland O’Leary
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Jodie Crump is the creator of the Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub blog. She either lives in Florida with her husband and sons, or in a fantasy book-she’ll never tell which.
When she’s not reading, Jodie balances her time between homeschooling her hooligans, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and lamenting her inability to pronounce “lozenge”. Find her online at Witty and Sarcastic Book Club or Twitter
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February 27, 2022
#FebruarySheWrote Review – Sairō’s Claw by Virginia McClain
Author of eight novels, and several short stories, Virginia McClain is a seasoned novelist, with a great track record. Her novel Blade’s Edge, Gensokai Book One, was a Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off Finalist (SPFBO) in 2019. A lot of fellow readers have lauded McClain’s work as excellent. That reputation, and the absolutely glorious cover of Sairō’s Claw, Gensokai Book Three (though it can be read as a standalone, rather than part of a series) sucked me right in, and I put the book down as a TBR-must. Suffice to say, I was glad I did. Now, onto the review, another #FebruarySheWrote review, where I exclusively read and review the works of authors who use the pronoun she/her!
Sairō’s Claw largely follows two main characters – Torako and Kaiyo – who are on opposite sides of a conflict that is centered around another character, named Raku. Torako and Kaiyo share a lot of similarities. Both are elite in terms of fighting skills. Both are fiercely loyal to what they believe in and care about, and both are somewhat exacting and brutal on the surface, with tenderness and compassion underneath. Both are willing to fight to the death, without ever giving quarter, to defend and protect those they feel merit such devotion.
Torako, a former famous warrior, is trying to live a quiet life, in a reclusive valley, housed in a cave with her loving wife Raku, and three-year-old daughter Itachi. Kaiyo, meanwhile, is a fearsome sea captain, devoted to her duty, and her admiral, who also happens to be her father. When the admiral dispatches Kaiyo on a mission to kidnap Raku, who is a scribe, for political purposes, Kaiyo questions the mission, but obeys the commands. To complicate the task, the admiral insists Kaiyo take fifteen hardened criminals along with her to accomplish the abduction. But, besides potential treachery on the part of the felons, even the tough and brilliant commander Kaiyo might meet her match in Torako, known as the “Night Stalker”, so legendary is her reputation as a feared fighter, and the fabled guardian of her valley home.
So, Torako will die to protect Raku, and Kaiyo is willing to die to take Raku away from Torako. Something has to give, and obviously, with two ferocious fighters like Torako and Kaiyo as opponents on a collision course with each other, blades will clash in the process, with potentially devastating results. But, unbeknownst to these two adversaries, there are secrets out there that further bind Torako and Kaiyo, even beyond Raku, and there will be revelations coming that shock them both to the core.
There was a lot to love about this book. Let’s speak about the great worldbuilding first. The Gensokai realm – the setting for McClain’s book – is heavily Japanese-inspired, and vividly depicted. McClain provides a glossary of terms at the onset of the book. Inside this glossary, some of the terms are actual Japanese words, while some are contrived to enhance the story, to add a sense of authenticity and lushness to the worldbuilding. McClain was definitely successful in that regard. From the weapons, to the clothing, to the manner of speech, to the tea ceremonies, to the belief system, to the conventions and etiquette of Gensokai, McClain vividly paints a luxuriant picture of her world, that the reader can immerse themselves in.
The magic was fantastic, and haunting: mysterious kamis (gods), possessed swords (one of my favourite magical tropes), manipulation of elemental magic to control nature, such as wind (another favourite), sea serpents, giant wolves, and more leaped off the pages of Sairō’s Claw. There was also blood magic used to promote healing, another favourite element, which is met by extreme suspicion and mistrust by Kaiyo in particular.
I have to give McCLain a lot of praise for her combat scenes. They were top-notch. The 2000 film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, set in In 19th-century Quing dynasty China, starring Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh is one of my favourite action movies. Somehow I could not help putting Ziyi and Yeoh in the place of Torako and Kaiyo in my head, when I closed my eyes and imagined these two incredible fighters taking on all comers, after reading every great action scene written by McClain, in Sairō’s Claw. The whirling katanas, the throwing knives, the blurring combat moves, fists, kicks, and blades coming at all angles – it was dizzying, chaotic, thrilling.
It’s all about the characters for me, and these were very intriguing. Torako and Kaiyo were the take-no-prisoners type, yet were not bloodthirsty for bloodthirstiness sake, and knew when not to do violence, when it was counter-productive to their aims. Both are rather austere, and it’s only through how much they love their family that they are not as harsh as they seem on the exterior. They were sufficiently complex to keep me very engaged in their fate. The secondary characters like Tanaka, the eponymous wolf-spirit Sairō, Kitsu, and Lyt, who tended to express their thoughts, moods and emotions more readily than the two main players were nice additions to compliment Torako and Kaiyo.
In terms of themes, I must also acknowledge the fantastic representation in the book re: LGBTQ2AA+, including use of multiple pronouns, non-binary characters, and love between all genders. Kudos to McClain here, for making diversity an organic part of the story.
If you want fast-paced, this is your book. It takes all of five pages or so until the action takes off, and it only lets up in brief spells for the rest of the book. Though I prefer the slower-burn, there was certainly enough backstory for the characters, lore and culture, and political machinations and family drama to keep me entertained. Overall, this book was very well-put together.
The book ends on somewhat of a cliff-hanger! I love this technique, and loved how it was done in Sairō’s Claw, though I know not every reader enjoys cliff-hangers. Yet I feel enough resolution overall has occurred prior that this type of ending only would accentuate interest in reading the next book, rather than leaving the reader feeling disappointed.
Sairō’s Claw is very well-written, inventive, briskly-paced, full of mysticism, absolutely beautifully crafted fight scenes, intrigue, love, loyalty, Japanese-inspired worldbuilding, and conflicting motivations. 4.5 stars for this incredible book by a seasoned author who really knows what she’s doing when it comes to writing, Virginia McClain.
Purchase a copy hereCheck Out Some of Our Other Reviews#FebruarySheWrote Review – The Moon’s Eye by A.J. Calvin
#FebruarySheWrote Review – Escape Reality by Kayla Frost
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February 26, 2022
#FebruarySheWrote Review – Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat
Behind Blue Eyes is a new entry into the resurgent cyberpunk genre, which had sort of been left for dead for quite a few years, but is thankfully seeing something of a resurgence. As we come to the years when the Cyberpunk of the 80’s was set in, it’s fun seeing what came true and what didn’t. With Behind Blue Eyes, we get to see a bit further down the road, in a Cyberpunk world set in a time where nations have fallen, and everything is controlled by three Mega-Corporations set up in various mega-cities in the ruins of the old world. This very cyberpunk world has all the social inequities you’d expect, with the haves and have-nots very much separated. The propaganda machine and societal changes ensure obedience, as a very modern form of bread and circuses have developed. And just behind the scenes in the mega-city of Olympias are the Angels, the not so mythical cyborg enforcers of order in the regime.
This is where Nephilim and her fellow angels come in. Nephilim is a ruthless agent of the regime, the perfect assassin and soldier, equally adept at disappearing dissidents and fighting cyborgs from rival mega-corps. She is the perfect tool of the order, ready for greater things, including being made an Archangel, one of the leaders of the cyborg soldiers. Perfect, that is, until a freak encounter with another cyborg send Nephilim on a path she couldn’t ever have seen coming, as she is given something no other Angel has: A choice. A choice to continue being a weapon in the service of Olympias or going her own path, and this choice has consequences for not only her, but for Olympias and the greater world in general.
The protagonist can only be as good as the villains they are fighting against, and in this case, Nephilim has not only rival corporation’s cyborgs to deal with, but also Metatron, the leader of the Angels, and the biggest threat to Nephilim if she goes off the rails of her pre-planned life. He is such a well thought out character, always seeming a step ahead, always that menace that holds the sword of Damocles over all their heads, ready to remove those heads if they fail to comply. Nephilim plays off his menace well, and you can only hope as the story goes that she is able to find a way out from under his seemingly all-seeing gaze.
This new breed of cyberpunk plays homage to the classics by writers like William Gibson, but goes in it’s own distinct direction, never feeling derivative. It’s got those interesting speculations about what the fairly near future will hold, and you can tell the author put a lot of effort into creating a world the reader can become immersed in, and will definitely have some interesting possibilities in future stories. I can see this story appealing to fans of traditional cyberpunk, and fans of sci-fi in general. I am excited to see where the story goes from here, and recommend this book wholeheartedly.
Purchase Your Copy Here
Check Out Some of Our Other Reviews
Review – Red Shirts by John Scalzi
#FebruarySheWrote Review – Wyrd Gods by Susana Imaginário
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