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Review | Forged in Shadow – Megan Haskell

About the Book

In the chaos of war, not all heroes shine. Some must rise from shadows to claim the light. 

As the youngest son of the greatest smith of the fae, Curuthannor should be aspiring to the forge. Instead, he would rather wield a blade than craft one. When the high elf king commissions a powerful enchanted sword requiring iron found only in the subterranean goblin mines of the Shadow Realm, Curuthannor seizes the opportunity to earn a place in the smithy that doesn’t require a hammer. But when dark elf treachery interferes, the lives of his entire family could be at risk…for the high elf king is unmerciful and will not suffer disobedience.

Especially from his own daughter.

Lhéwen is honored to be the only handmaiden selected to attend the high elf princess on what she believes is a diplomatic delegation to the dark elf king. She doesn’t realize it could be a one-way trip. While the princess forges an escape from her father’s ruthless will, Lhéwen is trapped in a foreign land. Betrayed and alone, Lhéwen discovers it is her own quiet power that may free—or doom—them all.

For when the pen fails, the sword will take its place. 

428 pages (kindle)
Published on April 6, 2020
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I tend to gravitate toward stories where the protagonists aren’t doing what they should be doing. They aren’t toeing the prescribed line. Maybe it’s because, in some way, on some level, I can relate to that. I was supposed to go to school and become a nurse. Instead, I ended up an author and an editor. This is much more my speed, but I spent my entire life growing up hearing about how I was going to go into nursing, and the world needs nurses. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I just do not have the fortitude for such a career, and I’ve found my happy place editing and authoring. The disappointment of my parents, father specifically, was keenly felt.

I’ve felt it. I understand it. I know it. 

So, when I started reading this book, Curuthannor stood out to me right away. He’s the son of the greatest smith of the fae. He should be aspiring to take after his father, preparing to be a smith just like family dictates. Instead, he wants something else entirely. He wants to weld the sword. He wants to fight. He wants the spray of blood and pain. The division here between what a person should want, and what they actually want, was very well done. While it doesn’t dominate the book, it was realistic enough for me to read these parts, this tug-of-war between what he wants and what his father wants for him, and feel very real, very soul-keep connection there. 

Soon, things start roaring along. The king has commissioned a sword made from metal only found in the subterranean goblin mines of the shadow realm, and Curunthannor, seeing his chance to go on a quest, takes it. 

As one would anticipate, nothing ends up as simple as this. Soon he finds himself at the center of a web of intrigue where no decision is a simple one and everything has unpredictable implications.

The other major plot thread is told by Lhéwen, who has her own quiet kind of power. Her plot thread is full of political intrigue and the dynamics of shifting loyalty as she, a seamstress, learns she has the potential to change absolutely everything, if she so chooses. Lhéwen took me a bit more time for me to warm up to, but once her storyline really got going, I was completely enchanted by her, and by this very different aspect of the world than is presented in Curunthannor’s storyline. While not being in power herself, her place next to all these powerful people gives readers an interesting perspective into the machinations at play here that we would otherwise lack.

Soon, the storylines of Lhéwen and Curunthannor intertwine, and these two unsuspecting individuals learn the fate of realms, plural, sits on their shoulders. Both characters are pushed out of their comfort zones, and forced to make decisions that may be uncomfortable, and may have ramifications far beyond anything either of them anticipated. It was grand to see how both characters start out on relatively equal footing: unhappy, yearning for something else, set on a certain path. Then, as events transpire, things shift and they both end up being so much more than they ever thought, with the fate of entire peoples hanging in the balance. 

The question of loyalty, to self and to others, in a lot of ways, is the core of this book, and I loved how Haskell danced around it, making me look at it in different ways, in different lights.

The setup here is intricate and well balanced. This is a complex world, and in Forged in Shadow, we really only see the setup for what will certainly be a sprawling, multi-layered conflict, with both sweeping vistas and plenty of nuance and detail to keep it all in perspective. The conflict between shadow and light is just being set up in this book, and I can see from the way the author is setting all her pieces on the gameboard, it’s going to be grand indeed, and told from the perspective of well-crafted characters I actually care about who have to grapple with world-altering high stakes. 

The prose was very well done, each phrase carefully chosen and written in such a way they brought the world to blazing life in my mind’s eye as I read. The characters were multi-facetted, and the fact that author managed to genuinely make me care about who I was reading about made me feel personally invested in what was happening in this book. I could feel Haskell’s passion for her story, which is important to me. If I can tell the author loves the yarn they are spinning, then it elevates the entire thing to a whole other level.

Forged in Shadow is an epic adventure in every sense of the word, kicking off a series that is certain to be just as grand, just as sprawling, textured, and nuanced as the best epic fantasy out there. This is a world steeped in fantasy, and filled with magic, where decisions, even the smallest ones, create ripples that will impact entire societies. 

This, dear reader, is epic fantasy with heart. 

4/5 stars

Review | Throne of Ice and Ash – JDL Rosell

About the Book

A throne in peril, a tragic betrayal, two heirs struggling to save their land, and a prophesied war threatening to engulf the world…

Bjorn, son of the Jarl of Oakharrow, has always felt more at ease with a quill than a sword. Yet when calamity strikes his family, he must draw a blade and lead a company of warriors into the cold, deadly mountains in pursuit of a mysterious foe. But though he seeks vengeance, an ancient power stirs in him, and the whispers of prophecy beckon him toward an ominous destiny…

Aelthena, Bjorn’s sister, was born with the aptitude to lead, and she’s eager to prove it. But her society’s rules for women, and her love for her brother, restrain her efforts to command. As she walks the fine line between ambition and virtue, enemies of both mankind and myth rise against the city, and even her allies question her right to rule…

The Runewar is rising — and it begins with the fall of the throne.

385 pages (Kindle)
Published on May 24, 2021
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I edited this book

I’ve recently had a boatload of Nordic-inspired fantasy come my way for editing. As a person who has never really thought, “WOO! NORDIC-FLAVORED FANTASY! YES!” it’s really been a thing I’ve been adjusting to. On a purely editorial side of things, I will say that Nordic fantasy, and fantasy heavily featuring dragons seems to be in right now. Those aren’t always found in the same books, but as far as that side of my business is going, those two elements seem to be occurring in the books I edit far more frequently now than they have in the past. 

On a purely personal basis, I’ve learned I really enjoy Nordic-inspired fantasy. 

Throne of Ice & Ash is one of those books that had me thinking, “ah, I know how this is going to go” when I started editing it, and by the end of it I was reeling. “I DID NOT EXPECT THAT” I yelled at my husband at one point. 

Set in a secondary world, there is an interesting marriage of Medieval and Nordic elements at play here. We have ruling families, inheritance at stake, and conflicts with surrounding territories. Here the king (Jarl, as he is called) is mad, and his eldest son is set to inherit and is acting in the father’s stead. Tragedy strikes early on, leaving Bjorn, the surviving son, on the path to inherit his father’s mantle. Bjorn, however, isn’t suited to that particular job. A scholar, quiet and reclusive, he’s more fit for study and quiet work than ruling a people. His sister, however, does have the temperament and aptitude for such a task. The problem is, she happens to be the wrong gender. 

And so early on, we are thrust into this world of complicated politics, madness, inheritance, where instability is made even more dramatic through an act of, what could be considered, terrorism. At this point, the threads split. Bjorn leaves, exiles himself from his kingdom and gives his rights to rule to his sister in his stead. Up into the high mountains he goes, to discover what he can from the far-flung tribes of the high reaches. 

Althea, on the other hand, stays put, trying to navigate treacherous political waters while mourning a family she’s lost and trying to find out who did this and why. Politics and intrigue are thick in her storyline. As a woman, she is not only fighting for her family and her rights, but she’s fighting against a group of people who see her as less due to her gender. Her battles take place on multiple levels and depths, in numerous different ways. 

Both characters are almost complete opposites. Bjorn is quiet, uncertain, unwilling to take control, and this is something he struggles with throughout his storyline. Here, we have a flawed character who makes mistakes, and his mistakes are shockingly human, as are the results of said mistakes. I suppose I can say Bjorn was, first and foremost, human. He was a man I could actually picture living somewhere in the world, with complex problems and a personality not quite suited to them. I loved how Rosell wasn’t afraid to take this character, flaws and all, and push him past his comfort zone. I also loved how Rosell wasn’t afraid to allow his character to stumble and fall. In fact, I think characters like Bjorn aren’t common enough in fantasy. His personal arc and evolution throughout the book was fantastically well done. As Bjorn searches for the answers to his own mystery, he also, in a way, finds himself. It’s not easy, and it’s not painless, but the path from who he was at the beginning of the book, to who he ended up being at the end was masterful. 

Althea was a character who frustrated me and intrigued me in equal measure. A woman who has the capability and temperament to rule in a male-dominated world is a tricky thing to write, and when I started reading her storyline, I knew she’d frustrate me, and I knew she’d need to frustrate me. Again, Rosell isn’t afraid to make his characters make poor choices, stumble, and occasionally fall. Althea was interesting because she’s hemmed in by tradition and expectation, she also has all these family connections, and she’s in an incredibly weakened position from which to navigate these treacherous waters. Through her, we see more of Oakharrow, more of the politics, and the immediate surrounding area. We get an view of the culture, the warring factions, the pressure from both inside and outside, and this woman who is trying to hold it all together in spite of the fact that everything has come some dramatically undone. 

Alone and isolated, despite the fact that she’s surrounded by people, Althea was a captivating character to follow. 

Intricate and detailed, with a world that is as nuanced as the characters that inhabit it, this is an incredible start to a series. It’s clear that Rosell plans to take this series in a few different directions. I got the feeling that the events that transpire here are really just a snowball, and he’s starting to roll it down the mountain. By the end of the book, there are hints at the wider world, at places beyond the reach of what was covered here, at peoples and cultures that we haven’t encountered yet. How it will all relate to Althea and Bjorn, I can only guess, but it’s really fun for me to sit here, and ponder what will happen next. 

There were several points in this book where the plot took unexpected turns, and quite frankly, I didn’t expect the ending of either storyline, which thrilled me to bits. From this point on, I’m not sure what I expect. This book was a wild ride, and Rosell set himself a formidable task of not only creating this sprawling secondary world, but a plot and characters to fit it. As the start of a new series, A Throne of Ice & Ash was incredibly strong, extremely gripping, and impossible to put down. 

I can’t wait to see where he takes me next. 

5/5 stars

Review | We Men of Ash and Shadow – H.L. Tinsley

About the Book

Amidst the gas lamp shadows former soldier-turned-mercenary John Vanguard hunts criminals at the behest of his corrupt employer, Captain Felix Sanquain. Shamed by his deserter past and seeking to make amends for his many misdeeds, a chance encounter with Tarryn Leersac – a skilled young would-be-assassin fallen from the graces of high society – leads Vanguard to become an unlikely mentor.

Charged with hunting down the killer of two guards left washed up on the banks of the canal, the further Vanguard delves into the underbelly of the city the more he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets and lies. A prominent aristocrat is missing. Crime lords, con men and harlots run amok and the city teeters on the brink of another revolution.

With his already precarious reputation hanging by a thread, Vanguard must piece together how and why the last war came to pass, find a way to earn redemption for his mistakes and come to terms with the past in a city where few survive, and even fewer can be trusted.

296 pages (kindle)
Published on October 1, 2020
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Every once in a while I come across a book that makes me so excited, I want to pick it up and throw it at every person who reads speculative fiction, “HERE, READ THIS.” The book doesn’t have to be perfect to achieve this level of excitement from me. What it needs to do, is show such finesse, such skill, I can instantly see the author is going to be a rock star, and I want to get in on the ground floor before things really take off. I get excited when I see new talent, fresh blood, and I want everyone else to see what I see. 

So, we have H.L. Tinsley, and her first book, We Men of Ash and Shadow. Now, let me be clear, I read and edit a lot of books. A lot. A ton. A boatload of books. Books are my full-time job. I typically spend about twelve hours a day steeped in the written word. I have a knack for looking at a book, and being able to tell within the first few paragraphs if I have something remarkable on my hands. Reader, within the first paragraph of this book, I knew H.L. Tinsley is not only an author to watch, but she’s going places. This is someone I’m excited about and I want all of you to be excited about her too. 

We Men of Ash and Shadow is brilliantly written. Tinsley has a knack for a good turn of phrase. She knows just how say things in a way that makes the greatest impact on her reader. A good book, in my estimation, is more than one thing. Plot, characters, world building, and magic are all important, but the prose tends to be what makes all of that shine. I will admit, my favorite books are the ones I can admire as much for the plot and characters, as for how they are written. A book that can make me sit back and say, “that sentence is genius” is one I know I will enjoy. 

The book takes place in the city of D’Orsee, a place gripped by the iron fist of tyranny. Whispers arise about an uprising. People are getting tired of the way things are. There’s talk of things happening to change all that, which is dangerous. This is a dark place, and it’s full of unrest and simmering emotions. One gets the feeling that this city is tinder, and all it needs is a match to ignite. In fact, this disquiet is so powerful and pervasive, it almost becomes a living creature, a character in its own right. It’s a place where survival depends more on a person’s ingenuity and determination than anything else. The morally gray realm I love so much is Tinsley’s playground in We Men of Ash and Shadow.

Enter John Vanguard.

John Vanguard is a former soldier (I really love his name, by the way) who now works as a mercenary who is hired to do dark deeds for the city’s warlord. His previous career in the military ended with a bit of a disaster, leaving Vanguard a bit scarred emotionally, however, he has certain skills and his skills are put to good use. 

Part of Vanguard’s appeal was his depth. He isn’t just surface-level. He has a history and that history has left its marks and impacts how he acts and feels, and what he does. How he lives his life, which hasn’t been easy, and has had too few happy or pleasant moments, or so it seemed to me. His guilt, misplaced or not, is a driving force behind who he is, and why he does what he does. 

In truth, the same can be said for all of Tinsley’s characters. Their history is what makes them truly shine.

Tarryn is the other main character, and I will admit, I seriously loved him, partly because it took me some time to understand how delightfully warped this guy really is, with a past that is just as pivotal and important in his own development as Vanguard’s, just in different ways. 

The secondary characters really shine here, and the way Tinsley utilizes them as a tool to develop her point of view characters and plot really thrilled me. It isn’t very often that I see secondary characters developed this well, or used so craftily. There was a point and purpose to each one, and they were always on screen for that reason, rather than to just fill space. Through these secondary interactions, we learn a lot more about Vanguard and Tarryn, as well as the city and the peoples who live in it. 

We Men of Ash and Shadow works on a more subtle playing field than what you might expect from a book that features criminals and their ilk. Part noir, part fantasy, and very dark, this book doesn’t really have epic battles and lots of blood (though blood and violence is present and does happen). Perhaps I expected it to be more prevalent, and that might be why I was so pleased when I discovered Tinsley decided to go another way. Life is balanced on the edge of a knife. Threats lurk around every corner. One misstep, and it all comes crumbling down. That atmosphere, that living, breathing creature I mentioned earlier, pays off in this respect. Every action and each consequence feels like a bit of a battle, no less pitched for how personal, intimate, and internal it often ends up being. While there is violence, and there is tragedy, I seemed to focus more on the quieter moments of struggle, and the emotional impact it often had. Intrigue really uh… intrigues me. 

Perhaps if I had one complaint, it’s this: I wish the book was longer. I wish the characters were given a bit more time to show me their history and their stories. I wanted to see just how D’Orsee came to be, and how this turbulent place has lasted this long. History, I suppose. I wanted more history. In a book this gripping, and this brilliantly executed, I discovered I wanted to spend more time with these characters on the page, and more time with this world. I just, quite honestly, wanted more.

That’s a hell of a complaint, right?

So, where does that leave us? 

We Men of Ash and Shadow is an absolutely wonderful dark fantasy debut. Everything about this book was pitch-perfect. My only complaint is that I want more, more, more. Mark my words, H.L. Tinsley is an author to watch. 

4.5/5 stars

Review | Norylska Groans – Michael R. Fletcher & Clayton W. Snyder

About the Book

Norylska Groans…

with the weight of her crimes. In a city where winter reigns amid the fires of industry and war, soot and snow conspire to conceal centuries of death and deception.

Norylska Groans…

and the weight of a leaden sky threatens to crush her people. Katyushka Leonova, desperate to restore her family name, takes a job with Norylska’s brutal police force. To support his family, Genndy Antonov finds bloody work with a local crime syndicate. 

Norylska Groans…

with the weight of her dead. As bodies fall, the two discover a foul truth hidden beneath layers of deception and violence: Come the thaw, what was buried will be revealed. 

Published on May 10, 2021
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Norylska Groans was a book I was delighted to work on. I love working on all of Fletcher’s stuff, and I know Snyder well enough to know I’d love working on something he wrote. The idea of the two of them working together really pleased me. I thought they’d probably complement each other style-wise quite well, and I wasn’t wrong. 

This book was basically made for me for several reasons. First, I’m a bit of a Russian history geek so any book based on that region of the world instantly appeals to me. I love it. Especially if it’s so well-crafted I can immediately tell what it’s based on. Secondly, I enjoy dark character-driven journeys. Furthermore, I love magic systems that are a good balance of risk and reward, and friends, this book had one of my favorite magic systems I’ve run across in a long time. 

Norilsk is Russia’s northernmost city. I highly advise you to go look up documentaries on this place on Youtube because it’s fascinating (again, I totally geek out over stuff like this). The city itself relies heavily on mining for its existence, and is one of the most polluted cities in Russia. As you can see from the title of the book, and the name of this city, one uses the other largely for its fantasy inspiration. 

And the authors do quite well bringing this place to life. The city itself is clearly based on the real world location, but under Fletcher and Snyder’s careful ministrations, it becomes a city that is purely its own animal, reliant on itself for its existence. In fact, the city is so real, it feels like a place I could visit (though I don’t want to, to be honest). The streets come to life, as do the people who live there. It is messy, and cold, and steeped in misery, and yet despite all that, the city itself determinedly persists, existing in a climate that seems nearly impossible to live in, in a world that is too brutal, raw, and messy to lead to any real happiness or satisfaction. 

I could feel the dirt, the cold, in my bones as I read. It became part of me.

Factory work, war, tsars and industry haunt the periphery of this book, some more present and prevalent than others, though all of them play a role in making Norylska what it is, and the personal price paid for these things is, at times, high. Flashbacks of war, of brutal times, pepper this novel, not only showing the agony of what some people must endure, but also give tantalizing hints of the wider world, while showing just how actions and consequences can fracture a person’s psyche, and shatter their soul.

This isn’t a book about happy people making choices. Right away, readers will be thrust into the lives of two protagonists, each of whom has been tarnished and dinged by their own lives. Each of whom, are scarred. Genndy Antonov, an ex-soldier from the war, struggles with a mixing and merging of past horrors and current dark deeds. Finding himself steeped in organized crime, he seems to lose a bit more of himself in each paragraph. The slow bleeding away of this man was fascinating to watch, and while his hopes and desires are burning embers lighting the horizon of his life, they gradually move further and further out of reach. He is forced to make impossible decisions, in impossible situations, and finds himself capable of terrible things. 

What makes him different than most other grimdark slumlords I’ve read about was how divided he was between his yearning for family, happiness, security, and the things he has been forced to do in his past, and is forced to do in his present. The authors never shy away from showing not just how torn he is, but how personally painful that rupture within himself actually is. 

On the other side, we’ve got Katyushka Leonova, a woman who likewise is tarnished, dinged, and a bit lost though in different way. In a bad relationship, poor, and desperate, she ends up taking a job she thinks will be one thing, and ends up being another entirely. Soon, she’s steeped in a situation she can’t understand, and doesn’t really want to be part of. Her life changes in unpredictable ways, and the physical and emotional toll on her are likewise not glossed over, or prettied up.

It’s this staggering realism, the messy complexities of both the city and the people who inhabit it that make Norylska Groans so damn addictive. Here, we are not just thrust into a dark world, but we live it. We see characters who have already been irreversibly marked by the simple act of surviving this long in this place, slowly fray, crack and shatter. The pressure is enormous, the action is nonstop, the slow slide from one dark well to another is so agonizingly detailed, it is impossible to ignore, to not feel. 

The magic system, as I’ve mentioned above, is one of my favorites I’ve come across in a while. It’s both subtle and extremely powerful. Dealing with something as fundamental as personality and memory, this magic system has the capabilities to alter the bedrock of a person’s personhood, and it can be flipped on and off like a light. Once I understood the magic system, and the ramifications of something like this, both for good and ill, I was basically obsessed. A good magic system needs to have an even balance of positives and negatives, and the ones the authors thought of here were nothing short of genius, and fit so well in a world this complex, real, and gritty. 

I’m afraid to say more about it lest I spoil the book for others. Suffice it to say, it’s amazing. Trust me. 

So, where does this leave us? 

Norylska Groans is a book that hits you like a sucker punch to your solar plexus. Then, it sort of wraps one fist around your throat and one around your heart and squeezes just enough to make you pay attention. It’s uncomfortable, dark, and more real than real. Reader, this book hurts, but it’s the kind of pain I just couldn’t get enough of. 

Absolutely brilliant. 

5/5 stars

Review | The Gifts of Pandora – Matt Larkin

About the Book

The winding road of fate unfolds …

In the last days of the Silver Age, the tyrant god Zeus takes whatever and whomever he wants with impunity. He has already torn Pandora from one home and now he threatens to destroy another. When he turns his wrath upon Atlantis, Pandora flees with the Titan Prometheus.

Despite her bitterness, Pandora finds a friendship she never imagined possible. But Zeus is not done with Prometheus, and what Pandora will face next will make all she has endured pale in comparison.

But Pandora has considerable gifts of her own, not least her cunning mind. When Zeus binds Prometheus, Pandora swears to turn all those gifts toward bringing Zeus down and saving her one true companion.

Scheduled publication: June 3, 2021
Check out the author’s kickstarter here.

I edited this book, and I feel like I’ve been waiting a small eternity to be able to tell you about it. 

Matt Larkin is the kind of fantasy author I really love. He takes mythology and lore, stories and peoples and gods you might have heard of and twists them, and makes them uniquely his. His retellings are some of the best I’ve ever read, and the amount of research he puts into each one of his books is staggering. It also shows through each and every carefully written page. He isn’t just telling stories, he’s transporting his readers. He’s giving you a new way to look at history, and the world itself. 

I really love mythology and retellings of stories we all know of and have heard about. Who hasn’t heard of Pandora’s box? It’s a story I remember hearing way, way back in my childhood. I always was pretty captivated by the idea of Pandora and her box, but it never really went beyond that.

The Gifts of Pandora took that story of Pandora’s box I’ve heard since I was a child, and tells it in a way that had me consistently sitting back saying, “WOW, I never thought of it like this.” In this world, gods and mortals intermix and mingle fairly regularly. The divine and the mundane bump up against each other in a way that somehow makes makes the first seem more mundane and the second more divine. 

Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this book was how Larkin twisted the idea of the gods. Zeus was a man I viscerally hated from the second I read about him. Rather than deified, he’s presented as a powerful man with temper issues and a penchant for stealing and raping women. He’s a pig, and Larkin doesn’t shy away from that at all. To stay in this man’s good graces, some people have to do things they may not be comfortable with, and the morality toyed with in that relationship is both cleverly dealt with, and a string that binds a good chunk of the novel itself. More on this in a bit. 

And through this humanization of the gods and their offspring, you see the world in a different light. Not everything for those of Olympian (or Titan) stock is wonderful and easy. Prometheus’s notorious punishment is led up to, and then begins in this book. His soft spot for humanity, and the payment for said soft spot is all the more acute and poignant because Larkin shows just how Prometheus got to that point, and while physical pain is involved, it’s the emotional turmoil that struck me and (literally) brought tears to my eyes. His sacrifice isn’t just in measures of pain, but also love, family, kinship, and life.

Pandora was a character I was extremely interested in from the novella I edited that precedes this novel. She appeared in that book in fits and starts, and I told him I was really excited to learn more about this character. He told me he’s writing a series with her, and I just about jumped for joy. 

Pandora is a bit of a mystery, even to herself, I’d say and that’s part of what makes her so compelling. She’s had a bit of a hard-luck life, and through her own strength and ingenuity, she’s managed to not only survive but become a powerful person in her own right, and in her own circle. Someone everyone wants to have around. She is extremely smart and beautiful, and she knows how to use both instruments to her full advantage. Her personal evolution throughout this story was absolutely stunning. She was a character I sympathized with from her very first appearance, but somehow as the book goes on, she becomes even more human, and more relatable, and that makes her story even more tragic. 

Love and loss, family, and what all those mean, are dealt with through numerous lenses here. Not just Pandora and Prometheus, but through the offspring of the gods who also make appearances in the book. Timeline here is not linear. The book works on a few timelines, and I know the author was nervous about how that would play out, but it was absolutely one of the core strengths of the book, making the “ah ha!” moments all the more powerful once the reader sees how they weave together. This also created some emotional gut-punches that literally blew the air out of my lungs and had me wiping away tears. The power of story transcends time, and Larkin seems to show that in his entire body of work, but especially in The Gifts of Pandora, where time seems to be almost as much a character as the people themselves. 

I mentioned morality, and I want to touch on that a bit because I think this was also a huge strength of the book, though to avoid spoilers, I probably won’t say as much as I really want to. Suffice it to say, each character in this novel is forced into situations that are so uncomfortable for them, I felt them in my bones. Sacrifices take many different shapes and forms, and you see a myriad of them here. Some people make good choices for good reasons. Some people try to do the right thing, and it ends up going horribly wrong. Addiction becomes an issue in this book, as well as a sort of drug trade. Prometheus and his own morality is a bit of an issue. However, the one that really stuck to my ribs was the story of a woman who works as Zeus’s sort of strong right arm, his “witch”. Her story, once I saw how it connected to everyone else, is something I still can’t stop thinking about. 

And truthfully, it’s these moral conundrums that really appeal to me when I read and edit. I like it when characters are forced into uncomfortable situations, or when people try to do things they think might be beneficial but it ends up going wrong. Problems arise, and characters have to deal with that. Life is messy and so are people, and this sort of thing really makes books and the characters in them feel so realistic. Where Larkin takes it one step further is not just showing the morality and the domino effect of actions, but laying in this added emotional sucker-punch with the relationships he’s got developed, and forming. By the time you realize what’s happening, you’re also realizing just how central to each character’s soul this struggle really has been, and these vast implications he’s been subtly laying out throughout the book hit you all at once and you’re just left reeling. 

So, I’ve said a lot here, but what do you really need to know? 

This book was probably one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. It was a masterful work in every respect. Lyrical prose, a world that was so vividly wrought I felt like I was there, dynamic characters that blazed with realism and a complex, unpredictable plot that surprised me, and brought me to tears, The Gifts of Pandora is truly something special. I urge you all to read it. 

5/5 stars

Cover Art Reveal | Song of the Leviathan by Rebekah Teller

Rebekah Teller is a great friend of mine, and one of the most talented authors I’ve come across. I love poetry, and hers is absolutely amazing. A true wordsmith who knows the power of language and the effective use of it. I have beta read this collection (though I don’t think I’ve told her that yet… oops).

These poems are raw and real, full of emotion and seriously evocative. I fell in love with this book. Rebekah has been expanding her presence online, with a poetry YouTube channel and regularly posting poems on social media. I was delighted when she reached out to me about doing this cover art reveal. There is nothing in the world I’d love more than to show off the cover for my seriously talented friend’s book.

Song of the Leviathan is going to be the first book in a three book autobiographical series.

Without further delay, check out this cover art, and then read a (beautiful) excerpt from this collection.

Song of the Leviathan (Flowing in the Trenches, Book 1) by Rebekah Teller is set to release in July, 2021.

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Raw and relatable, this collection of poetry deftly navigates an ocean of heartache. Follow an inspiring personal narrative through starless nights and boundless love.

“It’s beautiful, poignant and hard to put down.” -Melissa L. 

“While some of it is specific, all of it is relatable to anyone who has ever been in a relationship.” -Traci C. 

Dripping Gown

Most weekends we went to the Lake
To swim, sunbathe, and ride the waves.
Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, 
Our relatives came by the dozens.

Days at the Lake rely on sun
And no one wants to be the one
Who gets there when rain’s in the sky.
They stay indoors, and they stay dry.

But they’re the fools, if you ask me.
I’d never even miss a beat.
The rain is the best time to play.
It washes all the pain away. 

I turn some music up so loud
And dance all night under the clouds.
The raindrops sliding down my skin
Make me feel alive again.

I stomp and splash
And spin and scream,
Sway back and forth
Like it’s a dream.
To lose myself
In this wet night,
Bare feet in puddles,
I delight.

Pour all this darkness down on me.
You’ll never get a frown from me.
Just find a silver crown for me
And slip this dripping gown off me.

’Cause I’m the queen of what’s insane.
I breathe lightning and drink the rain.
And no one here knows my real name
When every day is a different game. 

Turn up the song.
Kick up the beat
And make some room
For happy feet,
’Cause this right here
Is where I live.
This right here
Is what I give.

I bring you neverending rain.
I bring rhythms that ease your pain.
The splashes wash all over you.
The verses make you feel brand new.

So tell me why they want it dry.
I’m telling you, I’d rather die.
There’s nothing better than a night
Of cold and wet and dark delight. 

Review | The Faerie Hounds of York – Arden Powell

About the Book

England, 1810. The north is governed by a single rule. Faerie will take as it pleases. 

William Loxley is cursed. A pale and monstrous creature haunts his dreams, luring him from London to the desolate, grey landscape of his forgotten childhood. There, it will use him to open a door to Faerie—a fate that will trap Loxley in that glittering, heathen otherworld forever.

His only hope of escaping the creature’s grasp lies with John Thorncress, a dark and windswept stranger met on the moors. The longer Loxley stays in Thorncress’ company, the harder it becomes to fight his attraction to the man. Such attraction can only end in heartbreak—or the noose.

But Thorncress has his own bleak ties to Faerie. They come creeping in with the frost, their howls carrying on the winter wind. If Thorncress’ past catches up with him before they can break the curse, then Loxley will not only lose his soul.

He’ll lose Thorncress, too.

145 pages (Kindle)
Published on August 20, 2020
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First of all, that cover art knocks my socks off. I don’t know what it is about it, but it just works for me.

You know how sometimes you’re just in the mood to read a really good book about fantasy set in our real world? But not like… urban fantasy? Maybe something a bit more historical? Regency, perhaps. And add in some fae. 

Yeah, it’s like that. 

The Faerie Hounds of York is a novella I came across when I was wandering my way through Kindle Unlimited trying to find a book to read that would scratch that particular itch. It looked short and sweet with a punchy synopsis so I thought, “why not.” 

Well, suffice it to say, I stayed up until about three in the morning one night reading this book. I honestly couldn’t put it down. Everything about it delighted me, and when it was over, I had this book hangover that really surprised me. I mean, this was exactly what I was in the mood to read. I was so enamored with the book, I had to think about it for over a week before I thought, “I finally have the words to review that.” 

In the early 1800s, Northern England is basically ruled by the fae. They take what they want, and you get to basically just deal with that. The Faerie Hounds of York opens up with one William Loxley waking up in a faerie circle. A mysterious man named John Thorncress sees him there, and tells him to get on out of here. Go back to London where it’s safe. 

What would be the fun in that? 

So with Thorncress and Loxley’s paths crossing and twisting together, it’s soon discovered that Loxley is cursed, and being haunted by dreams of terrifying creatures. Thorncress and Loxley work together to figure out how Loxley ended up in the woods, and come to a terrifying conclusion. And, while all of this is going on, we’ve got a bit of a romance simmering as well. 

I will say, the first thing that impressed me was the atmosphere. From the first page, I had a sense of time and place, but more than that, I had an eerie atmosphere that just burrowed under my skin and lived there. This book works on a few levels, but Powell was a master manipulator of emotion and tension. It really sucked me into the story from the first word, and left me gasping for breath once it was through. 

Furthermore, I typically read stories about fae being beautiful and otherworldly, but Powell’s weren’t like that at all. I’ve never really see fae presented like this before, and I truly enjoyed it. Otherworldly, yes, but also there are elements of horror here that lead to some shocking, heart wrenching, brutal scenes that really stuck to my bones. 

This novella is about 140 pages long, so there’s not a whole lot of room for the author to lay down a foundation and then expand upon it. Powell thrusts his readers into the center of the action on the first page, and from there, as you follow Loxley, you’ll feel his confusion, determination, the shocks and desires he feels as well. In such a short amount of time, I truly felt that Powell did a fantastic job of not just telling a story, but creating a world and characters that shine both on and off the page. 

Loxley and Thorncress are both interesting characters with plenty of layers. Thorncress was the mysterious, enigmatic one. I never quite managed to pin him down as I read, and I wasn’t sure I was supposed to. I understood, completely, how enchanting Loxley found him, and the reasons why. I also loved how the mystery that is Thorncress was used in the novel, not just as the character developed, but the plot as well. 

Being a novella, there is never a dull moment or wasted word here. The story unfolds at a good clip, and its relentless forward motion never lets up. There’s plenty going on in the background as well, so while the story moves toward its ending, readers get a good glimpse of the world, the times, and the place (historical details) that add a layer of realism and nuance to the entire body of work. 

The Faerie Hounds of York was a superb novella, constructed with a shocking amount of thought, depth, and passion. It’s dark, with elements of horror, and a nice dollop of emotion as well. If you’re ever thinking, “I’m really in the mood to read a book that will destroy me” then check this one out. It pulls no punches, and will leave you feeling, powerfully, its passing. 

5/5 stars

Review | Under Ordshaw – Phil Williams

About the Book

Welcome to Ordshaw. Don’t look down.

Pax is one rent cheque away from the unforgiving streets of Ordshaw. After her stash is stolen, her hunt for the thief unearths a book of nightmares and a string of killers, and she stands to lose much more than her home.

There’s something lurking under her city.

Knowing it’s there could get you killed.

Published March, 2021
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Under Ordshaw only came on my radar recently. I’ve been on a bit of an urban/contemporary fantasy kick, and this one seemed to fit the bill. Plus, I was intrigued by the idea of a city under the city that no one really knows about. I’ve never encountered that in fantasy before, and it seemed like it could either be extremely messy, or extremely well done. 

Call me curious.

Under Ordshaw starts out with a bang. Our protagonist, Pax, ends up winning big in a card game. Then, stuff happens and she immediately loses her winnings. From there, things really get rolling. Pax finds herself embroiled in myriad of issues. Things happen with numerous people in numerous places (Yeah, I’m being vague on purpose.). It’s a lot of fun but it’s also A LOT. If you aren’t paying close attention, you could get lost and confused very easily. I’d say, really makes sure you really focus in on the first half of the book. If you miss something, you could easily lose the thread and get confused.

So, pay attention.

Aside from that, once I made sure I was buckled up and strapped in, when the book took off (which it did, like two pages in. Just off and racing.) I really enjoyed the ride. There was never a dull moment (literally). Always something happening somewhere, with someone. Sometimes it did get a bit overwhelming, but all in all, I found the book to be really well paced for something that covered so much action. The plot was just as diverse as the world and cast, which really thrilled me. I was never quite sure what was going to happen.

The world building and characters were the highlight of the book. The way Williams handled the city under the city was superb. The entire idea just intrigued me, and once we get to the point where we go into the city under Ordshaw, and see all the fantasy creatures that dwell down there, I discovered that some of my favorite characters are the ones that are infused with fantasy. They had some of the most realistic, believable voices and I loved the sarcastic humor. 

Further, I absolutely loved how Williams infused his reality with fantasy, truly elevating this story from an urban fantasy to something that almost feels a genre all its own. The idea of an underground fantasy city underneath a city full of unsuspecting inhabitants was really a delight to explore. 

The characters were amazing as well. I instantly loved Pax’s voice. She was witty and snarky, fiercely independent. She thinks before she acts, and has a good head on her shoulders. She’s balanced out nicely by many of the people/creatures she meets along the way, like Letty, a badass fairy with a foul mouth and a bit of a more act-then-think persona. Each character, however, had their own recognizable voice, and their own place in the story. 

Williams did a great job at offering readers nuggets of information at the proper times. The plot zooms by, making this book feel like a really quick read, but he is good at stringing readers along, delivering at the right moments. I was having fun with all of those “wait… OH!” occasions throughout the book. 

Under Ordshaw was an amazing book. A really solid introduction to a complex world. Fantastic characters and absolutely superb worldbuilding combine to make this breakneck plot something you won’t forget. This is a brilliant start to a series I am dying to read. If you’re an urban fantasy fan, don’t mind gritty realism and plenty of sarcastic humor, you need to do yourself a favor and read Under Ordshaw. 

You can thank me later. 

4/5 stars

Review | Witchmark – C.L. Polk

About the Book

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family’s interest or to be committed to a witches’ asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans’ hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

318 pages (paperback)
Published on June 19, 2018
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You know, I’ve been in a bit of a weird place recently. I’ve wanted to read books that aren’t, maybe, quite as epic as epic fantasy. Honestly, I have been sort of into the Gaslamp scene, and books with a bit of romance or some softer edges. 

Just… different than my usual. 

Enter Witchmark. 

Now, I went into this book knowing nothing more about it than there were whispers of LGBTQIA+ plotlines (huge, HUGE benefit in my book) and some Gaslamp-ish of worldbuilding. Okay, sign me up. I’m here for this. As an added benefit, it wasn’t 700 pages long, but just over 300, and my library had it. 

What I found in this deceptively-sized novel was a whole lot of layers, details, text, and subtext, and reader, I loved it. 

Set in this secondary world, just after a brutal war, we are introduced with one Doctor Miles Singer. Miles is a veteran of the war, and, for reasons that become apparent, he’s living under an assumed ID and working in a veteran’s hospital. You see, in this world, people who are magic marked are basically either doomed to live as a mage’s… battery, might be the right word. Or, he’d be relegated to an asylum. He wants neither of these fates, so he returns from war a very different man (literally) and goes into hiding. 

However, early on, everything changes. Miles finds himself steeped in mystery, and together, with a stranger, is ensconced in all sorts of espionage, sneaking around, detective work, and the like. 

The plot, I will say, is perfection. Everything is paced right, and the characters have unique voices and personalities. They truly blaze, and Miles himself commands the book. He’s a great mixture of confident and quiet, and he even has flaws, which I enjoyed. In truth, he was just a wonderful character to follow because he was so profoundly, shockingly human. 

However, it isn’t really the plot that thrilled me as much as the details. Under Polk’s deft hand, the world comes to life. Nothing is overlooked, and due to this, not only did I occasionally think, “Oh, hey, I never would have thought of this but wow, is it a cool detail…” I’d also marvel at just how much thought the author put into all of this. It’s one thing to read a book that’s just a damn good book. It’s another thing to read a book that’s just a damn good book, and holds some of the most realistic characters and world building I’ve come across. 

Yes, there is romance, and yes, I loved it. The two men involved were fantastic, and while it did have notes of a meet-cute, the way it developed was natural and not forced. The way the characters came together was sweet, and I found myself fist pumping the sky so happy because yes, YES, this is how romance should be written. It was the perfect note to the story overall, and balanced some of the darker moments with light, and tension of a different sort. Seriously, I loved it. 

Layers. My God, this book had so many layers.

There’s enough information about the wider world given in this book to make me hungry to explore it, and I’m eager to see if the next books in this series expands the borders of what we saw here at all. However, even if it doesn’t, I really enjoyed how Polk brought cultures together, and added subtle notes here and there about the wider world, other places, other cultures, and peoples. It made the book feel rather sprawling, while location-wise, it really wasn’t. It’s interesting how large a small focus can feel when details are carefully and purposefully woven into the narrative in this way. 

The magic system was spectacular, at once really intricate and well formed, but also with enough of a darker side to balance out all its potential. I love magic systems like this, that have so much upside, but just enough downside to make it a gamble. Miles spends so much of his time hiding who he is and what he’s capable of, that when he finally has an opportunity to explore his own capabilities, it’s really interesting to explore with him. However, there’s always just enough risk there to keep both Miles, and the reader, a bit uneasy. 

As Miles becomes entangled in his family again, I enjoyed the deeper themes the author was playing with, about the often conflicting desires of familial obligation and personal autonomy, and often the emotional tribulations involved in being at the center of such a tug-of-war were well handed. This book is, quite honestly, steeped in empathy, not just with this particular point, but with literally everything. The author genuinely cares, and the reader can feel that on every page.

All in all, Witchmark blew my socks off. It was exactly what I was looking for, and exactly what I needed and wanted to read. Absolutely spectacular writing, superb characterization, brilliant romantic notes, and detailed worldbuilding that made the story so real it breathed both on and off the page. This wee book packs a powerful punch.

5/5 stars

Review | Psycho Killers in Love – C.T. Phipps

About the Book

What if all the villains of slasher movies were real? What if the movies made about them were just adaptations of real-life killers with supernatural powers? This is a fact known to William and Carrie because their father, Billy the Undying, was one of the worst slashers of all time. So much so that they’ve spent the past decade in an asylum out of fear they’d end up just like him. Escaping, the two have decided to form a new life on the road. Except, a chance encounter in a dingy diner introduces William to the girl of his dreams.

Too bad she’s a girl on a mission to kill all slashers. But maybe the best way to catch a supernatural serial killer is with another pair of them.

266 pages (kindle)
Published on August 25, 2020
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You know, I’ve put off really reading a C.T. Phipps book for a long time. I’m not proud to admit that, but it’s true. I actively avoided it, and the reason why isn’t really what you’d expect. You see, I had a feeling these books were great. Everyone who has read them, that I know, has loved them. I wasn’t reluctant about quality in the least. I know Phipps knows how to tell a story.

My problem is, I hate comedy. I mean, hate it. If you tell me “that’s comedy” or “that’s funny” I’m gone so fast you’ll think I actually disappeared. And it’s not that I don’t like laughing, because I do, I just seem to only like the driest humor in the world. Everyone else in the room will be like, “this is boring and not funny, why are we here” and I’ll be the only person there laughing so hard I am crying. 

Any other kind of humor, though? No.. It just doesn’t work. Terry Pratchett is basically the only fantasy that makes me laugh that I can stomach for any period of time. 

So, that’s why I’ve avoided Phipps’s books. He’s a friend of mine (so know that going in), and I just knew I’d hate his books because I hate comedic fantasy unless it’s really something special. 

Anyway, I finally decided it was time. Phipps had sent me a bunch of ARCs over the year, but with the new aim of my website to shine a light on books that have fewer than 100 ratings on Amazon, I went through his catalogue and found one that fit the bill, and was fairly recent. Here we are, with Psycho Killers in Love. 

The United States of Monsters, the world where this is set, is truly a thing to behold. It’s our world, but maybe a step to the left. In this universe, monsters, gods, supernatural are as normal as anything else. Vampires exist and everyone knows about them. Eldrich horrors are a thing. Monsters and Lovecraftian elements abound. It’s dark and gruesome, with plenty of violence, blood, and gory elements to keep it real. The characters, specifically in this book, are morally gray, which really pleases me. 

What interested me was the twist Phipps gave all of this. In Psycho Killers in Love, a book I expected to be some revived 1990’s slasher-fest like Scream, we end up with that, but also a bit more. There’s surprising depth here. In this book, slashers are presented in a way that truly questions who they are, as well as their role in the wider world. Supernatural, and superhuman in some respects, Phipps turns the table and asks the reader, what if killing wasn’t an option? What if it’s something DNA deep that you can’t escape from?

The DNA element was specifically interesting to me. So often, these people are portrayed as insane, or flawed in some horrible way. However, William and Carrie are, instead, imbued with slasher DNA which makes them crave bloodshed. This craving goes alongside some cool supernatural abilities. Instead of being evil and really leaning into this genetic makeup, they use theirs for vigilante-type operations… taking out the trash, if you will. 

Then, as the book progresses, Phipps goes one step further. Is it bad if you’re killing someone who is inarguably repugnant? For example, if you’ve got a slasher, and they kill a child-killer, for example, are they truly evil? Does that negate the act of killing itself? 

And so you have this interesting mix of elements that allows Phipps to not only create this truly nuanced, vibrant, captivating and dark world, and fill it full of characters that span the gamut of morality and duty. In this particular book, he takes the 1990’s Scream-like killers, and ends up making them, in his own unique way, the good guys in their bad story. 

(Full disclosure: I’m saying 1990’s Scream because that’s literally the only slasher-type movie I’ve seen that I can compare it to.)

Told with three points of view (Carrie, Will, and Nancy), readers get a well-rounded view of the events that transpire in this book. All of them are nuanced and layered, with dimension and texture that surprised me. What really got me excited, though, were the emotional notes, not just throughout the book, but in the characters themselves. I truly felt for these people and their tragic lives. In certain scenes in the book, a punch of emotion would hit me hard, and I’d just sit back and think, “wow…” 

Nancy came along a bit later in the book, but man, did I feel for her. She was a powerful character with a backstory that was used to its greatest effect. An Artemis, or a person who can kill (is that the right word?) the Psycho Killer gene, she finds a love interest in Will, and that whole bag of potatoes was not only interesting and well-crafted, but seriously was one of the absolutely highlights of this book. I just loved how Phipps took all these characters, and put them in situations that stretched them beyond the bounds of what they’d typically consider, and then sort of let them go and see what happened. 

I’m 90% sure if I watched movies (I’m really making myself look boring here, aren’t I? I hate movies and comedy. Way to go, Sarah.) I’d probably pick up a lot of homages to slasher movies in this book. It has that feel to it, like Phipps not only loved the story he was telling, but he wanted to lean a bit on the type of movies and books that made something like this come to fruition. If you’re not as boring as I am, you’ll probably see a lot of that here, and it will likely delight you. 

Plot and pacing were spot on, as you’d expect from someone who has written as many books as Phipps has. Dude knows his craft, that’s for sure. If I had one quibble, the ending felt a bit too easy, but I also really liked the open nature of it, and how he left himself just enough room to revisit these characters and this specific corner of his world if he so chooses, and I hope he does. 

I know if you’ve come this far, you’re thinking this is a serious book and not a funny one so what the hell was I so afraid of? The fact is, there is levity here, though not really the way I expected (was afraid of). Every dark scene is tinged with something that makes it just light enough, whether it’s a quippy one-liner, or a scene that feels campy but is effectively so, or just… something, and I really enjoyed that as well, and how it balanced out the book as a whole. While I did (obviously) glom on to the more serious, layered aspects of this book, I also really did appreciate the lighter stuff, levity, and laughable moments a lot more than I expected I would. 

So where does this leave us? 

Reader, I went into this thinking I’d hate it. I thought I’d read this book, and have to pretend I didn’t read this book, and then that would suck because Phipps is a genuinely nice guy and I hate doing that to anyone. So yeah, I went into this expecting to hate every second of it, not because of the author but because this just isn’t really my bag of oats. Instead, what I got was a book I truly enjoyed. It was a quick read, with a ton of heart, a lot of darkness, and just enough light to balance it all out. 

I’m sorry it took me so long to read it. 

And, reader, here’s the irony of all of this. I’d put off reading his books for so long, that once I read this one I was so impressed, I immediately went on to read I Was a Teenage Weredeer. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Moral of the story: Make sure you try the things you don’t think you’ll like, because, like Psycho Killers in Love, they might end up surprising you.

4/5 stars