Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 6

Announcement | Spooky Book Bingo

I’m a bit late announcing this but my life has been like… super hectic recently so I apologize. Anyway, here it is.

I am pleased to announce that my book, Seraphina’s Lament, is a Featured Book in the first annual Spooky Book Bingo reading challenge! Keep reading to find out more about this challenge, including how to win a huge prize pack of ebooks.

Spooky Book Bingo is a challenge to read as much horror and horror-adjacent fiction as possible during the month of October, all while looking for the tropes and story elements listed on the contest���s bingo card:

When you find one of the story elements on the bingo card, you can mark it with a red circle or X. Each completed row counts as one bingo, and each bingo counts as one entry in the Spooky Book Bingo contest.

How can you participate in Spooky Book Bingo?

Readers can participate in three steps:

Read a bunch of spooky books. You can read books that are already in your To Be Read pile or check out some of the books in our official Spooky Book Bingo list.Mark tropes on your bingo card as you read. We suggest using red circles or X���s to mark found tropes. Note that each individual bingo counts as one entry into the contest.Submit your completed bingo card. You can send it to weeknight writers@gmail.com (without the space). To accommodate different time zones, submissions will be accepted until 11:59 PM EST on November 1.

You can also participate in conversations about the challenge and the books you���re reading using the #SpookyBookBingo hashtag on Twitter.

Do you have to read specific books for Spooky Book Bingo?

You can read anything you want for Spooky Book Bingo. However, we recommend you read from our Featured Books list for a couple of reasons:

You can see a clear list of the Spooky Book Bingo tropes included in each book, making it easy to plan your bingos.You can get additional entries to the contest by reviewing our Featured Books + sending screenshots of your reviews to weeknightwriters @ gmail.com.

Plus you���ll be supporting our awesome author community!

Can you count multiple tropes from the same book?

Absolutely! You can count as many tropes as you can find in a single book. 

What can readers win?

Readers will be able to win a prize pack of ebooks written by our featured authors. The list is still being finalized, but it already includes over a dozen books! Check out the prize list for more info.

Check out our Featured Books list and start planning your Spooky Book Bingo reading list today!

Review | The Pariah – Anthony Ryan

About the Book

From the international best-selling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria series comes the spectacular first novel in an all-new epic fantasy trilogy.

Born into the troubled kingdom of Albermaine, Alwyn Scribe is raised as an outlaw. Quick of wit and deft with a blade, Alwyn is content with the freedom of the woods and the comradeship of his fellow thieves. But an act of betrayal sets him on a new path – one of blood and vengeance, which eventually leads him to a soldier’s life in the king’s army.

Fighting under the command of Lady Evadine Courlain, a noblewoman beset by visions of a demonic apocalypse, Alwyn must survive war and the deadly intrigues of the nobility if he hopes to claim his vengeance. But as dark forces, both human and arcane, gather to oppose Evadine’s rise, Alwyn faces a choice: can he be a warrior, or will he always be an outlaw?

600 pages (Kindle)
Published on August 24, 2021
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This book was sent by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Anthony Ryan is one of those authors whose books I almost hate reading because they are so good it���s hard to parse out all the ways they are amazing. I���ve read almost all his books now, and I will say, The Pariah is probably my favorite one he���s written. So, keep that in mind as you read this review. Anthony Ryan is an incredible author, and in this book he takes everything that makes him so amazing and magnifies it. 

Honestly, I���ve been a bit burnt out on epic fantasy and grimdark in my free time reading, not because I don���t like the genre, rather because I have been editing a lot of epic fantasy for my day job and it makes reading it feel like work. For that reason, I put off reading Ryan���s newest book for a while. Eventually, however, I saw enough people foaming at the mouth about how wonderful it is, I realized I needed to just read it and see how great it is for myself. 

Reader, it���s amazing. 

Ryan has a way with writing that captivates me. He���s known for strong worldbuilding and captivatingly created characters, and in both of these respects, I feel like he���s taken his strong points, and really leaned into them. The world was brilliantly created, with every detail perfectly captured and his characters were so real, they breathed on and off the page. These two elements worked together to make The Pariah not just a book that was interesting, but a book that made me feel like I wasn���t reading the story but living it. 

If good fantasy is supposed to transport the reader, that���s exactly what this book did. I lived this story while I was reading it. The real world fell away, and I was transported to somewhere else. A dark reality fraught with mystery and drama, personal stories that were woven through a tapestry that felt both familiar and strange.��

Alwyn was a character with a powerful voice and a unique perspective. A man with a dark past, and darker experiences, he���s both an outsider and��� not. Valuable skills keep him connected to others, and yet he always seems to be hovering on the fringes, not quite accepted, which gives the reader a unique perspective into events. Alwyn always seemed to be gathering more depth and nuance as well, to the point where he was both unpredictable and dazzling, surprising me with, if not his actions, his clarity. It���s rare I see a character in a book that is this fully realized, this cunningly developed, with a voice that is this remarkably memorable. 

The plot is masterful as well, twists and turns, hidden elements around each corner. I quickly learned to try not to predict where things were going, because I was always wrong. Where I���d think the plot would go right, Ryan wouldn���t even go left, but rather he���d do something just completely and absolutely unpredictable. I fell in love with the dark notes woven throughout, the intense atmosphere and succulent tension so thick I could taste it. the best way to approach The Pariah is to sit back, and just read the story. Don���t think about it, just read. I tend to read and edit so many books these days, it���s really hard for me to find one I can���t predict, and yet here was one. Almost from cover to cover, I found myself surprised, and I savored that. 

The Pariah has a lot of your standard grimdark offerings, gods, churches, power plays, secrets, and Alwyn woven throughout all of it. I am a huge fan of first-person narratives. I love how deeply entrenched they allow the reader to get in the character���s perspective, and that was a big benefit here, making this grimdark story and world really shine. I love grimdark. I even write grimdark. I love the gray morality, and the characters who are often bogged down by pasts that are as dark as the story I���m reading about. Ryan unflinchingly leans into this. Yet the book itself never really felt like something I���ve read before, which I was concerned about when starting it. Through a crafty weaving of Alwyn���s voice, perspective, and the plot itself, The Pariah felt continually new, like he was exploring undiscovered grimdark territory and that newness was something I truly enjoyed.

The ending was great. It had me on the edge of my seat, and answered enough questions to satisfy me, but left doors open for future installments in the series. Honestly, reader, I���m almost mad at Ryan for not having book two ready right away. I mean, the sheer audacity of making me wait. (/sarcasm font)

As you can see, I loved this book. The Pariah hit all my buttons. Fantastic writing, an amazing world, a plot that won���t quit, and an unforgettable character, The Pariah starts out a new fantasy series that is sure to become one of his best, foraging new ground and, at the same time, reminding readers why Anthony Ryan is one of the best epic fantasy authors out there. His skill is unmatched.

Bravo. 

5/5 stars

Review | Sundered Souls – Tim Hardie

About the Book

Led by Johan Jokellsward, the Brotherhood of the Eagle fights to free the land of Reavesburg from its occupiers the Vorund Clan and avenge the murder of their chief. Only Johan���s inner circle understand their true calling, sworn to defeat an old evil that has risen once more.

Gautarr Falrufson, one of Reavesburg���s few surviving leaders, still defies the occupying forces and the Brotherhood���s small army must lift the siege of his fortress if they are to survive. However, Reavesburg is a divided land and the old clan loyalties no longer hold true. What reception can Johan expect if he clears the way to Gautarr���s gates?

With their fate hanging in the balance, Johan sets aside the accepted ways of his people and appoints Rothgar Kolfinnarson as his advisor, someone who has his own personal reasons to hate the Vorund Clan. Together, they must call upon mistrusted magic to gain the advantage over their enemies.

The second book in The Brotherhood of the Eagle series, Sundered Souls continues the epic fantasy tale involving magic, capricious politics and war. Who will choose the right side in the coming battle?

426 pages (kindle)
Published on July 27, 2021
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I really enjoyed Tim Hardie���s debut book, Hall of Bones. When he asked if I���d be interested in reading the second book in his series,��Sundered Souls, I jumped on it. Not only was I extremely curious about where this series was going, I also know (from personal experience) what it is like to be an indie author and fight for readers, and if I can help an author who, I believe, deserves all the attention, then I absolutely will.

Sundered Souls��starts out a bit after��Hall of Bones. I have a pretty crap memory due to three rounds of cancer treatments, so I do worry a lot of the time that I���ll pick up the second book in a series and not know what���s going on, because I can���t remember what I���ve previously read (through no fault of the author).��Hall of Bones��is written in such a way that the main events in the previous book are touched on just enough to draw out my memories of the events, but never so much I felt like Hardie was hitting me over the head with it.��

Enough time has passed from��Hall of Bones��for events to not only settle, but shift. New players emerge on the field. Some are welcome additions, and some are less so. Old feuds and rivalries, issues that were never quite put to bed increases tension on both personal and political levels. There was, almost instantly, a feeling of simmering discontent and worry. The atmosphere, in fact, was extremely well done and used throughout the book to its maximum effect, with the personal and interpersonal tensions masterfully feeding off each other.��

A lot happens in this book, and it moves really fast. If you aren���t paying attention, you will be left behind. There are also a lot of characters. You���ll like some more than others, but I felt that all of them were developed quite well, with unique voices I had no problems identifying. One thing I truly loved about this book was how human all the characters remained. While there is a lot happening here, Hardie gives each character moments of quiet vulnerability that really serve to humanize them, and make them matter to me more as I read about them. All of these characters have chinks in their armor, and without focusing too much on them, Hardie manages to use those chinks as a bridge to connect them to his readers. It was superbly done.

However, that tension I mention previously, the atmosphere the author infuses the book with from page one, is really felt throughout the entire story. There is a lot happening here, both in the plot and with the characters themselves as events transpire that force them outside of their comfort zones. Somehow, Hardie juggles all of it, not just to further the story, but to infuse the entire book with a fantastic amount of tension that never lets up.

Sundered Souls��is heavily political, with plenty of factions and personal political goals and aims. A lot is riding on what happens in this book. Occasionally, I feel the fantasy took a backseat to the politics, but this didn���t bother me in the least. The stakes in this book are so much higher than I felt they were with��Hall of Bones. Everything matters, and everything seems to have these far-reaching, almost surreal consequences. For readers who enjoy political machinations in their fantasy settings, this series will be for you. It moves along until the absolutely unforgettable ending filled with revelations and rife with unexpected twists and turns.��

Hardie is a fantastic author who puts a lot of detail into his worldbuilding and does so with a poetic finesse that really manages to balance out his more bloody, gruesome moments. I love books that balance beauty and pain, and I felt like Hardie did that really well with this book. The groundwork he laid out in��Hall of Bones��is expanded up on here, and due to that, the world feels both larger, and more complex and detailed. And yet, he weaves throughout all this trauma, pain, and tension these quiet moments of lyrical prose that just worked for me.��Sundered Souls��really proved Hardie���s versatility as an author.��

So, where does that leave us? 

I think it���s pretty obvious I loved this book. I also think Hardie is one of those undiscovered gems in the indie sphere. He���s got some serious writing chops, and this series is absolutely amazing.��Hall of Bones��was a fantastic debut.��Sundered Souls��took everything I loved about��Hall of Bones��and expanded upon it.��

This is shaping up to be a brilliant fantasy series.��

5/5 stars

Review | Fear and Fury – Jamie Jackson

About the Book

Meet Megaera, Meg for short. She���s like Deadpool, except for funner.

For a girl with the power of fear the recruitment attempts from both sides are never-ending. A self-described not-a-hero, villain-leaning humanoid, Meg just wants to live her life, work her dead-end job and have everyone else (especially the heroes) leave her alone. But when a bigger fish who can turn superpowers back on their users enters the picture and threatens the person Meg loves the most (herself), she must turn to the last group of people she would admit she needs help from. 

Forced to team up with the heroes she despises (but won���t murder, because let���s face it, orange is not the new black), Meg will have to face the choices from her past that she won���t get therapy for. Self-centered, snarky, sarcastic and a little bit dramatic, she���s going to have to save the world, even if that wasn���t her intention. And try not to get shot in the process. Because that shit hurts.

186 pages
Published on May 9, 2021
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I don���t even know. 

I mean, where do I start? 

You know how sometimes you read a book, and it kind of hits you like a punch to your solar plexus? It���s like that. 

Honestly, I couldn���t put this book down. If you want to talk about undiscovered diamonds, this is one of them. Fear and Fury really worked for me in absolutely every respect. As an added bonus, it���s not terribly long, which makes the whole getting-sucked-in thing that much more manageable. I mean, don���t get me wrong, I love getting sucked into books, but when you���re sucked into an 800 page book, that can dominate about a week of your time, if not more. If you get sucked into a book that���s about 200 pages long, it���s a lot less time you have to say, ���Okay, I���ll do that, after just ONE MORE CHAPTER.��� 

Meg is a character after my own heart. I related to her in so many ways, it was almost ridiculous. She basically has this uncanny ability to say all the stuff I routinely think. The fact that this is a first-person story allows me to get into her head in a way third-person wouldn���t have allowed me to, and that made reading about her an absolute thrill. Not only due to what she goes through and the events she finds herself in throughout the book, but also because her inner voice is just as caustic, if not more so, than what she shows to the world. I honestly felt like I���d met a kindred spirit. It was fantastic. 

Meg basically just wants to be left alone. She���s got powers, gifts that make her unique, and both the villain and hero side of the magical world want her to work with them. Meg, however, wants none of it. Her big life goal is to work her dead-end job as a customer service representative and keep her head down so eventually both the heroes and the villains forget about her. Though, it���s not that easy. Nothing is, right? 

I���m not a big superhero fan. I mean, I can get into them, but I don���t really go out of my way to enjoy superhero movies, books, or whatever else. It���s just not really my thing. So, to be honest with you, I was quite surprised by how much I ended up loving this book. Part of it was due to Meg herself. Her snarky, sarcastic, dramatic voice was fantastic. The stuff she says had me laughing out loud occasionally, and the stuff she thinks is��� *chef���s kiss*. More than that, though, she���s complex. Sometimes it���s easy to overlook her complexities due to her hard fa��ade, but she is a rather layered character. Though she never loses her sarcastic, biting voice, eventually you do begin to see a bit of her softer side, and her vulnerabilities.

It���s these complexities that make superheroes interesting, and it���s part of why superheroes tend to bore me. I think a lot of the time, when I run into stories featuring superheroes, so many of them tend to forget the human complexities that need to underscore the superhero persona in order to make it interesting, and Jackson never did that. In fact, Meg���s struggle to remain herself in the face of both the heroes and the villains trying to convert her to their side is evident from page one. Her reasons for desiring to stay independent are also obvious and elaborated upon. When things get hot, and Meg finds herself in danger and she is forced to make a choice, there���s personal sacrifice there. 

All of this made Meg interesting to me. The nuance and complications might be easy to overlook in the face of her louder-than-life persona, but they are there, and it made the entire book feel so much more real and balanced. Instead of someone in a lofty position raised up even further by unforeseen powers, here we have a sarcastic customer service representative���your everywoman, if you will���who just wants to be left alone and yet, can���t be. It was brilliant, and I loved it. 

Fear and Fury is a short-ish book. Clocking in a less than 200 pages, there���s a lot that needs to happen in a little amount of time, so the book is breakneck, and the writing speeds you along. Being inside Meg���s head makes the entire thing feel more personal, and the humor that infuses the book balances out the darker moments with bursts of sarcasm and light. 

With humorous dialogue, caustic wit, a unique twist to superhero lore, and an unforgettable protagonist, Fear and Fury grabbed me by the throat and wouldn���t let go. I had more fun with this book than should be allowed.��

5/5 stars

Indie Author Interview | Tim Hardie

About the Author

Tim Hardie grew up in the seaside town of Southport during the 1970s and 1980s.����This was before anyone had even heard of the internet and Dungeons & Dragons was cutting edge.����Living in a house where every available wall was given over to bookshelves, he discovered fantasy writers like JRR Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Ursula Le Guin, Alan Garner, Stephen Donaldson and Susan Cooper.����Those stories led him into the science fiction worlds created by Frank Herbert, Philip K Dick, Arthur C Clarke and HP Lovecraft.

After training to become a lawyer Tim lived in London for three years before moving to Yorkshire in 1999, where he has worked ever since in a variety of legal, commercial, financial and management roles.����His writing began as a hobby in his early twenties and has gradually grown into something else that now threatens to derail his promising career.

Tim writes epic fantasy that will appeal to fans of Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne and Robin Hobb.����He currently lives in Derbyshire with his patient wife and two teenage children.����

Author’s website
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Describe yourself in six words or fewer.

Always willing to try something new.

Tell me about your book.��

Hall of Bones��is my first published novel, released in 2020.����I���d probably describe it as��Vikings��meets��Game of Thrones, although the biggest influence was actually Robin Hobb���s��Assassin���s Apprentice.����Here���s the back cover copy:

In the remote land of Laskar the seven ruling clans have vied with each other for power for over a century.����The son of the Reavesburg Clan Chief, Rothgar, has been groomed all his life for a role supporting his elder brother, Jorik, in leading their kingdom when their father���s time finally comes to an end.

However, the rulers of their greatest rivals, the Vorund Clan, are in the grip of something older and far darker.����They have been conquered by evil, a remnant from the time when the gods warred with one another and the world of Amuran collapsed into the Fallen Age.

Everything is about to change ���

The first book in The Brotherhood of the Eagle series, Hall of Bones begins a tale of epic fantasy, magic and intrigue.

In other exciting news, the sequel,��Sundered Souls, came out in July 2021!

What makes you and your books unique? Shine for me, you diamond.

Like a lot of people, I find this kind of question really hard as it bumps up against my natural self-doubt when I compare myself to ��� waves generally at the millions of authors out there.����It took me a��long��while to accept only I can write stories with my unique voice and even��longer��to start believing people wanted to read my stuff.

With my books you���ll get:

Well-drawn, believable characters ��� some of whom are likeable and some of whom ��� are notDetailed world buildingA plot that keeps you guessingPolitics and intrigueThrilling action and battle scenesA ���chilling slide into Not Bedtime Story magic���*

* That last one is a quote from fantasy author Janny Wurts.����It meant a great deal to me that she took the time to give me her thoughts and feedback on��Hall of Bones.����It illustrates how supportive the creative writing community is.����Becoming part of this has been one of the real positives of launching my career as an author.����Sorry ��� I���m going off topic here ���

What are you working on now/any future projects you want to talk about?��

I���m currently editing��Lost Gods, the third book in��The Brotherhood of Eagle��series, with the aim of publishing that novel in 2022.����I���m also finalising the plot for��Broken Brotherhood, the fourth and final instalment.

As I mention above, I���ve also written a standalone novel called��A Quiet Vengeance��that���s out to submission right now with various publishers.����It may become the first novel in a new series or the first in a sequence of standalone novels.����I really enjoyed writing this particular story ��� here���s an idea of what it���s about:

Nimsah is an abandoned child living on the streets of Bengarath, surviving on her wits as part of a criminal gang in the City of Tents, home to the dispossessed.����Dojan is the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Fujareen, enjoying a life of luxury in Bengarath Palace.����Their lives are brought together as the threat of war looms in the neighbouring city state of Kandarah.����However, Dojan and Nimsah share a secret, one that will set in motion a chain of events leading to vengeance.

Let���s celebrate. What���s one of the best things that���s happened to you as an author? Don���t be shy.��

As a new author, my bragging rights are still a work in progress!����I���ve already mentioned how I���ve found my true calling, which is actually pretty incredible when you think about it.����Not everyone can say that���s happened to them.����I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate.

Let’s talk about CRAFT

What is one thing that you���ve learned about yourself as a writer?

I���m persistent, which is demonstrated by the next question!����Honestly, I think persistence and a willingness to constantly work at improving your craft are the most important attributes for a writer, far more so than raw talent.

If you had to start over with writing and publishing, what would you do differently and why?

I would have started this��much��earlier and I should have sought out more help and advice.����I waited until I was 32 before attempting to write my first novel, which I did very badly during five and a half years of helpless flailing.����Back then, I didn���t always enjoy the experience very much, although I did manage to finish the novel, which was an important milestone.����My second novel was completed when I was 42 (only four years that time!) and it took me until I was 47 to self-publish that book, which turned out to be one of the most positive experiences of my life.

Writing may not be my official career (yet) but whilst it doesn���t pay the bills it���s something I feel I was born to do.����I know that sounds pretentious but there���s a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction when I write that nothing else comes close to touching.����I only found this in my mid-forties, once I���d mastered the basics of the craft, which I guess proves it���s never too late to try your hand at something new.

What does your writing space look like?

I tend to write at the dining room table, which is the hub of our family home as you have to pass through it to get to the other rooms in our house.����Before COVID changed things, I would also write in coffee shops when I was out and about.����I now have an office in my house as I���m still working from home but, strangely, I���ve never found this to be a great space to do creative writing.����I think it helps having some background noise in the main home and seeing people come and go.

Do you listen to music when you write? What kind?��

Personally no ��� I find it far too distracting, although I know a lot of writers use this to help them get into the right frame of mind for a particular scene.����Earlier this year I found myself getting involved in compiling various writer playlists via fellow author Emily Inkpen, who���s one of the most positive forces for good in the Twitter writing community.����You can find out more about that particular side-quest by reading my interview with Emily, which we did as part of that project. Click here for more.

What does your research process look like?

I try not to be too obsessive over research.����I���m writing fantasy, so the world and its history are entirely my creation.����I don���t see the point of getting caught up in a pointless debate about whether something would be possible in the Middle Ages because they didn���t invent X, Y or Z until 1799 (unless I���m trying to create a convincing alternate history, which I���m not).

I use research to create a sense of detail and realism, without being slavish to replicating everything perfectly.����So for��Hall of Bones, I researched Viking culture on specialised websites.����I found this incredibly helpful for finding the inspiration for names to use in the novel and it also gave me the idea for the clan moot, which is an important part of my world���s legal system.����I also learned a lot about shipbuilding and the names for different parts of a longship.����My memory is terrible, so I���ve already forgotten most of those facts and I think only 10% of the shipbuilding ones even made it into the series.

So basically, having just read back over that, I���m light touch and slapdash when it comes to research.

Tell me about an unexpected thing you���ve learned, and how you���ve worked it into your book.

I wrote a novel called��A Quiet Vengeance��in 2020, which is currently out to submission with publishers.����I set this in a culture drawing its inspiration from the Middle East and North Africa.����I did a lot of research into the cuisine of those cultures and in particular the differences between the two.����After I finished I realised food played an important part in the overall story.����Various characters use food in different ways ��� to demonstrate their wealth and power, as the foundation for a welcoming home or to exercise control, sometimes cruelly.����Something was definitely working through the subconscious side of my writerly brain as a result of that small piece of research.��Sometimes your own writing can surprise you.

Let’s talk about BOOKS

Tell me about the most recent book you���ve read.

I���ve just finished��A Drowned Kingdom��by PL Stuart.����This is his debut novel, which was published at the start of 2021.����It���s a unique take on epic fantasy, with an extremely well-written unlikeable protagonist, the exiled Atalantean Prince Othrun.����Half the time as the reader you find yourself wondering whether you want Othrun to succeed in his quest and whether he is, in fact, the antagonist of the story.����Stuart uses Othrun���s perspective to throw light on some complex themes, a very clever narrative device.����The world building in this novel is on another level and Stuart is a really interesting new voice in the fantasy genre.

What���s your bookish guilty pleasure?

Bridget Jones��� Diary��by Helen Fielding.����Indirectly, I owe my writing habit to this book (and newspaper column in its original format).����After I finished my education I was unemployed for a while and I kept a diary of my desperate job hunting exploits.����This evolved into a pastiche of��Bridget Jones��� Diary��over the next five years, after I moved down to London as a single twenty-something in the 1990s.����It was during that period of my life when the habit of regular writing was formed.����I haven���t read those entries for decades and have no intention of rummaging around in my loft to find them.

My other guilty pleasure would be the original��Dragonlance Chronicles��trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.����I have a battered 1988 collector���s edition of those first three books, which I���ll never part with.����Although the Dungeons & Dragons influence is really obvious,��Dragonlance��did move the genre forwards, playing with many of the traditional tropes (and doubling down on a fair few of them too!).����It���s a classic comfort read for me and the world of Krynn is wonderfully realised.����I���m getting misty-eyed just remembering the Inn of the Last Home.

Hobbies & All Things WEIRD

When you aren���t writing, what can you typically be found doing?

Pre-COVID, the answer most people would have given would be I���d be found down the pub!����Nowadays things are still a little different and one of the impacts of COVID for me has been a rediscovery of the love of reading.����I���ve read far more books in 2020 and 2021 than in previous years and it���s a habit I intend to keep.

I���m very fortunate that I live in a beautiful part of England.����My other favourite pastime is walking, usually out in the Peak District.����It���s a place that offers some stunning scenery and views, which my photos don���t really do justice to ���

Tell me about something in your life that brings you joy. What is it, and why?

Aside from the things I���ve already mentioned, next on my list would probably be music.����Whilst I don���t find it a useful writing tool it���s a great way to unwind at the end of the day and get the subconscious working.����My tastes are fairly broad and whilst I���m not at the cutting edge when it comes to who���s ���in��� right now, I love discovering work by new artists I���ve never heard of, even if their releases came out years ago.����Few things can hold a candle to that moment when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as you���re listening to a good tune for the first time.

What���s your favorite food from a country you do not live in?

I���d have to go with Italian.

What���s your favorite swear word and why?

Fuck, for its sheer versatility.����It can be used in almost all situations, both positive and negative

Final Thoughts

That was a really thought-provoking interview.����I honestly can���t think of anything else to add ��� I���m exhausted!����Thanks so much for taking the time to do this and for featuring me on your website.

Thanks for stopping by, Tim! Remember to stop by his website and buy his books!

If you’d like to do an Indie Author Interview, please contact me and we can sort it out.

Review | Rebirth – Christopher Russell

About the Book

A world consumed by war . . .

An ancient evil resurrected . . .

A millennia old bargain comes due . . .

When two blades clash, the third will fall, and the fate of all will be jeopardized. To save Lozaria, the failures of the past must be atoned for by a new generation of heroes. The time has come for mortals to cast off sight and, in doing so, truly come to see . . .

Victory is never absolute.

Seven centuries ago, the forces of order won the Illyriite War on the plains of Har’muth. Darmatus and Rabban Aurelian slew their elder brother, Sarcon, the despotic architect of the conflict, then sacrificed themselves to banish the cataclysmic vortex opened with his dying breath. The first advent of the Oblivion Well was thwarted. Even without their vanished gods, the seven races of Lozaria proved themselves capable of safeguarding their world.

Or so the story goes. 

The year is now 697 A.B.H (After the Battle of Har’muth). Though war itself remains much the same, the weapons with which it is waged have evolved. Airships bearing powerful cannons ply the skies, reducing the influence of mages and their spells. Long range communication has brought far flung regions of Lozaria closer than ever before. At the center of this technological revolution are the three Terran states of Darmatia, Rabban, and Sarconia, who have fought a near ceaseless campaign of 700 years in an attempt to best each other. The roots of their enmity lie buried beneath the wasteland of Har’muth, a place all three nations consider best forgotten. 

However, an ancient power sealed within Har’muth has not forgotten them, and the descendants of those who fought on that field must now take a stand to rectify the mistakes of the past.

464 pages (paperback)
Published on September 22, 2020
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This book was sent by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Rebirth was a really interesting book to read. Different than I expected, with a unique world that is set up in a way that allows it to stick out from other epic fantasy out there. With air ships and technology and the like, the face of war has changed, and Russell explores these changes and their impacts throughout to book in his carefully woven story. 

The prologue drops you right into the action. In about 50 pages, we are shown a historical time in which a battle rages between three brothers. There are sacrifices and a lot of pain in a battle that pits good against evil. It���s gripping, and real, with brilliantly done character moments and action. And I will say this is both a positive and a negative, as I got so invested in this lengthy prologue and the characters in it, that when it���s over and we flip to about 700 years in the future and none of those characters I liked were present anymore, I felt a bit of whiplash. 

Where Russell really shines is his pacing and world building. There was never a dull moment. The book moved forward at a steady, almost relentless clip. I wasn���t ever bored, and I was interested in where the story was going, as well as where it had been. A big reason for that is because the world building was incredible. Russell packs so much detail into his world, it truly comes to life as you read. And it���s different enough from other epic fantasy out there, I was genuinely fascinated in what he���d created and how he���d done it. Not just the world as it is presented, but all of the history and conflict in it as well. 

Russell has a way with writing that keeps the reader engaged and wanting to read the next page, and the page after that. There���s always something exciting happening, something going on somewhere that I want to know more about. Though I will say, sometimes the book felt a bit too wordy, quality of the prose sacrificed for pacing (this is a personal bugaboo of mine), however, the sheer relentless nature of the movement of the story kept me engaged, no matter what.��

The world itself is split into three different empires: Darmatia, Sarcon, and Rabban, named after the three brothers you���ll meet in the prologue. Each empire has its own distinct personality and ruling style, and each empire exists in a constant war with all the others. This conflict, which has spanned centuries, has become part of the identity of the people who live in these empires, and it���s fascinating and so interesting how Russell has captivated that part of the human experience. There���s a lot of political intrigue, and the interesting evolution of technology has added another layer of complications to the world and the people who inhabit it.

The story is told through numerous points of view, all of them carefully crafted and chosen for their unique position to give readers a different perspective on what is going on. They all fit together well and show numerous sides of the conflict that is taking place, giving me both a window into the world itself, and an understanding of the complexities involved.��Furthermore, I truly loved how Russell added some quieter moments that pulled characters together. I enjoyed the bonds of friendship and camaraderie formed, which balanced out these bolder action scenes with personal moments that were just as compelling as anything else taking place.

I will say, I think characterization might be where Russell struggles a bit. I think this also might have been sacrificed in favor of plot and action. The characters never really reached below surface level for me, though there is a lot of potential for that. There were a lot of character tropes I felt had been recycled, resulting in individuals that didn���t really feel unique enough to match the world itself. That being said, this is the first book in a series and I fully expect Russell to build upon what he���s developed here, which, while flawed, shouldn’t be seen as terrible, just not up to the caliber of his world building.

While I do have some criticisms, I really need to pit them against the fact that��Rebirth��really was a lot of fun. I loved every minute I spent reading it. Maybe it wasn���t groundbreaking, but the series absolutely has potential to be groundbreaking. The world is a unique blend of technology/steampunk/epic that really worked for me. The pacing was relentless, and the world was fantastically crafted. The cliffhanger ending promises more excitement in future installments. Russell has a strong foundation upon which to build the rest of his series.��

I can���t wait to see where he takes me next. 

3.5/5 stars

Review | Seven Deaths of an Empire – G.R. Matthews

About the Book

The Emperor is dead. Long live the Empire.

General Bordan has a lifetime of duty and sacrifice behind him in the service of the Empire. But with rebellion brewing in the countryside, and assassins, thieves and politicians vying for power in the city, it is all Bordan can do to protect the heir to the throne.

Apprentice Magician Kyron is assigned to the late Emperor���s honour guard escorting his body on the long road back to the capital. Mistrusted and feared by his own people, even a magician���s power may fail when enemies emerge from the forests, for whoever is in control of the Emperor���s body, controls the succession.

Seven lives and seven deaths to seal the fate of the Empire.

550 pages (hardcover)
Published on June 22, 2021
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This book was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I���ve known Matthews for a hundred years. I haven���t, but sometimes when I look at all my time online in the genresphere, its Matthews that I feel like I���ve known the longest. He was in the very first SPFBO, and we���ve talked on and off through the years. I���ve admired his tenacity, and how hard he works at his books and his writing career. When I saw him land a traditional publishing contract, I was over the moon with happiness for him. If anyone deserves it, it���s this guy.

I will tell you, right off the bat a few things stuck out to me. First, I���ve been editing a lot of epic fantasy this year, of the empires falling and fate of the world hangs in the balance kind. And that���s fine. I love it, I really do, but when I do my free time reading, I���m looking for something else. I will say, one thing that instantly stuck out to me here was the fact that the book was a standalone. Epic setting, epic manner of storytelling, but a standalone. I was excited to see how Matthews worked an epic story into one volume, and I was also excited about the change of pace from what I���ve been editing. 

The other thing that stuck out to me was the narrow focus. In fact, I���m not really sure if this would be considered epic fantasy. It���s a sort of delightful blurring of boundaries between epic and��� not epic, and I really enjoyed that. Told with two points of view, with a fairly narrow focus on events, this book tells the story about one empire, through the perspectives of two people. One, being a magician���s apprentice Kyron, and the other being an old general named Bordan. Through both flashbacks and forward momentum, the story unfolds and slowly the reader sees how it all fits together. 

It���s this narrow focus that really gives this book an edge. Through two incredibly different perspectives, and positions in society, readers are brought into the struggle that is unfolding as the long-reigning emperor is on the cusp of death and a power grab ensues. The two point of view characters are vastly different, and yet both equally ruthless in their own ways. One uses magic as his tool, and the other uses weapons. They come from different places, different backgrounds, and have different personalities, and I thought they played off of each other extremely well. This is a book about what happens when an empire shows a moment of weakness, and it���s superbly well done and explored in a careful, though provoking manner.

I will say, this is one type of story I love. I enjoy politics, and political maneuvering, subtle behind-the-scenes power plays, and then potential power vacuums that could have catastrophic outcomes, depending. This is the kind of story that grips me in real life, and it���s no different in fantasy. Matthews really excels here, never being too obvious, never hitting the reader over the head with important points and the clues he drops along the way. He trusts the reader will follow where he���s going, and he establishes a firm foundation on which the book unfolds. There are a lot of twists and turns here as well, things I didn���t expect, treacherous deeds that took the plot unanticipated directions.

The book both feels large and small at the same time. It would have been so easy to turn this into a sprawling, world-encompassing plot, but he never let it get out of hand. There is a sense of the wider world, of long-range impacts, of things that happen other places, but Matthews keeps the focus pretty narrow for a fantasy like this. I think that’s one of the book’s primary strengths. It is comparatively narrow in scope, and while a lot happens here, and the implications are vast, the narrow focus really allowed Matthews to get into the meat of this story, flesh it out, polish it, and make it really shine.

One place where Matthews really shows his chops is with atmosphere, the creeping dread that seems to fill every page until the very end. I found myself clenched with anticipation throughout the entire book, and it made me genuinely feel for the characters, the people in this empire. It is very rare that I see atmosphere used to its fullest potential the way I did here. I will say, the book does take some time to get going. It is, in some respects, what I���d qualify as a ���slow burn��� but once you hit the halfway point, all that development is shown to be necessary and things really get going. That atmosphere I mention is the one-two punch the book needs to make all this matter for the reader, and it is masterfully done. 

If there was one minor complaint I had, it was with some of the descriptions, which I think could have used a bit of detail and focus. There were scenes where I wanted to more clearly see the surrounds and it lacked just a touch of the specificity needed to bring me there.

All in all,��Seven Deaths of an Empire��was a magnificent, thoughtful, highly readable account of what happens when a strong empire is thrust into unpredictable transition. It���s full of political intrigue and dripping with potent, dark atmosphere. This is a must read for fantasy fans who enjoy political machinations.��

4/5 stars

Review | The Valor of Perseus – Matt Larkin

About the Book

One cannot challenge fate alone.

In her desperation to save Prometheus, Pandora has recruited Perseus, the son of her greatest enemy. Within the demigod sleeps speed and power no mortal could match. But will he use his abilities to aid her?

Before Perseus will consider following Pandora on her quest, he has a mission of his own, leaving Pandora no choice but to accompany him on a journey that will pit them against gods and mythical monsters.

And even if they succeed, Pandora must still contend with the burden of the Box ���

276 pages
Published on August 31, 2021
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Whenever another Matt Larkin book shows up in my inbox, I get excited. I���ve learned his writing just works for me in a way very few others do. His stories are complex, his prose is gorgeous, his research is flawless, and he always puts a unique spin on a story I don���t expect. 

This series of his is one of my favorites. The story of Pandora is absolutely brilliant, and delightfully complicated. Pandora is on her quest to save Prometheus. In so doing, she ends up recruiting the son of her enemy, Perseus, to help her. Together they go on a journey that has them facing Medusa, dragons, and other creatures of lore. It isn���t easy, and I loved this thread of the book because it didn���t end the way I expected. In fact, I wasn���t sure how things would go down between Pandora and Perseus, but their banter was charming, and added a nice levity to balance out some of the darker notes in the book. Perseus was a character who seemed to shine whenever he was on stage, and Pandora���s careful calculated planning and her relentless need to get closer to her own goal balanced out Perseus���s more easygoing nature. 

However, this is one of those books where we are working on numerous timelines, with numerous characters. The story of Hekate is told here as well, from her journey into the darker arts, to her own quest to find mysteries that will further her art. Hekate is a character that I both love and hate, and I think she���s brilliantly crafted in a way that allows both of those emotions with equal strength. In a lot of ways, Hekate feels like a tragic story, and she really is. She���s sacrificed a lot to get to where she is, and is driven to the point of pain. It seems like most of her decisions are rooted in emotional issues, like abandonment. There is a moment of reckoning in this book, quiet and yet all the more powerful for it. 

This is one of the things I love about Larkin’s writing. His books are powerful. Not just due to the powerful characters and their equally powerful stories, but because he infuses his books with a sense of atmosphere and emotional nuance which he positions at just the right moments to act like a punch right to my heart. He has this uncanny ability to make all of the moments in his books matter in just the right ways to make the biggest impact. It’s pure art.

The story of the gods in general is furthered here as well, as the strings of this story are woven in a way that shows how they coexist a bit more. How Hekate ends up with Zeus is answered here. The birth of her child, the intricate lines of family and connection which, at times, feel more like a graph on a paper rather than any intimate or familial bond on the character���s part. A lot of questions are answered, and a lot are left dangling with heady possibility. Yet there are doors left open for the rest of the series which promise unexpected developments. Plus, the very ending of the book��� I mean, the last few pages��� literally left me reeling. Here, Larkin opens the book up, not just to explore the story of Pandora, but to the wider world he���s created as well. This is where a few of his stories rub shoulders against each other, the world gets a little bigger, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. 

As with all of his books, Larkin���s writing is flawless. Poetic and lyrical, with a distinct style I will always recognize as his own. His prose is just about as noteworthy as the story (and the scope of it) he is telling. Never a word wasted, with atmosphere and emotion layered within each and every letter, I find myself completely absorbed in his books, halfway enjoying them for the stories being told, and halfway enjoying them because I just want to see how the author uses words. 

His world is sprawling. Fans of his books will know he is working with a scope and depth that very few other authors out there attempt. Each of his series twists mythology and history just so, and each of them weave together in surprising ways. I can���t imagine what his worldbuilding and outlining must look like. Just attempting to even think of the breadth, scope, and detail he includes in his books gives me a headache. And yet he manages it, and he does so flawlessly. 

The Valor of Perseus��is an absolutely fantastic book, furthering the story of Pandora in surprising ways, while showing a bit more about how all of this connects together. Not just regarding his characters, but the larger world as well. You���ll find people and creatures from mythology in this book that you���ll recognize, and yet you won���t at the same time, because even with familiar elements, Larkin manages to surprise readers by doing unexpected, delightful things that keep you on your toes.��

The Valor of Perseus��is an amazing book, in one of my favorite series. I���ve got book three sitting on my laptop right now, and I can���t wait to start working on it. If you���re a fan of mythology, you really need to check out this series.

5/5 stars

Review | Never Die – Rob J. Hayes

About the Book

Samurai, shinigami, vengeful spirits, and an impossible quest.

The Emperor of Ten Kings has plunged Hosa into war, and the gods are angry.

When the god of death gives Ein a mission to kill the immortal emperor, he knows he can’t do it alone. He needs allies, heroes who will fight for him. How else can an eight-year-old boy hope to do the impossible?

Whispering Blade, Iron Gut Chen, the Century Blade, and Flaming Fist. These are all names of legend. And the god of death has given Ein a way to bind them to his cause. There is only one catch. In order to serve him, they must first die.

274 pages (kindle)
Published on January 29, 2019
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A while ago, Rob hired me to edit one of his series. Not this one, but his The War Eternal series. I tend to think I learn a lot about writing from the authors I edit for. Each of them have different strengths and they all go about telling a story in their own unique way. What really captivated me about Rob���s series, was just how well he balanced everything. There were quiet moments balanced with a lot of action. The world both felt familiar at times, yet there were unique elements to it that made it completely unique. The plot was breakneck, with never a word or moment wasted. 

Everything mattered. 

But more than that, the worldbuilding was just phenomenal. Hayes really shines with his worlds, and then crafting characters and a plot that fit the scene so well. It���s never closed off, either. There are always hints that the world is larger than we, the reader, see, and that we are just getting a glimpse of one part of it in this particular story. 

So when I edited that series, I realized Rob is one of those authors who was born to be an author, and we are lucky enough to get to enjoy the books he produces. Yet, there was also this part of me that was (��� is. Is a part of me. Let���s be honest here, I���m a bit intimidated by the guy, present tense.) a bit afraid to read his other books. They���re wildly popular, and there���s always this pressure to like them because everyone else does and what if I���m the one who doesn���t? And also, I���ve edited some of his other stuff, and I���d like to do that again, so what if I hate a book he writes and then like��� somehow he knows because he has psychic powers or something? Not cool. 

With great trepidation, I decided to try Never Die. I figured I���d keep it super secret, and if I hated the book, no one needed to know. He���s in England, and even if he does have superpowers, there is an entire ocean and over half a continent as a buffer between us. It���ll be okay. 

Never Die is vastly different than the series I edited for him. I mean, night and day. There are similarities, but it���s not with the story itself, but rather the author���s style with how he crafts a world, and his pacing specifically. Just subtle things I recognize now as Rob Hayes���s signature. Aside from that, Never Die is really its own creature. It���s been wildly popular, and I can see why. It���s one of those books that is so relentlessly paced, with characters that seem so real they fly off the page, and a story that wraps its hand around your neck and refuses to let go. 

Never Die is unlike any other book I���ve read. Set in an Asian-esque fantasy world, it draws on elements of myth and lore, like yokai and samurai, which readers will likely associate with Japan. The setting is fantastic, truly vivid and well crafted, with elements of mythology and culture woven throughout which show real world influences and give the reader a very real sense of place. However, as with most things, Hayes uses these inspirations as a jumping off point, rather than anything else. You���ll get a feel for place, but this world is all Hayes���s own creation, from the ground up.

Never Die is the perfect book to read if you want an example of how to use words to their fullest power. It didn���t take long at all for me to feel like I knew Ein. Perhaps I didn���t know his back story (I also really enjoyed that bit of mystery about him, to be honest.) but I knew him. His character. I knew what mattered to him. It was probably the shortest character introduction I���ve ever read, where I went from ���Who is this guy?��� to ���Oh, I know him!��� in about a blink. Due to the relentless pacing of this book, the fast-moving plot, and everything that���s covered, the introductions to his characters need to be short, or the book would slow down and we don���t want that. So Hayes had to do a bit of a calculation here. He had to figure out how to introduce his characters and his world in the fewest possible words, with the greatest possible impact, and he manages it with flying colors. In fact, I saw this throughout the book. Not just with his characters, but with the world itself, with situations, with battles��� the whole thing. Short, gripping, punchy moments that are written in such a way to make them fundamentally matter to the reader. It was pure artistry. 

Again, Hayes was born to be a writer. 

Never Die has a sort of superheroes vibe set in an alternative Asian world, with plenty of high stakes action and breakneck pacing. It���s a lot of fun, and readers who enjoy action packed books will surely love this one. What I enjoyed, however, was not just all that, but the deeper themes that underpin all this surface level excitement. This is a fun book, yes, but at its heart it���s a story about vengeance and honor, and the price required for both, both physically and spiritually. I found these themes to be very skillfully woven in. I was never hit over the head with any of this, and yet I left the book feeling like I didn���t just have fun reading an incredible story, but I had some things I needed to think about as well. I felt like Hayes maybe had something to say here, and I really enjoyed that aspect. I could tell he was having fun writing this, but I could also see the nut at the core of this book that he was dancing around, trying to crack it just the right way to best impact readers. 

At its most distilled level, Never Die is a pretty simple book. A quest fantasy (though with a very unique spin), the first half of the story is spent collecting the group, and the second part of the book is spent driving toward that ultimate end goal. It felt a lot like a snowball rolling downhill. It starts with this one person, with this one goal (although it���s a hefty goal), and then as it gets going, the snowball gets bigger and bigger up to that surprise, punch-in-the-throat ending. The action follows this more than anything else. the stakes as the book progresses get higher and higher, and the action, and tense moments become increasingly dangerous as the book progresses. Reader, I spent a good chunk of this novel on the edge of my seat.

And that balance I mention at the start of the review is present here as well. Not just in the worldbuilding and character development but in the plot itself. He plays these characters off each other well, strong personalities that can’t stand each other on a fundamental level, and our protagonist Ein somehow has to keep them all together and working toward a common goal. And then there is that common goal Ein is tasked with: to kill the emperor. That���s no small thing. Hayes uses these two elements to not only keep the book moving and interesting, but they also keep the book unpredictable. I was never really sure where he was going to take me next. I wasn���t sure how any of this would work out in the end. I couldn���t predict anything. For someone who reads as much as I do, I cannot tell you how valuable that unpredictability is. 

Never Die��really blew me away. It���s fun and thought provoking, a spin on the fantasy quest/adventure story I���ve never seen before. Superbly written with fascinating characters, a larger-than-life plot, relentless action, and generally one of the most unique stories I���ve come across in a while.��Never Die��was unforgettable. Rob Hayes is one of those authors who is constantly trying new things, telling fresh stories in unforgettable ways, boldly daring to go where no author has gone before. The guy blazes his own trail, and I will never stop admiring him for that.��

Read this book. 

5/5 stars

Review | Dal�� – E.M. Hamill

About the Book

Dal�� Tamareia has everything���a young family and a promising career as an Ambassador in the Sol Fed Diplomatic Corps. Dal�����s path as a peacemaker seems clear, but when their loved ones are killed in a terrorist attack, grief sends the genderfluid changeling into a spiral of self-destruction.

Fragile Sol Fed balances on the brink of war with a plundering alien race. Their skills with galactic relations are desperately needed to broker a protective alliance, but in mourning, Dal�� no longer cares, seeking oblivion at the bottom of a bottle, in the arms of a faceless lover, or at the end of a knife.

The New Puritan Movement is rising to power within the government, preaching strict genetic counseling and galactic isolation to ensure survival of the endangered human race. Third gender citizens like Dal�� don���t fit the mold of this perfect plan, and the NPM will stop at nothing to make their vision become reality. When Dal�� stumbles into a plot threatening changelings like them, a shadow organization called the Penumbra recruits them for a rescue mission full of danger, sex, and intrigue, giving Dal�� purpose again.

Risky liaisons with a sexy, charismatic pirate lord could be Dal�����s undoing���and the only way to prevent another deadly act of domestic terrorism.

256 pages (paperback)
Published on August 7, 2017
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A little while ago, I bought Peacemaker by this author. Then, as soon as I bought it, I realized Dal�� was out, and I decided to buy that too and read this one first, then move on to Peacemaker. And… long story short, here we are.

Set in a futuristic world, replete with spaceships and planetary travel,��Dal����is the kind of book that was seriously gripping from page one. Hamill has a real eye for detail, letting no aspect of her world (universe?) building be overlooked. Somehow she manages all of this, including its complexities, without ever making me feel bogged down by information overload. Naturally flowing into the text, the world comes alive through the brushstrokes she uses to create it with.��

Where Hamill truly shines, however, are with the complexities (apparently this is my favorite word in this review) of the people and various other beings that populate this futuristic space. Politics play a big role in this book, and while some of the themes felt a bit heavy-handed, I think they were believable in the context of the world she created. A natural, if uncomfortable, evolution, if you will. And I could also see where some real-world influences could have nudged these events along in the story. Basically, there’s obviously something the author is trying to say, and I think Hamill does it well.

This is also where some readers might be a bit overwhelmed and decide the book isn���t for them. There���s a lot of trans and nonbinary oppression in Dal��, and while the book makes it���s standpoint (fundamentally against all of this) absolutely clear, it is a pretty important plot point. A lot of bad things happen offstage, like rape is alluded to, for example. Slavery. Human trafficking. A whole lot of harmful slurs and the like. Again, the book is absolutely against all of this, but for some people it might be a bit too much, so I feel like you might want to be aware before you jump in with both feet. 

I will say, it���s not all bad. There are places in this world where people can go and be accepted, and we do experience some of that in the story. There are people fighting the good fight, and you’ll meet them.

That being said, Dal��, a character reeling from the very personal tragedy of losing their husband, wife, and unborn child in a terrorist attack, is asked to investigate a particularly gnarly case of human trafficking. Dal�� is a changeling in this messy universe, which means they are genderfluid and can change whether they present as male or female, including musculature and genitalia. This puts Dal�� in a unique position to not only feel the very real impact of terrorism and harmful beliefs on a fundamental level, but also understand the plight of changelings and those of the third gender that are being so ruthlessly acted against. 

Dal�� was an amazing character, and I thought they were crafted very well. Flawed, and so emotionally raw (which I absolutely love), Dal�� gave me a unique insight into the politics that the book otherwise would have lacked. The fact Dal�� is a changeling also gave me some interesting insight into themes touching on gender and identity that I really felt carefully dealt with, and incredibly impactful. More, Hamill doesn���t shy away from the darker impacts of loss, which I truly appreciated. I feel like, all too often, loss in books is portrayed and then a chapter or two later the character sort of just moves on, and that wasn���t the case here. Dal�� is raw and reeling, and the emotional upheaval from losing their entire family is felt and felt profoundly throughout the book. 

Politics plays a huge role in Dal��, and there are plenty of shenanigans as well. The idea of genetic purity is not really a new one, and a few of my favorite books play on this theme. In Dal��, the New Puritan Movement is pushing for genetic purity. Humanity is sliding toward extinction (for reasons that are covered in the book), and changelings like Dal�� are becoming more and more plentiful. Mixed in with this are personal and political alliances, human trafficking, blatant oppression, terrorism, and more. Then you drop Dal��, a trained ambassador reeling from the loss of everything they love, into the middle of this chaotic stew, and you have quite a book on your hands. 

The plot is pretty breakneck. A lot needs to be covered in 256 pages, so there was no real resting time. And yet, I never really hit that point where I was thinking, ���Okay, but how are these people not collapsing from exhaustion?��� which I sometimes do when I read books that just don���t slow down. The genius thing here, is while there���s so much going on outside of Dal��, in the wider world, there���s also a lot going on inside of Dal��, and Hamill does an amazing job balancing these two spheres of action. There are quiet moments of reflection, and there is plenty of action as well. The unique balance struck between the two made the book feel like it carried itself well, never really slipping far to one side at the cost of the other.

The characters are all as brilliantly developed as the politics. Hamill puts a lot of care into the characters she presents in her books. Even secondary characters felt fully fleshed out, and the ones I���d categorize as villains felt real as well, with motivations that were understood, if not agreed with. In another way, I���d say her characters and politics balance each other as well as the inside/outside action I mention above. Both the politics and characters are just so brilliantly crafted, with such attention to detail and nuance, they felt real and believable to me. Then, you see how they appear when played against each other, and you realize how truly skilled Hamill is as an author. All of the elements of her story, from setting, to culture, to politics, to strife, trauma, and characters, play off each other perfectly to make this a supremely memorable story. 

Dal�� is a book I should have read a while ago. Highlighting heavy themes, such as love, family, loss, human rights, Hamill tells an amazing story. I cannot wait for more. 

5/5 stars