Monthly Wrap Up: June 2020

I was in the mood to read one of my paperbacks and my pick fell on Cameron Johnston’s book, to which I owed a review for a long time anyway. Now I need to find time to squeeze in God of Broken Things. I’ll probably do the audiobook as I enjoyed The Traitor God that way (I’ve read AND listened to finish in a timely manner…)

“Cameron Johnston doesn’t shy away from making his characters suffer, or get them into impossibly looking situations and splashing a good dose of blood on everything, but he still manages to make his characters painfully real. The Traitor God is a grimdark journey into a city’s (and humans’) deeply buried secrets. Just make sure you don’t run into the Smilers while you walk the streets of Setharis.”

Jen read and reviewed the follow up to Gedlund, The Great Restoration. It was one of our review requests we failed to get to until now.

“Usually I prefer detective stories where I don’t know who the culprit is, or the reason they did it – the fun is uncovering the clues while investigating. But, in this, we know who the kidnapper is and we even know why they were kidnapped but things aren’t adding up and those things are what keep you turning the pages to see how it all fits.”

Jen’s review of The Lost War. We’ve heard many praises of this one and I’m about 75% into the audiobook myself so watch out for my review in July.

“I have been reading for a long time, I do tend to get excited and occasionally think some big fabulous plot is happening, only to have it not be as grand as my imagination. So, when I do read something that pushes those boundaries and let’s my imagination run with possibilities, and after a few surprises, I feel that it just might be clever enough to be actually going in that way – then, I am impressed. I have a lot of praise for a story that can do that. So, here is me praising this story, for letting me, let my imagination, run wild.”

I listened to the audiobook back in May, but I only got around to review it in June. This was on of the books Peter McLean recommended to me. It was not exactly what I expected.

“13 Minutes is what would happen if someone remade the Mean Girls as a psyhological mystery thriller, so if that’s your niche, then I definitely recommend checking it out.”

I was craving a bit of Hungarian literature and some fun and so my pick fell on a classic, Dirty Fred, the Captain – which is available in English.

“All being said, if you are looking for a few hours of lighthearted fun without needing to think too much, I definitely recommend checking Dirty Fred, the Captain out! A Hungarian classic which I hope will steal your heart as well. Hopefully not literally. You can just never know with these guys.”

I was very lucky to get an ARC copy of the traditionally published version of We Ride the Storm and that I got to take part in the blog tour as well! It was exciting to read and discover how much changed compared to the self-published version 🙂

“We Ride the Storm is a strong, incredible even, first book, which builds up the conflict and leaves plenty of questions to be answered in later books. It’s a bloody, character driven, headless… err, endless fun. Devin Madson‘s voice is one worth listening to in the cacophony of the Fantasy genre, and I personally can’t wait to see how far she will get with the Reborn Empire series. Hopefully not too many heads will fall in her wake.”

Arina not only wrote her first post for the Asylum, but her first review as well! I’ve received a review request for this one back in 2018 and she was kind enough to take it from me. We only realised later that it got republished this year so her review reflects the old version. Which wasn’t bad already.

“This is a book best savored like a good wine, letting it slowly dance across your palate to drop a fiery, welcomed warmth down your throat. A warmth that settles in your core and awakens your thirst for the next glass. Like Krait, you’ll be eager to take that next sip and quickly run to open the next installment of The Serpent Knight Saga. 

In the end, Lords of Asylum was cataclysmic, nitty-gritty perfection with a good, unhealthy dose of backstabbing. I can’t wait to see where the next book will take me.”

We gave you a Psychic Thriller, The Faith Machine by Tone Milazzo. As usual, our Roadies brought a wide selection of content to this show.

We also gave you an epic fantasy, A King’s Bargain by J.D.L. Rosell. As usual, our Roadies brought a wide selection of content to this show.

We gave you a fantasy adventure, Spit and Song by Travis M. Riddle. As usual, our Roadies brought a wide selection of content to this show.

 We celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the book’s publication and the release of the audiobook of an (Unconventional) Urban Fantasy, Guild of Tokens by Jon Auerbach. As usual, our Roadies brought a wide selection of content to this show