Shadow Debt the newest book in The Tales of the Verin Empire series has all the hallmarks of a great western inspired fantasy and hits a lot of my buttons by including those things that make the wild west stories so fun; outlaws, saloon brawls, and shoot-outs involving a magical gun – that doesn’t ever let you forget what you owe it. Why, heck, there’s even a good old-fashioned train robbery.
A Ritual of Flesh by Lee C. Conley
A Ritual of Flesh is a good creepy zombie story that is perfect for this time of year, with Halloween fast approaching.
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Black Sun was a nice breath of fresh air when it comes to something outside the box and it also has quite a bit of representation of LGBTQ.
Mage Prince by Kayleigh Nicol
Mage Prince is full of family, friends, and conversation – it’s noisy and brimming with life, letting you feel like you have a window into the world they are living in. That ‘life noise’ goes a long way in helping to temper that darker subject matter.
Kings of Ash by Richard Nell
Kings of Ash was a very strong follow-up to Kings of Paradise. I am really looking forward to completing this series with Kings of Heaven which came out a couple of weeks ago.
Temple of the Oracle by Jeffrey L. Kohanek
Quick paced and actiony fun! I find these are nice bite-size breather books to read in between those heavier and darker themed chonkers that have filled up my kindle.
Cry Havoc by Mike Morris
Cry Havoc is like the best kind of popcorn reading! Edge of your seat action, explosions, powder guns, some good, bloody death scenes, and you can’t help but love Jack and Lin.
SPFBO 6 The Reaping – Jen
Welcome to the first SPFBO 6 reaping! Jen is here to cut 5 of her books and announce her semi-finalist!
I, Exile by David M. Samuels
Fast paced, lots of atmosphere and cool magic (phylacteries, got to love it) sprinkle that with lots of fun fights with creepy creature monsters – always my favourite when it comes to action adventure type stories, it’s worth checking out.
The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson
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.
Despite a rocky start, the mystery masterfully woven into the plot eventually got me hooked and then kept me glued to the pages. The Lost War is an intriguing blend of adventure, mystery and mindfuckery.