Pilgrim’s Storm Brooding lives up to its precedessors and then takes things up on another level. We have all of our old friends back, but of course there are some new characters you might find interesting. I’m seriously awed what a vast world Black built within these pages which are rich with history, myths, and life. A truly epic fantasy story.
Congrats to Anela Deen for being an SPFBO5 semi-finalist!
Congrats to Sonya M. Black for becoming our finalist for SPFBO5!
Congrats to Victoria Corva for being an SPFBO5 semi-finalist!
Congrats to D. N. Bryn for being an SPFBO5 semi-finalist!
Jen and I both reviewed this exquisite debut from Mike Shackle and loved it.
Jen: We Are the Dead is worthy of your attention. From start to finish this will keep you on the edge of your seat. This is an outstanding debut, you don’t want to miss it.
Timy: Mike Shackle is a fresh voice in fantasy, one we probably needed like a breeze on a hot summer day.
Dispel Illusion brings a most satisfying ending to the Impossible Times trilogy. The threads are closed seamlessly and there aren’t unanswered questions left. Maybe a few smaller ones, but in general, you can’t have much complains. I had high expectations for Dispel Illusion, and it didn’t disappoint. Just as full of heart, and life lessons as the previous books. I highly recommend the whole trilogy if you’d like to dive into a tale about time travelling, love, friendship, decisions and second chances.
As you might have gathered at this point, Shadows wasn’t really a book that I could enjoy. It has the potential to be intersting, but it just falls flat at the execution. I did like the fox creature though, that was cool. I’m pretty sure as she discovers her talents and the world she’ll learn a lot more about these creatures, the magic and most of all herself. She’ll need it.
We’ve read and reviewed this book for SPFBO5. Please keep in mind these are personal thoughts only. We will update this post as the judges read along and add their opinions. This book has already been eliminated from the competition, but one of us liked it enough to write a full review.
Despite my complaints, I still enjoyed Angel’s Ink. Books with snarky protagonists are my weaknesses and besides I really dug the idea of a magical tattoo shop. Especially one in which there is at least one person with a great music taste – fun fact, when I almost got my first tattoo, I bonded with my artist over my favourite Hungarian band, so that was cool and set the mood early on. The Asylum Tales (I swear this wasn’t an inspiration for my feature) has the potential to be a good series if it gets a bit cleared up and the world itself gets a bit more attention.