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The Kinshield Legacy on Jan. 18, 2011

The Kinshield Legacy follow the story of Gavin a warrant knight (kind of like a bounty hunter) who is destined to be king. I found Gavin to be a very well developed character with a strong supporting cast. There are characters that are extremely likable (the blacksmith) and I personally despised the villain and spent the whole book waiting for terrible things to happen to him. The book moves along at a great speed and will keep you trying to finish just one more chapter. The story is completed at the end, but it leaved things wide open for a sequel (first half of 2011 according to her website) which I will get for sure. If you have a kindle download the sample, if you enjoy fantasy you will most likely be hooked and end up buying the whole book. This book was a great find and I hope that K.C. May continues to write so I can continue to enjoy her wonderful stories.

Jaben's Rift: Far Land Trilogy #1 on Jan. 18, 2011

This book is a perfect example of why I am reading Indie fantasy novels. Once I started reading I hated having to stop. I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions and thought an excellent job was done with the world and magic. The story is about Jason an 18 year old kid who is visiting family in Scotland. He gets bored hearing all the stories his relatives are telling and decides to explore the woods on the family land. While exploring he comes across the ruins of an old building, but one of the doors inside is actually a portal to Teleria. When he arrives he meets a Loremaster (member of the ruling circle of elders) who begins to tell him the story of the world. 1500 years in the past there was a devastating war that changed everything. That event is used to explain the introduction of magic, the death of technology, and the creation of the new races. I won't go into the actual storyline since I don't want to have any spoilers in my review. I really can't say enough good things about this book I loved every page. I can't wait for the two other books that are planned in the series. If it were possible for 6 stars this book would get them.

Torc of Moonlight : Book 1 on Jan. 22, 2011

Torc of Moonlight is not the kind of book I normally read. That being said I still found it to be a fairly enjoyable read with detailed descriptions of the English countryside and an appreciation for the local history. The story centers around two college kids that fall in love, but are both touched by a magic from long long ago. Alice has an obsession with finding a special site that contained a water goddess. Nick is obsessed with Alice. They are both haunted by a man trapped between the realm of the living and the dead who just wants to use them to cross back to the land of the living. This book kept me interested right up to the end trying to figure out what was going to happen. There were some parts that I found confusing, but that could very well be because a lot of British terminology is used and I am not familiar with it. I was actually a little surprised that I enjoyed the book at all seeing as it differs greatly from my normal fantasy read, but the passion of the author for the story was obvious and that is always a good thing.

Hemlock and the Wizard Tower on Feb. 07, 2011

Hemlock and the Wizard Tower follow Hemlock a former thief with a certain sensitivity to magic who has turned vigilante. The story takes place in a magical city that actually moves from realm to realm having only a few regions permanently attached to it. Hemlock lives in the Warrens, which is the run down part of town. She spent most of her life being a thief until she tried to steal from Safreon, the original vigilante. These two team up to help keep the Warrens safe for normal people to live. Magic permeates the city all of it rigorously controlled by the Wizards Guild (headquartered in the Wizards Tower). Hemlock's sister is sick and will die without magical aid. However the magic of the Warrens is on the decline very quickly. Thinking that the wizards are somehow siphoning off the power from the Warrens for their own terrible plots Hemlock decides to break into their tower and do something about it. Using her special power she actually manages to succeed where no one has and penetrates the terrible defenses of the tower. Once inside she meed Merit (who for some reason is my favorite) a mechanical and magical blend clockwork gnome. Merit gives her some information and she uses it to get further into the tower. I will leave off saying that thing do not go as planned at all. If you check out the sample of this book it almost seems like the story is finished when the sample ends. Nothing could be further from the truth. I was surprised and pleased with the way the book developed especially how italicized flashbacks were used to really explain where the characters came from. The only thing I did not really enjoy was Falignus head of the Wizards Guild. His personality jumped from compassionate and understanding to crazy power hungry derangement several times and I never really understood why. That being a minor issue in what is a very good story overall. This book is well worth the .99 that it is selling for, and there is a second book planned for sometime in 2012. A great story with some fantastic characters well done all around.

Drather's Story: an Expired Reality novella on March 18, 2011

Picture Perfect is a novella introducing David's new young adult (high school) fantasy series. It uses the same universe as his Black Earth series with a new set of characters. Jonathan Huxley is a homeless orphan struggling to survive on the streets. One day a man shows up promising him the world if he will only marry someone he has never met. Before he can even meet the woman that he is supposed to marry he falls in love with Rebecca Soft. Jonathan must struggle to decide between a life of luxury and being true to himself. Going into anymore would be spoiling things a bit so I'll leave off there. The purpose of this book is just to get people ready and excited about the new series and he has done that. I am looking forward to the first full length book (due out this summer).

Love Immortal on April 14, 2011

Love Immortal is the story of Jewell, a young trauma nurse and Collin a young man with a surprising secret that not even he knows. When Collin is brought into the hospital one night having been hit by a drunk driver Jewell is in the room helping to try to save him. Unfortunately it seems that the effort is for nothing and Collin dies. Jewell feeling a strange connection to the young man stays in the room with him reflecting on the tragedy of his lost life when an amazing thing happens. His heart begins to beat again. As Collin recovers Jewell begins to visit him and they start to develop strong feelings for each other. His miraculous recovery also brings him to the attention of two very different groups, one sworn to protect him, and the other sworn to destroy him. The story develops with Jewell and Collin learning more about each other and Collin beginning to learn some secrets about himself as well. Now to be honest this book is not something that I normally would read, but it is something that I can very easily see sharing with my daughter when she gets a little bit older. The book is well written with an excellent flow that made it difficult to put the book down at times. I was very impressed with how I did get pulled into the story even though it is far outside my normal comfort zone. This is an author I will keep an eye on for further releases.

Frozen Prospects: A YA Epic Fantasy Novel (Volume 1 of The Guadel Chronicles Books) on June 06, 2011

Frozen Prospects follows Va'del in his quest to find acceptance. It is set high in the mountains where all the communities are based in large cave systems and it is death to wander outside unprepared. Born from a lowlander mother and orphaned at a young age is enough to make him an outcast and a target for the bullies in his community. Constantly beaten by the headman's son Jas'per he once again awakens to find himself in the healing area being taken care of by Sara. While in recovery he learns that some of the mysterious Guadel have arrived to test the youngsters of his community to see if they will be taken away to the Capital. When Va'del is tested he is given the choice to stay where he is and continue his miserable existence of getting beaten up and not having anyone willing to take him as an apprentice, or he can accompany the Guadel for training and possibly become one of them. Getting into anymore of the story would start to give spoilers so I'll just say that when he arrives at the Capital under less than ideal circumstances his life becomes just as miserable as it was and he is constantly thinking about suicide to end it all. There were times that I really was not a big fan of Va'del as a character, but he really grows as the story develops and at the end I was left wanting to see more books about him. I really enjoyed a lot of the support characters, especially I'rone. I look forward to the next book in the series, but in the meantime I will check out the other work by Dean Murray.

Basement Blues and Other Stories on June 14, 2011

Basement Blues by J H Sked has 3 short stories: Basement Blues, Dim, and Pushing Janey. Dim and Pushing Janey both fit into the horror/thriller genres, while Basement Blues is a paranormal detective story with a good bit of comedy mixed in. Both Dim and Pushing Janey feature men who are haunted by their pasts. In Dim a man is terrified by the memory of what happened to him while serving overseas. Pushing Janey is a bit too hard to explain without giving something away. The title story Basement Blues is a short intro into a whole new series that J H will be starting sometime fairly soon. I very much enjoyed the story of the strange group of detectives and their unusual client. This is yet another series from J H Sked that I will be looking forward to.

WolfSong on June 14, 2011

WolfSong is a tale about an area called the Crescent. The primary three races are the hawk, werewolves, and humans (there are also fey, but in this book they play a smaller role). The story for the most part follows around a squad of hawks as they hunt down a rogue werewolf that led to the deaths of two of their own. There is also a young werewolf man who is with the squad helping to track down the fugitive. This is actually a pretty decent sized book especially for .99 and it only took me two days to finish. The story is very solid and the characters are, for the most part, very well developed. The only real issue I had was there were a few times that a character was introduced with very little introduction and I will admit to some confusion trying to remember if I should know that name or if it was someone new. I am really hoping that in the next book we get a little more background into the world and the interactions between the races. I for one will be sure to pick up a copy of the second book as soon as its available to see what new adventures await this band of warriors.

The Trouble with Spells on July 12, 2011

The Trouble With Spells by Lacey Weatherford is the story of Portia and Vance. Portia seems to be a normal girl approaching her 16th birthday. Vance is the unknown around school, he keeps to himself and the rumors about him are pretty wild. He also seems to be the guy that most of the girls secretly dream of dating. On Portia's 16th birthday she learns that she is a witch. She learns that her father and grandmother are both magically inclined as well. Her biggest surprise is finding out that Vance is a member of the same coven that she will be joining. They begin to become romantically involved and the relationship moves extremely quickly from an emotional standpoint, with them having a joining ceremony and promising marriage. The action of the story comes from Vance's family. His father is an evil warlock who has been following Vance to corrupt him. Living life on the run has made it difficult for Vance to get close to those around him as he has spent his life moving. Finding his soulmate in Portia has made him want to stand up to his father so he no longer has to run. The story flowed pretty smoothly it was just a bit too much teenage romance for my taste. At the end of the story the action really begins to pick up and I am interested in reading the second book in the series. If you enjoy paranormal romance then this is a series you should check out for sure. Review written for the Menage a Blog blog tour.

The Other Side of Life (Book #1, Cyberpunk Elven Trilogy) on Aug. 16, 2011

The Other Side of Life (TOSL) by Jess C Scott tells the story about a group of elves that grew tired of their races withdrawal from the world and two human thieves that do not like the direction the world is heading. When the two groups meet they decide to work together to steal something that could be a key to changing the way both of their peoples look at the world. First off I will say that TOSL shows the views of the author very clearly through the story. Jess does not like the way that a lot of things currently work in the world and you can tell through the book. That being said the book is not just her preaching her views thinly veiled behind a cyber punk story. The book is actually a very good read. It has a lot of different elements that can appeal to a wide variety of people. There are very cool tech toys, lots of thrilling scenes during the theft, action, intrigue, romance, friendship, loyalty, and redemption. Even with all of the different themes the book does not get bogged down and keeps a fairly decent pace. This is a good read for ages 15 and up with no real loss of appeal to the older audience. If you enjoy a good spy thriller this book could also be a good one to check out as the theft has some excellent action sequences. Copy provided by author for review.

The Midnight Men and Other Stories on Aug. 26, 2011

Midnight Men and Other Stories by Lee Moan is a collection of supernatural short stories. The shorts cover a fairly wide variety of topic including: aliens, voodoo, replicants, the Devil's bones, gypsy magic, precognition, and more. In a lot of the stories Lee uses more mind games with suspense and surprise rather than just blood and gore to get a reaction out of the reader. I am not overly familiar with the supernatural/horror genre, but I did enjoy most of these stories. I think they give a pretty good taste of what Lee is capable of and that is enough to make me take a look at his other books in the future. Review copy provided by the author.

Lucifer's Odyssey on Aug. 30, 2011

The story begins on Earth where Lucifer and his companions are confronted by Michael and set on a path that takes them to their home the Chaos Pattern. Upon arriving they learn that terrible things have happened and all of the people blame Lucifer's father who sits upon the throne. With conflict between the clans being imminent Lucifer must flee to seek help from an old goblin friend in order to ensure his proper place on the throne. Rex Jameson does a wonderful job telling this story in a completely unexpected way. Lucifer is a good character and while I didn't really relate to him much (he is still a bit of a sociopath at times) there are parts where it is easy to sympathize with his problems. There only real issue I had with the book was the magic system. Pattern magic is spoken of and used throughout the story, but I never really understood much about it. One of the things I love about fantasy novels is the unique twists that so many people bring to magic, and I would have liked to understand this one a little bit better. That really doesn't affect they story however it is more of a personal preference in a book. Review based on ARC from author.

The Heartstone Chronicles: Windchaser on Sep. 13, 2011

The Heartstone Chronicles: Windchaser by Michael Fraser takes place in a large and complex world. The Windchasers are a group of specially trained elite combat specialists who chase down demons that are let into the world through temporary rifts. One of these men, Darkmalian, is a darkling. He does his job with ruthless efficiency regardless of the consequences. It is suspected that he is a renegade and does not follow the laws working more his own benefit than for the good of the realm. However when an ancient prophecy that can save or doom the world begins to come true Darkmalian is the one that will decide what happens. In any book where a world that is filled with complex religions, political ideologies, intense characters, and a lot of geographical regions there is a struggle to provide the proper information without slowing the story down. In some places of Windchaser I think the story did get bogged down a bit by the amount of information given. The information was important to truly understanding the world and motivations of some of the characters, but there was a lot of it at times. That being said there were some very good characters including Darkmalian. While it is hard to empathize with him because of the things that he does we are given enough information to understand a bit of why he is the way he is. The training that windchasers go through is intense and Darkmalian's made most others seem like a walk in a park. There are also scenes of epic warfare of the good and not so good allied against seemingly overwhelming odds. The story has some familiarity to it, with a prophecy that can save the world coming to a head. This familiarity is minimized by the unique circumstances in the world and some of the beasts and technology truly shine. I seriously loved the idea of the windcannons. I recommend giving this book a shot and sticking with it through a rough beginning as it comes into it's own in the second half for sure. For .99 you have nothing to lose and a very impressive world to immerse yourself in. Copy provided for review.

Liberator's Ruin on Oct. 11, 2011

Liberator's Ruin by P.J. Johns was a wonderful book. It takes place in a world of interesting technology. It has a bit of a steampunk feel to it, but there is not the steam driven technology that is required for that genre to truly fit. The truly unique feature of the world is a mineral that is used in what are basically anti-gravity engines. That is what allows the giant airships to rule the skies and even enables floating island colonies. There are some wonderful characters in the book, my favorites being Nathaniel, Fran, Grekhis, and even Thomas. There are several story lines active through the book following the different characters and no surprise I enjoyed Nathaniel's crew the most by far. They have some great interactions and all seem to be good people despite the morally gray area that many of their jobs fall in. I despised the character Anna. Now that seems bad, but in reality I think it reflects very well on how she was written. If I was apathetic to her it would show much less depth to her character, however I wanted terrible things to happen to her. Liberator's Ruin is an extremely enjoyable read and well worth the .99 that it costs for a copy. Review copy provided by the author.

Fornax Rising on Nov. 01, 2011

Fornax Rising by Nicole Ross is the story of Cassandra Fornax. Her father is a shipping tycoon and her Uncle Philip is a brilliant engineer and inventor. When visiting her uncle one summer she is bitten by a poisonous snake and has to have her hand amputated to save her life. Feeling responsible her uncle designs her an amazing prosthesis to replace what she has lost. When she returns to her normal life at home she is shunned by the deformity, many people claiming that God was punishing her for a horrible sin. This causes her become a bit isolated from her peers and get a private tutor. Luckily her tutor does not judge her and provides her with a top notch education to go with her already brilliant mind. The story was well done and as the book was described to me as steampunk I was very excited by the engineering possibilities that Philip presented. Unfortunately after the original creation of the hand there is really not much of the wonderful technology to be found. There are mentions of some special engines and such, but nothing really concrete and fun. Towards the end of the book the steampunk aspect does start to make a comeback in a very exciting and entertaining way however. The middle of the book really goes into the development of the personality of Cassandra. Even with a little disappointment with the lack of gadgets the story still moved along fairly well. Overall I will be checking back fairly regularly to see if Nicole has written any other books and especially to see what is coming in this story.

Smite Me, Oh Dark One on Nov. 02, 2011

Smite Me, Oh Dark One is a very quick, hilarious read. When the God of Darkness doesn't want to be the one to destroy the world what happens? He becomes an Evil Overlord with a legion of goblin defenders of course! The story Steve has written was original and amusing and I truly hope to see more work of this nature from him. It's free! Give it a read and enjoy.

Earth on Jan. 07, 2012

Earth by Shauna Granger tells the story of Shayna and her two friends Jodi and Steven. The three friends have some power of the basic elements with Shayna being the most powerful by far. When evidence starts to appear of someone doing some heinous black magic rituals. These rituals coincide with the arrival of a set of twin brothers to their town the friends have to figure out if they are behind the dark magic. The fact that there may be a spark between Shayna and one of the brothers adds another layer to the plot. All three of the main characters are well developed, with a good dynamic between them. They have a very real relationship with emotional depth and humor. There is a bit of a romantic element to the story, but it didn't strike me as what has become the typical pining misery that is often found in books aimed at a similar age group. That is one of the best things about this book in my opinion. I enjoy young adult books and enjoy the genre, but it is very hard to find something that doesn't having a brooding male part and a pining female character. Very well done book and I will continue to follow this series. Review copy provided by author.

The Assassin's Curse on Feb. 06, 2012

The Assassin's Curse by Lindsay Buroker is a short story set in the world of her Emperor's Edge series. This story only features Amaranthe and Sicarius out of the team and I missed the other characters a bit myself. This is a very quick read, but if you are a fan of the series like I am you look forward to everything you can get your hands on. The story follows a similar theme to the rest of the books with Amaranthe spotting something out of the ordinary and wanting to investigate to hopefully get some positive attention and get her team cleared of all crimes. This story starts with the Sicarius and Amaranthe doing some training in the lake when they spot a lot of smoke in the air. They find an army transport that has been looted of new experimental weaponry and decide to check a nearby island for the thieves. Unfortunately that island is supposed to be cursed to help people who are looking to overthrow the empire. As with all of Lindsay's work this is written using her wonderful characters and a great skill with description. A must have for fans of the series.

The Lost Concerto on March 28, 2012

The Lost Concerto by Sandra Miller is the second book in the Alexis Brooks Series. It follow the same format as the first book with the parts of the book being broken down into concert terminology. I'll skip the plot line as I really can't think of a way to express anything without spoiling book I in the series. This book had a bit less of the thriller aspect than the first book, it was staged a bit more like an action/espionage book with kidnappings and international settings. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but there was one major thing that bothered me. It involved a certain character maintaining contract through a cell phone when the easiest thing in the world would have been to monitor it or just take it away. Even with that bothering me a little bit as the story progressed it was still a very entertaining story. There was a bit more resolution of issues discovered in the first book and if there are more books to come in the series I will be sure to check them out as well.

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