#SPFBO : My First Batch of Books
6 June 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Beyond the Sire of Navarene, Chains Carried on Wings, Curse of the Jenri, Heartscale, Incursion, My first batch of books, SPFBO, The Five furies of Heaven
300 books 10 Judges 1 winner
The 1st of June marked the start of the sixth Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (details here.) My Introductory post is here.
As with previous years I’m hoping to read a batch of books each month. I will read at least 30% and hopefully will choose one or two books from each batch to roll forward and read fully and review before choosing semi finalists and a finalist. My book list is chosen randomly and the six books I will be reading this month are outlined below:
The Curse of the Jenri by Stephanie Barr
The world of the Jenri is a dangerous, primitive world, where women are prized as chattel, but the Jenri women, every one from the eldest archivist to the smallest babe, strike fear into battle-hardened mercenary hearts. It is a world where battle steeds are mythical beasts and magic is as deadly a weapon as a sword. Those who wield both are doubly dangerous and those who cross them are thrice damned. The Jenri are mistresses of all these things. If you love one of these marvelous women, you must best her in a contest of her choosing to win her love in return.
These were women who needed no one to take care of them. Until now.
It wasn’t enough that Jenri women had been stolen, including his wife, Layla It wasn’t enough that those who had stolen them had nefarious plans. And phenomenal magic powers. And could escape in seconds. And an underground fortress in the midst of frozen mountains so cold Tander was afraid he’d shatter if he stumbled one more time. It wasn’t enough that he was surrounded by angry husbands worried about their wives and willing to take their tempers out on him if he was leading them in the wrong direction. It wasn’t enough that he was also surrounded by the remaining women from his tribe who were equally angry and more than capable of kicking his butt.
No, on top of all those little issues, he discovered he’s no longer “just” an extraordinary swordsman, but also a great and powerful sorcerer with absolutely no idea how to use his powers. He was not just any sorcerer, either, but one chosen by six tiny kitten familiars who did know how to use his powers and who had no problem telling him. All the time. While they demanded to be carried all over his person, purring and taking inopportune naps. He didn’t want these powers or a flock of noisy but helpful kittens, but he was going to need them. He’d need all the skills and talents he and his companions possess in order to save their women—and Layla.
But we love you, Tander! Solace insisted, purring and licking his neck.
Things have got to get better soon.
Chains Carried on Wings by Marina Ermakova
Saig had always lived on the edge of acceptance. Unlike a proper daughter of the head family, she longed for the freedom of the open woods over the confinement of her home. It was enough to drive away the two people who should, by rights, have been her closest companions.
But her perfect, responsible cousin Auris–destined to be the city’s headwoman and resentful of Saig’s inability to conform–would never be her friend again.
And her surly cousin Trei–aware of how his foreign ancestry undermined his own standing in society–would always look at her as a reminder of their shared differences.
Until a series of mysterious disappearances forces all three of the cousins onto the same side. Driven to protect their city and prove themselves, they join the effort to hunt down the perpetrators. What they find is a trap designed to bring their society crashing down, and the power to reshape their city’s future. There’s just one problem–the three of them have always bitterly disagreed on what that future should look like.
Incursion by Mitchell Hogan
A corrupted power stirs from beyond the grave.
A sacred order of knights sworn to protect the world from evil.
The Necromancer Queen will rise again.
Seventeen years have passed since the Necromancer Queen Talia was overthrown and slain, and her capital city destroyed by the Knights of the Order of Eternal Vigilance.
Anskar DeVantte, raised in the sacred disciplines of the Order, is now ready to face the brutal initiation trials to become a consecrated knight-sorcerer.
But the further Anskar rises in the ranks the more his faith wavers, and he is beset by harrowing dreams and uncertainty. As troubling powers awaken within him, a schism grows between Anskar and his hallowed Order, and he draws the hungry gaze of the vanquished queen’s fanatical followers.
As Anskar pieces together the mysteries of his early life, and begins to understand the malevolent forces gathering in his path, he finds himself with a crucial choice to make:
Remain loyal to the Order’s righteous mission, or control the dark powers growing within him.
Either way, his destiny is steeped in war. The only question is, which side will he be on?
The Five Furies of Heaven by Ashley Capes
Fighting the insect hordes of a malevolent God isn’t easy when you’re a young man with no special talents.
And it’s even harder when a Goddess makes your friends older and stronger – but gives you nothing.
While searching an old temple Kilek and his friends stumble across the Goddess Avendria who transforms them into heroes – all grown up, with weapons, magic, and skills.
But when she gives Kilek nothing at all – nothing except the impossible task of saving the lands – he must fight bitter doubts. Worse, a dark prince is massing his armies and more, agents of other Gods have been set loose in the world.
Only the long-lost dragons can turn the tide but Kilek must find them before it’s too late.
And somehow, he has to do it all without divine intervention.
Beyond the Spire of Navarene by M Warren Askins
Curses, Wards, and Endless Hordes prevent the casual adventurer from getting very far. At least, not without employing a Ranger… and their services do not come cheap.
A Young Knight undertakes an impossible quest deep into the fabled and perilous Fenrirfang in order to protect his sister from a conspiracy that involves the Church that he has sworn to serve.
A seasoned Ranger who believes she has seen everything the wilds have to offer soon discovers that she faces something altogether different with this journey.
BEYOND THE SPIRE OF NAVARENE is the first entry in the DEAD MEN ARE DYING saga. Set in a world where humans born with a celestial mark are instilled with powerful, game-changing abilities. And those without… survive as best they can.
Heartscale by Lola Ford
On one side of the world Graith discovers a dying dragon in his barn. While the country is hunting after the monster, he doesn’t hesitate in doing his best to aid her. Before she is fully healed, Azelia urgently needs to get back to her cave to protect her eggs. Unable to even fly, Graith decides to accompany her, worried of what might happen.
On the other side of the world, where the future ruler is decided by dragons, Nerie is chosen by the Kiriga, the golden hatchling. Raised as a merchant in the middle district of Roria, she’s shocked to learn that she is the king’s bastard. Thrown into a chaotic palace life, she’s forced to balance learning to be princess and being bonded to a dragon.
*******
Finally, good luck to all my authors. Also, a quick mention that if any of you would like to post excerpts over here by way of teasers for other readers then just let me know (if you’ve already left me a comment to that effect I’ll be in touch shortly :D)
#SPFBO 6 Introductory Post
300 books 10 Judges 1 winner
The 1st of June marked the start of the sixth Self Published Fantasy Blog Off. The brainchild of Mark Lawrence this is a competition for self published authors, it’s mission statement :
‘The SPFBO exists to shine a light on self-published fantasy. It exists to find excellent books that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. It exists to help readers select, from the enormous range of options, books that have a better chance of entertaining them than a random choice, thereby increasing reader faith in finding a quality self-published read.’
For further information check out Mark Lawrence’s post here. To check out this year’s entries, judges and allocations check here. (My allocated books are cut and paste below for ease of info).
Now, a quick introduction.
I usually aim to read at least 30% (or 100 pages) of all the books I’ve been allocated, often more than 30% depending on how I’m getting along with the book in question. I will review all the books that I complete, the other books I will provide mini reviews for. I usually aim to choose between 4 or 5 semi finalists over the course of the first five months and then choose my finalist. My batch of books will be randomly split into five groups with six books in each and I aim to read one batch per month (more if I get ahead of schedule – although, this doesn’t usually happen).
In terms of my reading I have a very wide range of ‘likes’ and very few ‘dislikes’ and I will give every book a fair shot. This blog is a hobby as is reading and so I tend to focus on the positives of the books I review rather than the negatives.
I think the best advice I can give to all the authors taking part is to enjoy the competition, make friends, become part of the community, enjoy yourself as much as possible and take part in any events being offered. There can be only one winner but that doesn’t mean that everyone can’t take something good away from the competition.
There is also the cover competition, each blog chooses 3 covers from their selection of books and these are then voted on by both the judges and the public. Go ahead and take a look at all the lovely covers and make sure to vote on your favourites – the link is here.
Finally, as with previous years, I would like to extend an invitation to all the authors taking part to visit my blog. This year I was hoping to include some excerpts from as many of the books in the competition as possible. If you’d like to throw your book into the ring and choose an excerpt for me to post then please don’t be shy, get in touch in the comments and let me know, let’s get some tasty teasers out there. I’m also going to be focusing on some of the covers and also some of the books that really stand out to me. Also, for those authors who have books in audio – even if you’re not in my group, I’d love to hear from you and listen to your book.
That’s it for now. Feel free to reach out and leave a comment.
Thanks
Lynn 😀
The other judges:
Fantasy-Faction; Fantasy Book Critic; Booknest; Kitty G; Weatherwax Report; The Fantasy Hive; Rockstarlit Book Asylum; The Critiquing Chemist; The Fantasy Inn
My three cover contestants:
Follow the competition on Twitter using #SPFBO or join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/122875124938545/
#SPFBO Review : The Sword of Kaigen (Theonite) by M.L. Wang
The Sword of Kaigen is my final book of the SPFBO competition and my last review. Purely by coincidence this was the book that I drew to read last in my random selection and It worked out well leaving me with a good note to conclude the competition on.
I’ve had a little time to reflect on this one, I enjoyed it but I confess it’s not exactly what I expected when I picked it up, which is of course completely on me. I usually dive straight into my books with as little knowledge beforehand as possible and so with that in mind and given the title I think I was expecting the tale of a hero saving the day – and of course whilst there is war here, the discovery of a hero is not really the main focus of the story. In fact I would say this is a book about coming to terms with who you are and the choices you’ve made, a book of regrets and emotions and realising, in some cases a little too late, that what you have in front of you is sometimes as good as what you left behind. Okay, that probably sounds a little tamer than this is so I’ll move on with the review. Oh, I would also say at this point that this book does contain some triggers so be aware of that.
This is a story with two central characters Mamoru’s and his mother Misaki.
Mamoru is 14 years old and has been brought up with great expectations of becoming a warrior and protecting his home like all the Matsuda warriors that came before him. The Matsuda family live on a remote peninsula on the edge of the Kaigenese Empire. They are powerful warriors who wield magic to form blades of ice and other creatures that make up the first line of defence for the Empire. The Sword of Kaigen, as this little piece of land has become known is like a step back in time. While the rest of the world has moved on apace Kaigen feels like stepping into the past. This is a small village that lives on tradition and respect and the warriors have a feel of the last Samurai, proud and fierce. This did throw me a little at first, I couldn’t understand why things hadn’t moved on for this little village, but having thought about it I’ve travelled to plenty of places which were similar and didn’t rely on technological advances and the like.
Mamoru’s mother Misaki is a young woman trapped in a cold marriage of convenience. More than that, not only does she abide in a loveless marriage but she has regrets. Misaki has known love before but left it behind along with her fighting days. She is now a mother first and foremost, the violence of her past a distant memory even if she still longs for the thrill of the fight.
I’m not going to go into the plot too much. Plenty of other reviews have made an admirable job of doing so already. Simply know that war is brewing and the Empire and Kaigen are unaware and unprepared. No matter how fierce these warriors are, how strong their heritage and magic, they are going to face their toughest trial. And yet this isn’t the be-all-end-all of what this book is about.
Okay, so, I do have a few issues and I’m going to get them out of the way before I move on.
Firstly, the start is overly long and has a lot of exposition. Obviously the author loves this world and that clearly shines through but it makes for quite slow progress and a feeling of not going very far very fast. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy any of the first 30/40% because I did. Getting to know the Matsuda’s, observing Mamoru at school with his friends, eventually discovering some shocking truths and let me just say I loved the chapter with the roof cleaning. That is all. But, for me, this part of the story needs tightening because in terms of what actually takes place, there is very little and I imagine that this will be distracting for some readers. With hindsight of course I can now see that the author was helping us to understand her characters but that’s easy to say at this point and I still believe that these chapters need sharpening up.
Now, this getting to know the characters leads to my second point. Although the opening chapters are a little slow, you know, deep down, that something is rotten in Denmark. You can sense it. And, once it arrives it is dramatic to say the least – that isn’t my point right now though. Everyone who has read this will know where I’m going and may also appreciate that I’m trying not to give away spoilers. All I can say is that around the 2/3rds mark, whilst all the action was going full pelt, let me say the most unexpected ‘thing’ (for want of a better word) happened. I was stopped in my tracks. Even now, I still feel complete shock when I consider it and I don’t know whether the author is just incredibly brave or a little bit reckless or recklessly brave even. I’ve really given this a lot of thought and writing this review I can’t make my mind up but swing backwards and forwards about how I feel about that incident and would dearly love to discuss it more but it would be totally wrong to do so here.
Finally, in terms of issues, the final chapters of the book also slow down a little – to be fair I was kind of relieved to have a breather but it was noticeable and so I’m just giving it a little mention.
On the plus side of things, this is really a rather remarkable work now I’ve given my head a shake and left my ill-conceived predetermined notions at the door. It’s emotional and heartfelt and like I said at the beginning it’s actually got this family focus that is completely unexpected.
The battle scenes and smaller fight scenes are really well described. It was almost cinematic and I could envision things totally in my mind’s eye. The smaller fight scenes with Misaki, in fact, were brilliant. I loved that she isn’t a perfect warrior but uses every trick in the book to win. There may be honour among thieves but when your life’s on the line you play to win – or Misaki does anyway. In fact I think Misaki is a great character who really shines in the latter half of this book.
And, I really enjoyed the attention to detail that was given to the village after events – its an aspect of storytelling that is so very often swept over with little regard so it was a refreshing change.
All in all this is a very good read, it has drama, emotion and depth. The author’s love of this world is abundantly clear and I would definitely like to read more of her work in the future.
Again, with the score I have gone back and forth, I think with some tightening in the earlier chapters and a little polish on the delivery of backstory this could be a 5* read but due to those issues I’ve rated this 8 out of 10
I would like to thank the author for the review copy. The above is my own opinion.
#SPFBO Review : Fortune’s Fool (Eterean Empire #1) by Angela Boord
13 April 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Angela Boord, Eterean Empire #1, Fortune's Fool, SPFBO
Fortune’s Fool is my sixth (or seventh if you include my own entry) finalist that I’ve read for the second stage of the SPFBO competition leaving me with three books to be read and reviewed by the end of the month. It’s going to go to the wire I think.
Fortune’s Fool is a pseudo-Italian/historic story of warring families and revenge. At the heart of the story are two characters, plenty of misfortune, meddling gods and many secrets and the plot jumps back and forth over a dual timeline that gradually provides us with sufficient history to piece together what’s really going on. The TL:DR version of this review is this is an impressive book. It’s well written, the central characters are well drawn and the world building is excellent. On top of that Boord is a persuasive writer. Her prose is very easy to read and in fact the writing is so good that I barely noticed that this was such a hefty chunkster of a book. I did have a couple of little issues but seriously, this is a very good read.
Fortune’s Fool is a very character led story. As the story begins we meet Kyris di Nada. A mercenary with a reputation and a metal arm. Kyris is a woman disguised as a man. She’s searching for someone and asking many questions that will eventually draw the wrong sort of attention and a job that will give her a chance at revenge. Now we jump back in time and meet Kyrra dAliente. Born into privilege she is the only child of a wealthy House who provide the best silk of the region. Unfortunately Kyrra falls foul of a plot upon her family and their estate. Young and headstrong, Kyrra is a little prone to rush in and think little of the consequences and that, coupled with her naivety lead her into a shocking situation with terrible repercussions that lead to the downfall of her family and the loss of her name. This is a time when a stranger comes into Kyrra’s life, Arsenault. Hired by her father for unknown purposes Arsenault seems to come and go, disappearing for long spells at a time but when he’s on the estate he starts to pay attention to Kyrra and the two start to develop a strong attachment. Arsenault is a fascinating character with something of a sketchy memory – which I won’t elaborate on – but which does sometimes make you wonder if he’s totally reliable.
The world building is good and develops over the course of the story with intriguing politics and descriptions that pull you in with details of food and clothes together with different settings that really help to build up a feel for the place whether we’re on the Aliente estate, in a hunting lodge or milling round the streets and over packed market places of the towns and cities.
I always enjoy stories that involve a dual timeline and this is a particularly fine example. The present shows us the gritty underworld that Kyris inhabits. In fact the two different threads are surprisingly different in style and tone. As is often the case I did find myself forming an attachment to one storyline more than the other and in this instance it was the past thread that really intrigued me. In fact that leads me onto one of the first issues I had. There is quite a divide between the past and present timelines and in the earlier chapters this can lead to some confusion about what’s taking place in the present, particularly with some of the conversations which can be a little befuddling. All I can say is that you have to bear with this element as the gap between the two timelines lessens.
The other slight issues that I had related to the fact that the supporting characters are not as particularly well developed. The real focus is on Kyrra and Arsenault and I’m not really grumbling about that but it did occur to me that the other characters were sometimes a little too easy to forget and I’m not entirely sure how convincing Kyris was in disguise as a man. Don’t get me wrong, I loved that particular element to the story but it felt very easily skipped over sometimes. But, little issues aside. I enjoyed this and would certainly like to read more from this world. And, yes, I realise I haven’t given much time here to the gods and magic but they play a pivotal role and they’re an element of this world that I would love to know more about.
I would like to thank the author for providing a review copy. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 8.5 of 10 stars.
#SPFBO Review : A Tale of Stars and Shadow (A Tale of Stars and Shadow #1) by Lisa Cassidy
26 March 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Tale of Stars and Shadow, A Tale of Stars and Shadow #1, Lisa Cassidy, SPFBO
A Tale of Stars and Shadows is my fifth finalist review for the SPFBO. I’m obviously behind with my reviews for the finalists so April will be the month of catching up for me!
I have to say I really had a good time with A Tale of Stars and Shadow. As far as fantasy stories go this isn’t exactly breaking the mould or coming up with anything particularly unique but it’s a tale well told and it has characters that you can really get on board with even if it takes a little time to do so. I enjoyed the world building and having finished the first in series I can say without doubt that I would like to read more.
This is a tale with two POVs. The central character is Talyn, a Princess and a warrior who has recently suffered the loss of her partner and her confidence. Talyn has been putting off being given a new placement. Following the death of her partner she took the unprecedented move of standing down as a Callanan warrior and instead taking up the role of Kingshield and this move sees her being placed as, well, bodyguard to a ‘winged’ prince in the country of Mithranar and given the unenviable task of recruiting and training a squad of guards for protection purposes. Talyn’s arrival in Mithranar is something of an upset though. The city is divided into two. The arrogant winged folk who live in the upper echelons, they seem to have very little regard for humans and see them as little more than grist for the mill, and the people who live in the lower city, mostly underfed and living in poverty. This is a society that feels a little ‘behind times’ in certain respects. There are no women recruited to the Falcons (the winged army) and Talyn’s appearance as a female bodyguard definitely throws a spanner into the works. She is given very little assistance and forced to choose recruits from the prison cells – basically, she’s being set up to fail.
The second POV is the Shadowhawk. A mysterious criminal who stalks the city, robbing food to give to the poor. A Robin Hood character if you will. I loved his opening scene which really was a great set up and pulled me into the story very easily. I enjoyed the chapter switches, the Shadowhawk provides a way for readers to look at the story from a different angle which is something I always enjoy.
What I really liked about this was the world building. Whilst I wouldn’t say that everything is yet fully fleshed out this makes a really good start and has definitely whetted my appetite for more. I’d like to know more about the forests beyond the walls of Mithranar and the creatures that live there – there’s a definite tale in the making if you ask me. I’d also like to know more about the winged people and the magic they use, and how this relates to the humans who also have magic. There’s a lot hinted at in this first instalment and it definitely intrigues me.
In terms of the characters, we have a bunch of misfits being trained into a purpose. There’s the constant threat hanging over them of ‘make this work or else’ and the carrot and stick scenario of being pardoned if successful. I can’t say I really became attached as such to any of the characters in particular but as a group I enjoyed their exploits and felt myself cheering them on. Nothing like a tale of underdogs rising up against the odds after all.
Talyn and the Shadowhawk. Well, Talyn is a bit closed off at first and it does take a little while to form an attachment to her but I ended up quite firmly in her corner. I found myself constantly frustrated by the obstacles she met and the discrimination and in fact found myself wishing her to really tell it the way it was. The Shadowhawk is, necessarily so, a mysterious character. I didn’t quite understand his motives at first although having now thought about it, I can see a little more about why he felt compelled to act the way he did – I just can’t share it here!,
In terms of criticisms. I think this could probably have been slimmed down a little. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t struggle to read this, I was always keen to pick it back up, but, given the length there isn’t a great deal plot wise – although, in fairness, the author is taking the time to establish things and give a feeling of camaraderie for Talyn and her group of trainees. there are aspects to the plot that are really good – like the flooding and the way everyone banded together to get through it, but then there’s the big emphasis on a football match, which, okay, I can see what that was about to some extent but then in another way I could have equally done without it. I also have to admit that I didn’t really find the mystery of the Shadowhawk to really be a mystery at all – in fact I guessed who he was very early in the book – I’m not really sure that it matters though and in some respects I think it might have worked better if this hadn’t been kept a mystery and we could have had a little more insight from his pov.
Overall, I had a good time with A Tale of Stars and Shadow and find myself very keen to read more about this world and these characters.
I would like to thank the author for the review copy. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4 of 5* or 8 of 10.
Books and travelling with Lynn 