Review: Kalëon by N. A. Sylla ★★★★★
In a dark time of the Fourth Age, in a strange land known as Earth, a child is born. Son of a king, and heir to a throne, he carries in him a darkness that threatens the world as he knows it. Born of betrayal, raised in conflict, he lives when by all means he should not, watched by mighty beings from beyond that seek – finally – to conquer the heavens and destroy their god, Orph, the ultimate entity. As the world threatens to end once more, myth turns to matter in the hands of the eponymous Kalëon, […]
Review: The Lord of Salamander by T.H. Alexander ★★★★
This coming of age story follows the adventures of Elijah Pendleton, a boy with a miserable home life, no backbone, and a host of unfulfilled hopes. He desperately needs to believe that more exists than the abuse of his distasteful aunts. When he first sees a strange cat in the backyard, he can scarcely imagine that its appearance will prove all his wishes to be true. Soon, Elijah is thrust into a new world of wiccans and […]
Review: The Flying Burgowski by Gretchen K. Wing ★★★★
Overall, the novel is much more character driven than fantasy, which is one of its issues. Wing is a great writer (not to mention having a great name for a book about flying), but she takes too long with the drama of the book at the expense of the fantasy. There are likely […]
Review: Sucker by Mark Lingane ★★★★★
Private eye Van H. Avram is your typical Mickey Spillane throwback, just about getting away with doing his job in some kind of chaotic way. But all that changes when a mysterious “skinny blond” corpse is dumped on his doorstep, opening a door into the seedy underbelly of a world of human sacrifices and ancient lores that might just end civilization as we know it. Suddenly, Avram will have to step up as the hero, and save not just the day, but the entire world. But this might […]
Review: Rainbow Gardens by James Malone ★★★★
Rainbow Gardens, a fantasy novel set in WWII mixing troll lore with gory action and a dreamy tale of redemption and forgiveness in this epic story from debut writer James Malone.
The trolls, imagining themselves The Descendants of Cain, are searching for the truth about their origins, searching for their redeemer to come and save them from their own terrible legacy.
Harry Shikita, a Japanese American, is building Rainbow Gardens over years, a motorist’s dream resort. He could be the one, the trolls think he is. But when Pearl Harbor strikes, Harry is taken into custody, and his life is […]
Review: Blade’s Edge by Virginia McClain ★ ★ ★ ★★
Blade’s Edge, by Virginia McClain, is an excellent fantasy novel that will keep readers turning the pages.
The Kisōshi are elite warriors with elemental powers. They have ruled and protected the people of Gensokai for over a thousand years. The belief that there are no female Kisōshi is widespread and unquestioned by most. What the people don’t know is that the Rōjū ruling council has gone to great lengths to perpetuate this myth.
Mishi and Taka knew from a young age they were different from other girls. They also knew to keep their powers a secret. When they are […]
Review: Peer Through Time by David T. Pennington ★★★★
In 2079, technology has advanced enough that machines and mankind are becoming more and more indistinguishable from and indispensable to each other. It’s in Northern California where Carmela Akronfleck – a physicist working on the secrets of time travel – succeeds in surpassing one final gauntlet of science, and transports herself to the year 1936.
Taking refuge with a woman named Lasha, they eventually begin to share their secrets: they can both hear voices. When her cybernetic implants malfunction, Carmela receives a message through time of a string of murders, and her sister begins following the final footsteps of deceased […]