Summary: Can love bloom in war’s darkest hour? Mara and her owl work surveillance to keep Kuppham safe, but the news on the Stream is grim. The humans are coming, and she and her owl will soon be in the line of fire. Her once-vibrant city is a ghost town, with little to distract her as she waits for the skin-covered hordes to overrun the Maer capital. Until one day, this timid little artificer wanders into the aerie, asking to watch her owl land over and over. Uffrin makes owls powered by clockwork and magic to guard the great automatons...
Michael Roberti’s Best Reads of 2023
Wow. 2023 was a year and a half. This was a year when I finally felt like I could get back to reading after two years spent mostly writing, and boy, the books brought it. Then, Kavin brought me on to post my reviews, and I’ve been amazed by the continuous love of the Silverstones and online book communities. I’m sitting here drinking coffee listening to Dr. Dre’s classic The Chronic 2001, and I just want to get into it. So, let’s go! Ok, pause, actually. I want to shout out two books that stood head and shoulders above the...
The Will of the Many by James Islington
Summary: AUDI. VIDE. TACE. The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world now, but they do not know everything. I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all...
Guest Review: The Automaton by Ian Young
By Bill Adams Synopsis Humanity is on the cusp of extinction. Deteriorating populations threaten the planetary economy and risk the collapse of humanity itself. In desperation, human-like machines are built to serve where man no longer can. These are the Automata. Five thousand years later, humankind no longer walks the Earth, but has ascended beyond biology to float above Earth in a hemisphere-spanning supercomputer. When an anomaly arises on Earth that not even a post-biological civilization can comprehend, XR-345x — a long deactivated top-of-the-line automaton — is awoken in a derelict facility deep within the overgrown jungles of Africa. With help from Hank —...
Bold Ascension by Vaughn Roycroft
Summary The gods favor the bold, they say, and Vahldan believed it. His boldness had led him to victory against the Spali, earned him the futhark sword, and made him the Lion Lord of the Amalus. Now he sought the power to lead his clan back to glory, and to bring those who oppressed his people to justice. He was well on his way to fulfilling the oath he’d made to his dying father. But his father had never seen the wealth of the stone cities that lined Pontea’s shores… The seeress had prophesied that Vahldan was the Bringer of...
Silverstone’s Book Blog Year in Review Part One
Hello and welcome to The Silverstone’s Book Blog Year in Review. The bloggers here will be reviewing their top three favorite reads of 2023. For me, it was a year of firsts as I published my first fantasy novel, received my first review, was invited to join Silverstone’s Book Blog, and participated in several contests for the indie community. I’ve made some amazing friends and hope to continue into 2024 with more triumphs. I read over fifteen Science Fiction and Fantasy (SFF) books this year out of twenty-seven total books. I tend to read about twenty-four books a year, with...
Guest Review: Tears of the Maelstrom by Timothy Wolff
By Bill Adams Summary: With Vaynex on the brink of civil war, Tempest Claw struggles for peace among his people, many of whom seek vengeance for their lost deity. As the recession grows deeper, one thing remains clear: Tempest will either find common ground with his brethren, or a tomb buried within the sand. Serenna Morgan struggles in her new role as Guardian leader. With insufficient time to mend the emotional scars from the last Harbinger, she must prepare a scattered team to defend the realm from old enemies reemerging in the South, along with a new divine nemesis scheming...
Guest Review: River in the Galaxy by Natalie Kelda
by Bill Adams Summary When Merlon's parents disappeared, his world fell apart. When his best friend died, he lost the ability to enjoy life. For Captain Merlon Ricosta, Lanier's death, two years prior, feels like yesterday. But when a map from his parents is discovered, he decides to push aside his grief to get closure and follow the route they vanished along eighteen years ago. Despite political trouble, Merlon leads his crew into the unknowns of strange galaxies in his quest to find out why his parents never returned. In River in the Galaxy, Merlon fights to keep his crew...
Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames
Summary: A stand-alone epic fantasy adventure featuring a band of legendary mercenaries set in the world of Kings of the Wyld from author Nicholas Eames, who has been hailed as "the voice of modern fantasy" by Michael R. Fletcher. Live fast, die young. Tam Hashford is tired of working at her local pub, slinging drinks for world-famous mercenaries and listening to the bards sing of adventure and glory in the world beyond her sleepy hometown. When the biggest mercenary band of all rolls into town, led by the infamous Bloody Rose, Tam jumps at the chance to sign on as...
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Summary It takes a graveyard to raise a child. Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is an ordinary boy. He would be entirely normal if he didn’t live in a cemetery, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family. Review In his compositions, Neil Gaiman...