Tag: review

SFINCS Review: Pale Night Red Fields by Joseph John Lee

Summary The threads of fate are not so easily unwoven. There is a growing fascination among the Dusk Tribe with the land of the dead. The Tribe's shamans work tirelessly day and night to find a path to communion with their people's lost souls, but answers are slow to uncover. As both the son of a shaman and the Tribe's only Futureseer, Zarrow is ordered to view the days and weeks ahead to reveal the source of the Tribe's successful discovery, but when he does so, he finds not celebration, but destruction. Devastation. Sacrifice. And those closest to him bloodied...

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Gloves of Eons by Andrew D. Meredith

Summary Factions rise — Zeal ignites — Bells toll Hanen and Rallia Clouw find themselves between power hungry factions and must choose which tools to take up to reach their goals. With the Rotha revealed to be a thinking, breathing being, Katiam Borreau must tread carefully and choose her allies wisely. Ousted from their western holdings, the Paladins of the Hammer retreat to the west to face new and old intrigue set against them. Made the unwitting messenger of dark gods, Seriah Yaledít seeks solace in the road, fleeing from blind panic gnawing at her mind. Dark tools forged, scale...

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Eclipse by Herman Steuernagel

Summary Django and Mikka's paths collide as they embark on a journey that will shape the fate of a civilization built on half-truths and the backs of others. Rumors of civil war circulate through the Syndicate's orbital empire, catching both Django and Mikka in the crossfire, where the stakes are far higher than they realize. Review Eclipse is a fast-paced dystopian space opera that will keep you glued to the page the whole ride. The whole book is really a two-for-one. We get two POVs, two locations, and two distinct dystopias. I wouldn't call it hard sci-fi but I easily...

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Thralls of a Tyrant God by Mars G. Everson

Summary What would you sacrifice to be free? For Senn, former slave turned rebel leader and now the powerful Herald of the Lord of Greed, the answer was everything. He thought he had left hope behind forever. But when a ghostly child with sparkling blue eyes appears to him, Senn's loyalty is tested. His own God and army turn against him, forcing him to flee into the harsh desert wasteland alone and powerless. But as he searches for revenge and a new source of power, he must confront his past, including the woman he left behind at the mercy of...

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Carved Amidst the Shadows by M.T. Fontaine

Summary When the gods shaped the continent into five kingdoms to be ruled by their progeny, they did not account for the greed of men. When they created the Order from their god-blessed followers to mediate between realms, they neglected to plan against the hoarding of power. War between the royalists and the godly was inevitable. Five centuries later, the borders between kingdoms are impenetrable. No branded-born Marked can cross them without burning to ash, except the Order’s Stewards. But a damaging new war has been prophesied, one that haunts the Order, one that will come to pass if Carved...

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Credible Threats by Daniel Meyer

Summary Sam Adams, sixteen-year-old wizard, has zero interest in saving the world—but staying out of the line of fire isn’t an option for wizards. When a new designer drug hits the streets, giving ordinary humans magical powers and leaving a trail of bodies in its wake, it threatens to turn his city of Williamsport’s long-simmering conflict between the haves and the have-nots into a full-scale war. The only one with the skills to protect the city, Sam finds himself thrust into a conspiracy far darker and more dangerous than he ever imagined, with tentacles stretching into the criminal underworld and...

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Soulstealer Origins by Reed Logan Westgate

Summary In the Lord's year 1303, a holy order of knights faces the brink of extinction. Their holy crusade falters as a fiendish monster from beyond the mist decimates their numbers. In desperation, the Knights Templar dispatch a unit to find an ancient relic hoping to tip the scales in the battle against the forces of darkness. Sir Marcus Le'heroux bravely leads the knights into the Hungarian wilderness, but when the weapon he finds buried in the Mátra Mountains turns out to be an awakened Soulstealer, he faces much more than he bargained for. Will the Order's new weapon prove...

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The Return of the Knights by Gregory Kontaxis

Summary The Palace of the Dawn will soon be stormed. The most ruthless man of all time is one step away from assailing on Iovbridge and dethroning Sophie Delamere. The Queen of Knightdorn is now alone, with neither allies nor an army capable of rebuffing the enemy which is approaching her city. Everything appears to be over, until a mysterious young man, Elliot, makes his appearance. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Elliot will try to draw Walter away from Iovbridge and face him in the stronghold of Wirskworth. He will attempt to rekindle relations and revive the...

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Phased by Victoria Tecken

Summary According to the Department of Domestication and Assimilation, Val and Lyla Blackwood are the most dangerous kind of werewolves. Although they were raised in the wild, their Trueblood heritage has made them little more than experiments for years. Now, their freedom depends on their ability to become as human as possible, thrown into an assimilation school with humans and werewolves who have never known what it means to be wild. Trapped in a world where they don't belong and fighting to stay one step ahead of the horrific past that chases them, any wrong move could send them back...

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The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Summary The first novel in the First Law Trilogy and debut fantasy novel from New York Times bestseller, Joe Abercrombie. Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian — leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.  Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields...

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