The atmosphere The Anguished Earth creates is top notch, melding the horror tinged, Dark Age setting with the backdrop of an active outbreak of a deadly disease. As you follow a state appointed Justice on the trail of escaped child murderer, you feel the unsettling sensation of darkness lurking in every corner.
Alongside it’s very intriguing premise, Crownfall’s story is well paced, tightly plotted, and uses all its character POV’s to deliver an extremely efficient story that offers a glimpse into what feels like a much bigger universe.
In this way, it is one of the most charming yet captivating pieces of modern fantasy I’ve read in quite a while. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in fantasy that is truly heroic, not for its scale, but rather for its heart.
There Is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM takes a premise that is wildly original and crafts a mind bending, genre pushing story which pulls the reader in for a ride unlike any other.
A deeply Grimdark story set in a steampunk fantasy world where magic and technology collide, this book pulls no punches. The world is harsh and unforgiving, with people using what power they gain to violate and demean others, enforce their will and bend others to it.
In the first installment in his Shadow of the Leviathan series, Bennett blends in just the right mix of familiar mystery and fantasy elements to satisfy readers of both genres while still creating something that feels unique and immersive.
Valor doubles down on everything that worked in book one and then some. Gwynne goes darker and more epic, building out a world and mythos for his series that steps out of any lingering shadows cast by its predecessors and fully into its own identity.
It seems like Dragonriders are everywhere nowadays. It’s not hard to understand why; dragons are cool. But more importantly, the subgenre taps into many of the fundamental elements that makes fantasy so captivating and fulfilling.
This engrossing novella drops you into a world practically seeps with mystery and danger without the barest hint of an explanation or preparation. You are almost immediately thrown into a strange contest alongside a Knight and his Squire which proves to be the sort of nightmarish fever dream one might expect to find in a book by the pre-Disneyfied Brother’s Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson.
His story is part murder mystery, part conspiracy thriller, and part revolutionary story all wrapped up in the rather basic science fiction premise. Unlike many similar books however, his use of multiple and varied POV’s and consistent unexpected twists keeps the narrative feeling fresh and unexpected.
