Graham

As always with my GdM reviews I will focus on the stories. This issue has four stories, all of which I enjoyed very much:

That Old Time Religion - Ken Scholes

A darkly comic take on religion and idol worship. It works as a fantastic parable to selfishness, playing on human beings innate Nietzschean desire to look after themselves before anyone else along with themes of religious control. Very enjoyable!

Death At The Pass - Michael Fletcher

First of a double bill of Fletcher. Khraen is a familiar character to readers of The Obsidian Path. I have read only the first two books, so this iteration of Khraen is a bit different from the one I am familiar with but the same base character is there. All of the characters here are shades of evil. We are thrust straight into a battle between Necromancers and Mages, Khraen raised from the dead as part of this army, but able to push against the necromantic control. This certainly illustrates the indomitable willpower of Khraen and definitely adds some more flavour to the larger world that Fletcher has built. I love Fletcher's writing so this was always going to be a win with me! Dark, gritty and morally ambiguous. Perfect grimdark story telling.

Death and Dignity - Michael Fletcher

The second part of the double bill, actually following on quite closely after the first, with the stories acting as a fun diptych. Khraen is now being pursued across an icy wasteland by a mage and a sorcerer. Again, all the characters here are definitely morally dubious, but Fletcher has brilliant way of making us sympathize with them, from the Sorcerer being used unthinkingly by the mage to Khraen himself being chased for some ancient vendetta. The denouement here is very satisfying, working well with the first story and the wider Obsidian Path lore.

A Marked Man - T.R. Napper

A novella length story! This one is an interesting, steampunkish take on bounty hunting and vigilantism. A world of magic tattoos and a thin boundary towards rebellion. This is very much a character driven piece, with our MC definitely on the morally dubious end of the spectrum, working for a mafiosa style lord. A fascinating blend of different cultural references and playing on themes of honor and patriotism. Fun stuff

DNF at 40%

No.

This is what happens when you try to fling all the trends of TikTok fantasy at a book and see what sticks. The result is a hot mess. It ticks off all the worst aspects of every single trope I hate. There were moments in this first part of the book where it could of leaned into some interesting ideas but it always swerved in the dumbest and most annoying direction. Debutant balls? Bleaurgh. Weird diadems signifying magic? Yuck. Characters with zero depth?

The central premise seems to be around some kind of finishing school specializing in magic and etiquette. If this was done slightly tongue in cheek it might have worked but it takes itself so deadly seriously. The earnestness contrasts horribly with the weirdly dumb ideas thrown up all over the place. It certainly not the dark academia the blurb promised. The pacing is all over the place. The world building is a confused mess with random terms and ideas thrown around without any explanation. There appears to be some kind of magic system but I can make neither head not tail of it - less than ideal when it is the central part of the plot!

I pride myself on being able to finish the vast majority of books I start but I just could not force myself further with this one - it is my first DNF in quite a while. The earnest inanity of it was just more than I could bear.

This is the second novel by JDL Rosell that I have read, and he seems to write a certain kind of character with severe trust and anger management issues. These type of characters can be a frustrating read - they tend to make obviously dumb decisions which leave you screaming at the page in annoyance. The Last Ranger definitely suffers from this, and although the reason for the character being this way is at least reasonably well developed it does get a bit tiresome after a while.

Character gripes aside, this is an interestingly realized world. There is fascinating underlying mythology which is brought through, with an intriguing array of non-standard fantasy races. There is some clever politicking and plot that drives forwards at a good pace keeping you interested throughout.

And it does appear the character development is there to hopefully move beyond the aspects that annoyed me moving into the later books in this series, so at this point I am definitely open to continuing.

This was surprisingly touching! The story of a grandmotherly figure who has become a necromancer after her grandchildren passed away and her relationship with a young girl she rescues from some nefarious actors. Despite its short novella length, there is a surprising amount of character and world building.

The center of the story is the found family - Gam Gam and Mina definitely find a family in each other and the development of that relationship is definitely the soft heart of the tale. They both end up helping each other.

There is also a lovely gentle humour, with its observational nature reminiscent of Pratchett. The whole thing has a lovely coziness to it.

This is as close to a perfect cozy fantasy novella as I have found!

Werewolves are one of those tropes that are in general under utilized in modern fantasy. The idea of shapeshifting monsters is one of those foundational concepts of folklore and the wolf has long been the favoured form. NC Koussis takes this trope and applies an Empire of the Vampire style take on it - giving a dark epic fantasy flavour with plenty of politicking and large scale jeopardy in a fantastical tale. The mythological aspects of it are also well realised - the deeper myth of the shapeshifters contrasted with the controlling ‘new' religious take on it.

Religious fanaticism is very much a key theme - the brainwashing of folk by religious institutions and their inherent corruption forms a strong undercurrent to the larger story. This plays nicely along real life themes of the inquisition, giving an interesting quasi-historic backdrop to the story. The manipulations and treachery of those in power is always a solid theme!

All in all this was an entertaining read, and different enough to a lot of the fantasy out there to grab my attention nicely. Yes, it is a little rough around the edges but overall this was mightily impressive.

Read as part of the action fantasy book club 2023.

This is my first time reading progression fantasy as far as I am aware and I am not sure I am fully convinced. I can't deny that the author has decent writing chops - the prose was well constructed and the novel easy to read, but the gamerish aspects of the writing definitely jarred me out of the moment. I generally found myself thinking I would prefer to play a game version of this than read a novel version of it.

A lot of the core concepts here are interesting, the idea of a karmic way to immortality, and the strong lean in to oriental teachings. The story bounces along at a high pace, certainly keeping interest as it goes with the high action style. There is definitely a breathlessness to the whole endeavour.

This ended up being a story I could respect the writing to, but I am not sure I am necessarily the right audience for this type of litrpg/progression fantasy style.

A very satisfying follow up to No Heart for a Thief.

No Safe Haven picks up pretty much where No Heart left off. Kaylo and Taylen are being packed off to the Missing, a hidden nation of Ennea that has been holding itself apart from the ongoing conflict but has big aims of its own. There is a definite anger to the story that feels even more pronounced in this book compared to the first. The drive for vengeance sits at the core of the motivations of a lot of the characters, and it is the dawning understanding of how to achieve that without compromising their own self that provides a lot of the growth in the tale.

The story is again presented across two timelines, with the present day actions of Kaylo, Taylen and Nix counterpointed with the story of the past told by Kaylo. This allows for some clever juxtaposition and background for Kaylo and how he tries to help Taylen understand her anger and her drive. This was even more apparent in this book compared to the first in the series and I definitely appreciate the way the author has used this device to contextualize the relationship. It is also a clever way of world building, adding depth and history to the present day story as well as providing the threads of where everything is coming from.

The prose is very well constructed, flowing with ease and dripping character off the page. All the themes that made the first book such a compelling read are still here - anti-colonialism, division within repressed communities, genocide, indigenous rights etc. This story adds the way that local warlords have tried to take advantage of colonial powers to further their own aims, and how this is not necessarily good for their own populations. These themes all feel incredibly timely, with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine highlighting many of the very actions being presented here. It all adds to the poignancy in the story. I find myself drawn to the comparison with the board game Spirit Island as well with the themes as well. Yes, there is a risk of ‘white mans voice' on this difficult and nuanced subject, but it feels to me as if Dulin has done a fantastic job of capturing that challenging topic. I also definitely appreciate and applaud his authors note highlighting other writers from less well represented backgrounds who are also putting their voice on these topics.

This is a fantastic follow up to No Heart for a Thief and I cannot wait to see the series continue onwards. It feels like there is a lot to still resolve here and I am excited to see the denouement of everything that has been set up!

I got this book as my free gift when I joined the Golsboro book of the month scheme about a year ago. Finally got round to reading it. Its basic premise - a man has been convicted dubiously and is currently sitting in prison in the US, is an interesting enough premise. It has the workings of a solid procedural thriller in unravelling how he came to be there. I am a fan of procedural thrillers - so far so good.

Where this book falls flat for me is the second hook it tries to work - a romance from a pen pal to the convicted murderer. The fact that murderers do appear to get ‘fan' mail in real life I have always found bizarre. I can kind of get how the story tries to establish that the dynamic builds from a position of seeing a documentary about the dubious conviction, but how quickly it develops into a marriage just feels strange. Then when we come to the marriage itself, their chemistry is completely flat. I have never seen a story where a newly wed couple are that disinterested in one another. I am not a fan of romance novels, I tend to find them painful to read in a cringey and awkward kind of way. I get that people in love are cringey and awkward, I just don't want to read about it. This novel manages to take that and make it cringey, awkward and just plain boring. When the relationship between these two characters is the center point of the book to have their relationship this flat and boring makes the whole book frustrating to read.

The twist at the end is interesting enough, and this story feeds into the whole ‘Making a Murderer' craze that has happened recently. Unfortunately the book failed to engage me enough for me to provide any recommendation for it though.

Merged review:

I got this book as my free gift when I joined the Golsboro book of the month scheme about a year ago. Finally got round to reading it. Its basic premise - a man has been convicted dubiously and is currently sitting in prison in the US, is an interesting enough premise. It has the workings of a solid procedural thriller in unravelling how he came to be there. I am a fan of procedural thrillers - so far so good.

Where this book falls flat for me is the second hook it tries to work - a romance from a pen pal to the convicted murderer. The fact that murderers do appear to get ‘fan' mail in real life I have always found bizarre. I can kind of get how the story tries to establish that the dynamic builds from a position of seeing a documentary about the dubious conviction, but how quickly it develops into a marriage just feels strange. Then when we come to the marriage itself, their chemistry is completely flat. I have never seen a story where a newly wed couple are that disinterested in one another. I am not a fan of romance novels, I tend to find them painful to read in a cringey and awkward kind of way. I get that people in love are cringey and awkward, I just don't want to read about it. This novel manages to take that and make it cringey, awkward and just plain boring. When the relationship between these two characters is the center point of the book to have their relationship this flat and boring makes the whole book frustrating to read.

The twist at the end is interesting enough, and this story feeds into the whole ‘Making a Murderer' craze that has happened recently. Unfortunately the book failed to engage me enough for me to provide any recommendation for it though.

A very satisfying end to the series. Emotional, poignant, action packed and brutal. The Chronicles of the Bitch Queen manage to be both intensely personal and sweepingly epic at the same time, and this final entry is no exception, taking both ends to increasing extremes. The battles are bigger, badder and more frequent. The personal sacrifices are more painful and intimate. The series certainly ends on a bang.

We pick up pretty much where the previous book left off - Talyien is back in Jin-Sayeng and is now trying to navigate the labyrinthine politics of her own country as well as play off Yuebek. This is as twisty and tricksy as any political thriller. This is all with the impending doom of the rift in the back ground.

The core of the story really is down to Talyien's relationships. With her husband, with her lover, with her suitor, with her parents. These relationships are extremely varied but all very real in their feeling. There is definitely a chemistry between Tali and Rai, but this is a relationship that is on its last legs - the challenges have been taken too far. And whilst there is still respect and a bond their, the love is leaching away. The relationship with Khine is far more intense and passionate. The relationship with Yuebek is cleverly evolving throughout the book. The revulsion never goes away, but the necessity of his presence definitely changes. He is mad but believably so, not a caricature by any means. And then there is Yeshin, a character who is dead throughout all three books but whose presence and machinations drive everything going. The man is both brutal and brilliant. His Machiavellian presence permeates everything here.

A worthy finale to a special series that I thoroughly enjoyed

Holy exposition! Yeah, there are some stylistic issues with the writing that I really struggled with, but conceptually there are some interesting ideas. Overall this was a mixed lot with some very good things and some very bad...

First lets get the cat out of the bag. This book is incredibly exposition heavy. And that exposition is very intrusive, being thrown into conversations in a very mansplaining way on a regular basis. It is also repetitive. The same unsubtle exposition is thrown up multiple times in random conversation. The book felt under edited and the author seemed to be learning as he went on as it did improve through the book (but the tendency never went fully away). Unfortunately it definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the novel.

On the positive side - the conceptual basis for the book is very interesting. Taking the American Revolution as an influence and applying a fantasy skin is something I haven't really seen before. And this book manages to feel very American, even from a cultural perspective, distinctive from the more euro centric classic fantasy stories. Yes we get the classic tropey fantasy races of elves, orcs and dwarves, but they are given a distinctively American twist. The growth of industry, the allusions to slavery and treatment of the natives are all linked in with the fantasy races and how they are treated in the book. The names of places and empires draw heavily on real things, just given a slight twist, tying closely into American history.

This is definitely an interesting setting for a fantasy novel, and whilst I may have struggled with the it stylistically I applaud the conceptual work that went into it.

The Awakening Fire is very much a plot driven work telling the story of three people competing for the throne of a kingdom in the wake of a revolution, each of them presenting very views and ideals towards that role. There are things that The Awakening Fire does very well, and there are things that it definitely struggles with. Fortunately for such a plot driven story, the plotting is definitely one of its strengths. I appreciate how each of the characters has very good reasons for their ambition. There is the entitled son of a deposed dynasty, trying to reestablish his family. There is the nominated successor of the overthrown king, relying on the support of the nobles and the compromises that entails. And there is the revolutionary idealist who is trying to reclaim a stolen inheritance. Three different and very believable rationales for their ambitions, these differences driving the plot and letting it flow in quite a satisfying way.

The characters themselves are all deeply flawed and frequently unlikeable. That in itself is not a problem as long as the agency for what they are doing feels valid, and for the large part it does here. When we move away from the contenders for the throne, the characterizations are slightly more problematic. I am not sure having the only openly gay character in the story being a villain and a rapist is a particularly comfortable move.

I am a little bit uncertain as to where the novel is pitched too - some aspects do have a somewhat YA feel but at the same time there are some decidedly adult themes in play (see the villain character above). There is certainly a darker aspect to alot of the story than I would expect in a YA story. That being said, the simplistic nature of some of the relationships is more YA in feel - the idealism in love from Hiero in particular. Nonetheless I think the tendency of people to try to pigeonhole books in these categories is not necessarily the most helpful either - but this is meant as a note that there is definitely something grimmer than a normal YA at work here.

I do have some issues with the prose in the book unfortunately, and this is where it drops down a bit for me - I found a lot of it quite clunky. In particular the dialogue definitely jars in places with a tendency for sudden grandiose statements to suddenly spring up in strange ways in conversation. It feels a bit like the author is still trying to find their voice. As far as I am aware this is the author's debut novel so this is not surprising, and I am sure with time this will even out a bit.

Ultimately I can see some decent potential - the plot work and the grasp of motivations and agency is definitely well done. I will keep an eye on the author to see how they develop

I like my grimdark as black as night and this is wonderfully treacly dark in its grimdarkness. Eleventh Cycle has certainly been generating quite a lot of buzz for an indie, and I can say it is 100% warranted. This is a doorstopper of a book running around 800 pages, but there is no filler here. The world building is truly epic, the world of Minethrea given a depth that is up there with the very best in the genre. Murkiness is the buzz word here, everything is presented in a wonderful greyness. The land is literally wreathed in mists. The Elder Beings are some poorly defined and unknowably alien thing. The lives of the commoners are definitely falling into that ‘nasty, brutish and short' category. There is an obvious depth of mythos here that is just brilliant.

What cuts through this is the excellent characterizations of the 4 main POV characters. Each of them is given heart, motive and agency. From Dalilla the farm girl turned witch, Chroma the Akar trying to find his place in society coming from an oppressed race, Nora the warrior taking on the patriarchy and Erefiel the half human half zerub caught between worlds all the characters here have compelling stories, with them all intersecting in the most satisfying of ways.

Married to everything here is an excellent prose. Very readable, yet with a nice poetry to it places. It all lends itself to the epic nature of the scope of the story.

The themes are all also well done. These range from abusive families, disability, alienation and the duality of human emotions. That these dark themes do not drag the whole story down in to the murk is a testament to Ardalan's storytelling nous. Injecting the correct amount of pathos that these things all become relatable.

This is grimdark, morally grey, violent and graphic. But it is also full of heart and pathos. I am extremely excited to see where this story goes!

Romantasy is definitely very much in the zeitgeist at the moment and I am really not sure what to make of it. It is far from my favourite sub-genre. That being said I certainly was intrigued to see what the Sanderson could bring to it so I was intrigued by this latest Cosmere entry. And ultimately I am not disappointed - this was definitely one of the better attempts at this trope, and whilst I would not call it his best it certainly far from his worst work.

As the title suggests, we are following two MCs - Yumi and Painter. When some spiritual connection links the two together they are thrust into each others radically different worlds, bringing one of the classic romance tropes into play with this forced connection. The differences between these worlds are fascinating, with Painter existing in a semi-modern world driven by some mysterious power source, but where the world is veiled in permanent darkness. His job is to fend off nightmares, painting them so that his will confines them to non-threatening things. Yumi comes from a more primitive world, where she is revered as a link to the spiritual - she summons spirits who are bound to tools to allow the world to exist. Her world is one of a hot bright sun and floating plants.

This kind on yin/yang pairing is quite central to the story. Everything here is a study in contrasts. As always, Sanderson's world building is top class. This is another story told through the voice of Wit, so there is also a fun voicing to the story with a decent level of humour. There are some clever links to current issues in play here as well. The idea of a machine replacing a human to create art feels very current with the current discourse on AI art (perhaps there is a good parable to the hubris around this at the moment).

The prose is eminently readable as always, the book definitely flowed well for me. There is some quite nice art as well included in this, which I definitely appreciate. Of the secret project books released so far this is solidly in the middle for me.

I can really respect the ambition in this one. We start in medias res, an approach that I think does work well here. We are introduced to Gimlore, a sometime gangster, sometime mayor like figure taking an aggressive negotiation stance with the emissary of a powerful empire seeking to come in on their business, on a newly raised continent. The mysteries behind this newly raised continent are central to the plot here, through the accidental creator, the secret powers unlocked by it and the various people competing over it.

The story is told from three primary POVs - the aforementioned gangster/major Gimlore, a conman claiming he is god called Orberesis, and a feared mercenary captain called upon to protect the settlement called Rednow. The characters are certainly interesting and varied. I loved Orberesis in particular, the man suffering from chronic pain trying to find a cure, accidentally having raised a continent using a magical gem starts faking being a god in order to try and find that cure. His duplicity is central to a lot of the goings on, even if his Machiavellian designs may not be matched by his actual wits. Writing such an egotist character without them becoming either obnoxious or a caricature is certainly an art and the author has succeeded here. Rednow and Gimlore are more sympathetic characters and whilst both have a certain greyness to them (neither being adverse to a bit of murder) they are in the more classically heroic mold.

The story has some clear influences as well. I can definitely see some Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven stylings here, with a mercenary company called in to protect a town. That being said there are some strange plot choices at times. The courtly intrigue with the king and the nobles does not quite logically work, especially with the apparent ability of the king to execute them all without any real repercussions. The prose took a while to flow. There is a certain disjointedness to a lot of the novel for me, some of the dialogue patterns not coming across naturally.

Nonetheless I still quite enjoyed this novel and whilst a little unpolished in places it shows a lot of potential

It took me a while to properly gel with this one, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is urban fantasy with an interesting twist. Leaning heavily into the books about books trope, the base concept here is that there exists magical books in the world that people will literally kill to collect. The ability to sense these magical books is an inherited trait amongst certain families, with an even rarer ability to write them existing too.

You can tell this book comes from a love of books. Libraries form a large part of its setting and the quirks of book collecting inform into the story. Taking place very much in a current world this is somewhat typical urban fantasy for the most part, with the magical world hidden in plain sight.

The story begins in medias res, with one of our characters running from various problems hiding out in a base on Antarctica. Our other POV characters are maintaining a collection of magical books and listening to a recitation of their latest book creation. In someways the start was a bit jarring (and Antarctic bases are quite an extreme example of a hiding place - I struggled with the wisdom of this one as this character is required to move on a specific day each year. The Antarctic seems like an excellent place to get stuck and be unable to travel due to weather etc...). That is often the nature of such a narrative style, but I do think the three POVs in wildly different locales did not help me here. That being said, as the story continued and the POV characters were drawn together I found myself increasingly engaged in what was going on. The central mystery is well worked and satisfying in its denouement.

Urban fantasy is not necessarily a style I favour (I find the setting often gets a bit distracting and the idea that the fantasy world coexists with the real can end up feeling somewhat silly), but this books central plotting was clever enough to keep me thoroughly engaged. The central conceits of the world building were well drawn and just on the right side of a believability to work with an Urban Fantasy setting for me. One of the better examples of this sub-genre!

The Scarlet Pimpernel plus vampires in a vaguely YAish style. It was fun enough for what it was, I appreciate the linking of nobility to vampirism (what with their general obsession with bloodlines etc). I have previously stated my distaste towards nice vampires, and this book offers a mixed bag. There is definitely a hint that there is something more intrinsically nefarious with vampires and the French vampires are suitably bloodthirsty and depraved. The English ones are presented in a strangely pleasant light.

Where I have some issue is in the classist stylings on this book. Our MC is supposedly from the lower classes, and yes I know the original Scarlet Pimpernel was definitely viewed through a more higher class lens, it would be hoped the addition of this character might give an eye to the genuine class struggle going on in France, but she comes across extremely passive on this issue. The only genuine presentation of the lower class came through a somewhat distorted lens of the daughter of a senior official in the revolution. This missed opportunity and somewhat jarring juxtaposition of social background and politics definitely detracted a bit from the story for me.

The actions sequences, considering the source material, are as expected solid. Revolutionary France really does offer fertile ground for historical fantasy. I just feel that this one missed a few notes on the different views of the different social backgrounds here.

The title of this is somewhat apt as it seems modern authors have a fascination with freakshows and grotesqueries of the Victorian era. I am not sure it fascinates me enough to warrant the number of books that get written on the subject though. This one is competent enough, following the story of the bastard heir to a rich estate who gets disenfranchised when a new and more legitimate heir is born. He reconnects with a pair of twins, one normal the other suffering from dwarfism, that he met once at a carnival, whilst at the same time working at a public ‘cabinet' of the macabre. A mystery follows that links everyone back together in weird and mystical way.

It is dealing with some fairly classic tropes of both the gothic and carnival genres. The story flows well enough, although the convenience of all the links exposed does feel somewhat contrived in places. Ultimately I found it blended in with a lot of other books in these tropes and whilst competent it just wasn't memorable enough for me.

Future dystopian Arthurian fantasy appears to be a thing at the moment as this is the second I have read this month (after Salt in the Wounds)! Not that I am complaining as this strangely seems to be an excellent combination. Perilous Times adds climate disaster and satire to the mix, with an almost Pythonesque absurdist take in places. Often I find these more politically focused ones can get a bit preachy but this one tempers it with just enough humour and is frankly brilliant.

In this universe, Arthurs famous Knights of the Round table have been put into magical slumber to awaken whenever there is a dire threat to England. What could be a more dire threat than uncontrolled climate change? The focus is on two of the knights, Kay and Lancelot. Those familiar with the myth should be familiar with these two knights at least and the story certainly follows in their established roles. Add into this mix feminist eco-terrorists and a fascist squirrel and you certainly get an interesting mix of characters! Oh, and Arthur is a bit of a knob.

There is a serious message behind everything here, but it is so well livened with the humour and action. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Messy but intriguing

Where to start with this one. The story is told in a stream of consciousness style by someone who is a bit on the spectrum so I do get why it is so messy. But as a reader I found it quite distracting and hard to follow at times, which is a shame because there is a lot of very clever and interesting things going on.

The world building here is first class. The sense of desolation and decay, the idea of two apocalyptic events leaving behind the fragments that remain, it is all very well worked and I really want to see more and learn more about it. The use of ancient tech as a kind of magic like system is also well realized. Everything about the world was fascinating from the Gaunts (people infected with souls of the dead) to the strange biotech horses were wonderfully twisted and weird.

The story itself is following the political machinations between four quadruplets as they try and sort out succession, all told from the point of view of the youngest. This is where things get messy and I fully understand that family is messy but a lot of the times I found myself lost here. I also appreciate the portrayal of autism in a fantastical setting - and I feel this was very accurately portrayed - but unfortunately with the driving plot being around Machiavellian political maneuvers the single POV combined with that trait did tend to be frustrating in terms of figuring out what was going on. That being said all the characters are very well drawn and the picture of what is going on does clear up as the story progresses. The dialogue and banter is done extremely well and the engagement between the characters whilst often shifting and contradictory is organic in its own way.

CM Caplan obviously has a mind full of wild ideas and I fully respect that and really do want to read more of them. The world here is one of the most intriguing I have come across in a long time, the author's grasp of dialogue is very good and the characters drawn are vivid. The central politicking of the book actually ended up as a bit of a confusing distraction to those elements that I was enjoying, but there is just so much potential here that it cannot be ignored.

Prostitution in the later part of the Roman Empire in the southern part of modern day Spain. This is an area/part of history that I am completely unfamiliar with so the setting is an intriguing one. As might be expected of subject matter the book is brutal and unflinching on the topics of slavery and the sex trade.

We follow the story of a young male slave who was bought by a brothel owner by mistake (they thought they were buying a girl). It follows his experiences first as kitchen helper but eventually in the seedier parts of the establishment. With the spread of Christianity during this period, this type of trade was beginning to move more underground, and that is reflected in the very insular nature of the story. All of the workers are largely confined to the brothel and various euphemisms and attempts at public modesty are adopted. This creates a somewhat claustrophobic atmosphere that definitely aids the plotting and scheming at the center of the story.

This is a hard subject and it is mostly dealt with well. The real problem for me is the last couple of pages, which ruined all the good work put in before. A very forced ending that felt completely detached from what was put in place before and jarred horribly with the flow of the story. I absolutely hate it when a story does that to me! I would rather a sad ending than a jarring and forced happy ending any day. This knocked it down from a 4 star to a moderate 3.

This is a fun mash-up of genres! Post apocalyptic dystopian Arthurian fantasy. And there are some really neat concepts in this too.

Firstly, the world building. This is set in a future British Isles, where society has devolved back into a more feudalistic system and the UK has fragmented back into some of its early kingdoms. The driving force behind this is the ‘rain-wights'. Whenever it rains, these creatures appear as shadows/gaps within the raindrops and devour anything that comes in contact with them. Society has survived by building giant shelters from the rain (normal housing doesn't seem to work) and where these exist the new major cities of the realms exist.

This allows for an interesting homage to Arthurian myth where Wessex, Mercia and Winchester are important geographical features again. Into this mix is a gang of treasure hunters, seeking relics of previous ages. This gang has taken to using Arthurian names as their monikers - again allowing that illusion back to Arthurian myth. This clever fusing of the Arthurian legend with the more genre bending elements really shines through in the story. The future dystopian nature allows the monsters to become more real too - who knows how things would evolve in such a setting?

My one criticism is in some of the character dynamics here. There is a lot of betrayal for only very loosely explained reasons in this book. It made it hard for the bonds between characters to establish, and it is difficult to understand the reasoning for some of them. That said, this is only a minor peeve, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Definitely looking forward to more adventures in this world!

Wow! Clever, dark, disturbing and wonderfully meta in places. This is high concept grimdark fantasy at its absolute best.

The conceit at the center of this is the idea that belief is your reality - the stronger you believe in something the more real it becomes. The twist on this is that the people who believe most strongly that things aren't as they seem are people with delusions, and when those delusions are strong enough they become the reality. This has to be one of the most unique and scary magic systems I have ever seen in a fantasy novel.

Michael Fletcher has dug up some really interesting delusions to give power to. Whilst you get some more standard ones like sociopaths (called Gefahrgeist in the novel) whose ids are out of control and project their belief in their importance or ability (for example Wichtig, who believes he is the greatest swordsman in the world, and because of the strength of his convictions, he is), there are weirder and more wonderful ones like Cotard's Syndrome (they believe they are dead/decaying), Syndrome of Subjective Doubles (believe that they have doppelgangers who are carrying out independent actions), Catoptrophobia (believe the reflections in the mirror are someone other than themselves) and so on. This range of beliefs produces a wild a wacky range of abilities. When the characters delusions start getting delusions then it gets even more out there!

And because those who are delusional are powerful, the world is a crazy and brutal place. This is proper grimdark with every character manipulating and not entirely sane. The belief is reality concept also drive the mythology - if enough people believe you are a god, you become a god. The cleverness of how the central conceit works to tie everything together should not be underestimated!

On top of that, Michael's prose is very readable. The main characters, despite their various delusions, are relatable. There relationship, messy as it is, has a gritty realness to it.

Honestly, this is going straight in to my top 10 favourite books I have read. Clever, dark and brilliant.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I do think this is a good, well written book. I love Gareth's Black Iron Gods series - the weird twisted setting with mad gods and gaslamp fantasy. And to a certain extent the world here was also the star, a place where the dark lord has been overthrown and people are trying to pick up the pieces. The concept here is definitely good enough to draw me in.

What went wrong for me here then? The problem for me was one of the POVs. Alf, the grizzled old member of the crew who overthrew Lord Bone always stole the limelight (in particular his sword stole the limelight), and I constantly spent the other POVs time wishing that we were instead with Alf. The second story, following the mother of an abducted son just was no way near as engaging to me. This was either one too many POVs or too few POVs - if there had been additional stories for it to get mixed in with it would have been less obvious how unengaged I was with that particular story line. It was a narrative choice that just flopped a bit for me. That being said it was not awful. It was still very readable and everything else in the story really was well done.

Whilst this leans heavier on classical tropes than the Black Iron Gods series, The Sword Defiant does do a good job of bending them in interesting ways. Take the idea of undying elves. In this world they literally cannot die. They become revenants if slain and are eventually reborn. They can turn to vampirism to sustain themselves when mortally wounded. All this is some wonderful twisting of standard fantasy race tropes. There are clever twists on who the actual monster here is as well, through both current plot and allusions to the past (Lord Bone was a human lording it over the elves for example). Themes of prejudice are well dealt with. The world building really is top notch.

The central theme of the fading of the fellowship is also cleverly realized. The original heroic band who overthrew the dark lord are gradually dwindling - what happens then? It is some interesting questions to ask that take us away from standard fantasy plotlines.

I remain interested in what happens in the series, and as the story went along and the POVs converged the differentiation in my interest between them did lessen. I am intrigued to see where this goes so I do intend to continue the series. The world building really is up there with the best of the best! Hope we get more time with the sword and Alf going forward though!

I continue to be blown away by the quality of writing in the SPFBO9 competition. No Heart For A Thief hits all the right notes for me. A coming of age tale in a pretty grim world, where a country has been over run by a conquering civilization that is trying to eradicate their culture, and a very nice master/apprentice relationship being built, all attached to a very well constructed magic system. These are a set of tropes I can get behind!

The repressed native population trope is one that is attempted quite often in fantasy, but this one is particularly effective, in the insidious way the conquerors try to warp and eradicate the culture (inherently linked to the native magic). It is a very anticolonial message and it is extremely effectively realised. The world is well built with this conflict central to everything in the story. Add into that some internal and latent prejudice within the oppressed against ‘thieves' (magic users who can steal other magic users abilities) and we are treated to a very interesting political setup.

The relationship between our two central characters is also extremely well done, with the jaded old master and the rash new apprentice dynamic well realised and organic in its feel. The way the main part of the story is told through flashbacks is also well done and does not feel too gimmicky.

This is very much the first story in a series, there is not much resolution to be had on the plot themes in the book, but I thoroughly enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next book!

I am continuously being blown away by the quality of writing in the SPFBO 9 competition and Heliotrope is another book that knocks it out the park. This is a wonderfully self contained, slowburn epic fantasy.

We follow the story of Teleo, a retired soldier who has become a stoneworker making elegant mosaics, and the people he gathers around him as he is drawn into a larger conflict going on in the world around him. This is a book that takes time to explore the craftsmanship and development of all its characters, the pace gradually ramping up through the story to its explosive ending. There is a strong sense of found family, with the people that Teleo gathers around him acting to help soothe the previous loss of his own family.

The magic system here is an interesting one, using two different schools - mages and stone guardians. The world is one where magic has largely been forgotten and has been actively repressed by those in power. There is a strong fear from the general public of magic. The rediscovery of that magic is one of the central themes (the name of the book, Heliotrope, is referring to a mages circle in this story).

Whilst there are still threads that can be expanded on the book is also very self contained. There is a complete story arc here. It is epic fantasy so the book is quite chonky, coming in over 700 pages long. For me, the time it takes to build the world is well spent. The prose is very nicely put together and the whole story works. It is slow at the start, but that continuous and inexorable build up of pace ends up driving the story and it would not have worked as well if it had a pacier start!

This is an excellent example of Epic Fantasy and definitely one to keep an eye on!