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Sunday, April 19, 2015

The Great Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off First Update (by Mihir Wanchoo)

As I talked about previously in my introductory post, Mark Lawrence was kind enough to give me a list. I’ll be doing six reading rounds wherein I’ll be selecting one title from 4-5 books. In the end, the chosen six will get a proper FBC style review and I’ll be selecting one title from that list. So for my first round, I read the following four titles:


1) David Tatum – The Kitsune Stratagem
  The Kitsune Strategem is an interesting book about a world wherein Kitsunes are present and have been brought into existence by the Goddess Inari. The book had an interesting start and the characters are rather straightforward in their approach. Kieras and Mathis are the main protagonists and are the central focus of the story. One of the plus points of this story was how the author inculcated various mythological creatures in a secondary fantasy world. This was a good read but it didn't quite grow out of its fun mold.


2) Charlotte Cyprus – Kiss of the Fae
  Kiss Of The Fae was a romantic fantasy and it focused on two characters Xenos and Johara who are from different sides and are forced to let go of their conventional views. This of course being a story with a strong romantic focus, we find that the characters do manage to overcome their biases and find love in each other. This was an interesting story and the characters were intriguing if not slightly predictable.


3) Scott Warren – Sorcerous Crimes Division: Devil Bone
  I had high hopes from this book as it presented a fantasy world and gave the story a noir feel with magic and gangs and a constabulary who regulates and tries to keep the city safe. The story begins in a meandering fashion and we are introduced to our main characters Commander Vulfort & private Tanner. The plot takes a while to get going but the ending more than makes up for the slow start. What I thoroughly enjoyed with this story was the world that’s slowly unveiled and the epic story that’s promised in the sequel volumes.


4) Brian Lynch – King Callie
  This was a rather different book as it focuses on a teenage character Callie who faces some stern odds. I enjoyed the "teenage character in an adult fantasy world" approach of the story. Very reminiscent of the ShadowMarch quartet by Tad Williams, though Brian Lynch keeps the plot focus much narrowed down than Tad Williams. The story is fast-paced and that kept me reading all the way through to the end. I enjoyed this story but the story felt a bit unrealistic with the way Callie goes about her journey.

From this round, the one title that appealed to the most and will be proceeding forward is Sorcerous Crimes Division: Devil Bone by Scott Warren. Next up will be five new titles & I'll hopefully finish reading them in the next two-three weeks.

5 comments:

Bibliotropic said...

King Callie certainly seems like it could be interesting. Just from the title and cover, it has a couple of elements that appeal to me. Cover art's not too shabby, either!

The Reader said...


Hi Ria,

Yeah it has the best cover among all books in this round (and generally is a good one).

I would be interested to see how you find it. How are you faring with your lot?

Mihir

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Hmm. This is an interesting idea. I like this. And sounds like a few good reads too. ;)

KW Lanford said...

Will you be doing this again? How do I get my book considered?

The Reader said...


@KW Lanford,

I'm going off the list that was provided to me by Mark Lawrence. You can read more about the list and this blog-off over here.

Mihir

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