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Order Aiduel’s Sin over HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Illborn
Buy No Heart for a Thief here
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFORMATION: James is a nerd with a head full of stories and limited time to put them on the page.
He grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, spending an excessive amount of time at a local community theater where he developed his affinity for storytelling. This affinity grew into a deep admiration for language and spoken word poetry while studying mathematics and education at the University of Michigan. A few hundred mediocre poems and lackluster performances later, he decided his dream of writing a novel might not be as ridiculous as he once thought. He firmly believes that art—even silly books about magic, or maybe especially silly books about magic—has the ability to tell stories that sink beneath the surface.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: We are the stories we tell ourselves...even the lies.
The Thief, a great spirit, and her descendants have abused their ability to steal magic for centuries. When Kaylo starts to hear the song of other people’s magic, he must learn to hide from his people as well as the invaders. A gift or a curse, Kaylo may be able to save his people from the Gousht Empire that claimed their land with this stolen magic.
Eighteen years later, Kaylo still prays to the spirits, but not out of loyalty or love. He knows better than to rely on those selfish bastards for anything. While hiding in the forest from his foolish acts of rebellion, he encounters a girl, Tayen, being pursued by two soldiers of the empire. Against his better judgment, he risks facing the consequences of his past to intervene.
When Tayen attempts to run off seeking vengeance for her family, he offers to train her to wield her magic and a blade. If he can’t convince her to relinquish her need for vengeance and stave off the demons of his past, he’s going to get them both killed.
FORMAT/INFO: No Heart For a Thief was published on January 24th, 2023 by G&D Publishing and has a print length of 460 pages. It is the author's debut epic dark fantasy and the first book in the Malitu trilogy.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: At the beginning of the story we find Kaylo, a hermit living in the forest, saving Tayen's life from a horrible fate. She's been running for her life since finding her family murdered at their home. After Kaylo saves her, he offers her a place to stay. She's reluctant but she's lost her entire family and soldiers are after her (and her magic).
In this world there are people who can listen to something called The Song, and through its rhythm they can do many things according to who of the Seven Spirits, they have a connection with. These people are called Dancers. Not all people have a connection, those who do not are called Spirit Bound.
Kaylo can connect with two spirits, not one, like most dancers. One of the spirits is the Seed, which gives him the ability to manipulate everything that grows in the earth. The other spirit is the Thief, which is the one that made him pretty famous as Ennea's Thief, The Hero of Anilace. His belief in the spirits has become very bitter and grudging due to the many tragedies the spirits did nothing to prevent.
"'Listen, little shade, at the end of the day, the spirits will do what they're going to do. No prayer is going to change that. And right now, they seem content with letting us all kill each other over land and their so-called gifts.'"
Tayen can manipulate the shadows due to her connection with the spirit called Shadow. She's not very good at it but she's still a child, still learning. The people who Kaylo saves her from are soldiers of the Empire that were going to stripped her of her connection with the Shadow using a very special crystal. They believe their God showed them where to find the crystals to subdued the dancers (those who can listen to the Song), after they landed on the shores. Now the soldiers just steal the dancer's connection with the spirits using the crystals and the person striped of the connection, they send to the mines, to extract the same crystals used on them.
There are so many themes interwoven in the story, which in my humble opinion, I think are really well done. Discrimination, occupation, war, trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and survivor's guilt are a few of these.
Even though I was having a really hard time stopping myself from screaming at what the children did, Tayen in the present timeline and Kaylo in the past, I thoroughly enjoyed both of their characters. Tayen is so focused on revenge that I had problems connecting with her at times, no matter how justified her bloodthirstiness may be. She was almost blinded by it. Kaylo, in the present is very hard to reach but not hard to understand. I found him fascinating. He has spent so much time isolated from the world, and having to face it in the form of this child, who in so many ways is kin, one that shakes his world completely. He just wants to live in peace but the war isn't done with him quite yet. Both of them and the secondary characters are very realistic and sometimes I had a hard time not to empathize with everyone, even with the antagonists. You can see all sides of the conflict and at least in my case, can't help but grieve for it.
The relationship between Kaylo and Tayen starts to evolve towards a found family. Kaylo feels like a father to her, even if she doesn't want to admit it, and his hideout from the world, like a home. But as she's set on revenge and wants to leave, he offers to train her and while doing that, he shares part of his life story. He, in sharing his story is trying to convey and teach her so many things but the one that matters most is "Tayen don't leave. We can live in this quiet place. There's no need for revenge. The only thing revenge can bring is more pain and death".
Their master- disciple relationship is wonderful. How he trains her, and cares for her is so heartwarming. He really cares for her, and because of that he's forced to decisions that cost them both.
The writing was fantastic. Fast paced with pauses of relative calm in between action. Those pauses served to connect, understand, learn more about the characters, the magic system, the lore/religion/culture side of things, etc. all of which is so interesting and compelling that you just want to know more and more. I loved how action packed it was but especially the pace. I think the pace was just perfect for this type of story.
The descriptions of the land, the dialogue, the interactions between characters. The atmosphere was amazing. I loved when a particular scene, you don't need much to feel you're there. You dread during so many apparently inconsequential scenes.
The magic system and lore were awesome. Tayen's ability to manipulate shadows is very interesting but not as much as Kaylo's ability to use the Shadow himself, as he's more experienced. I found fascinating how Kaylo described the Song, and how he felt the plants and seeds in the soil and the life in them. I loved how the Seven Spirits were described, with their own peculiarities and providing abilities and at times, they seemed very human-like.
The different cultures were really interesting and very rich and especially well developed during the whole story.
I really liked how the Empire, even though I thought of it many times as bunch of religious fanatics, truly believed they were doing the right thing through horrible actions. It's always a great to feel that the antagonist is not evil just because.
The characters beliefs were put to the test more than once because morality, religion and necessity didn't always coincide.
After they're found out, they find no save heaven. The Empire has destroyed their way of living, their families, their friends, their homes until there's no other option but running.
"No heart for a thief, no save heaven, only a grave will do."
I absolutely loved this book. And I really wish it was longer because I really wanted to continue this amazing story. I really appreciated the author taking the time to write a very thoughtful and detailed Author's Note.
CONCLUSION: No Heart for a Thief is a very strong debut from the author, an absolutely amazing action packed story with fascinating and very complex characters. This wonderful dual timeline story, is one of loss, sacrifice, survival and magic that just makes you question these Spirits and Gods, more with each passing chapter. The pace is absolutely terrific and it will just leave you wanting for more until and beyond the very end. Cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
SPFBO 8 Finalist Review: Fire of the Forebears (Heritor's Helm #1) by L.A. Buck
AUTHOR INFO: A goat farmer, engineering graduate, first-degree black belt, and medical student, the one thing Lauren Buck always knew she wanted to be was an author. The first stories she ever wrote, as a grade schooler, were about super heroes. But, raised on a steady diet of Lewis, Tolkien, and Sanderson, it was only a matter of time before she set her sights on epic fantasy. L.A. Buck passed in 2022.
Publisher: Redhearth (February 22, 2022) Page Count: 534
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Anthony Reynolds was a Games Developer and manager at Games Workshop in the UK. Since then he's written freelance for a number of companies, including Black Library Publishing, Mantic Games, THQ, Bandai-Namco, Behaviour Interactive, and River Horse Games. He currently lives in California.
Official Author Website
Preorder The Great Hearts IV: Apotheosis over HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts II: A Game Of Gods
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts III: Shadowstrike
Preorder The Great Hearts IV: Apotheosis over HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts II: A Game Of Gods
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of The Great Hearts III: Shadowstrike
Read Fantasy Book Critic’s review of Draconis (Draconis Descendent saga #1)
Buy The Obsidian Tower HERE
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Melissa Caruso writes books of murder, magic, and mayhem. Her published fantasy novels include the Swords & Fire trilogy (THE TETHERED MAGE, THE DEFIANT HEIR, THE UNBOUND EMPIRE) and the Rooks & Ruin trilogy (THE OBSIDIAN TOWER, THE QUICKSILVER COURT, THE IVORY TOMB), all from Orbit Books. Her debut novel was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2017, and her books have received starred reviews and made countless Best Of lists. Melissa is a tea drinker, larper, and mom, and lives in Massachusetts with her video game designer husband, two superlative daughters, and assorted pets.
Order Godkiller here
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Hannah has her heart in Scotland and her roots in the north of England.
Hannah’s trade has always been story telling. From creating and unravelling mysteries in Northumberland with her mates, to annoying the hell out of her supervisors at the University of Cambridge by insisting on comparing Terry Pratchett to Charles Dickens, and studying narrative theory in video games.
They grudgingly (or joyfully?) gave her a 1st Class degree in English.
She puts the desire to communicate and challenge into her work in the technology sector, specialising in creating digital tools for hard to reach communities.
Hannah loves the histories and mythologies shared through our cultural histories, the stories we tell ourselves about being human. She also likes stabby swords and angry women.
Hannah’s trade has always been story telling. From creating and unravelling mysteries in Northumberland with her mates, to annoying the hell out of her supervisors at the University of Cambridge by insisting on comparing Terry Pratchett to Charles Dickens, and studying narrative theory in video games.
They grudgingly (or joyfully?) gave her a 1st Class degree in English.
She puts the desire to communicate and challenge into her work in the technology sector, specialising in creating digital tools for hard to reach communities.
Hannah loves the histories and mythologies shared through our cultural histories, the stories we tell ourselves about being human. She also likes stabby swords and angry women.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Reviewed by Shazzie)
The
full schedule for TBRCON2023 was announced yesterday and it’s going to be a
one amazing week. The entire convention will be streaming LIVE from Sunday Jan.
22 all the way through to the following Sunday Jan. 29 on the FanFiAddict
YouTube channel.
Buy Essex Dogs here
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Dan Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of Powers and Thrones, Crusaders, The Templars, The Plantagenets, Wars of the Roses, and Magna Carta. He wrote and presented the popular Netflix series Secrets of Great British Castles, and has an exclusive deal with Sony Pictures Television to produce and develop historical TV series, including adaptations of his books.
AUTHOR INFO: Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies.
Book links: Amazon, Goodreads
So here is a fun fact (fun for me, anyway; I’m not sure it’s fun for anyone else, including past versions of me, most of whom would really like this iteration of me to take a nap): when you combine deadlines, working from home, and a global pandemic that shuts down the majority of my normal social channels, time loses all meaning. As a consequence, I no longer remember what came out when or, more importantly, what I read when. It’s a mystery! But these are recent reads that rang my chimes, if nothing else.
What do old women want? We know young men have quests and rites of passage and sidekicks and all. They have ballads and movies and sequels and prequels even as they slowly age. But women?
AUTHOR INFO: Stephanie Burgis grew up in America but now lives in Wales with her husband (fellow writer Patrick Samphire), their two young sons, and their extremely vocal tabby cat. In between those two points, she spent time playing in orchestras, studying music history in Vienna, and editing the website of an opera company in Leeds.
Photo credit S. Samphire
Book links: Amazon, Goodreads
2022 was a horrid year for me personally but reading wise, it was possibly one of the best ones in the last 5-7 years. I would this was the year of Debuts as there were so many spectacular ones that it was hard for me to narrow my top 10 list.
So here we go with my top 10 reads for 2022 and followed by the debuts below:
Official Author Website
Buy The Sapphire Altar HERE
Fantasy Book Critic Video Interview with Richard Nell & Dyrk Ashton (by Beth Tabler & Mihir Wanchoo)
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Today we have a special interview to share. Firstly we have the awesome Beth Tabler joining me for this interview. Beth is the amazing editor and owner of Before We Go blog as well as the chief editor of the equally amazing Grimdark Magazine.
Beth and I get to chat with Dyrk Ashton & Richard Nell about their unique debut trilogies. They also talk about the anxiety of writing their sequel series, the difficulties that self-publishing puts on writers in general as well as dealing with reader expectations. Plus a lot more fun. So please give it a watch and I hope you enjoy this discussion.
2022 Review/2023 Preview — H. M. Long
I love Top Ten lists! Not that there's anything wrong with Top Five or Top Twenty lists. It's just that I can highlight many books with ten places without feeling that I omit anything noteworthy.
Best of 2022
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