Showing posts with label seth skorkowsky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seth skorkowsky. Show all posts
Order Ashes Of Onyx over HERE
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Dämoren
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Hounacier
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Ibenus
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of Redemptor Read Fantasy Book Critic interview with Seth Skorkowsky
Read Building The Perfect Revolver by Seth Skorkowsky (guest post)
AUTHOR INFORMATION: Raised in the swamps and pine forests of East Texas, Seth Skorkowsky gravitated to the darker sides of fantasy, preferring horror and pulp heroes over knights in shining armor. When not writing, Seth enjoys cheesy movies, tabletop role-playing games, and traveling the world with his wife.
FORMAT/INFO: Ashes of Onyx is 467 pages long divided over thirty-three numbered chapters and is a standalone book. The book is currently available in all formats. It was published in 2019 by City Owl Press
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: As a huge fan of Skorkowsky’s Valducan series, I was excited to check his newest book. Ashes of Onyx begins as Urban Fantasy but it contains elements of High, Portal, and Epic Fantasy, mixed with more than a bit of Horror.
Kate Rossdale is a sorceress, and she comes with a lot of baggage. She blames herself for the accident that killed her friends and made her lose her magic. When we meet her, she’s a junkie. She justifies her behavior in a way that makes sense (the need to feel magic again), but in reality, her addiction allows her to cope with grief, self-contempt, and guilt.
Things change when she meets Richard Harcourt, who reveals she hasn’t caused the tragedy that destroyed her life. In reality, the sorceress Kate considered a friend cursed her and stole her power. Before Kate gets her magic back, she must get clean. Not an easy task.
Ashes of Onyx shifts between subgenres and settings. Kate's team looks for answers across the globe and across worlds. Unraveling Skorkowsky’s world of monsters, magic, and all the strange in-between gives a lot of fun. Some of it is what you’d expect, some of it not. The mix of familiar and foreign kept me interested throughout. I mean, he makes it feel like this stuff could be real.
The alternate worlds and their inhabitants are imaginative and richly described. While it'll appeal to some readers, others (me included) will feel the novel spends too much time exploring places. I prefer focused narratives and can't help but mention that in places not much was happening.
Kate is a strong lead character. Fiercely loyal, brave, but also broken and lost. All things combined, she makes for a complex, charismatic and memorable protagonist. If the book gets a sequel, I will read it for Kate alone. Secondary characters feel distinct but I wouldn't describe them as particularly memorable.
CONCLUSION: Ashes of Onyx incorporates aspects of many genres ranging from urban fantasy to horror. Skorkowsky takes recognizable story beats and shapes them into a compelling whole. Fans of character-driven stories who prefer heroes with a grain of moral ambiguity should add this novel to their "should read" list.
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2019 Favorites
My reading list is desperately behind
the times and a bit all over the place as far as genres (I’m currently on an
Agatha Christie kick). Looking it over, it appears crime and science fiction
were the big areas that drew my interest the most this past year. But three in
particular got my 5-star stamp, while a few others really stuck with me.
1: “Caliban’s War” by James S.A.
Corey. I’m a huge fan of The Expanse television series, so while
patiently waiting on the next season, I decided to give the books a spin.
They’re all wonderful, but the second book in the series has impressed me the
most.
2: “A Short History of Nearly
Everything” by Bill Bryson. This is a non-fiction book covering science and
the history of scientific discovery. While that might sound a bit dry and boring,
the book is everything but. Bryson’s enthusiasm and humor made this book an
incredible pleasure to read. I hadn’t been this thoroughly entertained while
learning since watching Sesame Street as a kid.
3: “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman
and Terry Pratchett. This was one of those books that’s been on the “To Read”
list for a long time, but with the TV adaptation on its way, I finally got
around to it. Brilliant and highly entertaining book. It was an absolute
pleasure to read.
4: “Out of the Dark” by Greg
Hurwitz. This is probably the only book I read that was released in 2019. I’m a
big fan of Hurwitz’s Orphan X series. They’re over-the-top fun like a good 80’s
action TV show. I’d been a little disappointed in the third book, but Hurwitz
nailed Book Four and I’m looking forward to more adventures in this series.
5: “Dark Run” by Mike Brooks.
While this isn’t what I’d call a great book, I enjoyed the hell out of it. It
hits that same vein that Firefly did, and I quickly followed it up with the
other two books in the series. It was one of those novels that didn’t leave the
biggest impression on me while I was reading it, but afterward, I found myself
wanting to revisit it, so it got two reads in 2019.
Looking forward to in 2020
I’m crossing my fingers that 2020 is
when Scott Lynch’s “The Thorn of Emberlain” releases. It’s suffered
several delays, but rumors say that this is the years we get the next episode
in Jean and Locke’s misadventures.
Now, while it’s releasing in late 2018,
that’s still the future as of this particular moment in time, so I’m going to
list The Expanse Season 4 as something I’m looking forward to. Once I’ve
enjoyed that, I’ll be having a chaser of “Cibola Burn” by James
S.A. Corey, which is the book it’s based on.
On the Horizon for Seth Skorkowsky
My novel “Ashes of Onyx” will be
releasing in January 28 through City Owl Press and Blackstone Audio. It’s about
a former sorceress named Kate who lost her powers and is spiraling into serious
drug addiction. Then she gets an offer she can’t refuse: the return of her powers
in exchange for hunting the magic thief across the multiverse to Lost Carcosa.
About the Author
Raised in
the swamps and pine forests of East Texas, Seth Skorkowsky always gravitated to
the darker sides of fantasy, preferring horror and pulp heroes over knights in
shining armor.
His debut novel, “Dämoren”,
was published in 2014. He has now released four urban fantasy novels and two
sword-and-sorcery short story collections. Seth's next novel, “Ashes of Onyx”,
will release in 2020.
When not writing, Seth enjoys cheesy movies,
tabletop role-playing games, making YouTube videos, and traveling the world
with his wife.
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