The Bookwyrm's Review of Armadron by Corey Tate

Author: Corey Tate

Length: 268 Pages

Publisher: Illumify Media Global

Release Date: May 6, 2019

Series: The Otherworld Series: Book 1

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This review came about when I got a request from a fairly big name in the fantasy community asking me to check out this book by a writer he thought had some talent. With a recommendation like that, I couldn't say no. It turned out to be the right decision, since it turned out to be a creative mashup of genres that held a compelling narrative.

PLOT SUMMARY    

For weeks, Scott Farranger, a typical 15 year old kid, has been having weird seizures, which causes him to lock up and feel like he's being torn apart. At the same time, weird things are happening around him, like the earth moving to stop a player scoring during high school soccer tryouts, or water crashing into a bully as he was harassing Scott. Hiding the seizures from his mother and brother, it all comes to a head when his family and his best friend's family go on a cruise. 

When people with guns attack the cruise ship, Scott's friend Charlie tells him that he isn't who he thinks he is, and they have to escape. Going to the side of the ship, Scott sees a portal off the side of the ship and is pushed into it, just as the gunmen are about to kill him. What Scott discovers on the other side of the portal is nothing he could imagine. 

He awakens to find himself in in a cage, told he will be fighting to the death in gladiator fights for the enjoyment of Terminus, the evil ruler of the world he finds himself in. He meets a girl named Sam in another cage, and she tells him to be ready, and she'll help him. After a fight where everyone, including Scott, who it turns out has a variety of powers, uses their powers to try and kill each other, Scott and Sam are rescued by Artam, a leader of the resistance movement. 

Going to the resistance main camp, Scott learns that he is a Mediator, meaning he has powers on both Earth and Armadron. He's shown around, and learns just how dire the situation if for the Armadronians. Their food situation alone is horrific. It turns out that there is a portal that will soon being opening to Earth, and that Terminus is planning on invading with his specially powered troops to conquer it. Scott is set up to take a trial that will help him fulfill his power potential. Through a series of events, the group with Scott ends up split up while Scott goes on his trial. What the trial reveals to Scott enables him to face his biggest challenge on Armadron, facing off against Terminus and learning that there is an even bigger threat behind Terminus than could have been suspected. Scott and his friend's actions will have huge repercussions across multiple worlds, with failure meaning tyranny and destruction on par with what happened to Armadron, with Scott and company at the center of the firestorm.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING 

Characters and worldbuilding are treated as equally important in Armadron. The various characters get more character building than you'd expect in a book that skirts being YA. Scott especially gets attention. He goes through the heroes journey type story, with some twists in it. He has failures. Several, in fact, for all the success he has. He needs the help of his companions, without whom he wouldn't succeed. He can be impulsive and impatient. He's 15, and is written very much so. The secondary characters get attention too, giving them actual personalities, strengths and weaknesses. The villain's are a bit of the Evil Emperor type, not seeming to have deluded moral superiority, being more of the "Mwahahaha, I will conquer all" type, but there is a bit behind the scenes that puts it into context. 

Worldbuilding was obviously important to the author. Armadron is described in such detail, from the weather, terrain and history, that you get the feeling your right there in the scene. The fact that mental and physical abilities work on Armadron creates an interesting life for the characters. Terminus has basically wrecked the planet, giving it a very dystopian feel. Food is scarce, and this leads to some hard decisions the characters have to make to avoid starving.  The sun is hidden by hideous clouds, and the planet has forced some different physical evolutionary changes on the inhabitants. Very interesting choices that add to the alien feel of the world.

FINAL THOUGHTS  

I have to say that while the story may appear to be a YA novel, and does skirt that in ways, I would still consider this an adult fantasy/sci-fi novel,  one that takes an interesting approach with its young protagonists. These are young people that live in a harsh reality and have to make harsh, life or death decisions daily. They face death from an all powerful tyrant, and they still try and do the right things. The story is one that sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the end. 

The Bookwyrm's Review of Death's Mantle by Harmon Cooper

Author: Harmon Cooper

Length: 541 Pages/10 Hours, 25 Minutes

Publisher: Boycott Books/ Podium Publishing (Audio)

Release Date: September 25, 2019/ December 17, 2019

Narrator: Andrea Parsneau

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 Stars


When I read the premise for Deaths Mantle, I just knew I had to get a copy and review it at some point. When I saw Andrea Parsneau was narrating, I was definitely in need of a review copy. The author and Podium Publishing graciously provided me a review copy, and I have to say, I was blown away by the effort that went into the production. This combination of author and narrator works on so many levels, and creates a fantastic finished work.

PLOT SUMMARY  

Lucian North is a man waiting to die. Dying from heart condition that was supposed to kill him within a year, Lucian has beaten the odds for 2 1/2 years. Unfortunately, the condition makes him too weak to work, so Lucian spends his time hanging out in his small apartment in a sketchy area of Salem, Massachusetts, waiting for his inevitable death.  Sitting in his apartment one day playing a video game, a man in a black cloak comes into his apartment. Grabbing his gun, Lucian is about to shoot the man when something weird happens. A black mist pours into the apartment, and monstrous figures appear and try and attack the man. Lucian shoots them instead, and the man in the robes introduces himself. He's Death, or rather, a Death, as there are more than one, and their job is to kill parasites that feed on peoples life force, keeping them alive past their scheduled death. Seeing that Lucian is a fighter, and looking to lay down his mantle, Old Death, as Lucian calls him, offers Lucian the job as his replacement. Lucian accepts, and leaves his body behind, his soul taking on the mantle of death.

Going to Old Death's hidden home, Lucian gets the rundown on their duties as death. He comes up with some new ways to keep track of his powers, as killing parasites gives power that Deaths can use to create better weapons. He also learns that if he's captured by the parasites, they'll feed on him until he's so weak that he will be killed when Death's other enemies comes after sensing them. Upgrading his weapons and finding better ways to find parasites by using video game like displays he's familiar with, Lucian starts, for lack of a better word, leveling up. He also discovers his brother has become addicted to opioids, and he has a new kind of parasite that Lucian can't effect, since he's not powerful enough. He also sees his brothers death date is upcoming, and he will do anything to help his brother. 

While this is going on, Lucian discovers another powerful Death on a trip to Europe, who explains to him that there are various types of parasites, and that other types, like mental health parasites, create more power on their destruction. Realizing this is what he needs to get powerful enough to save his brother, its more leveling up. He also is confronted by angels, the enemies of death, since they are the forces of Life. When Old Death is captured by angels, Lucian hatches a plan to rescue him, even though this may mean storming the gates of heaven. He also discovers there are other forces at play that will have an effect on any plans he executes. The story rushes at full speed as Lucian faces off against an enemy he has no business facing off against, let alone succeeding against, ending in a spectacularly well thought out finish, tying off the story, but leaving plenty of story for future books.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Characters are a particular strength of this story. Lucian especially stands out, as he starts the story as a weak man on the brink of death, but really takes off as he takes on the mantle of Death. He really innovates the office, and you can see his growth through both successes and failures, of which there are several. You get the feeling there is even more to Lucian that we are just discovering. The secondary characters are solid, especially Old Death and Denira, an angel who is slowly making a sort of truce with Lucian. They get their own personalities, and get quite a bit of attention. The villain isn't in the book long, but he does get to show off his power, if not much of his motivations.

World building is also strong and creative. The Death's cant affect the world around them, but the parasites and other supernaturals are on the same plane of existence as they are, so they can affect each other. The various locations are creative, as is the way the powers used by the various entities. Its almost like a Green Lantern's power, limited only by a person's imagination. It does leave a lot of potential for future story elements.

NARRATION

The narration is very ably handled by Andrea Parsneau in what I consider the best work of her career. She has to handle accents as diverse as Boston and Japanese, which are nothing alike, as well as handling a wide variety of men's and women's voices, and she does a fantastic job of differentiating the various characters, bringing them all to a life of their own. Her narrative pacing is spot on, really moving the story along, never falling into a monotone. I can't wait to hear what she does with the next book in the series.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The meshing of what amounts to an unusual urban fantasy with GameLit mechanics was an intriguing idea. It does make sense in the context of the story, and leaves lots of potential story options. I can see fans of GameLit and Urban Fantasy really enjoying this story. I know I give it my whole hearted recommendation,

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Blighted City by Scott Kaelen

Author: Scott Kaelen

Length: 392 Pages/19 Hours, 29 Minutes (audio)

Publisher: Scott Kaelen

Release Date: January 15, 2018/August 23, 2019 (audio)

Narrator: Todd Menesses

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Rating: 4/5

This is one of those books I had recommended to me by friends, and had in my To Be Read pile for a while. It just got lost in the shuffle of a lot of books hitting me at the same time for review. When the audiobook came out, I was offered a copy to review and decided now was a good time to see if the recommends panned out. I'm happy to say they were. In a crowded marketplace of fetch quests and chosen one narratives, this one takes some of those tropes and turns them right on their head, leading to an exciting romp through to true danger.

PLOT SUMMARY  

Four hundred years ago, Mallak Ammenfar brought a curse down upon the city of Lachyla. The city was blighted, and the city gates closed as the population died off. To this day, the city and the area around it are considered cursed, and people don't go anywhere near the city, since people who go in don't come back out. Since the fall of Lachyla, all the kings of the land of Himaera have fallen, and it now has no ruler, just a bunch of independent towns and hamlets, with free blades the closest thing to the law, and they are just hired to clean out bandits and monsters, not to enforce law. 

The best of these free blade teams is led by blade master Jalis, along with journeyman blades Dagra and Orik. Bounties have been slow of late, but when a juicy contract to collect a family heirloom comes up, with a years pay for completion, the team has to seriously consider it, even though it leads to, you guessed it, the blighted city. Dagra, being superstitious,  doesn't want to go, but allows himself to be talked into it. 

Leaving on the journey, they make good progress intitially. They start encountering challenges as they get further into uninhabited land, having several run ins with monsters. Getting past these, they make their way to the city, climbing over the wall and going to the family crypt where the gem they came for is stored. While  walking through the tunnels of the crypt, they notice weird fungus and spider webs all over the place. Dagra accidentally breaks one of the fungus and gets it on his face, but nothing happens, so they move on. Finding the stone, but being freaked out by the creepyness of the tomb, they make their way to the surface, where they get a rather unpleasant surprise. It seems that even though the blight killed the citizens of the city, that hasn't stopped them from walking around. What follows is a pitched battle, as the three sell swords have to fight against overwhelming odds to try and escape the city with their prize.

Effecting their escape, the group heads back to collect the bounty. However, they are slowed a bit as Dagra was somewhat injured in their escape and they need to attend to him. Dagra seems lethargic, but they put that to his injury. Waking up the next morning, they discover Dagra is gone. They also discover a strange girl watching their camp. Capturing her, they discover Dagra has returned to the city with the stone. They also discover there is a village of the cities descendants that escaped before the blight struck the city down, who will do anything to hide the fact of their existence. Following him back to the city, Jalis and Orik sneak back into the city, and meet an inhabitant who is not feral. It turns out there are two types of inhabitants, and those closer to the city are still thinking. 

This is where the story takes some major twists and turns, as we learn the true history f the blight and the city. We learn what really happened to the inhabitatnts, and that the story that got out isn't necessarily the whole truth. The city was hit by the blight, but the effects weren't quite as permanent as advertised. What this means for the city if this gets out is unknown, since there are larger forces at play elsewhere, and if anyone found out about the city being inhabited, it could lead to a rush to conquer. This is the issue the adventurers face, as well as keeping themselves from getting killed by xenophobic villagers trying to hide there existence. Will the free blades be able to deal with this while being able to complete their bounty? You'll have to read to see what happens.

WORLDBUILDING AND CHARACTERS  

A lot of indie and small press books you read now days have worldbuilding as deep as a kiddie pool. The backstory might be mentioned, but a lot of time it's forgotten by the next page. Not so with Blighted City, since the backstory is front and center in the narrative. Its well thought out and introduced very organically. You really get the feel you are right there in the story, running for your life with the blighted right on your heels. 

The characters are so well written. The three main characters, Jalis, Dagra and Orik get so much attention. Their lives are slowly spun out before us, and you really get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, which they all have. Their relationships, asperations and motivations play out right on the page, giving them the feel of real people. The secondary characters are a mixed bag, but in a good way, having a lot of variety in there various personalities. The book has unconventional antagonists, but I cant go into more detail without spoiling things. They get a lot of attention too as well, so they have as realistic motivations as the protagonists. 

Narration  

The narration is excellently handled by Todd Menesses. He has an excellent narrative voice with outstanding pacing, so you never feel he falls into a monotonous rut. He does an excellent job bringing the various characters to their own unique life, using a variety of tones and accents to differentiate them. His voice just draws you right into the story, and he is one of my favorite narrators working today,

FINAL THOUGHTS   

I do go through a lot of books, and am always on the look for new series. This is definitely a good way to keep my attention for future installments. Is it perfect? No, because while it does have a good premise and good execution, it does have some scenes and plot lines that could use some pairing down, in my opinin. While not a deal breaker by any stretch, the hidden village plot line seemed a bit more than the story needed. That being said, it shouldn't scare anyone away from trying this book out, and who knows, you might think that's a strength. I definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans looking for an engaging mix of strong worldbuilding, excellent characters and solid plotting. I am looking forward to see where the story goes from here.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Way of the Immortals: Path of the Divine by Harmon Cooper

Author: Harmon Cooper

Length: 563 Pages/ 9 Hours 11 Minutes (audio)

Release Date: August 20, 2019/ September 26, 2019

Publisher: Boycott Books, LLC

Narrator: Neil Hellegers

Genre: Portal Fantasy/Wuxia Cultivation

Rating: 4.5/5

I have quite a few of Harmon Cooper's books I've collected over the years, so I had an idea what to expect going into this one. I wasn't disappointed, either, even though this one is a bit of a change from his usual more light hearted fare. It is a well constructed story that really draws the reader in.

PLOT SUMMARY

Nick Barnette, an average guy in his mid-twenties, has gotten together with some his fiends to throw a friend his bachelor party. All good to go, until a purple portal opens up, and purple tendrils drag them all into the portal. Nick ends up landing on a breakwater with a couple of the others, while one of the friends is dropped out in the water. This wouldn't be a problem except for the sea dragon that surfaces. While one friend dove in to help their friend, Nick and another friend proceed down the beach looking for help. What they find are armored soldiers who try and arrest them. Nick manages to escape into the woods, and proceeds to get away. 

Meeting a group on the road in distress, Nick discovers they have a daughter possessed by a spirit. Nick somehow dispels the spirit, and the family rewards him in a most unusual way. Unfortunately for Nick, the result of that reward ends up with his enslaved by the group, and sold off to the local ruler, Madame Mabel. He is tested for abilities, and has the ability to slow time, but can't control it, and is defeated in the testing, meaning he will be a field hand, not a guard slave. 

Weeks later, as Nick is attempting his escape, the plantation is attacked by rebels, and Nick manages to escape. He ends up at a monastery, where the head monk, the Enlightened One, agrees to help Nick develop his abilities through Karma cultivation. The method of teaching is not what Nick expects, and he starts to lose it. Three weeks in, one of the monks comes to him telling him the monastery was attacked by treasure hunters looking for magical relics, and killed all the monks and the Enlightened One. 

Deciding to help the monk, who's name is Alton, they decide its imperative to track down the treasure hunters and keep them from getting the relic they were really seeking, a magical flaming sword. This is where the story really takes off, as Nick and Alton track them down, leading to a series of events which will see Nick have tremendous successes and failures, as he and Alton retrieve the relic sword, and start carving a path through history. Along the way, they meet new enemies, as well as stop an evil world changing plan cooked up by one of the people brought through the portal, using Earth history for inspiration to effect the plan. Nick will discover he has a destiny to fulfill, if only he will seize it and develop all his abilities to their fullest. The fact that there are forces arrayed against him doing this won't stop Nick, who may be on the path of the divine, from trying to reach that potential.

WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTERS  

There is a definite sense of what the author was trying to create with the world. It definitely has a wuxia world feel to it, with all the over the top martial arts action and magic that entails. The cultivation elements are smartly plotted, with consistent elements and skills increasing. There are various paths of magic and skills, with very definite rules and limits. It is definitely a world readers won't be completely unfamiliar with.

Characters are definitely given attention in development. Nick is an especially interesting character. While he starts off as the usual fish out of water in a new world, he has a really creative power increase path, with his instincts from our world conflicting with the path that destiny has for him. The secondary characters are definitely a strength, being given well rounded personalities, and act in some surprising ways. The villains are more than just mustache twirling stereotypes, with various motivations guiding their actions, and some surprising twists with them make for great characters. All in all, definitely a strength in this book.

NARRATION  

The narration is handled by one of my favorite narrators, Neil Hellegers. He has such an awesome voice, really keeping the narrative flowing, while creating a host of voices to really differentiate the various characters, bringing them to vivid life.  He uses various tones and accents to give each character their own distinct personality in the narration, really setting them apart. Another ace performance on his part.

FINAL THOUGHTS  

If you go into this thinking this is your average, harem infused light hearted romp, prepare to have your expectations subverted. This is definitely a change of pace for Harmon, and not in a bad way. Focusing more one Nick's relationship with the world, as opposed to his relationships with various characters, gives this story a focus and drive I was quite happy to lose myself in, and can't wait to see where the story goes in the next book. This book is very much recommended.

The Bookwyrm's Review of The Barrow King by C.M. Carney

Author: C.M. Carney

Length: 533 Pages/ 13 hours, 30 minutes (Audio)

Release Date: February 28, 2018/ August 15, 2018

Publisher: Book Room Press

Narrator: Armen Taylor

Genre: LitRPG/Portal Fantasy

Series: The Realms (Book 1)

Rating: 4.75/5

As a lifelong reader and gamer, who has read some of the formative books in the genre that eventually became LitRPG and GameLit, I will be honest that I find the genre really hit or miss. I'd seen Barrow King for a while but hadn't gotten around to reading it. I was offered the chance to review it, so decided to give it a go. Great decision on my part. This was definitely on the hit side of the equation.

PLOT SUMMARY

Finn Caldwell is in hiding from a past that has lethal consequences if he's found. When his sister, an executive at the worlds biggest game company, sends him a clandestine message that her life is in danger, and instructions how to save her by going full immersion into the video game her company has developed, Finn decides to go through with it, both to save his sister and get further off the grid.

Entering the game, he discovers the conspiracy his sister warned him of is very real, when his sister's boss, now playing as the head god in the game that may just be real in more ways than could be imagined, tries to kill him. Finn, taking on the name Gryff, escapes through a portal, but is separated from his AI companion, which has all the details needed to play through the game and uncover the conspiracy. Gryff finds himself in a barrow dungeon, which is filled  monsters and enemies Gryff is only partially equipped to deal with. The main threat to Gryff in the barrow is the Barrow King himself, an ancient necromancer turned Lich, who gains power sucking the life energy out of beings in the barrow. 

As he proceeds through the dungeon, Gryff discovers he has attributes of a game character, such as being able to improve his abilities through stat building. He also slots a godhead stone into his attributes, which allows for phenomenal power if he can figure out how to build on it. Progressing though the barrow, Gryff meets others along the way, such as a pair of gnome adventurers trapped when their party was wiped out exploring the barrow, as well as a warrior monk, who helps Gryff proceed in a way that will maximize his growth potential. Fighting through hordes of monsters and even the Barrow King himself possessing bodies along the way, Gryff has to confront the Barrow King in person, as well dealing with the even greater threat the gods play in his life. 

WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTERS

The world building in the Barrow King is not the typical LitRPG game world seen in so many books and games. You are immersed in it, feeling as though you are right there moving through the corridors, discovering various locations that feel more real than they should for just a simulations. You get the idea that things are not what they seem at surface level, and that reality may be closer to the surface than you'd think. 

The characters are rock solid, with Finn/Gryff and his nemesis, the Barrow King, really standing out. They each get such attention regarding their back stories and motivations, and they are realistic and flawed, acting in ways a real person could see themselves doing. The secondary characters, from the gnomes to the various monsters throughout the Barrow are also given attention, raising them up above the level of the usual cardboard cutout NPCs. Gryff's mission is front and center, but the other characters motivations are also laid out, and the character's progress toward accomplishing their own goals along with Gryff's, making for a much more well rounded story. If there's any weakness to the book, its that the second story plotline involving Gryff's AI isn't really explored a lot yet, and it just felt like a loose end I'm sure will be rectified in book two. 

NARRATION

Narration is handled by the talented Armen Taylor. He was an excellent choice to record this book. He has a really pleasing narrative voice, and has outstanding pacing when he narrates. His use of tone and inflections, as well as accents, really helps individualize the various characters, and he has a real knack for finding just the right voice for each character. I can't wait to hear him narrate further books in the series.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I have to be honest, this is definitely in my top ten, maybe even top five, LitRPG books of all time. I don't want to compare it to other books in the genre, but I do think fans of the genre should find something to enjoy in this book, and have a positive reaction to it. I enthusiastically recommend this book to LitRPG and epic fantasy fans alike. 

The Bookwyrm's Review of Salvation's Dawn by Joe Jackson

Author: Joe Jackson

Length: 422 Pages

Publisher: Aethon Press

Release Date: TBD

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5

I decided to try this one out on a recommendation from a friend, who told me it was like nothing else out there. Figuring that was just hyperbole, since it seems like there's only variations on certain themes lately, I was pleasantly surprised to discover he was correct, since this story definitely has its own unique plot and themes.

PLOT SUMMARY

Karian Vanador, Shield of the Heavens, by the Grace of Zalkar, has just finished fighting with the forces of light against the Devil Queen Seril's demon forces in the Apocalypse. Being a demon hunter for the God of Justice Zalkar, she was eminently suited for fighting them. Being resurrected after being dead 200 years to fight in the Apocalypse still weighs heavily on her. As she prepares for a life outside the military, she feels a summoning from Zalkar's priest's that tell her life isn't getting any simpler.

Traveling to a nearby city, she meets with the local clergy, who tell her she has a new mission as a demon hunter. She is to meet up with the Silver Blades, a group of half-demon's who fought for their turncoat Demon Lord father for the side of Light, and evaluate their leader, while they go on a mission to investigate a warlord looking to start a race war.  Kari is not looking forward to the mission, but she is loyal to her god, and unknown to her, the mission will change her life in ways she'd never have been able to foresee.  

Meeting up with the Blades, she discovers they are a group of five brothers and one sister, who have a diverse skill set, and were responsible for taking down a Demon Lord during the Apocalypse. Traveling with the group is Erys, a half demon assassin/spy in a relationship with one of the brothers, Alegios. Led by Erik, who is a demon hunter in the service of  Zalkar, they proceed by ship to the island where the potential war is brewing. On the long trip, Kari gets to know the Blades, determining they are serious fighters with a range of useful combat and magical skills.  She also starts a relationship with Grakin, the group's healer, who realizes she is the famed demon hunter of legend resurrected, and not an imposter using the name. 

During the Journey, they make port in Kari's home city, which she had hoped to avoid due to childhood trauma that is just resurfacing in her jumbled memories. When Grakin is supportive and understanding of her reaction to the trauma resurfacing, she realizes they are truly mates for one another. As they continue the voyage, they stop at an isolated island, dropping supplies off to refugees from an attempted genocide. They also pick up a pair of human twin orphans, who need to leave the island if they are ever to find life mates. Both of them want to become paladins, so the Blades start to give them instruction in both combat skills and religious magic. 

Reaching another port on the Isle of Tsalburn, where the potential war may start, the group splits up after gathering intelligence about the political and war situation. Erik and Kari split off from the rest of the group, chasing a rumor of a demon that may be behind starting the war. The rest of the group proceed with Alegios as leader to gather the rest of the Island's cities together to set armies out to confront the invasion force. Both groups have various successes and meet up a city much closer to the enemy, and combine together to confront the enemies leaders in a sneak attack from the inside of their own castle, while the islanders face the army on the outside. They discover that there is a much bigger conspiracy going on than they thought, and it could have world wide consequences if not stopped. Kari also has something happen that will change her life forever as well.

WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTERS

When I mentioned that this was a unique story, I wasn't just being hyperbolic. The world building is such that this really stands apart. One way it stands apart is the fact that while there are humans, they are a small part of the population. This is not a world populated with just elves and dwarves either. There are huge amounts of what amounts to animalistic humanoids, as well as part-demons. Kari is a perfect example of this, being Dracon-rir, which means she has a draconic type face, even though she is a mammal, wings which allow her to glide, and being stronger than a human of her size. The Silver Blade siblings are similar in not being human and having wings, all being humanoid. There are also lizard like humanoids, as well as the varieties of unique monsters. The world building is also unusual in that the author takes into account actual physics when he writes out the fight scenes. That means a 5 foot 3, 110 lb woman will not be slinging a 6 foot 3, 230 pound man around like she's Hulk Hogan. Speed,  agility and training become key components in fights, as they would in real life. The fight and battle scenes thus have an added element of realism just not seen much recently in fantasy. 

The characters are written as realistically as possible, especially considering they aren't human for the most part. The main group, especially Kari, are fully developed, with strengths, flaws and even horrific trauma they have to deal with. They build some real comradery throughout, and the peeks into their pasts really expand on their characters. Even the villains and secondary characters get attention paid to them, really fleshing them out. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the appearance of some of the characters, such as the Silver Blades, since their descriptions are a bit vague. This is a small complaint, though, and didn't really dampen my enjoyment of the story.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I mentioned before, this story is a unique take on the epic fantasy journey. It doesn't use the usual chosen one tropes, but takes a fresh look at how to make a successful narrative. It creates rounded characters you can get invested in, and you find yourself unable to put the book down. I really can't recommend it enough, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

 

The Bookwyrms Review of Brightblade by Michael Suttkus and C.T. Phipps

Author: Michael Suttkus & C.T. Phipps

Length: TBA

Release Date: TBA

Publisher: Crossroad Press

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: The Morgan Detective Agency, Book 1

Rating:4.5/5

I have been a huge fan of the various books C.T. Phipps and Michael Suttkus have co-written. When I heard that Michael would be taking lead on a new series set in the United States of Monsters universe, I was ecstatic, and happily took an offered review copy. I can happily say that not only does it fit into the universe, but charts in own course, adding new layers to what they have been creating in other books in the universe.

PLOT SUMMARY

Ashley Morgan is a bounty hunter working with her partners at a bail bonds in New Detroit, which is where the vampires made their base of power after they came out into the open when they bailed out the government in the economic crash of 2008. With the vampires and other supernaturals gaining legal status, the Red Room, who policed the hidden supernatural world, find themselves out of a job. This leaves people like Morgan's family suddenly without support and at loose ends. In Morgan's case, she took her status as a Bright, which means she has mental abilities, and tried to become a costumed superhero. Having telekinesis and being an empath apparently weren't enough to get the job done, so she quit that.

Morgan's firm specializes by bailing out supernaturals. Unfortunately, when they skip bail, it means vanilla humans cant go get them. Its up to Morgan and her team to bring them back and collect. After the capture of a bail jumper goes sideways, the vampire sheriff shows up to take him into custody, in exchange for information about where Ashley's missing brother is. Planning on following up, Ashley has to take an artifact they were paid for a job to the supernatural's bank for deposit. Unfortunately, that's the exact moment three supernatural's decide to rob the bank for another artifact. This leads to a battle between Ashley and the three robbers, who manage to get away, with Ashley being injured.

Ashley wakes up in a strange room, feeling unusual. It turns out that she's at her brother's apartment over the club he owns. She also discovers that she almost died, and had to be saved with vampire blood from her brother, who is now a vampire, thus making her a dhampir. This is awful news to Ashley, who was raised to hate vampires. Ashley finds out the reason for the bank robbery, which was to get an artifact that can raise a dead vampire lord, who can use the wand to turn vampires human again, something the vampires will do anything to avoid. This leads Ashley and her brothers group into conflict with a powerful vampire family bent of gaining power, who will stop at nothing to gain it. It doesn't help that one of the main conspirators is one of Ashley's ex's, who apparently was even worse than she seemed.  Ashley and crew must stop them before they bring about the end of the vampire nation, all while keeping Ashley from turning full vamp herself. Ashley needs all her abilities, both old and new, to survive until the end, with a lot of twists and turns along the way.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Like anything having to do with Michael Suttkus and C.T. Phipps, characters are what drive the story. Ashley is such a well written character, strong, determined and vulnerable by turns. She has deep prejudices ingrained in her by growing up in the Red Room environment, but struggles to be honest and fair. Her hatred of vampires is so at odds with what her brother has become, and it's that conflict that helps driver her actions. Her bonding a mystical weapon also creates some funny moments, as she now has a rather loud "conscience" pushing her to do the right things.  The other characters are also so much fun. From Arthur, Ashley's vampire brother, to Alex, her wizard ex, the secondary characters get so much care and development. they get fully fleshed out. The villain of the story actually has very little face time in the book, so doesn't get as much first hand attention, but is discussed at length throughout the book. 

The world building is definitely sold. It expands upon the world created in Straight Outta Fangton, Esoterrorism and I Was a Teenage Weredeer. The fall of the Red Room is explained more in this one than the others, with some more of the ancillary work done there explained. New Detroit is expanded on past where its been shown before, really giving a look into the various territories the city is split into. It is definitely an expanded world ripe for future stories.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Any time you spin off a series with new characters, it has a chance of failing. Luckily, they took what worked with the other books in this universe, namely excellent characters, snappy dialogue and a fast paced plot and created a great addition to the universe.  If you like any other books by these authors, you'll like this one. I think it has a lot of appeal for any fans of urban fantasy, and has lots of potential places to go.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Zombie Lake by Javan Bonds

Author: Javan Bonds

Length: 392 Pages/ 6 hours, 56 minutes

Publisher: If Only I Had A Monkey Publishing

Release Date: December 27, 2016/ May 18, 2018 (audio)

Narrator: S.W. Salzman

Series: Still Alive, Book 1

Rating: 4.5/5

While I have read a bit of zombie fiction over the years, mostly stuff like Peter Clines Ex-Heroes series, I have gained more of an appetite for the genre lately. Zombie Lake, book one of the Still Alive series,  is the latest in the genre I've listened to. It is a bit more comedic than a lot of the more serious series, but it does have its own fairly unique take on the genre.

PLOT SUMMARY

Mo Collins, twenty-something guy from southern Alabama, is working as a crew member of the Viva Ancora, A working replica of an old caravel sailing ship. While anchored in Mo's hometown, a plague that turns people into naked, blue skinned, nocturnal PV's (short for plague victims, and not zombies, thank you very much) who run around biting and infecting people with 100% turn rate overruns the state. While almost all the crew went into town when the Cora docked, Mo and the ship's cook Crow stayed behind. Now, days later, they still haven't left the boat, living off the ships stores and fish they catch. Realizing they will need some supplies, Mo goes into town to try and find some essentials like medicine. Not surprisingly, the Walgreens has been looted thoroughly. Its while he's in town that Mo meets Smokes, who it turns out knows everything about zombie lore, and immediately he falls in with Mo. 

While they try and get some weapons at the local pawn shop, they discover their next survivor, Petunia Sledge, nicknamed Hammer, an army vet that owned the shop. On the way back to the boat, they discover Gene, comic shop owner and geek of the year, as he kills a PV with his prop Wolverine claws. The last survivor they discover is Bradley, a schoolmate of Mo's and a football star who is now a paraplegic in a wheelchair who has a service monkey as his companion.

Returning to the boat, they start making larger plans to raid things like the local Wal-Mart for more supplies. Shockingly, they meet up with more people they know there, including a girl Mo was good friends with. This leads up to Mo connecting with his family again, who have survived and gathered survivors in the rural area they live. It seems as though everything is set up for the long haul until a "military" unit shows up, demanding people turn their guns in and work for them. Shockingly, this isn't welcomed by the locals, and bad things start to happen. When Mo's family's place is burned out, they decide to take the problem head on, and a confrontation takes place with the military unit, with some unexpected results and consequences, leaving the future of the town in doubt.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

It's not often you can say a book about the zombie apocalypse is character driven, but with this cast of characters, it couldn't be anything but. The characters are so well created, they could be people you know in real life, with strengths and flaws and crazy personalities. Mo is a great character, but Smokes is the comedy glue that really elevates the story, being the seer in the story. his personality and encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture and zombie lore means he can read where the story is going as if it was a story. Its a very meta kind of characterization, one I'd never seen before, and really makes the story stand out. 

The world building is solid as well. You get a real feel for how small town rural Alabama works, and how this zombie outbreak overruns the area. There is surprisingly little zombie confrontations, since the PV's are mostly nocturnal. The PV's are surprisingly different than your run of the mill Walking Dead shambler, in funny and surprising ways.  It's all these little touches that make this book stand out.

NARRATION

I had heard S.W. Salzman narrating on other books, so I had an idea what to expect. I have to admit to surprise on just how good he was on this! I knew he was talented, but his voice work on these very different characters is just outstanding. Male, female, urban, rural, redneck, foreign, it didn't matter, he nailed the voices and brought all the characters to life. His narrative pacing was so spot on that I didn't want to stop listening, it just drew me in. I have to rate this as one of the top five narrations of the last year for me. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

While zombie fiction is a relatively new genre for me, Zombie Lake gives me hope that it will become a regular part of my reading rotation. I'm happy to recommend this series, and not just to horror fans. I think it can appeal to fans of multiple genres, including urban fantasy, mysteries, and action thrillers. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you check it out.

The Bookwyrm's Review of Things They Buried by Amanda K. King & Michael R. Swanson

Authors: Amanda K. King and Michael R. Swanson

Length: 506 Pages

Release Date: February 19, 2019

Publisher: Ismae Publishing

I was offered a chance to review this book on an open offer for reviews. I hadn't heard of it, but decided the premise looked intriguing, so agreed to review it. I am happy to say it was one of the best decisions of the year. I would have to class this as one of my top ten reads of the last year, and that's a year that included Kings of the Wild, Ravencry,  Priest of Bones and Wraith Lord. It's mix of sci-fi, low fantasy and steampunk are seamlessly blended into a story I didn't want to end. 

PLOT SUMMARY

 In the island city of Dockhaven, greatest trading city on Ismae, a world where genetic engineering is common but something as common as photography is rare and expensive,  children are disappearing, in the same pattern as they did years earlier. This is concerning to Aliara and Sylandair, who recognize the pattern, although it should be impossible, since the source of the original disappearances is supposedly dead. Aliara, thief and assassin, and Sylandair, Duke in another Empire, have a history with that source. Once, they were slaves to brilliant scientist Kluuta Orono, a man who used them for experiments and other more malignant uses. They helped bring him to an end, or so they thought, with the explosion at the desalination plant he was using to cover his experiments.

Going through the ruins of the plant, Aliara and Sylandair, along with their cowardly sometime assistant Schmalch, find the ruins of Orono's secret pleasure rooms, where he entertained the debauched rich of Dockhaven. They don't discover Orono himself, but they run across evidence that he may have survived after all. Barely escaping the underground lair, they make their way back to the surface and begin planning their next moves. 

Sylandair decides the best way to find out what happened to Orono is to take his inheritance, which includes Orono's Mansion and grounds, which he had refused in the past. Bringing in a crew, led by an old associate of Aliara's named Haus, to clean out the squatters that had lived there, leads Sylandair, Aliara, Schmalch and Haus's crew into conflict with the hidden residents of the house: Orono's genetically modified monstrosities, who almost succeed in killing them all. 
Bringing in an outside doctor, his sister/assistant and their pet monster, to try and find out what Orono was up to after the attack, they discover Orono was trying to use an ancient formula to become immortal. Unfortunately for Orono, he misread what was necessary, and things went very wrong indeed. When Sylandair is mysteriously kidnapped, Aliara, Haus and Schmalch must confront the evil that has him as well as the children. Even if they can get that done, the potential for an even worse evil may have arisen, threatening the whole world.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Things They Buried is one of those books that combines creative world building with fantastically drawn out characters. Sylandair is the roguish nobleman with a tortured past, but is so much more than that. He has flaws and strengths, and is compelling to read. Aliara is such a strong character, yet vulnerable and flawed as well. She has so many skills, and is death on two legs, and yet her past haunts her to the present. Schmalch is the comic relief, but has surprising depths in a character that could so easily be a parody. The rest of the characters are excellently written as well, even the minor characters. You really get a feeling this is a real place just from interacting with the characters.

The world building is very intricate. You get a sense of Dockhaven as if your walking down the streets yourself. It has such creative elements, with the sci-fi and steampunk elements intermixed with the lowest of fantasy elements in such a way they just fit, even when they shouldn't. It is definitely up there with some of the great fantasy settings.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It's not too often you run across a book that mashes genres together as seamlessly as Things They Buried. It never feels clunky, rushed or forced, and the characters and world building is so solid, you won't want to put the book down. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what comes next in the series, and highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5/5

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The Bookwyrm's Review of Black Heart Boy's Choir by Curtis M. Lawson

Author: Curtis M. Lawson

Length: 252 Pages

Release Date: September 8, 2019

Publisher: Wyrd Horror

Being  a fan of the author's other books, including his book Devoured and his Bad World series, it was a pleasant surprise to get an advanced review copy of his new release, Black Heart Boys' Choir. It is definitely a step back towards his horror roots after a swing into urban fantasy with Bad World and Weird West with The Devoured.

PLOT SUMMARY

Lucien Beaumont and his family have fallen on hard times. His father, a famous composer, committed suicide, and he and his mother have been forced to relocate to a much less affluent town in Massachusetts. This also means Lucien had to leave his prep school and start into public school. Being an intelligent, sophisticated music prodigy, Lucien dresses in suits, has manners, and has a superiority complex about who he is in comparison to the other kids. This of course leads him into conflict with the cool kids cliques, which are particularly nasty. He also runs afoul of the Glee Club kids, who he considers untalented pop music hacks. its under these conditions that the plot proceeds.

After some run ins with the school bully and the Glee club, Lucien and his only friend Maxwell decide to start their own musical group.  they enlist a couple outsiders like themselves who appreciate classical music, and start practicing. They are told on to the school administration, though, and banned from using school premises. This is where they pick up the name of their group, the Black Heart Boy's Choir, from their penchant for wearing all black suits and being aloof to the other students. 

It is also about this time that Lucien discovers his obsession, his father's last piece of unfinished work. It has been defaced, but he starts to reconstruct it. He also starts to have strange visions, as he sees into the past to events he sees in whole new light, seeing his father was inspired by more than a creative muse to create his masterpiece, the Madrigal of The World's End. the inspirations may or may not be an ancient demon named Amduscias, who manifests (or maybe not) in Lucien's mind as a black unicorn. As the group reconstructs the music though ever more terrifying and horrible means, the music comes together at last in a crescendo of blood, chaos and madness, as the Choir performs the finished piece to a very unknowing audience, with completely shocking results.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

The world building in this one takes a realistic approach, using an abandoned city n Massachusetts, reimagined as a suburb of Boston. Gritty, lower middle class, you can fairly see the variety of neighborhoods in the city, giving it a lived in atmosphere. The author goes into some loving detail with several of the locations, without going into info dump territory.

Characters are such a strength in this book. while you would think that high school kids would be cardboard cutouts of pop culture teens like those in Heathers, Mean Girls or Fast Times at Ridgemont High, these characters are surprisingly nuanced. The characters deal with realistic situations in realistic ways, while handling real world problems, like social hierarchy, bullying, decaying family structure, suicide, political correctness and class differences. Lucien is a great character, who has to deal with so many issues, and how he handles them is well written, if sad and terrifying at the same time. The various other characters get attention paid to their growth as well, and it really helps round out the story.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I was amazed how much this dark story spoke to me. I remember those feelings of loneliness and ostracism being an outsider at a new high school. Lucien is a complex, and ultimately horribly flawed character, but its hard not seeing a bit of myself in him, although with much different results. The end of this book is extremely relevant currently, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for a dark story with genuine, flawed characters on the path to ruin. One of the best reads of 2019 for me.

Rating: 5/5

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The Bookwyrm's Review of 8-Bit Bastards: Level One and Two by Joshua Mason

Author: Joshua Mason

Length: 267 Pages/ 9 hours, 47 Minutes

Release Date: June 6, 2019/ December 17, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: Bebuka Books/ Spectrum Audiobooks (Audio)

Narrator: Michael Norman Johnson

Genre: LitRPG

Rating: 5/5 Stars

For me, LitRPG is very hit or miss genre. Luckily, 8-Bit Bastards is definitely in the hit category. avoiding a lot of the pitfalls I see in a lot of LitRPG, like five pages of stats, harem tacked on that doesn't advance the story and flat characters. It starts with an intriguing premise and runs with it, developing layers as the story proceeds.

PLOT SUMMARY

The story starts with Sean, who is on day 82 of a game and junk food binge, when a knock on his door changes his trajectory in life. Heather, with whom Sean had a three year relationship with long ago, has news that draws Sean out of his self imposed funk. One of their descendants is in trouble, and only Sean and Heather can help. considering they have 700 years experience where they are, it should be no problem, right?

Wait, did I say 700 years? That's right, I did. The story takes place in the digital realm of Afterall, which up until 50 years before the story starts, those with the resources could have their consciousness uploaded to Afterall, leaving mortal life behind forever. Afterall has been closed to new players for 50 years, but the occasional person hacks in, but the results aren't pretty, since they are stuck by the control AI, Bartelby, in the 8-Bit realm, an homage to old 8-bit games. Think the original Zelda or Phantasy Star on Nintendo and Sega. The problem is it slowly drives players crazy, so having Pliny, their descendent stuck there won't work.

After talking to Bartleby, and being given some mental protection from the 8-bit realm, Sean and Heather proceed to put Sean's old adventuring guild, the 8-Bit Bastards, back together to go find Pliny. The problem is, Sean burned his bridges with both other members of the Bastards, Matt and Claudia, centuries ago, and they are still mad at him. Sleeping with a guy's wife and sister will leave a few sore feelings. Sean and Heather do manage to get them to put aside their differences, and they proceed to the 8-Bit realm. 

Once they cross the river into the realm, they discover things aren't exactly as they remember. For one thing, they go from maxed out, multi-class epic level characters all the way down to weaponless, classless level one Sprouts. This means they will have to grind and level up the hard way. Also, they discover Pliny is ahead of them, questing on his own, so they need to do all this while chasing after him. What follows if a fun adventure filled with adventures, mob grinding, player class adding and enough snark and game culture references to choke a shark. All the while, Sean, Claudia, Heather and Mark each notices little things that just seem odd to the realm, and slowly start seeing that all  may not be what it seems, leading to their eventual confrontation with the Boss of the region. Or is it? 

In Level 2, Sean, Mark, Heather and Claudia have defeated their first boss foe, and have to enter the castle looking for Sean and Heather's ancestor. After entering the castle, the group discovers they are trapped within. They also start seeing weird stuff, as the 8 bit realm seems to be acting even more strangely than usual. Searching around the castle library for clues, Mark disappears, and his friends become desperate searching for him. Things start getting a little crazy from here, as they meet and old Teammate, Roger, who is also stuck in the castle. He warns them of a new threat in the castle, and lets them know they aren't nearly leveled up to deal with it. He offers to take them with him to level up, since he is maxed out, and his high level enemies, will shoot their levelling up to extremes. 

Meanwhile, Mark has fallen through a trap door and is wandering tunnels under the castle, where he encounters Pliny, who they have been searching for from the beginning. Things get complicated when they encounter Tevera, the giant snake boss in the castle, who has a much darker and more powerful purpose than the group would imagine. When the group finally reassembles after a series of adventures in the castle, they find out that this encounter in the castle is not random, and that there is a threat to the entire world they never expected, with an unknown enemy pulling the strings.

WORLD BUILDING AND CHARACTERS

Since Afterall is a digital world, anything imaginable can be created there. There are of course tons of fantasy elements, but the inhabitants can mix and match elements in any of the realms that aren't the 8-Bit Realm, so you will see anachronisms like Star Wars Endor speeders or a Tron light cycle going into a fantasy realm where they run across wyverns. The 8-Bit realm based on those old games, so its lots of pixilated bright colors and sounds. The NPC's are also true to form, so there's a lot of pre-programmed responses, but there's also some underlying depth as well.

The characters really shine. Sean has an interesting arc, starting out as an apathetic burnout who is looking for some meaning to a life spent wasted, and really going through some character growth. The other Bastards also have some interesting arcs, although Sean's is the most profound, since he was the most fundamentally broken. The secondary characters get some attention, and you feel there is more to them than the basic responses programmed into them. The AI's are especially interesting, although not in a Skynet kind of way. it's funny watching their interactions with the Bastards. there is a lot of humor scattered throughout, with some hilarious running jokes. After you're through reading it, you will never think of cheese cubes or biscuits the same way. There's much more character to the characters than you would expect, and there are some twists and turns along the way.

NARRATION

The narration is ably handled Michael Norman Johnson. I was unfamiliar with him before this book, but I have to say, he is a great find. He has just the perfect voice for this book, having a humorous snarky quality to his voice. He does an excellent job giving individual life to each of the characters, and his narrative pacing is excellent. He really keeps the listener engaged in the narrative. I think the addition of a little music and various sound effects throughout was well done, adding a fun touch to a fun story. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

After I finished reading Volume One, I was immediately interested in getting into the follow-up, Level Two. After reading book two and listening to the omnibus collection, I discovered the plan is for a much longer arc than expected (Nine!) and am thrilled at the prospect to continue with the series. This is such an engaging story, with such engaging characters, that it immediately shot into my top three Lit RPG titles, alongside James Hunter's Viridian Gate: Cataclysm and J.A. Cipriano's Soulstone: Skeleton Key. I highly recommend it to any fans of the LitRPG or GameLit genre's, and it will even appeal to fans of more traditional fantasy. With two books released so far, you have 500+ pages of fun reading so far, as well as almost 10 hours of audio goodness!



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The Bookwyrm's Review of Witch For Hire by N.E. Conneely

Author: N.E. Conneely

Length: 258 Pages/7 Hours, 14 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: January 11, 2014/ February 11, 2015 (Audio)

Narrator: Jeff Hays

Genre: Urban Fantasy

I was completely blown away by this book. It was a great read! The setting is a twist on our world, where magical types like Witches, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons etc. have been in charge forever, while vanilla humans were kept as slaves until 300 years ago. The current President of the US is a dragon, and is dealing with the idea of reparations to humans, basically a twist on our society. 

The story takes place in Georgia, where the main character, Michelle, is a witch with no clan affiliation, who has a consulting business helping different police departments solve magical crimes. She lives in a boarding house run by Brownies, and is trying to live a normal, busy life. She is contacted by local police to help with a case of Trolls escaped off their preserve, a danger, since Trolls eat people. Making matters worse is a group of humans who are helping them to evade capture, thinking they can be rehabilitated. She deals with other cases as well, all while dealing with office politics, a suddenly confusing personal life, and some personal revelations about her parentage. Will she be able to find the Trolls, and stop whoever is behind it? Read it to find out, it is very much worth the time. 

As far as the narrator, Jeff Hayes just shot into my top ten narrators. I actually thought the main narrative, done in the first person of Michelle, was being voiced by a woman. Instead, it was Jeff Hays, who did multiple female  and male voices in several registers and accents, each voice distinct. Some of the best voice work I've heard in 1000+ audiobooks.


I would recommend this to fans of Simon R. Green's and Mike Resnick's brand of urban fantasy, as well as fans of Patricia Briggs.  I can't wait for the next installment. This is an author to watch!

Rating: 4.5/5

The Bookwyrm's Review of Fantastica: Taerek's Void by M.R. Mathis

Author: M.R. Mathias

Length: 523 pages/ 6 hours, 30 Minutes (Audio)

Release Date: July 9, 2017/ July 2, 2019 (Audio)

Publisher: Mathias Publishing

Narrator: Will Hahn

Genre: Fantasy/ Coming of Age

As one of the pioneers of the indie fantasy book phenomenon, M.R. Mathias has an incredible body of award winning fantasy. I discovered his writings when I came across his Vanx Malik series, which is a treat for fantasy fans. When I was given the chance to review Fantastica: Taerek's Void, I just had to say yes. After finishing, I'm glad I did, since it's a definite page turner.

PLOT SUMMARY

Braxton is a from a small farming village, looking forward to being able to leave and see the greater world. Not needed to run the family farm, he is going to travel and see the world. When Braxton and his friend Davvy are attacked by a monster on day on the water, they make a discovery that has world shaking consequences. Being attacked by a monster, they manage to defeat it, but find themselves trapped in an underground cave. They discover a bunch of skeletons of adventurers, and Braxton finds a strange book, maps and an amulet he keeps to himself, as well as a purse of ancient gold coins, which he splits with Davvy. After escaping the cave, Braxton and Davvy see the wise man of the village, who tells Braxton he need to travel to the capital, where he can see scholars who can help him decipher the maps and possibly the book. 

Leaving his old life behind, Braxton goes on towards the capital, having a few adventures along the way. Reaching the capital, he ends up seeing the scholars, one of which, a woman named Master Bee, helps him decipher where the maps need him to go, which turns out to be the island of the elves. As he heads that way, he is accosted by some highwaymen, and is saved at the last moment by a female mercenary named Nixy and Braxton's horse, who is just a badass. Joining up with Nixy, Braxton continues on the path towards the elves. However, finds himself being hunted by a bunch of mercenaries, who are after the bounty on Braxton, placed by a necromancer looking to get his hands on the amulet. 

Escaping the bounty hunters, Braxton and Nixy end up on a ship headed to the elven island, and meet a bunch of  dwarves on board. when they get to the island, they discover that the Dwarves are princes of the dwarves, sent to meet with the elves about disturbances on their land. what follows is a counsel between the humans, elves, dwarves and a great wizard, in which they determine an ancient evil is rising again to threaten the world, and the maps, book and amulet are all tied to it, as is an artifact left in the elves keeping that has since been lost.

Braxton is starting to find that the amulet is gifting him with magical abilities, and he has to work at Taerek's Void, the mental state that allows him to use these new found abilities. Joining with his new allies, Braxton embarks on a quest to find the lost artifact, and undertake a voyage that the fate of the world may hinge on. Can Braxton possibly defeat the forces arrayed against him? Only time will tell.

CHARACTERS AND WORLD BUILDING

Worldbuilding is a definite strength in this book. M.R. Mathias is known for writing rich, detailed descriptions of both settings and characters, and this is definitely shown here. You get a real feel of being right in the scene. from descriptions of things as small as the sound and look of a flowing river, to something as large as a dying dragon crashing through some trees, you can definitely feel yourself drawn right in to the scenes.

The characters are definitely fun. Braxton is the everyman who has world shaking events thrust upon him, and steps up to the plate to answer. He swings between confident and naively innocent to the ways of the world. He is an engaging character who you find yourself rooting for. Nixy is a strong character, doing what she feels is right, even at the cost of her own personal gain. While she can be a strong fighter, she is also compassionate for those who fall on hard times. The secondary characters are a mixed bag, but fit well in the story. The villains are in the background, with very little open acting against the characters, with the exceptions of assassins. Its a slow tension builder, and works well with the story. 

NARRATION

The narration is ably handled by Will Hahn. This was the first time I've heard his work, but it definitely wont be the last. A writer in his own right, Will understands the pacing of the story's narration, making sure to move the narrative portions along without monotone or other pacing issues. He has a good range of voices, both male and female, human and other. He uses a variety of tones and accents to differentiate the various characters, all to good effect. He really helps bring the story to life.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The first book in a series can always be a challenge. Will the characters resonate? Does the plot make sense? in the case of Taerek's Void, I can safely say the answer is yes to both. The story is gripping, and will appeal to a wide range of fantasy fans. I can definitely recommend it with no reservations.

Rating: 4.5/5

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