Tag: fantasy

The Wildest Hunt – Jo Zebedee

~ Eden Haslam ~ 1 Comment

A long-dead child.

An artist who paints the fae.

An ancient estate on a blood-filled land.

The commission was close to Amelia’s dream: a cosy cottage in Donegal over Christmas and the chance to paint the beautiful Glenveagh estate. But when the weather closes in and the country shuts down, a ritual begins – one that traps Amelia in its circles of magic.

Stranded in a place where iron is power, her heart can no longer be trusted and the land itself is a weapon, Amelia’s survival depends on unravelling the truth of a decades-old death.

Even if it draws the same ancient danger to herself.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review: Dangerous and magical, beautiful and spooky, this book and its creation of the liminal space between the real world and one of magic and fantasy is truly special. The setting is so well described, creating a real sense of atmosphere and making it easy to imagine while not feeling overly-descriptive. It manages to capture a real wintery sense without being cheesy and Christmassy which I loved at this time of year.

The short chapters were very effective, swapping the focus between different characters as the pieces of the story were gradually put together. This really helped build the suspense as the reader knew more than the characters and I was on edge wondering how things were going to play out. I found it interesting that, although secrets were central to this story, uncovering the truth was not the end-point. There was so much more in how past and present collided that uncovering the secrets only drew you further into the story rather than giving a sense of finality.

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The Last Empath of Doctsland – Leah Putz

~ Eden Haslam ~ 1 Comment

A kingdom in danger. A royal family divided by greed. A warrior combining strength with magic.

Lisalya Manyeo is the only known empath left in the small seafaring country of Doctsland, so when they are threatened by their much stronger neighbor, Prince Viktor recruits her help. On their way, he trains her to fight.

Working together despite their very obvious differences, they go behind enemy lines to stir up a rebellion against his step-brother’s tyrannical rule. After initial success in recruiting people to join them, they are captured. Lisalya is gravely injured during interrogation, but Viktor nurses her back to life.

A final battle will determine who will rule, but sacrifices have to be made to defeat the enemy.

Will Lisalya and Viktor be able to overcome the odds stacked against them to save their country from certain destruction?

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Review: This book was so entertaining and engaging, I really didn’t want to put it down. I’m hardly an expert in fantasy, but often I struggle with long books that spend a lot of time describing a new and exciting world as nothing much seems to happen. However, I was very happy that the world building of this book was done extremely well, and yet it still managed to move along at a fast pace that helped the story develop in a way that kept you hooked on every sentence.

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The Invitation – Katie Webster

~ Eden Haslam ~ 2 Comments

On the island kingdom of Meta Emery, a young queen, Abigail, wakes in the middle of the night to a terrifying realisation; hostile wizards from the rival kingdom of Archmond have finally done what they’ve been threatening to do: bring a girl, Lucy, into this world to destroy the queen and all she has worked for.

Hundreds of miles west, in Archmond itself, a great feast unfolds in the castle to celebrate Lucy’s arrival. Soleman, one of the wizards and a co-ruler of Archmond, has spread the news to his people that Lucy is the heroine an ancient prophecy predicted; he promises that the discord throughout their world will soon be over. But his fellow ruler Ronald remains dubious that this apparently meek and troubled girl could really overthrow Abigail, or whether she is ever likely to want to.

This highly imaginative and original novel is the first in an exciting new fantasy series, ‘Lucy’s Crypt’.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Review: The description for this book really intrigued me, however I found the blurb to be misleading. Whilst Lucy’s task of overthrowing Abigail is the catalyst for her adventure, it does not play much of a role in this part of story itself. Instead, the book focuses on building up the world that Lucy has found herself in.

Although I found the book quite slow at times, I really enjoyed the politics of the world Lucy ends up in. It is clear that there is more going on than Lucy has been told, and I am interested in how it will play out. Perhaps Abigail is not the ‘bad-guy’ that she has been painted out to be? Perhaps the leaders of Archmond have an ulterior motive?

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Sword in the Storm – David Gemmell

~ Eden Haslam ~ 1 Comment

Born in the storm that kills his father, Connavar grows up among the mountains of Caer Druagh, where the Rigante tribe dwell in harmony with the land and its gods.

But beyond the border, across the water, an evil force is gathering strength – an unstoppable force that will change the world beyond all recognition.

Haunted by malevolent spirits and hunted by evil men, Connavar sets out on a spectacular mission to defeat this new enemy… But he is a troubled soul, dogged by fate – will he be able to defend his tribe and save his people?

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Review: When I initially started reading this book, I was a bit unsure about it. Because Gemmell has set up a whole world filled with tradition and myth there is a lot of information thrown at you and a lot of characters whose names I kept forgetting!

That being said, once I got into the story any doubts I had melted away. The protagonist Connavar is a man of two halves – on the one side he is a perfect hero, selfless, charming, a fearless and skilled warrior with the capabilities to save his people, but, on the other side he is deeply flawed with a quick temper and thirst for revenge. He feels the pressure of his heroic reputation and desperately does not want to disappoint.  I liked the fact that he was not perfect. He faces consequences for his ‘wrong’ actions and is driven by his emotions which is highly relatable.

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