afictionalescapist's reviews
49 reviews

A King's Radiance by L.R. Schulz

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 

4.5 rounded up to 5 

**Thank you, Luke, for gifting me with an ARC of A King’s Radiance in return for an honest review** 

I did not consume this book, this book consumed me. To say this was a debut, self-published author is absolutely astounding. I am calling this now, underdog of the year! 

The reader is dropped into the world and it is all systems go. It’s gritty, it’s dark, and it’s dire. The stakes are high, the motivations are set, the magic is explained, all within the first 50 pages. 

We are following three siblings who are currently all on different paths, with different ideas of what it is they want. To be free, to find the other, or worrying about someday wearing the crown. Each character is driven by their own clear motivations, yet all connect to the one main plot line effortlessly. 

In amongst their various quests, we have one of the most terrifying magic systems I’ve come across. It’s so simple, yet so effective and the author shows us just what harnessing so much power can do to a person, a group, and a whole nation. There was one scene in particular that had me going oh **** and it was written so well, my heart was in my throat the entire time. 

Our side characters matter to the story, they each have a part to play and .. have we mentioned there is a dog like giant lizard/dragon who is probably my favourite animal companion to date? Can I have a Pricket please? 

The biggest stand out for me in A King’s Radiance is the author’s ability to show not tell. Sometimes a new fantasy will have a few info dumps just to get the information in the readers heads. Not this book. Everything was shown, in subtle, enjoyable ways that didn’t feel like it was just there to further the story. It had purpose and immersed me in this world. I didn’t feel like I had to whip out a notepad and jot down main points at all because I was there, with these characters witnessing how the world worked. 

The foreshadowing is superb and memorable, there are very clear OHHHH moments as you consume the story. 

The humour. It is so subtle and well placed. This is not a funny book, do not go in thinking that it is. But there are tiny little snippets of humour to dispel tension throughout, artfully giving the reader a breather before jumping back into gritty scene. 

Finally, the bigger conversations taking place in between the lines. Why does one person get to dictate what happens to a nation? On the other hand, is it ok to sacrifice one person for the sake of many? What makes that right? Who must make that choice and how do they come to those conclusions? Conversations about racism, disability and religion all take place (again subtly, but deeply) within these 500. Because of this, the book will make you think long after you have closed the last devastating page. 

Schultz is on my must watch list, and by golly. He should be on yours too! 

Jade War by Fonda Lee

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 

Jade War – Review – Book Two in the Green Bone Saga

Jade War really ups the ante from book one. Where we were focusing largely on one family and an opposing clan, we are now seeing this world expand and external players come to the forefront with their own motivations. Book two of the Green Bone Saga also expands the conversations, how much does loyalty matter? Are your actions honourable just because you believe them to be? Where are the lines drawn? We also see just how syndicate level crime infiltrates every aspect of a family’s life, and how deep those roots are. The reader is introduced to new generations, following the leaders into more mistakes, more devastation and setting up the next stage of the vicious cycle. 

This series is so tense, there were several times when listening to the audiobook I had to stop and just focus on the story, because I was so immersed in what was happening. I hardly ever agree with the choices our characters are making, but Lee does such a wonderful job of making the reader understand where those decisions come from. 

The characters have humanising moments, that are tender, and feel so real, that you empathise almost without realising that .. ultimately they aren’t the best of people. Although I am pretty sure I lost hair listening to this book, I cannot WAIT to dive into Jade Legacy and see how this all pans out. 

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 This was my first foray into the Space Opera genre in a REALLY Long time. I’m not going to lie. Space intimidates me. I read a few in my youth but my brain couldn’t quite handle all the technical jargon that came along with it. But I was pleasantly surprised by Ancillary Justice. 

We are following Breq over two timelines, one in the past, one in the present. In the past, they were known better as the Justice of Toren, an entire ship and multiple AI’s helping to service political and military like leaders as a member of staff and confidant. In the present, they are known as Breq and they are drawn to an old colleague (for reasons unbeknownst to them) found almost dead in the snow. The two characters of the present dance around each other, building trust, healing wounds and putting the pieces of the puzzle together from Breq’s past. 

The mission in itself is simple, to stop the Lord of the Radch from collapsing in on its various parts and destroying entire worlds. Simple .. right? 

This book definitely took me some time to get into and I was scratching my head for about 120 pages, but I was enjoying my time. I parked this one in the .. I like it but I have no idea what happened to me basket. That was until it all started to click. The foreshadowing is there, if you’re paying attention and when I had my OHHHHH moment the book became immensely enjoyable. 

Doors of Sleep by Tim Pratt

adventurous hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Doors of Sleep - Tim Pratt

Imagine waking up in a new world every day and having to immediately assess for threats, learn a new way of life only to fall asleep and start over and over again.

That is life for Zax. One day he was a harmonizer, bringing peace to his home world, when suddenly he wakes up in a new place. While Zax is a good lad, aiming to help as much as he can in each world he visits there are sinister beings at play.

In his travels he comes across Lector, a mad scientist seeking friendship; and Zaxony’s blood, to discover how others can also jump through worlds. 

What starts out as fresh discoveries and endless opportunity (even if it is a little

lonely) soon becomes a fast paced game of cat and mouse across the multiverse. 

This is a really fun play on the multiverse trope. The worlds we discover a vibrant, enriching and sometimes downright dangerous. I was so impressed at the vast amount of description we got for each world, even if we only spent half a paragraph there.

It was also oddly heartwarming, for a book obviously designed to be a little quirky and a little fun, there were some deeper discussions of trust, friendship and seizing the day which I felt were interwoven beautifully. 

I enjoyed this immensely and am very much looking forward to the sequel Prison Of Sleep out later in the year. 

Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It is hard to put into words how I felt about Illborn, the concept was cool, nothing new, particularly for fans of things like Wheel of Time. We have a group of young people who have come into some sort of power and they are being hunted by authority figures who are threatened by said power. 

We are following four main characters, each from different backgrounds and circumstances, and each with their own set of abilities that are somehow connected.

Once they hit adulthood, they start to have the same vision, causing them nightmares where they see four other figures and a gate of some sort.

 

This is a very character driven book; I think part of the reason I struggled is that the plot is secondary to the character development (as a plot and world building driven reader). We sit with our four main protagonists over a period of two years as they discover their abilities and go through their own arcs. Things happen within each individual story but nothing really feels like it has come together by the end of the book.

Illborn was a little bit tropey, we had a selection of chosen ones who don’t really know or understand why they are chosen, and we see them develop and come into their powers as well as be hunted over the duration of the book. Each character fits almost neatly into a trope or subcategory of fantasy so it feels safe. This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, particularly for those who are seeking a comforting fantasy feel (WOT, Mistborn etc).  

A couple of issues that I had with the book was an insane amount of repetition, be it things like the vision which is repeated and referenced oh so many times. The dialogue felt very formal and structured and the magic system felt easy. Not to read necessarily but for the characters. There was not a whole lot of consequence. We had a hint of a consequence once in one arc and a hint of a limitation in another but other than that it seemed to work first time every time. Once they figured out what it was, they could then just .. use it.

The last issue I had with this book was pace, while this reads very quickly while you are in the world, the repetition slowed it down and made me not want to pick it up and continue on each time I put the book down. 

All of that being said, I don’t think this was a bad book at all, I think it is very approachable but could use some tweaking. Going off my personal tastes I am sitting dead centre at about a 2.5 maybe a 3 on pure enjoyment. 

I am curious to see what happens in book two so I am invested enough to give the second one a go when it comes out. 

A Line Unsundered: A Godworlds Novella by R. M. Smith

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A Line Unsundered - Ricky Smith 

Within the Vasso bloodline, old family feuds and betrayals run deep. Nothing, is quite as it seems. 

A new houselord is named, old and feared magics come into play, and major negotiations between leading families are underway. 

Full of treachery, twists and deception, one woman’s plight will drive a disastrous wedge between the Vasso family. Will anyone be strong enough to make it out alive? 

I would have loved about 200 more pages to really dig deep into these characters (there were A LOT for 140 or so pages), their worlds and see the unraveling of their family dynamic in a wider sense. 

I’m very interested in this authors future works, to watch how their stories and skills as a budding new author develop over time. 

This was a fun, fast paced debut, giving the reader plenty to ponder after the pages are done. 

The Citrine Key by L.L. MacRae, L.L. McNeil

adventurous tense medium-paced

3.5

The Citrine Key - L.L. Macrae

This prequel novella to the Dragon Spirits series packs a punch! The reader is thrown into a high stakes situation as Apollo is gifted one last chance at freedom after being imprisoned and on the executioners row. The price? Facing off against an icy dragon spirit and convince it to consume an ancient and powerful artifact. 

The dragon is not pleased about the disturbance and quickly turns on Apollo and his crew. Will they make it out alive or will his chance at freedom all be for nought? 

The author has certainly sucked me in, in just 100 or so pages. I wanted to know the backstories of the characters, I wanted to know more about the lore and I REALLY want to know more about the dragon spirits.

A fun little tale that has me excited for book one! 

They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 

They Drown our Daughters – Katrina Monroe – Book Review

“If you can hear the call of the water, it’s already far too late.” 

It was a curse that went awry in the 19th century, a curse that now plagues multiple generations of women as they are called time and time again to Cape Disappointment. 

They say the Cape is haunted, they told the girls to get out stay away; but something keeps drawing them in to the coastal town, where one family is never safe. 

They Drown our Daughters centres around Judith, her daughter Meredith and granddaughter Alice in a multi-generational saga of atmospheric, gothic/suspense horror.  Meredith feels that she must head back to the cape following marital problems; almost immediately odd things start to call to both her and her daughter from the depths of the sea. 

Judith is terrified, overbearing and seemingly a little unhinged as she strives to keep the girls out of the water, away from the “mermaid”, and the curse that has plagued her family for over 100 years. 

 

They Drown our Daughters has been my favourite Netgalley arc to date. The atmospheric build-up of this book coupled with a dark oceanic setting worked well to build tension. Although the plot was fairly simple, the author has done an excellent job of layering the stories across multiple generations of this one family to build knowledge, characters and heartrates as we work up to the climax. 

The pacing is deliberately slow, allowing the reader time to sit in the setting, to feel the fear of the ocean build across generations yet not be able to stop the desire, the need to feel the water. To heed the call of the woman waiting below its depths; ready to feed the curse yet again. 

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Way of the Shadows - Brent Weeks 

The first entry into the Night Angel trilogy follows Azoth, a street rat struggling for survival in the Warrens. At 11 years old he is doing his very best to remain on the right side of his dangerous superiors while dreaming of the day he can take them all down. 

His dream becomes a terrifying reality as Durzo Blint the most talented and frightening wetboy (assassin infused with Talent) the world has ever seen reluctantly takes Azoth under his wing. 

Leaving his life behind, Azoth is stripped of his identity, forced to kill or be killed and grows into someone you don’t want to come face to face with in an alleyway. Will he be able to hold on to his humanity, or give into the darkness? 

This was an impressive, fast paced and easy to read debut. The book could almost be split into two, half coming of age, half high stakes political coup where the tables turn and character development really starts to come out. 

We see Azoth grow from a child in terrible circumstances into a hardened man who has trouble with the choices he has to make in order to remain alive. 

Underneath this we have a struggle and need for friendship and a forbidden love that is just not viable for trained killer, a hunt for an ancient magic and God like political entities set on taking over. 

I had a really good time with this book, I’m interested to see where the sequel picks up!