The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan

Billed as a mix between Judge Dredd and the Witcher it was never really a question of would I want to read (but thanks for asking Nazia at Orbit) this book, more a question of how soon can I get my paws on it. 

 Set in the usual late medieval type world we often get in fantasy fiction the story follows Sir Konrad Vonvalt, a Justice whose role in life is to travel the land hearing disputes, solving crimes and dishing out... well, justice (yes, very much a Judge Dredd vibe here) But he does not get to tell the tale though, that falls to his Clerk, Helena so we get to see the world and his actions through her eyes. 

 And an interesting world it is too. I said earlier that the setting is a typical late medieval one but that may be doing it a disservice - there are things afoot that suggest we may be on the edge of something big and I'm expecting to see a very different looking world when this series reaches it's conclusion (or maybe before, who knows) 

 One of the things that attracted me to this book was that there was a murder to be solved and that felt like something that would be a refreshing change from the usual prophesy/dragons/chosen one (all of which I love but I'm also a fan of gritty crime fiction too) and again it didn't disappoint. Felt like a welcome breath of fresh air.

 Politics, religion, intrigue, murder - all set in a believable and well crafted world. Ye Gods I bloody enjoyed this book.

 And also a massive well done to the cover designers - that is a cover and a half that, Stunning!

 Highly Recommended 5/5* 

Vile City (Detective In A Coma bk1 ) by Jennifer Lee Thomson

 

A

About The Book 

DI Duncan Waddell is on the brink of a nervous breakdown – he thinks his best pal DC Stevie Campbell, who’s been in a coma since he was attacked by a suspect, is talking to him.

When office worker Shelley rushes to her boyfriend’s aid after he is attacked, she is abducted. She wakes up in a strange room with no memory of how she got there.

On the case, Waddell finds himself in a desperate race against time to uncover the truth behind the abduction.

To do this, he and his team must delve into the seedy underbelly of Scotland’s swingers’ scene and a world where women are tricked into the sex business and traded like cattle.

I'll be honest, I liked this a lot. Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect - for those of you old enough to remember I was thinking something like Randall and Hopkirk, Deceased (if you don't remember it, try Google 😉). What it actually gave me was a detective (Waddell) whose work partner, Stevie, is in a coma (hence the title) and is struggling with a potential breakdown. On his visits to the hospital he uses the comatose Stevie as a sounding board for his investigation and sometimes finds Stevie sat up in bed talking to him, although when he calls a nurse he is back as he was, comatose, unresponsive. It is most likely the result of Waddell's mental stress rather than a 'supernatural event' but we'll see as the series progresses I guess. 

The investigation itself is pretty grim, girls being taken off the streets and sold into the sex trade but the lead character here, Shelley, turns out to be made of stern stuff and makes for an interesting storyline. 

I'm a big fan of Scottish Crime Fiction so as soon as I was invited onto this tour I had a look at the blurb and snapped the book up - I was reviewing this whether I made the tour or not. And I wasn't disappointed. I'll be doing the same with the next in the series too (Cannibal City, DiaC2). Jennifer Lee Thomson, you have a new fan here

4.3/5* 

Thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me to review this and please have a look at the posts from the other bloggers on the tour

The Thousand Eyes by A.K.Larkwood

 

           

                    About The Book 

                    

Could you sacrifice your dreams to escape a nightmare?

Csorwe, Shuthmili and Tal survey abandoned Echentyr worlds to make a living. The empire’s ruins seem harmless but fascinating. Yet disaster strikes when they stumble upon ancient magic during a routine expedition. This revives a warrior who’d slept for an age, reigniting a conflict thousands of years old. And the soldier binds Csorwe to her cause.

Shuthmili is desperate to protect the woman she loves. However, as events escalate, she’s torn. Can she help Csorwe by clinging to her own humanity or by embracing her eldritch powers?

Tal heads home, but his peace is shattered when a magical catastrophe hits his city. The wizard Sethennai is missing and Tal can’t face seeking his former lover to ask for help. So, he flees – but there’s no escaping the future. For throughout the Echo Maze’s linked worlds, fragments of an undead goddess are waking. Soon all must choose a side.

   

                               ~||~

First off, I've got to admit this is not a review of the full book as my review copy only arrived a few days ago. What it is is my thoughts on what I have read so far.

The story starts off 2 years after the end of The Unspoken Name and finds our heroes Csorwe, Shuthmili and Tal working as security/support for academics exploring dead worlds. Right from the off this feels like a big screen epic as they fly into The Hatchery on the dead world of the Echentyr, a serpent race that are resigned to the history books, along with their Serpent Goddess . . .

Except they aren't! There is one survivor and when Csorwe and co. rescue them the troubles begin and the Serpent Goddess is back! 

I wasn't expecting the jump that moved the story forward to 15 years on but it worked for me as it was a chance to see the leads as older people and how the world has changed now that the Serpent Goddess rules most. Will our heroes be able to put everything right? I'll let you know when I get to the end of the book so watch this space.

 What Larkwood did well in The Unspoken Name was the world building and, thankfully, that is carried on in The Thousand Eyes. It feels very visual and that's what I like.

As for the main characters, Tal stands out for me so far as someone who has grown (seeing him 15 years on with a protégé who is pretty much a replica of younger Tal is good fun). There seems to be less of Csorwe and Shuthmili so far but that may change I guess.

The Thousand Eyes is a faster moving tale than The Unspoken Name and feels more of a Fantasy/Sci-fi hybrid than I remember the first being but that's not a bad thing.

I've been waiting what feels like ages for this book to be published and (so far) I'm not disappointed in the slightest

Thanks to Black Crow PR for inviting me onto the tour for this book and for providing the review copy (and hey, look at the cover art, isn't it rather gorgeous).

Please have a look at the reviews by the other bloggers on the tour (below)

The Last Lumenian and True Teryn by S G Blaise

                         ABOUT THE LAST LUMENIAN 

 MOST PRINCESSES NEED SAVING. THIS ONE WILL SAVE YOU.

She is a rebel. Lilla is fighting for the refugees's freedom from oppression. The king, her father, lost touch with reality ever since Lilla's mother died. Now everyone else is paying the price.

The arrival of Callum, a powerful Teryn general, complicates Lilla's life. His presence leads to conflicted feelings and friction with Arrov, a handsome pilot and fellow rebel.

Her life is not what she imagined it to be. Not by far. Meddling gods, love interests and sudden magical abilities have no room in Lilla's world, but that has become her new reality. No matter how hard she pushes them away, it's too late. They all seek to control her anyway.

Now the Era War between two ruling archgods forces Lilla to act: accept who she really is magic and all; find true love; fulfill her destiny by defeating the Archgod of Chaos and Destruction before He finds her. The Last Lumenian.

 So, what did I think? Well I am more of a fantasy reader than a Sci-fi reader (I like my Sci-fi to not be too tech heavy and sciency) but this combination of the two worked really well for me. Lilla makes for a believable lead she's brave, clever, sassy at times but also given to panic attacks at time. The books are certainly aimed at a new adult audience (in my opinion) and I guess that makes the Sci-fi more my level and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 The story itself has the usual fantasy tropes,-mages, Gods, Destiny etc. but thrown into the mix is romance, a love triangle, plenty of banter and some excellent world building. 

 With its shortish chapters the story flies by at a good pace and I was greatful that I had book 2 to hand to dig straight into. 

 Speaking of which... 

                     ABOUT THE BOOK

ALL BEGINNINGS COME AT A PRICE. ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY IT?

Lilla must recruit the biggest and most dangerous army in the Seven Galaxies, but the Teryn emperor will not comply unless Lilla earns the blessing of the Teryn Guardian Goddess Laoise.

Dealing with gods is never easy. Guardian Goddess Laoise’s condition for bestowing her blessing is for Lilla to bring her the mysterious Heart Amulet. Now Lilla is trapped in a strange place with no way out, no idea where to go or how to find the amulet.

The only way for Lilla to complete her mission is to uncover the biggest secret of all Teryns. Will she survive discovering the secret of what it means to be a True Teryn?

 True Teryn really gets the story going, with what I like best in my fantasy reads - a good old fashioned quest for a maguffin. The maguffin in this case is the Heart Amulet but Lilla doesn't know what it is or where exactly to find it. Her quest, as is often the case will allow her to find out more about herself (the 'real Lilla' I guess you could say). Everything that was good in book 1 is even better here in True Teryn

 SG Blaise has done it again with the world building here (and as it's the seven galaxies I'm excited to see what there is going forward with this). The characters are growing into themselves and the story is getting better and better. The style of writing is very visual as well which is not an easy thing to get right.

 Something else to note is the cover art on these books, I mean, have you seen them?? That is luscious cover design (that's part of the reason I have these books on kindle as well as physical copies - so I can keep the covers as pristine as possible).

 I'm giving both books 4/5* just because I think this series will keep getting better and better

 Thanks to Smith Publicity for inviting me to review these books and for providing the review copies. 

 Both books are available now

Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill

 

I've been reading fantasy for a long time now and I know what I like - and this ticks all my boxes. There is a lot here that rings bells from other stories, you have the usual boy leaves small village with his friends and some strangers to find adventure in the wide world, you have 'evil empire' encroaching with bad intentions, you have stock fantasy races - elves, dwarves, giants, dragons. There are the usual monster types - Uraks here take the role of Orc/Troll/Trolloc and even some of the places sound familiar.

 But all this familiarity does is show the author has read deeply in the genre. He tells his own story with echoes of other genre tales but the story he tells, the world he has created, is all his own. 

 And the story is a bloody good one at that. I have spent the last 3 nights reading as late as I could to finish it, reading until my eyes could stay open no more. I finally got there this morning - and the ending nailed it!

 I think it's safe to say that it's time to set an extra place at the top table. Ryan Cahill deserves a spot there. 

7/5*

 Of Blood and Fire ends on three (Three!!) separate cliffhangers but don't worry, the sequel, Of Darkness and Light is out on 31st December - and at just under 900 pages long it's an absolute chonker

The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman

 

 Welcome to the 2nd day of the Blogtour for Genevieve Cogman's The Untold Story - book 8 (and possibly the final book) of the Invisible Library series. And it is release date too so you won't have to wait to pick up your own copy. 

 The Untold Story has Irene coming to terms with the revelations uncovered in The Dark Archive (aka book 7) and also embarking on possibly her most dangerous mission to date. As regular readers will know the Invisible Library links many parallel worlds - and some of them are now disappearing! Irene needs to get to the bottom of why this is happening, who is to blame and to dig into the history of the Library itself for answers. 

  As (possibly) the last in the series the book does exactly what it needs to by tying all the loose ends in a particularly tidy bow and giving the reader the conclusion it deserves. The world building and character development has always been top notch throughout the series and continues here. 

 Now, I must say, I have been following this series from the beginning and waited enthusiasticly for each 'next episode' to be published and I do think that is the best way to approach the series - as a whole entity. With Librarians, the Library itself, Dragons, Fae, A Sherlock Holmes type and a machiavellian enemy (among many others) this has been a fun ride (and it really ought to be picked up for television) and I highly recommend it. 

 My plan now is to go back to the beginning and start all over again. Care to join me? 😉

 Thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing the review copy and to Stephen Haskins for inviting me onto the tour. And, speaking of which please take the time to have a look at the posts by the other excellent bloggers on the tour (dates below) - we always appreciate it when you do 😉

Cytonic (Skyward 3) by Brandon Sanderson - 1st thoughts

 

Welcome to my post on the Blogtour for Cytonic, the third novel in Brandon Sanderson's Skyward series 

About The Book 

Spensa's life as a Defiant Defense Force pilot has been far from ordinary.

She proved herself one of the best starfighters in the human enclave of Detritus and she saved her people from extermination at the hands of the Krell - the enigmatic alien species that has been holding them captive for decades. What's more, she travelled light-years from home as a spy to infiltrate the Superiority, where she learned of the galaxy beyond her small, desolate planet home. Now, the Superiority - the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life - has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa has seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant.

Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator.

Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she's able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy. The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return.

To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying

My Early Thoughts 

 I only recieved my review copy a couple of days ago so this is not a full review - that will follow in good time (but hey, it's Sanderson, I'm sure it won't be too long. The guy is a byword for books that keep me reading for 'just a few more pages' and find me still at it long after everyone else is asleep). This is just my early thoughts... 

 Cytonic starts out with Spensa entering The Nowhere - which is probably the best way to describe it. The Nowhere is almost (in my eyes at least) another dimension, it's the place things pass through when Hyperjumping through space and the place where Spensa may just find the means to save the Galaxy. 

  Of course Spensa is not alone, she's accompanied by M-bot as always (somehow I can't help being reminded of a certain Hanson whenever it pops up) and also a new character - Chet Starfinder, Interdimensional Galactic Explorer. I mean, the guy enters the story coming to Spensa's rescue riding a dinosaur - yup, you read that right... 

RIDING

A

DINOSAUR!!! 

That's how you make an entrance! 

 Cytonic is, so far, everything I love about Sci-fi, it's action packed, lots of fun and you don't need 4 science degrees to understand what's going on. I've enjoyed this series since it began (with the Top Gun in space like Skyward) and it just keeps getting better. Sanderson does characters and world-building very well indeed and is an excellent teller of tales whether Fantasy or Sci-fi, Adult aimed stories or YA and any new title from him goes straight towards the top of Mt. TBR

 So, more on this when I get to the end but for now, suffice to say, I'm thoroughly enjoying it. 

I'd usually stick an author photo here but, just for a change I thought I'd go with a photo from when I met the man himself at Forbidden Planet, London several years ago. 

Thanks to Will O'Mullane for inviting me onto the tour and Gollancz for providing the early review copy. Please take a look at the reviews by other bloggers on the tour