Blog Archives
The Legends of Astorynia: War of Wars Ending & The Legends of Astorynia: Prequel Collection
The Legends of Astorynia: War of Wars Ending is a classic-feeling epic fantasy about a young elf hunter named Keagle who gets pulled out of his quiet life in Edengrove and dropped into the middle of a world-ending war. One minute he is worrying about making it home through the Weary Wood, the next there are Vurkyn, reptile brutes from Shadowrock, blowing holes in palace walls during Glauriana’s Ball while dragons, wizards, and elite elven archers scramble to hold the line. Along the way we meet Princess Teyallia, gruff knight Brombol Steinerman, the half-gruflyn Puglifago, the chaotic gnome Bink, Keagle’s falcon companion Syra, and the thousand–year old wizard Mannus, who all end up woven into one huge last stand to end all wars and lock the lingering darkness away for good.
I had a lot of fun with the tone of this book. The narrator talks to the reader, tosses in little asides and repeats phrases such as “quite a moment and a half” in a way that gives the whole thing a cozy, bedtime-story vibe even when monsters are ripping through a ballroom. I liked the earnestness of it. The worldbuilding is described in simple, vivid strokes that stuck in my head. Keldorian elves in shining cities. Half-dog half-elf gruflyn folk. Scaled Vurkyn with spines and shells. Big named places like Shadowrock, Middle Woods, Lake Keldora, Uglorn Caverns. It all has this cheerful, almost childlike imagination to it that made me smile.
The writing is charming and very readable. It leans a bit on repetition and longer, winding sentences, and sometimes spells things out. The dialogue feels theatrical. Mannus’s big speeches are full of rhyme and rhythm, which is cool and has a classic fantasy vibe. I cared about the moments, especially the huge battle build-up and Mannus’ final act with the spellbook.
The ideas under all the adventure hit me in a different way. This is a story about loyalty and chosen family, about people who come from very different races and corners of the world deciding that Astorynia is worth fighting for. Keagle stepping up after Dellik falls, Teyallia promising to stay by his side until the end of forever, Pug and Bink swearing to watch each other’s backs, Mannus honoring old vows and then literally pulling evil out of the world at the cost of his own presence, that stuff landed with me. I liked that the book is not trying to be grim or edgy. It is very sincere about hope, bravery, and duty. Sometimes that sincerity veers into cheesiness, but in a way that feels wholesome.
I would recommend War of Wars Ending to readers who enjoy old school epic fantasy with a straightforward good vs evil vibe, and to younger teens or families who want a big, imaginative world full of elves, dragons, wizards, and big speeches about courage. If you like conversational narration, clear morals, and a story that feels like a long campfire tale with plenty of action and heart, this will hit the spot. For me, it felt like stepping into a warm, earnest fantasy daydream, and I think that has its own kind of magic.
Pages: 200 | ASIN : B0G52BS1WR
Bad Americans: Part I
Bad Americans: Part I is a big collage of stories wrapped inside a wild and strange summer retreat. Twelve Americans head to the Hamptons during the first Covid summer, brought together by a billionaire who wants them to share meals, go on dates, compete in games, and tell stories every night. Their tales reveal pieces of pandemic life, cultural friction, loneliness, and hope. The frame narrative follows the guests as they argue, flirt, bond, and judge one another. Inside that frame sit the stories they tell, each one capturing a different slice of American life during a time when everything felt fragile. The book moves from hospitals overflowing with fear to city streets full of noise and protest.
I was pulled in by the bold mix of voices. The writing jumped between tones and moods, and sometimes it caught me off guard in the best way. One minute I was laughing at a character’s dry remark, and the next I felt a lump in my throat as someone described a loss. The author writes with an energy that propels you forward, and I liked that. The moments with Andrea, the nurse, especially resonated with me. Her story about the ICU felt authentic and honest, and I could almost hear the alarms and taste the fatigue that soaked every shift. The book’s choice to set these heavy stories inside a glitzy mansion made everything feel even stranger, and somehow more real.
The author leans into the messiness of America. People squabble over politics, race, class, and identity. They misread one another. They cling to their own truths. I wished the dialogue would slow down sometimes, but I think that constant rush was the point. The country has not been quiet for a long time. The book mirrors that noise, and it does it with heart. I respected the risks it took.
I would recommend Bad Americans: Part I to readers who like big casts, sharp contrasts, and stories that jump from tender to chaotic without apology. Anyone interested in how fiction can capture a national mood would get a lot out of this book. It is not a simple read. But it is full of life, and it stirs emotions that stay with you for a while afterwards.
Pages: 390 | ASIN : B0FF5DZ7GV
Avoiding Muddy Foxholes: A Story of an American Bombardier
Avoiding Muddy Foxholes follows the life of Richard “Dick” Loveless as he grows from a young man in Washington, DC into an Air Corps bombardier during World War II. It traces his courtship with Mary Lu, his grueling training, his early missions over Europe, and the unbelievable trials he survived as a prisoner of war. The author also highlights the quiet strength of the families back home. The story blends historical moments with personal memories, and it moves through fear, love, hope, and heartbreak in a way that feels close and honest.
When I first got into the book, I found myself surprised by how quickly I cared about Dick. His honesty and occasional stubborn streak made him feel real to me, and I caught myself rooting for him even when he stumbled. The writing leans into emotion. I liked that it did not try to polish everything. Some moments felt raw, and that rawness gave the book its heart. I could almost hear the noise of the barracks or imagine the cold nights in the POW camp. Sometimes the pacing slowed, yet even those stretches helped me sit with the weight of what these people lived through.
As the story went on, I felt more connected to the relationships than to the battles. The love between Dick and Mary Lu pulled me in every time it appeared. I kept thinking about how young they were and how quickly life forced them to grow up. The author’s voice added another layer because I could sense the pride he felt for his parents. That made the book feel warmer and more intimate. At the same time, the writing often slipped into straightforward talk that matched the everyday nature of the characters. I liked that mix. It made the heavy moments hit harder. There were places where the dialogue felt slightly too polished, but the emotional truth still came through.
Avoiding Muddy Foxholes made me think about the courage it takes to stay hopeful in the worst circumstances and about how love can hold people together when everything else is falling apart. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy personal wartime stories, especially those who want something heartfelt and grounded in family ties. It is a good fit for anyone who likes history told through the eyes of ordinary people who found themselves doing extraordinary things.
Pages: 339 | ASIN : B0CF3C4LM8
Teach Me How to Die. A Novella and Other Stories
Teach Me How to Die opens with a quiet but striking premise. A small group of strangers gather in a New York rehearsal studio to attend a master class on writing suicide notes. Their teacher, Professor Scott Mirrormord, runs the class with a mix of dry humor, unsettling calm, and sudden flashes of emotion. Each character carries a private storm. The Violinist trembles under his own sensitivity, the Hunter bristles at the world that has rejected him, the Accountant clings to order like a life raft, the Poet aches for beauty, the Loser sinks under the weight of lifelong disappointment, and the Philosopher hovers above them all with cool detachment. Across several sessions, their stories unravel in ways that feel surreal, funny, raw, and sometimes painfully honest. The novella blends this unusual setup with short stories that explore gender identity, empathy, loneliness, and the strange ways people hold themselves together when the world feels inverted.
The writing feels theatrical in the best sense. Scenes move with quick beats, like spotlights snapping on and off, and the dialogue carries a rhythm that made me imagine the characters speaking just inches away. Sometimes the tone shifts fast. One moment I laughed at Scott’s odd habits. The next I felt a sharp ache when the Poet revealed the quiet desperation behind her romantic bravado. The emotions hit hard because author Lisa Monde does not overcomplicate them. She keeps them human. There were times I wanted the prose to hurry because the tension between characters felt so tight it made me restless. Still, that uneven pulse worked. It mirrored the way real people think when they are standing at the edge of something dark and trying to talk themselves back toward the light.
The book treats suicide with seriousness and compassion. It does not glamorize it. It does not trivialize it. Instead, it asks why a person might arrive at such a thought and what might pull them away from it. The Poet’s loneliness shook me the hardest. She sees beauty everywhere, yet cannot see herself reflected in anyone else. I also found myself oddly moved by the Accountant, who tries so hard to appear composed while cracking open from the inside. Even the humor carries weight. It softens the darkness without hiding it. The stories that follow the novella expand the book’s themes in unexpected directions. Some felt warm. Some felt strange. All of them carried a heartbeat that stayed with me after I closed the pages.
Teach Me How to Die would be a meaningful read for anyone who enjoys character-driven stories that ask real questions about why people suffer and how they heal. It is also a good fit for readers who appreciate theater and intimate ensemble pieces. For readers willing to sit with tough emotions and still look for hope, this book will land with force.
Pages: 216 | ASIN : B0FXNNRLR3
Astronumerology (The Book of Names)
Astronumerology: The Book of Names lays out a bold system that blends numerology, astrology, phonetics, and a surprising amount of social commentary into one sweeping theory about how names and numbers shape human destiny. The book walks through the Chaldean roots of its method, explains a phonetic twist that sets it apart from mainstream numerology, and then uses this system to interpret everything from personal careers to national identities to mass tragedies. It reads like part manual, part manifesto, and part case study collection. The book aims to prove that names and numbers match human behavior in ways we’ve never fully understood.
The writing swings between instructional and prophetic, and sometimes I found myself leaning in because the confidence is infectious. I enjoyed how the author tries to give structure to something as abstract as fate. It felt earnest in how much he believes his system can help people see their path in life. That sincerity pulled me along even when the claims felt fantastic. I also liked the way he uses examples from real events and public figures. It adds color, and it makes the book feel more grounded.
Some parts made me uneasy, especially when tragic events were broken down into number patterns. Other parts made me smile, like when he explains how names can get your train back on track. I enjoyed the parts where he pokes at astrology with a playful skepticism. It made the book feel more relatable. The tone jumps around a bit, which gave the reading experience a kind of jittery rhythm. But that kept me engaged. I never knew what the next page would do.
I’d say this book is best for readers who enjoy personal metaphysics, alternative spiritual systems, or unconventional takes on fate and personality. If someone likes mixing intuition with numbers and doesn’t mind big claims, they will have a great time with it. It was a fascinating ride that made me think, question, and think deeply about numerology.
Pages: 94 | ASIN : B0FHC7SGDG
The Seeker
The Seeker follows a restless wanderer who tries to make sense of a life caught between spiritual hunger and everyday chaos. The book moves through a mix of travel notes, philosophical riffs, memories, and sharp self-mockery, all glued together by the author’s ongoing attempt to wake up from the illusions that shape his world. I found the voice quick, funny, and sometimes raw, and the whole thing works like a long letter from someone who keeps tripping over his own enlightenment. The book shifts between stories of drunken nights, failed spiritual practices, and run-ins with Buddhist and Advaita teachings. It also digs into ego, pain, detachment, and the strange ways we cling to our identities, even when we swear we want to let them go.
The narrator puts his flaws on full display, and he does it with this mix of humor and despair that made me laugh one minute and sigh the next. I liked how he pokes at spiritual culture, too. He rolls his eyes at yogis racing to class, at overzealous seekers chanting their way to nirvana, and at the whole self-help industry. The sarcasm comes fast, but it never feels cruel. It feels like he is trying to keep himself grounded. The drinking, the travel, the loneliness, the pleasures, the screwups. They all paint a picture of someone who wants freedom but also kind of enjoys his distractions. That tension made the book feel real.
The book circles around the same big questions. What is the self? What is enlightenment? Is anyone actually steering their own life? He keeps returning to ideas from Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta, Anthony de Mello, and the Buddha, and he spins them in a way that is part confession and part debate with himself. Sometimes the reflections hit hard. Especially when he talks about pain versus suffering or when he admits how much he hides behind ego, charm, or booze.
I feel like the book is meant for people who enjoy spiritual writing but get turned off by anything too polished or too serene. If you like flawed narrators who think too much and drink too much and still keep reaching for something truer, you’ll like this book. It is also a good pick for readers who appreciate humor mixed with pain and who like a story that refuses to pretend the journey is clean or noble. I would recommend it to seekers, cynics, and anyone who finds themselves caught between wanting to let go and wanting one more round.
Pages: 199 | ASIN : B0FWRQT951
The Can Sack Ghost
The Can Sack Ghost is a collection of personal paranormal experiences that author John Russell has gathered across a lifetime of psychic work. The book moves through story after story with the ease of someone who has lived these moments so fully that they spill out of him. Russell blends ghost tales, philosophical reflections, humor, and straight talk. He jumps from haunted homes to guardian angels to strange synchronicities and encounters that linger in the mind. He frames it all with a simple aim. He wants readers to feel the mystery he’s lived with since childhood and to see the supernatural as both real and meaningful.
I found myself torn between fascination and a kind of wide-eyed wonder. Russell writes in a voice that feels conversational and familiar. He talks about spirits turning radios on during power outages and unseen guests laughing downstairs in the middle of the night. He writes about odd visitors on motorcycles, and even haunted Halloween candy bowls that carry on like they’re trying to join the conversation. What struck me most was not the strangeness of the events but the sincerity behind them. He tells these stories with such calm conviction that it’s hard not to lean in. At times I felt wrapped up in his world, and at other times I caught myself pausing to think, Did that really happen. His storytelling carries that kind of pull.
I appreciated the honesty that shows up when he talks about loss or doubt or the way people dismiss the unusual. Some chapters made me laugh because the moments were just so odd and human. Others made me feel a kind of quiet sadness. He can shift from soft nostalgia to sharp frustration, especially when he writes about so-called skeptics who refuse to believe their own eyes. He doesn’t pretend to be perfect. He doesn’t claim to always be right. Instead, he writes like a man who has lived a wild and unpredictable spiritual life and wants to share what he has learned. That earnestness makes the ideas really resonate with the reader.
I’d recommend The Can Sack Ghost to readers who enjoy true paranormal tales, personal memoirs with heart, or reflective stories told by someone who has walked a very unusual path. If you like books that make you sit back and say, huh, I didn’t see that coming, this one will hook you.
Pages: 156 | ASIN : B0FFLX1YCV
Empowering Women
A Princess on Her Own Terms follows a sharp and stubborn young woman who refuses to give in to a world that worships perfection and instead allows herself live authentically. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I wanted to show that plus size can be beautiful. I have struggled with my weight all my life and until my late twenties lived a very unhappy life. This was until I realised that I can be beautiful in the body I have, all I needed to do was love myself.
That is what I wanted to impart to other women and girls. We are all different sizes and shapes, but everyone is beautiful in some way and that they should not be fixated on their weight or dress size, they should try to learn to love themselves fully and ignore the rest of the world who are only going to try and make them feel bad about themselves.
Sapphire doesn’t fit her kingdom’s idea of perfection in behaviour or appearance. Was there a moment where Sapphire surprised you as you were writing her?
Sapphire (or Saphie as she is known to her friends) has a strong moral compass of non-violence, not only to people but also to magical creatures and animals. At one point in the book, she is captured by bandits along with other women and girls. One of the bandits wants to assault one of the women for fun and Sapphire in her head is contemplating stabbing him in the neck to kill him to protect the women and girls with her. This surprised me, but I also understood, I know Saphie would do anything to protect people who need her help even if she did not want to do what she had to do.
The story gently but clearly pushes back against the idea that women must shrink themselves. Why was that theme important to explore in a fairy-tale setting?
Even though I have lived my life as a confident woman who does stand up if I think something is wrong, I know there are a lot of women out there who are not as defiant and assertive. I have faced sexism, even though the profession I chose is dominated by women, I have had many male bosses. (That tells you something in itself that in a female dominated professional all my line managers have been male and 2 out of the three Heads I have worked under are male!). I was actually pushed out of one of my jobs because I tried to challenge sexism in the workplace, which I was told did not exist.
Even though there have been people in my life who wanted me to be small and quiet, I never have been, apart from in the later part of my marriage, which I look back on myself with pity. I want women and girls to know that they should not allow people to make them small or push them towards things which ‘women should do’. Women are as capable as men, and it is time the world wakes up and sees that.
How does teaching teenagers shape the way you write characters and dialogue, and what conversations do you hope this story sparks?
Misogyny is on the rise in teenage boys, due to a lot of outside factors and I wanted to show girls that you can be empowered by themselves and to challenge anything which they feel is wrong and to support each other not see each other as rivals.
In the story Edward goes on a very important journey, which I hope will help show boys that they can change and challenge what they have learnt from outside influences and learn to respect not only women who are different, but also minorities which we see in his friendship with Freya.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Ultimately, a celebration of strong female will power, can do attitude, comfortable diversity and a hymn to freedom through a highly inventive, daringly seductive plot filled with love, hope and juicy fantasy.
Kirsty Demuth was born and raised on Portland in Dorset, with her Mum, Dad and two sisters. She studied at Bath Spa University, gaining her history degree in 2008 and then went on to Southampton University to gain her teaching degree in 2009 and history master’s degree in 2011. Kirsty has been a member of the Society of Authors since 2025 and is still teaching history to teenagers in a school. Kirsty lives in Hampshire with one of her sisters and her cats.
LITERARY TITAN 