Blog Archives
Sons of Empire
Sons of Empire marks the captivating beginning of the “World of Empire” saga by Chandler McGrew, deftly weaving elements of steampunk and high fantasy reminiscent of iconic works like “World of Warcraft” and “Northern Lights.” Dive deep into a realm where Caltris, a masterful assassin, grapples with profound moral challenges and power-hungry adversaries. At the same time, Trastan, the son of the High Mage, navigates his unique power constraints to emerge as a military force. Our protagonists must swiftly identify their allies in a dynamic landscape where ancient magic is replaced by innovative magic intertwined with technology. The looming shadow of the Council of Five and an impending war adds layers of intrigue and suspense.
Sons of Empire is an engaging journey for aficionados of fantasy and steampunk. Its universe combines compelling characters and an intricate blend of fantasy and steampunk nuances. Introducing factions like the Council of Five and Altmages further enriches the narrative. While the story may not tread wholly uncharted territory, it boasts an allure that draws readers into its core, making them invested in the world McGrew crafts.
McGrew’s prose, while straightforward, occasionally delights with a touch of archaic vocabulary fitting for its fantastical setting. Potential readers should be prepared for a wealth of information upfront. Still, perseverance is rewarded as the layers of the tale unfold, leaving one deeply engrossed and eager for the saga’s next installment. If you’re a fan of both fantasy and sci-fi genres, Sons of Empire is undoubtedly a rewarding addition to your collection.
Pages: 433 | ASIN : B0BLMD4WDM
The Spires of Dasny: 2: Queen of Dragons
![The Spires of Dasny: 2: Queen of Dragons by [Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jXyKy72EL.jpg)
The Spires and the surrounding regions bask in the peace that has lasted five years since the bloody battle of Garneth. But a new conflict looms as strange people abduct Elky and Ustice, her dragon. The king of the Dragons and Spires, Dreyth and Seyra, his fated human rider, must now team up with other Spires warriors to rescue Elky and her beast. Their quest spirals into a new adventure that sees the Spires faced with a full-blown war against sorcerers wielding hypnotic magic and a strange breed of dragons. Amidst all this, the people and Dragons of the Spires also try to come to terms with the Dragon king’s decision to choose Seyra, a human, as his queen. Faced with internal and external conflicts, the fate of the Spires hangs in a delicate balance.
Queen of Dragons is the second book in Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait’s epic fantasy series, Spires of Dasny. A riveting fairy tale fantasy with a story featuring dragons, magic, and enchanting folktales. All of these elements are effortlessly woven together to create a rich and thrilling story.
The authors fantastic use of descriptive writing pulls you into a unique fantasy world that is filled with emotionally-charged moments that surprise at every turn.
At this point I fell like C.R.C is an expert at creating compelling and grounded characters that are easy to empathize with, if not relate to. Initially, I felt some distance, but I soon connected with Seyra and her dragon’s relationship. As the story unfolded and both revealed their hearts, their relationship became more meaningful and reflected something more familiar.
C.R.C holds keeps the tension high right up until the end. Even after what you’d call the final battle, the author introduces a gripping twist that threatens to ruin the happy ending, but keeps you completely engrossed in the story and desperate for another book.
As a bonus, you get to enjoy a teaser of the next part of the series. A great way to get a glimpse of what to expect in the next book. And from the little I’ve seen, it will be just as entertaining.
Pages: 194 | ASIN: B08SL8RHBW
Surviving While on the Run
Isle of Dragons follows a young girl who’s on a quest to free her father from a mythical island and must work with her new friends to make it there alive. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
The original inspiration for me was a girl who leaves her sheltered life to discover a far bigger world than she had previously known. The driving force for her leaving that world became her father, and the characters she meets along the way become the gateway for Jade to expand her knowledge of the world and explore her own identity in ways she never had the opportunity to before.
Jade is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
As I mentioned, the main thrust of her character was leaving her sheltered and stifling environment. She refers to herself by her title of “Jade of House Sol” when she first meets Miria, because a part of her hopes that things can go back to the way they were. At first, she likes to think she’s only a temporary “ex-noble,” but that eventually becomes something she no longer wants to be associated with the longer she is away from that life.
So many parts of her identity were stifled or cut off from Jade in her previous life. And the story is about her learning about those parts of her herself and accepting them. She starts off thinking magic is just a tool she needs to use to survive, but she comes to enjoy it and embrace it as she comes to enjoy life again after leaving her stifling life in the royal court and just surviving while on the run. That’s why Jade calling herself a witch was the final step in her turning away from her old life completely.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The themes of identity and embracing who you are were so central to the story for me. Jade is pressured to conform to the strictures of her society, and she finds herself movir central ng away from that on her journey. Magic represents a sense of connection with the world and each other, which is something that has been lost in the world through the actions of the Vanshian royal court. That’s something she finds through her relationships with Miria Atkins and her family. Jade’s relationship with her father will always be important to her and he functions as her central motivation for finding the Isle, but her family expands throughout the story to include the Atkins family. Miria is also driven by family, and her legacy. As the oldest child she’s had to shoulder the responsibilities of caring for her younger siblings and carrying on her parents legacy, something she feels the pressure to do increasingly throughout the book. Although, she does this through control and anger because she doesn’t feel a sense of control over her own life. Her journey is about gradually learning to let go of the need for control and embracing a sense of connection instead. So, I tried to weave the themes of identity, connection and family together through the magical elements and the characters journeys.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m currently working on the second book in the Isle of Dragons series, Isle of Dragons: The Hidden Library. The sequel explores the lore behind the Isle of Dragons as Jade discovers the means to ending King Jarrod’s plan through a library that has remained hidden from humans until now. I plan to release the sequel November this year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
On the run from the royal army in a giant mechanical centipede, sixteen-year-old Jade Sol embarks on a dangerous adventure to help her father escape from the Isle of Dragons—a land of untamed magic that some believe only exists in myth.
When Jade is cornered by soldiers, a mysterious witch named Miria Atkins rescues her, calling on spirits from a magical realm to channel their mystical energy into light and matter. Jade begs Miria and the sorceress’s mechanist brother, Dan, to join her quest.
The siblings resist at first, but their hearts soften when they hear of her father’s fate. Their own parents had attempted an expedition from Vansh to the Isle of Dragons years ago and never returned. Together, the trio of young heroes journey across the feudal countryside trek across the sea to become the first humans to reach the elusive Isle of Dragons.
Die-hard readers of Angelique S. Anderson’s Dracosinum Tales and Jessica Drake’s Dragon Riders of Elantia series will find L. A. Thompson’s writing magnetic, impassioned, and clever in this novel’s twisting plot. The first in a trilogy.
A Single Spark
![A Single Spark: Rise of The Phoenix Book 1 by [Tayvia Pierce]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51x73RBVJXL.jpg)
When strange things start happening in society as a rebellion rises and her father is followed by rumors of complicity in murder, Lady Carys, the middle child of House Egon and her noble family are driven to move out of the grand city of Perinthas in the Taurovian Kingdom. A Single Spark by Tayvia Pierce follows Lady Carys and her family as they embark on their perilous journey, they travel through both hostile and amicable lands yet Carys can’t shake off an uneasy feeling that something is always with them, lurking in the shadows. They settle in Lund, a small quaint town of humble people where they soon adopt a simple lifestyle. Yet as war silently brews between Taurovia and the dark Yehket Kingdom, Carys learns that distance and simplicity don’t equal safety as everything is connected. She must soon tie the knot to find and abolish the threat near at hand.
Tayvia Pierce’s high fantasy novel depicts an incredibly complex and intricate universe, from splendidly rich cities within powerful kingdoms to quiet towns to mountain ridges that burn red at sunset. The setting is very detailed, making the reader feel as if they’re taking the journey along with the characters. As for the characters themselves, they are incredibly well-built with very convincing personality traits. The two that particularly stand out are our protagonist, Lady Carys, and her teenage sister Lady Rhian who, with her angsty teenage antics, added a dramatic flare to the story. Carys is a twenty-year-old noble girl of a stubborn nature who was prematurely given an authority role within her family and household after her mothers tragic death at the hands of their worst enemy. Carys is a very dynamic character, as the story progresses, so does she. Her colors and true nature come to light as she is forced to make life or death decisions for her people, some with too high a price.
A Single Spark is a riveting epic fantasy novel that kept me consistently entertained. I wholeheartedly recommend it to any fantasy reader, especially Game of Thrones fans, who will undoubtedly enjoy the similarity of this world with Westeros, and the excitement of war between fantastical Kingdoms. I deeply enjoyed the narrative aspects of the story, particularly the way it is narrated by Carys herself from her future point of view, leaving clues and breadcrumbs for the reader to decipher and making the read all the more fun.
Pages: 618 | ASIN: B084Q3VXYF
The Deck of the Numinon
The Deck of the Numinon is an epic fantasy novel by GJ Scherzinger. The story takes place in a mysterious universe surrounded by magic. Where cities battle each other for dominance and control, and in faraway lands women in convents known as Sybellines study magical artifacts and train in the arts of shapeshifting. When a deck of magical cards with the power to manipulate people and time falls into the hands of a player with malicious intentions, cards are drawn and a series of catastrophic events follows. As generals and diplomats from the different kingdoms blame each other for the destruction of the fabled towers of Safrasco and prepare their armies for war. The Standish general Artis Ferriman enlists Cerra, a bling girl of humble means, as his agent at the embassy in order to find the culprit of the attacks. Cerra sets off on her journey, accompanied by her demon lover Yutan. Unaware that both of them represent cards in play. While dealing with diplomatic life and an unexpected loss, she soon finds an ally in Havi, a Sybelline trainee entrusted with the mission of finding the deck and removing it from the player. As Cerra navigates a mysterious world dominated by greed, lust, and betrayal, she discovers that her mission goes beyond spying, she is a player in the game representing The Queen of Quills and must embrace those qualities in order to locate the “seer” and stop the game before she runs out of time.
The Deck of the Numinon is an engrossing and riveting novel. From the carefully detailed world to the incredibly original plot, The Deck of the Numinon is everything any fantasy reader can dream of. Once you start reading, there’s no putting the book down. It never gets mundane as events play out smoothly, each with schemes and backstories left and right. The author does an incredible job of describing characters that are complex and unpredictable. Cerra, the main character, is a pacifist unwillingly thrown into conflict, which makes her fun to follow. She is blind, yet her remaining senses compensate for that loss, which makes for a different kind of power. She feels the world in a way that any reader can relate and connect with on a personal level, I know I did! As for the writing, the story is extremely well planned and portrayed, and really has to be to accomplish such a deep story on an epic scale. But the language used is quite complex and can be hard to grasp, an important observation for anyone looking for a light read. All in all, I highly recommend this book for its originality and engaging plot. I definitely recommend it to anyone that enjoys Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.
Pages: 562 | ASIN: B08CQ937B4
They are the Hero and Villain
Paul Vaughn Author Interview
Dragon Ascendants is a genre-crossing novel with many different elements in it. Did you start writing with this in mind, or did this happen organically as you were writing?
Yes. Although I intended my novel to be heavy in fantasy and young adult, I also planned to draw in more genre readers. I tried to add comedy, suspense, and romance with hopes of pulling in those readers.
The supporting characters in this novel, I felt, were intriguing and well developed. Who was your favorite character to write for?
Tallian and Fearoc were the most interesting to write for, but they are the hero and villain. As for supporting characters, Briskarr was my favorite. He was always entertaining, and I had a ton of fun deciding what I will do for him next.
When you first sat down to write this story, did you know where you were going, or did the twists come as you were writing?
I had the major points for this novel and most of the series mapped out from the start. Some action and info came in at the moment, such as the reveal of Angelia being Fearoc’s sister. Worked for the moment and achieved the purpose of knocking the readers off their feet.
This is book one in the Luminess Legends series. Where will book two pickup and when will it be available?
The next novel will pick up approximately three days after the first ended. Tallian will wake up thinking it is the morning of the battle and all that happened was a dream.
I hope to be finished writing book two in a year or so. Then the publishing process will start.
Author Links: Website | Facebook | GoodReads | Amazon
Half-elf, half-human, Tallian lives with dwarves and knows little about his birth parents. After his adopted brother runs away, hundreds of shadow bats decimate his village, and Meerkesh, Tallian’s adopted father reveals the truth about how he came to live with the dwarves in the Furin Mountains. Betrayed by the only brother he has ever known, Tallian and the dwarves flee from Fearoc, the evil elf who controls Luminess. Against what seems to be impossible odds, dwarves, elves, dragons, and men unite against Fearoc in hopes of freeing Luminess.
The Fallen Ones
Vashti Quiroz Vega Author Interview
The Fall of Lilith is a dark fantasy novel centered around the anti-heroine, Lilith, and the creation and fall of the angels. What was your inspiration for this imaginative novel?
The Fall of Lilith is a High Fantasy with dark elements. I grew up in a religious home and went to religious private school. Angels always fascinated me, but there isn’t much information in the bible about them, so I always imagined what they were like, both the holy angels and the fallen ones. I also read a great deal of religious books (fiction and Non-fiction), mythology and fairytales growing up. I basically combined all three to create this book. I did a lot of research and used facts from the Bible, Hebrew Bible, and Quran to ground it in reality.
I liked that we got to see Lilith change from good to bad throughout the novel, and how that was portrayed was entertaining. Did her character develop organically as you were writing or was it planned?
 I always knew she would be an evil character at some point. That being said, she took it from there and developed organically.
 There is heavy use of religion and myth in this book. What kind of research did you undertake for this novel to keep things accurate?
 An enormous amount of research went into this novel. I researched animals, natural disasters, food, geography, names, and religious text among other things. Like Tom Clancy said, “The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.”
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
Author Links:Â GoodReads |Â Twitter |Â Facebook |Â Website
![The Fall of Lilith (Fantasy Angels Series) by [Quiroz Vega, Vashti]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51iCEOKSUpL.jpg)
In The Fall of Lilith, Vashti Quiroz-Vega crafts an irresistible new take on heaven and hell that boldly lays bare the passionate, conflicted natures of God’s first creations: the resplendent celestial beings known as angels.
If you think you know their story, think again.
Endowed with every gift of mind, body, and spirit, the angels reside in a paradise bounded by divine laws, chief of which are obedience to God, and celibacy. In all other things, the angels possess free will, that they may add in their own unique ways to God’s unfolding plan.
Lilith, most exquisite of angels, finds the rules arbitrary and stifling. She yearns to follow no plan but her own: a plan that leads to the throne now occupied by God himself. With clever words and forbidden caresses, Lilith sows discontent among the angels. Soon the virus of rebellion has spread to the greatest of them all: Lucifer.
Now, as angel is pitted against angel, old loyalties are betrayed and friendships broken. Lust, envy, pride, and ambition arise to shake the foundations of heaven . . . and beyond. For what begins as a war in paradise invades God’s newest creation, a planet known as Earth. It is there, in the garden called Eden, that Lilith, Lucifer, and the other rebel angels will seek a final desperate victory—or a venomous revenge.
LITERARY TITAN 