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Doryto and the Door of Wanderers
Doryto and the Door of Wanderers is a genre-bending speculative fantasy novel with a strong comic streak, and at its core it follows Doryto O’Shannassy, a homeless finder in Birmingham who can locate almost anything, as a simple missing-person job opens into interdimensional travel, alternate selves, dangerous Squatch, and a much larger struggle around the mysterious Door of Wanderers. What struck me first is how much the book trusts Doryto’s voice to carry the whole ride, and for me, that gamble mostly pays off. He’s funny, scrappy, oddly tender, and so specific that even when the story gets wild, I still felt like I had a real person to hold onto.
What I liked most was the writing’s looseness and personality. It doesn’t feel polished into something cold. It feels authentic. Doryto talks the way a person might actually talk when life keeps getting stranger by the hour, and that gives the book a warm, offbeat energy. There’s a real charm in the way the novel moves from lost dogs and storefront rent to Celtic bloodlines, dimension-hopping, and metaphysical rules about suffering. That sounds like a lot because it is a lot. But the book often makes that excess part of its appeal. I kept feeling like I was listening to somebody tell me an unbelievable story on a long drive, and somehow the best choice was to let them keep going.
I was also interested in the author’s choices around identity, pain, and belonging. Beneath the humor and fantasy mechanics, the book keeps circling loneliness, family damage, and the question of what it means to find something, or someone, or even yourself. That idea of Doryto meeting other versions of himself could have been played just as a clever fantasy device, but here it feels more personal than that. It becomes a way of asking who we might have been under different pressures, and what suffering does or does not teach us. The novel can feel crowded with ideas, and there were moments when I wanted a little more clarity in the worldbuilding. Still, I respected the ambition. The book isn’t trying to be neat. It’s trying to be big-hearted, strange, and searching.
I would recommend this to readers who like fantasy that is more voice-driven than rule-driven, and to anyone who enjoys weird fiction, multiverse stories, or character-led adventures with humor, heart, and a Southern flavor. It’ll probably land best with readers who are happy to follow an unusual narrator into increasingly unusual territory. I think people who like speculative fiction with emotional messiness, eccentric mythology, and a strong first-person presence will find a lot to enjoy here.
Pages: 269 | ASIN : B0GNKHXD18
Joshua Creed: Keeper of Worlds
Joshua Creed: Keeper of Worlds is a middle-grade portal fantasy with a strong coming-of-age thread, and at its core, it follows twelve-year-old Joshua as his already-shaky life cracks open even further. His parents are divorcing, school feels like a minefield, and then his strange blue eye starts pulling him into another world, where prophecy, dangerous magic, and creatures like Wormly, Selia, and Gonthragon force him into the role of a keeper between worlds. What makes the book more than a simple quest story is that Joshua is not just trying to save a fantasy realm. He’s also trying to understand his family, his anger, and the fear that he ruins everything he touches.
I liked how directly the author, Dawnette Brenner, writes Joshua’s inner life. The fantasy setup is big, but the emotional entry point is small and human: a tetherball game, a suspension, a kitchen table conversation, a kid trying not to cry. I think that choice works great. It gives the book real footing before the world-hopping begins, and it keeps the stakes personal even when the plot expands into prophecy and interdimensional danger. I also liked that the magic has rules and consequences. The idea that crossing between worlds costs Joshua something, even time from his own life, gives the story weight and keeps it from feeling too easy.
I felt the book was at its best when it slowed down and let character and emotion breathe. Joshua’s bond with Jonah, his guilt over his mother being hurt, and the way fantasy becomes tangled up with family pain all land well. Those parts felt honest. The novel throws a lot at the reader: prophecy, magical tools, multiple creatures, vision lore, world rules, and escalating threats. Some readers will enjoy that rush. I respected the author’s instinct to make this adventure about responsibility instead of simple wish fulfillment. The book keeps asking a solid question: what does it actually cost a kid to become “chosen”? That question gives the story its backbone.
I’d recommend this most to readers who like middle-grade fantasy that blends portals, prophecy, and magical objects with family strain and emotional growth. Kids who enjoy stories in the lane of classic quest fantasy, but want something more grounded in school, home, and identity, will probably connect with it. I think adults who read middle grade closely will also notice the heart behind it. This is a fantasy novel, but it is really about carrying too much too young and learning that bravery is not the same thing as pretending you are fine.
Pages: 281 | ASIN : B0GPP1XLTD
Honor, Regret, and Loyalty
Dark Wolf’s Howl centers around a young woman holding an ancient secret who finds herself on the run after helping with a theft that goes terribly wrong. Where did the idea for this novel come from?
The idea for the novel was that I wanted to take the traditional epic quest and spin it a little differently. I love the tabletop role playing game Shadowrun, and some of the themes and ideas come from the adventures I had with a group I ran with years ago.
Many characters wrestle with honor, regret, and loyalty. Why were those themes so central to this story?
I wanted to write a story that didn’t necessarily follow the epic quest trope, where a group is out to save the world. While they are out to save the world, I wanted the book to center more on their personal journeys. Honor, regret, and loyalty are all things I feel like people can relate to, whether it is dealing with a bad decision or struggling with a friend or family member who made such a decision and now needs help.
Dark Wolf’s Howl mixes adventure with political intrigue and class tension. How did you balance those elements while keeping the story focused on the characters?
Varya is supposed to be a fantasy version of our own world, where things are more complex than just right or wrong. Sometimes, in our world, you aren’t sure who the bad guys are, and I wanted my story to have a similar feel. You might start with one assumption and then change how you feel as you learn more information, letting the reader journey with the characters, their own thoughts and feelings on Varya changing as the character’s views change.
Can you give us a peek inside the second installment of the Varya series? Where will it take readers?
Diadrilath Selda, book two in the Varya series, the war is over, and our heroes struggle to reclaim their lives. So much has happened that they can’t just go back to doing what they were doing before, and in the midst of their personal struggles, there is a new mystery. Something else is happening, and they have to navigate the new threat while also still dealing with the aftermath of the events of the first book. The readers get to see more of the history of Varya, as well as dive deeper into the characters.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
When a reckless heist goes terribly wrong, a young woman finds herself branded a traitor by her own government, hunted not for her crime, but for the ancient secret she’s stumbled into. A secret powerful enough to shatter the kingdom’s foundations.
Now, as a long-exiled enemy rises to unleash vengeance and civilization teeters on the brink of annihilation, she must join forces with a mysterious rogue agent and a thrill-seeking adventurer. Together, they’ll face conspiracies, betrayals, and the weight of history itself.
But can one unlikely heroine find the courage to undo her mistake before it unleashes the end of the world?
Called “an ambitious and heartfelt modern fantasy” by Independent Book Review, Dark Wolf’s Howl blends modern society with familiar fantasy themes in an action packed adventure story.
Dark Wolf’s Howl
Brenton J. Lillie’s Dark Wolf’s Howl is a fantasy novel with a strong streak of political thriller and adventure running through it. It opens with an old catastrophe, when Queen Luorhidana tries to end a brutal war with magic and sacrifice, and then jumps forward into a modernized elven kingdom where a desperate young woman named Elisa helps with a theft that goes terribly wrong. From there, the book widens into a larger story involving buried history, class tension between elves and humans, a hidden scepter tied to ancient magic, and a coming war with the darkabolos. It’s a story about betrayal, guilt, and whether peace can be rebuilt after people have done real damage to one another.
What I enjoyed most was how earnest the book feels. Elisa’s opening section works because her bad decision is not treated like a clever caper. It feels sad almost from the first page. She is angry, boxed in by debt and class inequality, and trying to convince herself she deserves a shortcut, even while she knows she is crossing a line. I liked that the novel lets that choice stain everything that comes after. Dak and Shivani bring a different energy, more investigative and on the run, which gives the book a nice change in rhythm. Sometimes the prose is blunt, and sometimes the dialogue lands a little more directly than naturally, but there is also something refreshing about how plainly the book says what it means. It is not coy about honor, trauma, corruption, or regret. It puts those things on the table and makes the characters wrestle with them.
I also found myself respecting the author’s bigger choices, especially the way the novel keeps circling back to history as something alive and dangerous. The old war is not just a backstory. It leaks into the present and shapes who gets power, who gets blamed, and who is allowed to tell the story of the past. That gave the book more weight than a straightforward quest fantasy.
Elisa’s arc especially pulled me in. Her movement from reckless desperation toward a genuine understanding of sacrifice and redemption gives the novel its emotional spine, and by the end, I felt the book had earned its seriousness. This is a novel that wears its heart on its sleeve. If a reader wants subtle ambiguity at every turn, this may feel a bit too open-handed. I did not mind that much. In a book this driven by conscience, shame, loyalty, and grief, the directness often works.
By the time I finished Dark Wolf’s Howl, I came away thinking it would most appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy that mixes ancient magic and invented history with modern institutions, armed intrigue, and a very human redemption story. It is a good fit for someone who likes character-driven fantasy more than ornate worldbuilding for its own sake, and for readers who do not mind a story being sincere about moral injury and second chances. I would especially recommend it to people who enjoy fantasy adventures with political tension, emotional stakes, and a final stretch that leans hard into sacrifice and aftermath rather than easy triumph.
Pages: 211 | ASIN : B0CQRJZ1Y1
Sacrificial Lambs
Keith A. Thomas, Jr.’s Sacrificial Lambs is an audacious blend of religious thriller, apocalyptic fantasy, and supernatural war story, anchored in Vatican City and propelled by a “sacred key” described as the Trinity’s “secret recipe…a genetic code” for creating supernatural beings, now stolen and in the wrong hands. The premise is immediately grand in scale. A dark figure, Natas Christopher, rallies monstrous followers under prophecy and the shadow of the fallen angel Nero.
The novel’s most distinctive feature is its voice. The story leans into elevated, scripture-inflected diction. Characters speak in ceremonial rhythms (“ye,” “thou,” proclamations, edicts), which gives the story an operatic, mythic flavor that feels intentionally larger than life. For readers who enjoy biblical cadence and high-stakes spiritual conflict, that tone is a feature, not a bug. It makes the world feel governed by rules older than humanity.
Sacrificial Lambs moves with the momentum of a cinematic set-piece sequence. Divine warnings, secret councils, strange portals, and escalating confrontations that repeatedly widen the scope from personal peril to world-ending consequence. Darr, the archangel sent to intervene, provides a powerful structural spine, functioning as both protector and relentless timekeeper, pushing the Pope and selected clergy toward action. The Vatican setting, paired with supernatural intrusions, creates a satisfying pressure cooker. Faith becomes less an abstract institution and more a battlefield.
Where the book lands most strongly is in its imagery and spectacle. The author has a talent for staging moments that feel designed for a screen. The sense of “prophecy” made physical, and the feeling that sacred spaces can become arenas without losing their awe. The climax delivers on that promise, with Darr and throne guards arriving as judgment is rendered, and Natas Christopher’s threat forcibly contained. The closing beat is also intriguingly sharp. After the supernatural crisis, the story pivots back to human accountability. That final turn reframes the title in a pointed way, suggesting that “sacrifice” is not only cosmic, but institutional and moral.
For fans of theological horror, end-times fantasy, and Vatican-centered intrigue, Sacrificial Lambs offers a confident commitment to its big ideas and an unapologetically maximalist style. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy supernatural/religious epics with prophecy, angels and demons, and high-drama moral reckonings, especially those who like their thrillers soaked in mythic language and spiritual stakes.
Pages: 356 | ASIN : B0DLDFZ7P1
Soul of the Saviour
Soul of the Saviour drops you into a wild mix of brutal training grounds, smoky alleys, ancient magic, and the strange heat of Hell itself. The book follows Saxon Payne as he crawls back into life after years in a mystical retreat. It weaves through his past, the rise of lethally gifted assassins, demonic lovers, grim prisons, tender memories, and the looming clash between Heaven, Hell, and everything in between. It moves fast and swings between action, horror, and raw intimacy. Sometimes it feels like half spiritual odyssey and half grindhouse myth. I found myself swept up in the momentum because the story rarely slows down enough for you to catch your breath.
The writing goes for broke. Scenes in Hell’s kitchens shimmer with disgusting brilliance, and scenes of training in the mountains bristle with physical grit and stillness. There is a real commitment to showing bodies under strain and souls under pressure. The prose jumps from grim to tender in a heartbeat, and it gave me that sense of watching someone flip through different emotional filters just to see what hits hardest. The violence is bold. The sensuality is bold. The humor sneaks in with a wink. I liked how messy it all felt, because it made the characters feel lived-in and not staged.
The whole thread around becoming more than human through suffering made me uneasy and fascinated at the same time. I found myself rooting for characters who should have terrified me and shaking my head at choices that were obviously doomed. The story loves duality. Hope beside despair. Faith beside hunger. Love beside something darker and stranger. Sometimes it veers into excess, and sometimes the emotional beats come so fast I had to take a moment to reorient. But even then, I felt drawn along by the sheer confidence of the storytelling. It feels like the author trusts you to surf the chaos, and I liked that.
By the end, I felt satisfied and also curious because the book leaves a lot of questions humming under the surface. I would recommend Soul of the Saviour to readers who enjoy high-energy dark fantasy, intense character arcs, sharp edges, and worlds that bend myth with modern grit. If you like stories that mix heart with horror and beauty with brutality, this one will keep you turning pages long after you planned to stop.
Pages: 325 | ASIN : B0FCDT2J11
Mythology or Comparative Religions
Dead and Buried follows a woman learning to manage her Kitsune heritage and magic, who keeps having curveballs hurled at her from psychic attacks, supernatural creatures, and restless spirits. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
If I can quote Aerosmith, “Half my life’s in books written pages. Live and learn from fools and from sages.”
That pretty well sums up my life. Especially my younger years. I was a “surprise” baby, and my siblings were much older than I was. While I was loved, I really didn’t fit in. Then my father died when I was in grade school. By Junior High, my brothers and sister had all married and moved out of the house. So, I learned early to roll with the punches using books as my escape and humor as my armour.
Many of those books were in the Sci Fi/Fantasy realm, and I’ve always had a particular fascination with mythology or comparative religions.
I found Tai’s character to be believable and relatable; her emotions and responses felt real even when dealing with all the paranormal situations she was thrown into. Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?
As I indicated, I had to learn to roll with the punches as a child. I kept Tai as human as she rolled with her punches. She also uses humor as armour, even though she has less of a filter on her mouth than I do.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
It is a lesson that we all need to learn – acceptance, resiliency, and personal growth.
Can you tell us where the book goes and where we’ll see the characters in the next book?
There are a planned nine books in the series – literally one for each of the nine tails that a Kitsune can have.
Book three has Tai and friends in New Orleans, where she meets distant family and makes new friends. Of course, there is plenty of growth – and it is not all for her. I hope to have the book available on Amazon in February.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Join Tai, Nico, and Magoo as they navigate contractors, heartbreak, and the undead.
All I wanted was a moment to myself. Being back in High School was exhausting. I groaned, contemplating the absurdity of the situation. Having to take summer school classes was lame at the best of times. But taking a High School class when you were eight-plus years out of school was even worse. Especially when it was a class I had technically already passed. Technically. By the skin of my teeth. Which, if I am to understand correctly, is a trait of certain gnomes. Not sure which ones, though.
Dead and Buried: The Last Kitsune Book 2
Dead and Buried picks up with Tai trying to hold her life together while everything supernatural around her spins out of control. The book follows her attempts to manage her unstable kitsune magic, the chaos caused by her two-tailed nekomata Magoo, a strange psychic attack, a dream that might not be a dream, and the frightening discovery that her supposedly dead father, Viktor, may still have a grip on the world of the living. As Tai and her friends confront new dangers, including zombie-like creatures, restless spirits, and a growing conspiracy tied to the Key of Wealth, the story widens into a mystery that reaches from woods to clubs to interdimensional threats. It all builds into a story about identity, legacy, and the messy courage needed to face old shadows.
What struck me right away was how alive the writing felt. The opening scene with undead mice skittering across the floor pulled me in with a laugh and a grimace at the same time. Tai’s voice is sharp and funny, but it carries this constant undercurrent of vulnerability that made me root for her before I even realized it. The book throws wild supernatural moments around like confetti, and yet the emotions always land. I kept feeling this push-and-pull between humor and fear. One moment I was laughing at Magoo acting like a furry little menace and the next I felt a knot in my stomach when Tai described her dreams about Sunreaver or the shock of hearing Viktor whisper that things were not over. The mix worked for me. It felt raw and very human, even when things got weird.
I also loved how the story handled relationships. Ash brings warmth into scenes that would otherwise feel too heavy, and Xunie’s mysterious and chaotic energy adds a spark that made me grin every time she appeared. The club scenes with Nico cracked me up, especially when the supposedly impossible ghost activity starts up again. At the same time, the book digs into Tai’s trauma in a way that is emotionally resonant. Her guilt about Sunreaver, her fear that she might not be in control of herself, and her anger at being treated like a fragile resource instead of a person. I felt those things right alongside her, and the writing did not sugarcoat any of it. It made the fun moments brighter and the frightening ones sharper. If anything, the emotional whiplash made the story feel more real to me.
By the time I closed the book, I felt like I had been on a wild ride through magic, danger, grief, and a whole lot of found family chaos. I enjoyed that messy thrill. I enjoyed the heart in it even more. If you like supernatural stories that mix humor with fear, action with real emotional weight, or if you simply enjoy following a character who stubbornly keeps getting back up no matter what is thrown at her, then this book is absolutely worth your time. Fans of urban fantasy, paranormal mystery, or character-driven supernatural drama will have a blast with Tai and her world.
Pages: 339 | ASIN : B0FBJ89ZZV
