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Book Review

Review: Nyssa Glass’ and the Electric Heart

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Nyssa Glass’ and the Electric Heart

by H.L. Burke

Reviewed by JMD Reid

It’s not surprising for the final Nyssa Glass novella that we return to the beginning. Back in the first book, she was hired (and strong-armed) by a mysterious person into breaking into the Dalhart manner and finding out what happened. Now that same person needs her again.

And he’ll stop at nothing to get her.

When a police investigator from her home country arrives promising to return Nyssa to justice, the young woman leaps at the opportunity to prove her innocence in the murder of her mentor Mr. Gallowy. But nothing is ever as it seems, and Ellis will have to pick up the pieces and figure out what happened to his fiancee.

Nyssa will have to use all her wits as she’s confronted with the last secret of Dalhart and the consequences of her actions in the first book.

What a conclusion to this series. Once again, we dive into the identity. What makes a person a person? What if there’s a copy of that person? Which is the original? Does being a copy make you different or the same? So many questions posed by the emotional climax of the Nyssa Glass novella.

If you haven’t read this series, then you need to. Burke has created gold with this series. It is full of heart, wonderful characters, fun action, and nerve-wracking tension. Some of the best young adult literature out there. Fans of fantasy and steampunk of all ages will love this series.

You can buy Nyssa Glass and the Electric Heart from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: The Unholy Consult

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The Unholy Consult (The Aspect-Emperor Book 4)

by R. Scott Bakker

Reviewed by JMD Reid

The close to the Aspect-Emperor series is upon us. The Second of the three series that makes up the greater Second Apocalypse series. Act Two is over, and what a powerful part it was. The Great Ordeal must deal with the consequences of eating Srancs as they make the final march to Golgotterath to save the world, led by Proyas. Achamian and Mimara race to join the Holy War so the Judging Eye may finally gaze on the Aspect-Emperor himself, Anasûrimbor Kellhus.

The fate of the world hangs in the balance, resting on the shoulders of one man. But is he truly the prophet he claims to be that will save the world, or will he doom it and side with the Unholy Consult itself, trading the fate of all for freedom from Damnation.

For Bakker fans who’ve followed the books since the Prince of Nothing, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. What will the Dûnyain do when he reaches Golgotterath and stares into the Inverse Fire. Will he betray the world to save himself or to embrace the Logos? Will he agree with the Consult’s plan to close the world from the gods and end damnation by exterminating life.

This book is tense and visceral. It hurtles you forward towards the climax with breathless anticipation. The characters we’ve followed for seven books collide together at the end. Reunions, betrayals, and more abound. Bakker keeps you on the toes. I’ve never read a Fantasy series where you felt the world could actual end.

Where you truly feared that the man destined to save it would ultimately be its destroyer.

Bakker must be praised for bringing about this dark and powerful tale and leaves you breathless for more. (And there is more coming, confirmed by the author that he’s already working on the third series). While the ending is shocking and leaves you wanting more, there is so much to this book to digest, to mull over, and ponder as we wait for more.

Once again, Bakker reminds us why he’s one of the best writing fantasy today.

You can buy The Unholy Consult from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: Sleeping Late on Judgement Day (Bobby Dollar Book 3)

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Sleeping Late on Judgement Day (Bobby Dollar Book 3)

by Tad Williams

Reviewed by JMD Reid

Bobby Dollar (Doloriel to the heavenly host) is an earthbound angel, an advocate fighting to keep souls out of hell. After the events of the last two novels, he is in a whole lot of trouble with Heaven. His personal judgment day approaches and he has to work fast to keep from being damned.

But when one of his judges is the very angel who has betrayed him and seeks to bury him for what he knows, things look grim. Worse, his girlfriend, the demon Casmira, remains imprisoned in Hell. His only shot of saving her is finding the demon horn kept by Anaias, proof of the angel’s bargain with Hell.

With the help of his angel friends and two lesbian amazons, Bobby will have to deal with a vengeful goddess, an insane group of modern-day Nazis, and the very bureaucracy of Heaven to uncover the truth of what’s been going on and to save his girlfriend from eternal torment.

It’s a lot for one angel to do.

The final Bobby Dollar novel keeps the fast paced and twisting plots of the first. Williams peels back his mythology even farther, showing us the layers of world building that went into this well-thought out trilogy. Characters are tested, friendships are strained, and lives are lost against one goddess eager to get back what she lost.

If you’re a fan of fast-paced stories, exciting adventures, and urban fantasy, you need to check out the Bobby Dollar Trilogy. And if you’ve read the first two books, you need to see how this story ends.

You can buy Sleeping Late on Judgement Day from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: The Warrior Prophet (The Prince of Nothing 2)

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The Warrior Prophet (The Prince of Nothing 2)

by R. Scott Bakker

Reviewed by JMD Reid

The Warrior Prophet picks up where the Darkness that Comes Before ended. Bakker expands on the world of his story as the Holy War marches south towards Fanim lands with Cnaiür urs Skiötha advising the Great Lords on how to prosecute the war. And with Cnaiür marches Kellhus, the Prince of Nothing, a man on a mission to kill his father. To accomplish that he must seize the Holy War as his instrument, defeat the Fanim, and wipe out the Cisharuim whom Kellhus deduces his father must be a member of.

With Kellhus travels Achamian who falls into his favorite role as teacher. Still reeling from discovering the Consult’s skinspies, abominations who can take a person’s appearance and pose as them, Achamian is unsure what to do about Kellhus. He is the harbinger of the Second Apocalypse. The world is at stake and yet Achamian cannot bring himself to tell his fellow Mandate wizards. He knows they would seize Kellhus.

And Achamian, like almost all who meet Kellhus, has grown fond of him. He cannot betray his genius pupil. He has been seduced into believing exactly what Kellhus wants. For Kellhus is Dunyain, bred to an intellect beyond normal men. To him, emotions are merely the yoke he enslaves those around him.

To possess the Holy War, Kellhus must become a prophet. Through lies, truths, and manipulation, Kellhus sets about manufacturing the circumstances of his new role. But the powerful take note from the Consult to Conphas, and intrigue and danger swirls about Kellhus and his companions.

The Warrior Prophet continues the level of intrigue, politics, complex characters, and philosophy of the first book, adding to it the brutalities of war. The Holy War is holy in name only as its fighters commit atrocities on their long-hated enemies. Bakker captures the full swath of human nature, the good, the bad, and the ugly, exposing it with an unflinching eye.

You can buy The Warrior Prophet from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: The Traitor’s Fate

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The Traitor’s Fate (A Queen of Thieves Novel)

by Andy Peloquin

Reviewed by JMD Reid

A decade has passed since Illanna became head of the Night Guild and their war with the Bloody Hand, a rival gang from the city of Voramis, approaches its end. She wants to stop them smuggling drugs and prostitutes into her city once and for all.

When she gets a lead on the agent behind their current plots, she decides to travel to Voramis with her most trusted agents. She’s walking right into the Bloody Hand’s territory. If she’s not careful, she could bring down the entire Night’s Guild.

The Traitor’s Fate is a bridge between Andy Peloquin’s two book series an epilogue to one and a prologue to the other. If you’ve read any of his Hunter of Voramis series, then you will recognize where this story ends, leading right to the start of that story (soon to be republished under a new title). It also adds as a nice resolution to Illanna’s story, showing how she, her lover, and her son are doing a decade into her rule of the Night Guild.

This story was a delight to read, stepping one last time into Peloquin’s world, adventuring with Illanna once more before handing off the story baton to his other protagonist and the bittersweet knowledge of where that story is heading.

Fans of Peloquin will love this series, and if you enjoy Grimdark Fantasy then you need to take a look at his catalog. The Night Guild Trilogy and his upcoming series about the Hunter of Voramis are indie treats worth reading!

You can buy Queen of the Night Guild form Amazon!

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Book Review

Review: Queen of the Night Guild

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Queen of the Night Guild (Queen of Thieves 3)

by Andy Peloquin

Reviewed by JMD Reid

Fire has stolen everything Illanna has left to live for. The thief of the Night Guild, a brutal criminal organization, thought her freedom was at hand only to have the hungry flames destroy everything. Now all she wants is revenge.

She wants to find who in the Night Guild betrayed her to their rivals, the Bloody Hand. She will do anything to stop them, even if it means saving what she hates. Illanna has been driven to her limits. A woman with nothing to lose is a very dangerous thing.

Peloquin brings to a close his trilogy with an explosion. The pace never lets up from beginning to end as Illanna reels from one catastrophe to another as she struggles to piece together what is going on, trying to save what friends remain to her, and to get revenge upon those who have destroyed what she cares most for. The brutal world Peloquin created does not let up here in this final stage.

If you’re a fan of fantasy with great world building and mature themes, then you need to read Pelonquin’s writing. He delves into the dark reaches of the human soul to illuminate what glitter can be found shrouded by shadows of greed, depravity, and despair.

If you read the first books in this series, then you will not be disappointed by the ending. And if you haven’t read Pelonquin’s books, then you need to delve into this amazing Indie fantasy author!

You can buy Queen of the Night Guild form Amazon!

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Book Review

Review: 13 Hours

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13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi

by Mitchell Zuckoff with the Annex Security Team

Reviewed by JMD Reid

On September 11th, 2012, the US Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi, Libya came under attack by Islamic Militias. Four men died over the next thirteen hours as a fierce gunfight raged through the night in the volatile city. This book is not about the political, partisan controversy that has mired what happened in Benghazi, but the members of the GSR—Global Security Resource) civilian contractors hired by the CIA to protect their clandestine sites—as they fought to protect themselves and other Americans that night.

The book first lays out the groundwork, discussing the history of Benghazi for the last several centuries so you can understand how the events of that night trace their roots back in time. Then it discusses who the GSR are. All are ex-military drawn from Navy Seals, Delta Force, and one Marine. These are men who had families and could make good money for a few months work in distant corners of the world. They didn’t want to fight. They just wanted to finish their tour and get back home.

Like a good history, it connects you with the participants. You get to know the operators, two of whom died during a mortar attack that night, and Ambassador Chris Steven and Sean Smith, who perished when their diplomatic building was set ablaze while they hid in a safe room. The book draws you into real, living history, letting you draw your own conclusions about the controversy.

Any fan of military history, will find this book to be a great read. It recreates, as best as possible, a terrible night. It makes an event argued about over and over by politicians grinding their own axes into something real and personable, cutting through all the bickering and backbiting that has characterized the tragedy since.

You can buy 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi from Amazon.

Book Review

Review: Nyssa Glass’s Clockwork Christmas

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Nyssa Glass’s Clockwork Christmas

by H.L. Burke

Reviewed by JMD Reid

It’s nearing Christmas, and Nyssa and Ellis want to make it something special. Nyssa, orphaned and raised by her thieving uncle, never had a proper Christmas while for Ellis it represented the family he lost in the car accident that left him crippled three years ago. As their relationship grows closer, both want to make the other happy.

And this leads to all sorts of tropey relationship drama as Nyssa wants to learn how to dance but keep it a secret. But when Ellis sees her with her dancing instructor, jealousy grows. While it doesn’t descend into horrible fighting, it does add a strain to this story. Out of all five of the Nyssa novellas, this is the weakest to me. For others who are more into the romance, they might really like this.

But even still, this story maintains its heart. It doesn’t have the life and death stakes of the other novellas, but it maintains that warmth and hope the others have. It is sweet reading about them trying to make the other have the best Christmas possible, struggling to figure out the perfect gift, and at the end, when they open up to each other, it’s rather beautiful.

Nyssa Glass continues to be a great series that fans of fantasy and steampunk of all ages will enjoy.

You can buy Nyssa Glass’s Clockwork Christmas from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: A New Goddess

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A New Goddess

by Autumn M Brit

Reviewed by JMD Reid

Bek’kana is drive to do anything to free his people, the Ashanti, from the Goddess Myrrah’s curse. Mad with ambition, he will do anything to cross over into the Spirit World and gain his people, and himself, the power long denied them.

It’s up to our heroes to find stop him from entering the Spirit Gate, the last of the five gates still open. And they can’t close it. To do so would end all life on their world. Somehow they have to find the strength to fight back. And to do that, the need the Ring of Valian.

But the Ring was last seen heading into the Spirit Realm. It is a dangerous place for the living. Lavinia, Darag, Niri, Ria, and their friends will have to risk everything on a gamble that they can find the Ring and stop Bek’kana’s mad ambition.

If they can’t, the Ashanti will enslave their own people. Bek’kana will punish their people with his own race’s curse.

Autumn Brit weaves the thread she’s laid out in her first trilogy and the first two books of this series towards the climax. Everything has changed. Old enemies are now friends, once allies are now bitter enemies. The peoples of the world will all have to work together to bring an end to Bek’kana’s thirst for power.

This book peels back more of her world and reveals the underlining pinning of it. This is such a fast-paced and fun book to read. The stakes have never been higher, and the emotions have never been stronger. If you haven’t started reading Brit, then you need to pick up Born of Water and start reading this amazing series!

Fans of fantasy will fall in love with the writing of Autumn Brit! I can’t wait to see what new and imaginative worlds she’ll create next.

You can buy A New Goddess from Amazon!

Book Review

Review: Nyssa Glass and the Cutpurse Kid

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Nyssa Glass and the Cutpurse Kid

by H.L. Burke

Reviewed by JMD Reid

Settled into their new life, Nyssa and Ellis have opened their own repair shop. They need this business to be successful as Ellis’s money is dwindling fast. But when they catch a pickpocket trying to steal Ellis’s possessions, Nyssa sees herself in the young boy, something Ellis recognizes. The couple adopts the boy, to give him a new life like Nyssa had from her dead mentor.

But the cutpurse entering their life couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Nyssa’s past has caught up. Her uncle, the man who turned her into a thief, appears. Not dead, like his criminal partners had claimed when they tried to use Nyssa, but in prison for the last decade. Thinking Nyssa must have quite the stash, he wants his cut.

And he’ll do anything to get it.

The theme of identity comes up over and over in these books, from the computer AI in the first novella, to the true identity of the young couple in the last book. Now Nyssa’s true identity as a thief is released to her new community by the man who made her into one. It’s a tense story as you watch all Nyssa and Ellis’s hard work to start over ruined by a greedy man who doesn’t understand the true meaning of family.

Like the other Nyssa Glass novellas, this one has heart that keeps you reading. Burke has really found magic with the characters of Nyssa and Ellis, and you want them to succeed against the obstacles laid out before them. Another excellent novella.

Fans of fantasy and steampunk need to check out this delightful young adult novella.

You can buy Nyssa Glass and the Cutpurse Kid from Amazon!