“Only a stupid man doesn’t respect his opponent’s strengths, and if there’s one thing Eli is good at, it’s never showing up when you want him and always showing up when you don’t.” I stumbled upon this omnibus of the first three books in Rachel Aaron’s series (consisting of “The Spirit Thief”, “The Spirit Rebellion” and “The Spirit Eater”) a while ago at my local used book store, and it sounded like something that would be right up my alley so I decided to pick it up! The story centers around the series’ titular hero, Eli Monpress: a talented thief who also happens to be a very skilled wizard ..read more

“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man’s will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is fire itself.” I had heard nothing but positive things about this book for a long time but for whatever reason it just never especially captured my interest… but after my sister pestered me for several months to read it insisting how much I would love it ..read more

“I dipped my hand into the cool water and stroked the petals of the lilies. I smiled at the beauty of it all. Unlike the faded grandiosity of the castle, the walled garden had been reclaimed by something greater. It gave an illusion of a sublime infinity perfectly captured and imperfectly held, like rainbows in water.” In yet another instance of an absolutely stunning front cover initially capturing my attention, I saw this novel at my local used book store a while ago and upon reading the synopsis I was definitely intrigued. The story follows Catherine Helstone, a woman living in an alternat ..read more

“The whole cliff side shook with the power and the weight of him. The world shrank down to the single point that was him, his eyes, his jaws, his teeth. All sound was the sound of his roar. All the wind was the beating of his wings. All the ground was the tremor of his footsteps. He defined the world.” When Goodreads’ synopsis of this book pitched it as being “The Hobbit” meets “Guardians of the Galaxy” I immediately wanted to check it out, as that sounded like something that would be right up my alley! In a world ruled and governed by a wicked hierarchy of dragons known as the “Dragon Co ..read more

“‘Treacherous Odin!’ called the wolf. ‘If you had not lied to me, I would have been a friend to the gods. But your fear has betrayed you. I will kill you, Father of the Gods. I will wait until the end of things, and I will eat the sun and I will eat the moon. But I will take the most pleasure in killing you.'” Ever since I was a kid I have always loved mythology and all the unique captivating tales the genre offers as explanation for happenings in the world. When I was younger this was primarily through Greek mythology, but as I’ve gotten older I have made efforts to expand and diversify my u ..read more

“You can weave your life so long – only so long, and then a thing in the world out of your control will tug at one vital thread and leave you patternless and subdued.” For quite a while I have heard of this book as being an underrated gem in the fantasy genre, and after having read it myself I can see why, as there is a lot to enjoy and appreciate about it. The story follows a young woman named Sybil who lives on Eld Mountain, high atop to kingdom of Eldwold inhabited by man, with a menagerie of beasts whose care has been passed down the generations of her family and with whom she is able to ..read more

“Rusing was a craft. An art form. Like the rich folks’ orchestral music – some movements slow, some movements swift and thrilling, but Ard was always the conductor.” This was such a fun fantasy heist story, and it did a great job at occupying the currently vacant space in my heart left by Scott Lynch’s Gentlemen Bastards series (at least until November 2019, which seriously can’t come soon enough). The story follows an infamous, dashing and devilishly clever ruse artist for hire named Ardor Benn, who works within a kingdom comprised of a series of islands called the “Greater Chain” wit ..read more

“The orchestra hit a beat, the fans snapped shut, and for half a moment they both struck a tantalizing pose. Not quite long enough to see exactly what they were or were not showing, but long enough to make everyone in the audience wonder. Then the lights went out and the crowd screamed for more.” It became clear to me relatively quickly when reading this novel that the only thing that distinguished it as fantasy is that it takes place in a fictional world which closely parallels our own, so don’t expect any magic, mythical creatures or epic battles. But hey, I read it, so I’m going to talk ..read more

“When he opened his eyes, he looked around at the cool darkness, this well of silence, the weight of rock and loneliness and thought ‘this is what it is to be emperor'” Lately I’ve been craving a good politically focused fantasy story, so the premise of this novel definitely caught my attention as something I wanted to check out. In a kingdom governed by the ruling class of elves, a young half-elf half-goblin named Maia lives in exile until one day an urgent message is delivered to him. His father: the emperor, and his two older brothers have been killed in a mysterious airship accident… sudd ..read more

“It seemed that Loch was a feather, not a rock. If you wanted to catch a rock somebody had thrown, you grabbed fast and hard to make sure you got hold of it. But with a feather, you watched carefully, spread your hands, and waited.” I was very excited when I finally found a copy of this novel in my local used bookstore, as I am a huge fan of the video game series Dragon Age and Mass Effect in which Patrick Weekes has previously worked as a writer, and I was anxious to see how his story-telling skills would translate between mediums. Acting as the first installation in a larger series and taki ..read more