Fantasy Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Arrow by Maureen O’Leary

Based on an old Gaelic myth, The Arrow is about Fynn Kildare, one of two daughters of Saint Brigid, a “Divine” goddess with miraculous powers of healing. As a teenager, Fynn lived with her family on a centuries-old fortress of Brigid’s Keep, out in the ocean, off the coast of the town of St. Cocha, using her healing magic on the sick and weary who were able to travel to them. When a patient turned out to be a trap set by a witch, Fynn realized and – too late to draw back – becomes infected with a demon virus […]

Naka Jackson2015-02-02T09:08:19+02:00January 7th, 2015|Categories: Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Five Days Dead by James L. Davis

In an uncertain future, humanity finally achieves its greatest technological breakthrough with cold fusion, and with the rise of growing political climates toward conservation, recedes into a technological utopia of the Hubs, interlinked cities across the world.

The decision of the majority of the population is solidified by the invention of the Link – a web-like virtual reality “Digiverse” – and the coming of the Rages, apocalyptic occurrences of unknown origin ranging from rapid climate changes to all animal life on the planet becoming wildly hostile to humans, and only humans.

It’s in these “intrestin” times that one Harley Nearwater […]

James Grimsby2014-12-18T07:13:46+02:00December 18th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction Book Reviews, Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: The Arrival by Dakota Kemp

The Arrival (Ascension Book 1) is a fantasy epic by Dakota Kemp, and is the winner of the Full Moon Awards 2014 Fantasy Prize.

The book tells the story of several figures in the world of Vrold, where war has begun to tear its peoples apart when brutal attacks spring out and turn up tensions and open old wounds between city-states.

As battle rears its ugly head, heroes – likely and not – begin to answer their individual calls to action across the land, their fates intertwined through a web of secrets: the young officer Kelvar Alexandros who finds […]

James Grimsby2014-12-03T10:39:38+02:00December 3rd, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: The Lycetta Legacy by SJ Oaksley

The Lycetta Legacy, Book One, by SJ Oaksley is a clever new addition to the young adult fantasy genre.

Julia Lynch is a seventeen-year-old girl who thinks she has a normal life. Like most teens her age, she hates her part-time job and enjoys spending time with her friends. Julia and her mother are really close, especially after the tragic death of Julia’s father two years earlier.

One afternoon, when Julia takes a shortcut through an alleyway on her way home from work she’s mugged. This event changes her life drastically. A mysterious man and his acquaintance come to […]

T B Markinson2015-01-08T00:36:41+02:00November 26th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Lost Library by Kate Baray

Lost Library by Kate Baray is the first novel in the “Lost Library” urban fantasy romance series, which so far comprises three novels and three short stories. That investment in world-building is very evident in these pages: the book is both carefully detailed and fast-paced, which will appeal to more readers than those interested in romance.

The book follows Lizzie, a 36-year-old woman who’s at once engaging and fairly bored with her life. That is until a mysterious book bound in leather arrives on her doorstep. She soon discovers that the writing on the pages changes whenever she opens it, […]

Henry Baum2014-11-21T06:11:42+02:00November 21st, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: When Elves Die by Richard Poche

When Elves Die is the debut novel of author Richard Poche. It’s a traditional medieval fantasy tale, with all the mainstays and characterizations that are expected from the dark fantasy genre.

Here we have tribal clans of elves, cruel, brutish orcs, violent martial barbarians, evil witches, pure princesses, and even vampire-like creatures called killtooths. In essence, When Elves Die is a survival tale, following a multitude of protagonists (some fleeting, some not) including Princess Carella, Zanfire the Cleric, Kelroar the Barbarian, and a veritable host of elven (or half-elven) characters. It is up to Carella and the rest of her […]

Dakota Kemp2014-11-21T11:10:43+02:00November 20th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

When Elves Die By Richard Poche

When Elves Die is a dark fantasy tale and the debut novel of author Richard Poche.

This is a story of gritty, gratuitous violence and traditional fantasy good versus evil, with beleaguered elves struggling to repel the malevolent onslaught of the Dark Queen and her horrifying minions. The survival of the elven race rests upon the shoulders of Princess Carella, Zanfire the Cleric, Kelroar the Barbarian, and a motley group of followers, each more flawed than the next. If they cannot overcome the evil natures lurking within, their people will be destroyed forever.

Each character has a specific, identifying trait, […]

Dakota Kemp2014-11-14T04:33:32+02:00November 14th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Shadow of the Raven by Millie Thom

The real-life tales of 9th-century England are brought to life in Millie Thom’s book, Shadow of the Raven, the first book in the Sons of Kings trilogy. The book mixes fact and fiction, with the two main characters in rivalling kingdoms being true-life English royal Alfred of Wessex, son of ‘Aethelwulf The Great’ and the fictional Eadwulf of Mercia (although his father King Beorthwulf was a real-life King.) These books are based on the roots of the English Kingdom, as two rival kings of Britain fight for their destiny: To defend Anglo-Saxon lands from invasion from vicious Danish raiders: […]