@Nick_Borrelli

I'm convinced that the bad reviews for these books are a result of sour grapes toward a self-published author who becomes successful. Honestly, I was blown away by the first two installments in this series. It truly has it all: intrigue, adventure, great dialogue, humor, and above all - a wonderful story. Kudos to Mr. Sullivan. I can't wait to begin the next book!

First let me say that I was blown away by Matt Moss's previous SF effort Alterlife. I thought that it was an amazingly well-written story that reminded me so much of Ready Player One and Tad William's Otherland series. Here Moss hits it out of the park once again, this time turning his attention to Fantasy of the dark and epic variety. I'm happy to say that this book just further cements Matt as an author to really watch in the genre and he continues to make a significant mark with his books. A more lengthy and formal review will be forthcoming very soon.

The story picks up not too long after the events that concluded The Devil's Apprentice. Philip is back above ground, so to speak, after his adventures in Hell. In the first book, Philip was accidentally sent to the underworld in a case of mistaken identity and found himself being groomed to take over the top job by the head honcho Satan himself. Philip learned a lot about himself during the time he spent in Hell, including his capacity to shed his goodie goodie persona for one that was a little more devious.


Turns out he will need to harness all of the evil skills that he learned during his first sojourn as he is called back to the fiery pits of Hell to solve a mystery. It seems that Mortimer, who is actually "Death" has a bit of a problem that he needs fixing and 11 year-old Philip is the only one that can undertake the mission. The mission in this case is to try and recover the stolen Death's Die. If the Die is not recovered soon, immortality will spread across the...

92/100

Click here for my full review:

https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.com/2018/07/book-review-bastard-from-fairyland-by.html

Let me begin my review by first saying that we are truly blessed as readers and reviewers to be part of an amazing revolution in the book industry at this very moment. Never before have self-published authors had such visibility and a platform to get their work out there and read by such a large portion of the book-buying public. This is really a great development and I personally have been fortunate enough to read some fantastic entries already in the Self-Published Fantasy Book-Off. That has only continued with this the first book in the Knights' Protocol trilogy by British Fantasy author Phil Parker. The title of the book is THE BASTARD FROM FAIRYLAND and as I mentioned, it is one...

Anna Smith Spark is an author whose prose is much talked about and admired. And while I agree that yes her prose is arguably unmatched, I think what sometimes gets lost in all of this is how incredibly brilliant she is at crafting such compelling stories that have the ability to completely shake the reader with their emotional impact. Another area where Spark excels in my opinion is her exquisite writing of characters. You will fall in love with these people and also have your heart brutally crushed by them. Hey, they don't call her Queen of Grimdark for nothing!

Spark sets the mood right from the jump in A SWORD OF BRONZE AND ASHES and we are introduced to Kanda and her family in an ominous opening scene where they are seemingly being stalked by someone(s) or someTHING(s). Who or what it is that is hunting them remains hidden in the woods around their home but you can tell they are getting very close. Kanda flees with her family rather than be sitting ducks and says that they ...

Original review posted on my blog Out of This World SFF:
https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.com/2023/06/book-review-generation-ship-by-michael.html

This book really makes the most out of its roughly 600 page count. What I mean by that is it feels like so much story packed into only one single volume. And that story is masterfully delivered through a handful of viewpoint characters who all have varying motivations and ideological convictions. This makes for one heck of a political drama set against the backdrop of a galaxy-spanning space opera that I simply couldn't get enough of.

The wonderfully unique thing about this book is that much of it takes place on the actual ship rather than the planet. More than once I found myself asking, "Come on, when are we going to get to the dang planet?" Then I gradually began to r...

In my opinion WRAITHBOUND is a perfect example of why many of us read fantasy books. Because in the end you can have all of the magic, worldbuilding, and bloody battles that you want but if it's not an entertaining and wondrous escape, then it's all just window dressing to be honest. This book has everything that attracted me to fantasy books in the first place and the one word that keeps coming to mind after finishing it last night is fun. What a fantastically fun read that just kept me glued to every page. And aside from it being fun WRAITHBOUND is also a banger of a story.

This is a book that has so much to like if you are a fantasy fan. Evil sorcerers, hellish demons, a brilliant magic system that hearkened me back to L.E. Modesitt's Order and Chaos based structure, and characters (like the main character Rae) who are put to the test very early on and must answer the bell time and time again. Couple that with some really bold worldbuilding and you have yourself one heck of a...

Original review posted on my blog Out of This World SFF:
https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.com/2023/02/book-review-sword-defiant-by-gareth.html

Gareth Hanrahan is such an imaginative author and one of my favorites when it comes to churning out edgy entertaining fantasy that doesn't fit the usual stereotypes. His Black Iron Legacy series is so brilliant and a reminder that great fantasy doesn't have to follow a certain formula, as he so deftly created one of the most original fantasy worlds in recent memory. Hanrahan also injects a healthy dose of the weird in his characters and setting, which I absolutely love. So when I saw that Orbit was promoting a brand new book by him that would be releasing this coming May, I couldn't move fast enough to try to scoop up an early copy.

The book begins by introducing us to Aelfri...

Original review posted on my blog Out of This World SFF:
https://outofthisworldrev.blogspot.com/2023/05/book-review-legacy-of-brick-bone-by.html

Krystle Matar's debut Legacy of the Brightwash completely blew me away when I read it back in 2021. So much so that I picked it as my top read of that year. So you can understand how before starting the sequel LEGACY OF BRICK & BONE, I would be a little wary. Not because I thought I wouldn't like it, I knew that I would frankly. But when a book moves you and leaves you completely gutted the way that book one did, there's always a small part of you as a reader that hopes beyond hope that the story doesn't falter or drag in any way. Well I'm delighted to report that having finished this almost 1200 page book in nearly record time, I'm even more obsessed with this emotionally compel...

RJ Barker is up there with the select handful of authors whose books I will buy immediately upon their release, an "auto-buy" author if you will. Both of his previous series entertained the heck out of me and are also quite different in setting and theme. That right there should tell you what a versatile writer he is. So when I caught wind of the fact that he was releasing a brand new series, with the first book GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD coming out next month, well I simply had to try and get my hands on an early copy.

GODS OF THE WYRDWOOD is again a change-up in theme and tone as Barker shows off that versatility I just mentioned. The book is aptly named as there are definitely some weird things afoot with both the worldbuilding and characters, but in a very very good way. I always appreciate when an author injects some unusual elements into what can be a somewhat formulaic genre at times. It keeps the reader on their toes and there were quite a few moments where I was like, "where ...

The Gael Song series is one that is deeply rooted in Irish history, folklore, and mythology. If you are a fan of the types of books written by Bernard Cornwell, Sharon Kay Penman, and Morgan Llywelyn, you should find much to savor and enjoy in Shauna Lawless' brilliantly penned works. And Lawless adds an element of fantasy to the historical fiction aspect that elevates everything to an incredibly high level. The first book The Children of Gods and Fighting Men absolutely knocked my socks off when I read it last year and I have been waiting rather impatiently ever since for the next one to drop. So when I was given the opportunity to obtain an early copy of the sequel from the author (thanks Shauna!), my excitement level understandable was pretty high. I really couldn't wait to settle in and get reacquainted with these characters and their adventures.

THE WORDS OF KINGS AND PROPHETS continues the tale began in the first book in dramatic and compelling fashion. Now that all of the...

C.S. Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy is included in the 10 of My Fave SFF Series You May Not Have Heard Of list that I put together and posted on this very blog a few years back. It's such an underrated series in my opinion and contains not only some of the most exceptional worldbuilding you will ever read but also writing that is both evocative and flawless in its execution. C.S. Friedman writes stories that truly take the reader on a journey like no other and it's a shame that she doesn't often get the recognition that myself and many others believe that she deserves. When I heard that she had a new book coming out and that it was a prequel to one of my favorite story arcs of all-time, I jumped at the chance to get an early copy. I have been hoping for a backstory to what took place on that distant planet of Erna for a long long time, and now here it was in my hand. Would it live up to my expectations and do justice to what I feel is an unassailable masterwork of sff/horror? Here are my ...