Book Review - The Ravenmaster’s Revenge By Jacob Sannox

A review of

The Ravenmaster’s Revenge

By

Jacob Sannox

The Ravenmaster’s Revenge: The Return of King Arthur as the title suggests is a re-working of the classic Arthurian tale but instead is set mostly in modern day England. The main plot is about an old apprentice of Merlin who schemes and plots behind the scenes with the aim of maintaining the ancient bloodline of the English kings, but at any cost. In the present day he has become the Ravenmaster of the Tower of London and wields his supernatural ravens to subtly achieve his aims even if it means doing great evil to do so. Arthur finds himself, quite rightly, on the side of good and justice, and with his knights must stop this ancient sorcerer and let history take its course.

The story skips through important dates in history and reveals how Arthur took part in those historic events. In fact, the entire story is very cleverly entwined with English history which is probably the thing I enjoyed the most. Sannox shows us the fictional “real” story which was not recorded in the history books as Arthur, Merlin and his knights struggle against the schemes and dark witchcraft of the Ravenmaster. Arthur’s extreme longevity is explained really nicely as the man lives from 5th Century to present day, I won’t spoil it but it all makes sense. All the classic names from Arthurian canon are there too but have been cleverly re-worked into interesting characters. We also discover Arthur’s story from the 5th Century and the original legend of Arthur, as he battles Mordred, through to the English Civil war and the fate of King Charles and the Stewart family, we also get to see him take part in the Great Fire of London, the Battle of Waterloo and World War One, as Arthur continues his fight to protect the England he once ruled.

I really enjoyed this book. It is relatively short and makes for a quick enjoyable read. I would very much recommend it for history fans and fans of alternate history or Arthurian canon. There is also a sequel that I look forward to reading as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading

Lee

Book Review - The Skald’s Black Verse By Jordan Loyal Short

A review of

The Skald’s Black Verse

By

Jordan Loyal Short

I picked this book up expecting a Norse themed fantasy, I like Norse themed fantasy. So I’m reading it and its starts very much as I would expect, very Norse, very fantasy. The opening scene is pretty damn brutal and there is some intriguing dark elements. Cool. Then boom! Out of nowhere, some guy flies in on some kind of inter-planetary voidship and lands in this Norse setting – Well that got my attention. I was not expecting that! It quickly became apparent this is not your average Norse fantasy yarn.

So, let me tell you about The Black Skalds Verse by Jordan Loyal Short. Okay, we have the indigenous people of this setting, the Norns, a very Nordic style culture. Who at some time in the recent past were conquered and are now occupied, perhaps oppressed, by an interplanetary federation of a people called the Tyrianites.

As I said the opening scene is pretty brutal and introduces us to the character Anders, who is an secret Skald who can use blood magic. The Skalds were leaders of the Norn culture and were stamped out and pushed into hiding when the conquest came, few surviving. A child is born and the hint of dark magic is suggested.

We fast forward and the child is grown and we meet our first main POV character, Brohr, as an young adult. He lives with his grandfather, Anders, in the occupied village of Skoljias and who is a mixed race Norn and Tyrianite, fathered through rape during the conquest and known as a “shade” due to his darker skin. Brohr wants nothing more than to flee the village to another place known as Pederskald with his girlfriend and his dog.

The guy that flew in on the void ship is Perfect Brasca, our second main POV character. Brasca seems to be wrestling with his fair share of personal demons and is the new commander of the garrison occupying Skoljia, a lowly backwater assignment. His job is to maintain the occupation and prevent any uprising from rebellious Norns.

We have four main POV characters in all, we have Lyssa, a tavern maid who is close to an elderly wise woman and who is drawn into the plot by seemingly being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We also have Henrik who is the son of the Mayor of Skoljia. Both his father (the Major) and himself are magic users and Henrik is equally drawn in to the plot by being at the same wrong place and the wrong time as Lyssa. This afore mentioned place and time being a murder to which both of them are witness and which Brohr is then accused. But all is not what it seems, there is a dark ghostly shadow figure there also, and we wonder what connection it has to the surviving Skald Anders’ blood magic. All very intriguing. I won’t tell you what happens as you will have to read it.

It’s a story of occupation, oppression and rebellion, of dark blood magic and strange dark forces, and a people of tradition fighting to free itself of an oppressive yolk. There are some super cool parts to this story, there are the cool dark creatures we get to see at various points – You’ll enjoy those! And a whole planet is destroyed and smashes into another one, that’s pretty cool, it’s done very well too.

I really enjoyed this book, it quickly surprised me and took a direction I was not at all expecting. I love the cultures, the magic system, the spaceships and the interplanetary communication. Theres lots of action and peril. It’s a great book! I’d very much recommend it. I’ll be looking forward to reading more work from this author. Check it out!

Thanks for reading

Lee

Book Review - Blood of Heirs (Coraidic Sagas #1) by Alicia Wanstall-Burke

A review of

Blood of Heirs

By

Alicia Wanstall-Burke

This book was a finalist in SPFBO—which means it must be pretty awesome, right? It has been highly acclaimed by literally everyone, I’ve had my eye on it a while since I met Alicia at the books launch in Bristol, and perhaps more importantly, to me at least, the author is my new editor (and she is working hard to polish up A Ritual of Flesh for me too.) So, I thought it was high time I gave it a read, especially as I discovered it featured cool undead creatures, and if your reading this you probably know well that I love (and write) cool undead monsters—I couldn’t resist.

Blood of Heirs is the debut novel from Australian author Alicia Wanstall-Burke and is the first novel in her Coraidic Sagas series. It tells the story of two young characters in opposite ends of the world. The first POV character, Lidan, is the daughter of a chief. She lives in a village called Hummel in the South Lands, which can best be described as almost an Australian outback type setting. The people of the southlands are still using stone weapons and tools, and metal is a rarity. This was whole setting is quite cool, the author hails from Australia and has adeptly used the inspiration of her homeland to weave a fresh, and unique fantasy setting which I had not come across before. Lidan wrestles with the desire to train and ride alongside her people or to follow the wishes of her mother to rise as the heir of her clan. Lidan’s story is a powerful one, full of emotion and peril.

The second POV character is Ranoth, the son of the duke who rules the northern realm of Orthia. We are introduced to his story as he finds himself on the losing side of a battle after begging his father for his first command. He loses vital ground and returns in disgrace only to witnesses his army quickly overrun by the enemy. During his flight from the battle to return to the capital and raise the alarm, he has a dark and troubling encounter which unlocks something terrifying within him and leaves him haunted by the ghost of a young woman. Events transpire to find him running from not just everything he knew while he struggles for survival, but also a terrible hidden power and the ghosts of the past.

Now, earlier I mentioned cool undead creatures, and I wasn’t disappointed—there are in fact cool undead monsters—Awesome!!! I can’t reveal too much but they are super cool and grisly and terrifying and Wanstall-Burke has used them very effectively in both story arcs. The tension the create is palpable and I look forward to reading more in the sequel as I’m sure they will be an important feature in the series. Wanstall-Burke’s writing is superb, the book is fast paced with not a dull moment. It has left me intrigued and wanting more so I will be reading the sequel Legacy of Ghosts as soon as possible. I would very much recommend any fan of fantasy check this out.

Thanks for reading

Lee