Smorgasbord Fantasia

John Gwynne continues to impress with the second volume in The Bloodsworn saga , Hunger of the Gods. Building out his Norse-inspired world, Hunger of the Gods is no longer just about the brave, foolish and gritty set of warriors seeking out their place in the saga-tales. It is in fact, a rip-roaring adventure where the lines between reality and myth has blurred. The Gods are real and they are alive, breathing fire and raining destruction, ripping apart our living world as we know it. Lik-Rafa, the dragon God has been freed by her worshippers and is a terrible force to reckon with, as she wants to seek revenge for wrongs done to her and her children eons ago. Drawn into this terrifying reality are the brave bunch of adventure-and-glory seekers, both the bands of warriors, The Battle-Grim and the Bloodsworn. And in the middle of all this, Orka - the lone 'wolf' continues her search for her cub, Breca who may have been kidnapped by the dragon-worshippers, in order to bring her to...

1.   In the Shadow of Lightning  by  Brian McClellan  A new Brian McClellan series is a thing for celebration! I admit, i haven't frankly finished one full series yet, but as usual, am going to be swayed with the promise of a new world, new heroes and a brand spanking cool magic system. Out on June 21st. 2.  Against All Gods  by  Miles Cameron Another author whose works I have admired, but have never finished a series yet. This one promises to be an all out epic fantasies, with Gods pitted against men, heroes, filled with epic quests and mythical monsters. Definitely going to be catching up on this!   3.  Daughter of Redwinter  by  Ed McDonald After having run through his absolutely brilliant grimdark first series, Ed McDonald is one of my automatic top of the TBR authors now. I am so glad, he's back alright after that medical scare of his! Rooting for this one and I am sure, as usual, Ed is going to knock the socks off with t...

 On Waiting on Wednesday, we feature some of the most anticipated new releases in SFF coming out this year. So this week, we shine the spotlight on the upcoming novel, part two in the new series Quest for Heroes by Stephen Aryan , The Warrior.  I truly enjoyed the first book, The Coward and didn't honestly think there was going to be a book-II (They are calling this a Duology!) so colour me pleasantly surprised. Eagerly looking forward this one!  Kell, two time saviour of the Five Kingdoms, is now the King of Algany. He has fame, power, respect, and has never been more miserable… Bound, by duty and responsibility, Kell is king only in name. Trapped in a loveless marriage, he leaves affairs of state to his wife, Sigrid. When his old friend, Willow, turns up asking him to go on a journey to her homeland he can’t wait to leave. The Malice, a malevolent poison that alters everything it infects, runs rampant across Willow’s homeland. Desperate to find a cure her cousin, Ravvi...

 In the follow-up to the stunning Black Sun , Fevered Star set in a fantastically re-constructed Meso-American inspired world, Rebecca Roanhorse takes us back to the politically charged cities of the Meridian.  Perhaps a tad bit slower than its predecessor, Fevered Star works chiefly because of the phenomenal worldbuilding that Rebecca excels in and continues to add on, with this Book-Two in the trilogy. True enough, it is a middle-book and right after that cataclysmic events of Book One, things take on a distinctly slower pace. We are being set up for a show-down in the last book of the trilogy but there are enough flash-points, peppered with brilliance, for us to sink our teeth into this bridge book.  As in Book One, the story unfolds through the POV of three main protagonists. Serapio, the blind young man, who is to be the vessel of vengeance, as planned by the Sky Clan Carrion Crow. The events pick up directly after the Serapio has channeled the Crow God and eclipsed...

  Red Wolf, Black Leopard was one of my favorite books of 2019. The favorite book, actually.  The first book in the proposed Dark Star trilogy was a psychedelic mad fantastical dream set in a pre-colonial Africa, teeming with magic, witches and mad kings, a Marlon James's version of traditional sword-and-sorcery. This was a gore splatter-fest, teeming with lurid sex all in the name of a quest to find a boy, who is central to the overall plot (if there ever was one!). So in Moon Witch, Spider King, the second novel in this trilogy, Marlon James reins himself in, just a touch . This book is more a companion novel rather than a sequel - giving us a roshomonesque view of the same quest, that our beloved Tracker had set out for, with his group of friends.  Except this time, it's the story of the Moon Witch, also known as Sogolon. Her name, actually doesn't matter as we realize over the course of her story that extends one hundred seventy seven years and counting. It's a h...