L.K. Evans Blog

It was a night for screams. A broiling, sticky night of the sort that abrades that last thin barrier between the civilized man and the monster crouched in his soul. The screams came from homes where fear, heat, and overcrowding had put too much strain on the monster’s chains.

There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints.Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.

We adjure labels. We fight for money and indefinable pride. The politics, the ethics, the moralities, are irrelevant.

They sit around together like a couple of rocks, talking about the same things boulders do. They are content just to share one another’s company.

Consider little children. There are not many of them not cute and lovable and precious, sweet as whipped honey and butter. So where do all the wicked people come from?

Little girls are twice as precious and innocent as little boys. I do not know a culture that does not make them that way.

There was always a breeze out around the Island, though it avoided the shore as if fearing leprosy. Closer at hand, the wheeling gulls were as surly and lackadaisical as the day promised to make most men.

So this was a book that I should not have liked. It kinda ticked off a pet peeve. But I can’t help myself. I enjoyed Croaker’s (yes, that’s the character’s name) voice entirely too much. I mean, with names like One-eye, Silent, and Tom-Tom how could you not at least be swept away in the entertainment? And as you can see by the above, there were some great quotes in this book.

Soooo, story? I’m not sure. I guess I can sum it up by saying that a mercenary group gets a contract to work for the bad guys and ends up going on a campaign to further their employer’s advances. Because our protagonists are portrayed as neither good nor evil, it makes for some interesting observations. And my last sentence should warn those who love old school clearly good vs clearly bad that this might not be the book for them. While I consider Croaker to be inherently good, some of those in his company are not. And he works for the bad guys. He does stuff for the bad guys. So fair warning.

What was my annoyance? Summaries. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but some of the scenes were just lumped into a summary paragraph. I mean, to the point where it was almost like, “We went north and fought and won.” Nothing that simple, but it sure did feel like it. That happened a lot. Normally I wouldn’t mind, I mean, I’m not a fan of descriptions, but I felt a bit cheated out of some action. Matter of fact, even the action scenes felt a bit summed up. If Croaker fought, it was pretty much lumped up as that, instead of giving us a play by play of his moves, or how many bad guys he took on. I found it as enjoyable as annoying. I will say, dialog mostly advanced the story. I like dialog, so this worked.

Another thing that took me a bit to adjust to was Cook’s writing style. Scenes could be a bit confusing at times, especially the beginning. You kinda feel tossed around. It’s a lot to adjust to right from the get go. There were breathtaking sentences, but I’d say most of it read choppy. At first, I wasn’t a fan, but as the story progressed I actually found it captivating. A few examples:

One-eye grunted, discarded. Candy picked up and spread. One-eye cursed.

The list was disappointing. I gave it to Elmo. He cursed, spat, cursed again. He kicked the planks we were using as a card table.

As you can see, it’s very short, abrupt, and choppy. Somehow it works, though. It fits with the characters, and I found myself not noticing it the farther I read.

The world was fleshed out enough for me, but those crazy into world building might find it lacking. I didn’t really get a good feel for it, but then again, I’m not one to usually notice an underdeveloped world. I like a story that moves.

How about those characters? I can’t say that I love one over another. There was a group—the main group the story focuses on—that I loved. All of them. They were each well built, flawed, unique, and interacted with each member differently. I liked that aspect. Most of all, I think I enjoyed Croaker’s voice; how he spoke, how he observed, his morals and lack thereof. He wasn’t my favorite character—I’d actually be challenged to name one—but he kept things moving along. Not only were the “good” guys entertaining, but some of the “bad” guys were equally developed. Cook did a great job at portraying some pretty dark characters and I found a few of them as captivating as some of the good guys.

I will definitely be picking up the second book. I’ve heard it’s better, and I’m curious to see where the story goes. We’ve got a peek towards the direction we’ll be traveling, and I’m excited about it. But most of all, I look forward to hanging out with the gang again. The great banter and wide cast makes it delightfully entertaining. And now that I’m adjusted to Cook’s style and know what to expect, I think I’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the second one more.

Overall, this book’s got some great cussing, it moves along nicely, it’s choppy and delightfully free of lengthy descriptions, it’s got a great set of characters, and some deep thoughts. I’d recommend it to any fantasy lover.

A young woman leaves the Academy for the first time and sets out to heal a king and ends up befriending a dragon. The plot was straightforward. The book was ridiculously fast to read. The writing was simple and easy.

I’ll admit, before I had time to decide if I wanted to continue reading, I was done. It’s such a quick read that I had no problems finishing it before completely deciding how I felt about it.

The characters were a little run-of-the-mill. None of them stood out. Shannon was fleshed out the most, but I found her to be a bit predictable. I knew where she’d end up pretty early on. The world was rather small, including the town where this story took place. Honestly, I had a difficult time imagining it, which for fantasy normally isn’t a problem I experience. It seemed to lack depth. Made things a bit odd. For those who love a detailed world, this one will disappoint. For those who like a fleshed out world but not crazy detailed, you’ll likely be disappointed. The world just isn’t much of a focus at all. It’s more of a character read, which I normally love, but I just didn’t love or hate any of the characters. I wasn’t invested.

The writing was clean, and as I said, it reads super fast. I guess that does attest to the plot moving along. Things happen that keep pushing the story forward, so you never feel like you’re stuck in any one scene. That’s a definite bonus in my opinion. Matter of fact, the pacing and clean writing has me curious about another of Burke's works, just not one in this same series.

Overall, I can’t really say much. Nothing about it moved me or made me curious about the next book. Keep in mind, this is a rather light tale, and as of late I’ve been itching for something dark and depressing, so this just didn’t squelch my need. And this has tons of great reviews on Goodreads, which just goes to show that I’m probably still in my reading funk. So, if you want a light, easy read to pass a few hours, I’d recommend picking this one up, because if that’s what I was in the mood for, I probably would have really enjoyed this book.

For those who don't know me, I'm going to start this by saying that I’ve not been myself of late, which has affected my reading. I think this book will be loved by a lot of people, just not me at this point in time. 

“From a distance, the writhing mass resembled some primordial, bubbling tar pit from which all the nightmares of the world fought for shape and the right to be born.”

This had sooooo much potential to capture me wholly. It’s basically about a knight who sets out on a quest to vanquish an evil demon. So what failed? Well, for me, it was the main character. I get how characters are supposed to be flawed, how they’re not supposed to be perfect, but I found Gabriel off-putting. And it was very early on that I formed this opinion. His self-righteousness is definitely dealt as one of those character flaws, but little else offset it so nothing balanced his character enough for me to root for him. The more I read, the less and less I liked him. I was actually hoping he’d get eaten by a demon so he’d get taken down a notch or two. With an unappealing lead character, the book just fizzled out for me. Such a shame because...

The world was touched upon, but the island where Gabriel undertook his mission was incredibly fun and explored in vivid, nice detail. There were monsters, a forgotten race, fights, and tense moments. It made me frustrated that I was stuck on this incredible island with an egotistical knight.

There were some flashbacks that I found distracting, but I believe that’s because I didn’t care much for Gabriel. One of them should have evoked some sympathy from me, but it was too late for me to change my mind.

The writing was clean and some of the descriptions quite lovely, such as the one I quoted above. It read fast and smooth, for me. Suwak has a gifted way with words, and—based on reviews—many have loved this story. If I were to have a character I remotely enjoyed, I would have loved it as well.

So overall, if you’re not a crazy character driven reader such as myself, you might find this book very appealing. It’s short and cheap, so it’d be a great way to pass an hour or two. 

“And if we are ever to see the star below our feet rise, we must first set it free. We must bleed the darkness from it ...”

So this was a good, quick read with a lot of story questions raised and little to no answers provided. It’s a basic intro to characters, a city, and some religion. I can’t really give an accurate blurb. There’s a few different story lines that are leading up to something to do with freeing a god, but we don’t know exactly what’s happening. Honestly, I think for such a short book there were too many PoV’s. Oh, and I wish I would have skipped the prologue. It would have added a bit more mystery to the thief nicknamed Mouse. Since I’ve read it, I feel like I know more than I should.

Normally I like my stories to move around settings. Give me travel and I’m usually very happy. This book stayed in one city. That said, I didn’t mind in the least. The city itself was unusual and I enjoyed exploring it. I felt entertained enough that I wasn’t itching to move on. The world was detailed enough for me and we’ve got a dose of religion, thieves guild, and a bit of how the city functions. I think I’m getting it, but those who like more detailed worlds might have the need for more. Since this is the first in a six part series, I’m sure we’ll understand more as the story progresses.

I liked the pace of the book. I felt it moved along nicely, though I’ll say again that a few less PoV’s would have beefed up the mystery and allowed the characters to be explored in more detail. Obviously this is just personal taste. I think there was a big chance here to spike my curiosity, but I knew too much.

The characters had their own voices, which was nice. They seemed separate, and Mouse was actually very realistically drawn. When faced with something horrible, he was scared to near paralysis, and with good cause. It made him human.

The writing itself was nice, but punctuation choices made this a bit odd to read at times. I’m not one to notice this stuff normally, but commas and dashes were oddly placed. I know Deann is working to get her book to a proofreader which should help.

I think the reason I liked this instead of it just being a “meh” book was the city itself and the potential of the story. At some point I’ll pick up the second installment. It’s raised enough of my curiosity, but not enough to move the second book up on my to-read list.

So overall, if you’ve got an hour or two to kill, this would be a great little book to pick up. And as of today, it's free!

Oh, Sci-Fi, why do you tease me so? It drives me crazy to want to like something only to come up feeling indifferent to it each time. Sci-Fi and I have always had problems understanding each other. Every time I read one, I feel distant. Unfortunately, The Soldier’s Sympathy was no different.

Basic storyline is of a soldier who goes out on a—for him—routine mission only to have everything go sideways. He finds himself on the run with a little girl and in search of answers about what just threw his life into chaos.

First off, for those who enjoy Sci-Fi, I’m sure you’d find this book fun. There’s a good amount of action, it’s paced well, the writing is nice, and the scenes detailed. However ...

For me, the beginning set up was too long and detailed. Remember, I’m not one for descriptions or a lot of backstory, and the first quarter or so had a lot of both. The exposition of some of the characters’ stories had me skimming way too early on in a book, which in turn immediately distanced me from the characters, which distanced me from the book. I wish some of it had been shorter, or worked into the story more.

The PoV skips around between a multitude of characters without much warning, an omniscient PoV that I usually find distracting. Though handled well, it still threw me when we’re suddenly switching to a different character without warning. Again, this is just a personal preference.

Now, all those negatives are consistent with books that I can’t get into. It doesn’t matter how amazing the story is or how clean the writing is. Unannounced PoV switches and lengthy descriptions and backstory/info dumps will throw me off the happy train super fast. With all that said, there were definitely some redeeming qualities about this book and several of which should have any lover of Sci-Fi picking this book up.

There was a wide cast of characters and I must say that they were all fleshed out nicely with a breadth of flaws and strengths. I never felt cheated, like I didn’t have enough time with one character in order to fully understand them. They all were delivered with satisfying page time. 

The story itself was entertaining, if not a tad predictable for Sci-Fi. It seems to always lead back to humans testing the boundaries of ethical technology. While I had a general notion where it was going, the true center of the broad idea was interesting and somewhat surprising.

The world was done nicely. I had no problems imagining it, which is something I usually struggle with when reading Sci-Fi. I didn’t even need to read all the descriptions to get a nice little image in my head. I will say for those who love complex worlds, this might not quench your thirst. It was simple and well thought out, but not layered in intrigue and mystery and spaceships.

There was a fair bit of action in this book. A lot of fights, guns, and a car chase. What most will love is the amount of detail put into each of these scenes. Every punch was described. For me, it was almost too detailed and I found it hard to imagine the scene, but I think most will gobble these up. Remember, I have a weak imagination. I will say that this would make one heck of an action-packed movie.

The writing was clean for me with only a few errors that I noticed—nothing beyond any other published work I’ve read, even the big names. It was accessible and fluid and easily digested. Here's a line I liked:

"But like all impossible dreams, we stow it with the rest of the bullshit and instead remain content with trivial things, like living out the day."

So overall, another Sci-Fi book that didn’t connect with me personally, but one I’m sure would satisfy any lover of Sci-Fi.

I picked up the second book the Shadow Saga series because I found the first so incredibly entertaining and I was still in a place where I needed pure entertainment.

In this second book, we follow Caim as he travels to find his roots and we also follow Josey’s story which takes us through treachery and the building of a new empire.

As with the first, I absolutely loved the shadows and how Caim used them. It was just as engaging to me and even more so than the first. We had a few more side plots going on compared to the first, and for most that will be welcomed. For me, I wanted more of Caim’s PoV. I’ve said it before, palace intrigue will usually bore me pretty fast. You’ve got to have a character in that setting that I’m in love with. I enjoyed Josey’s character, but I’m not obsessed by her, so those chapters in her PoV I ended up skimming a bit. Not that they were bad, it just wasn’t what I was in the mood for. We also got a PoV from Kit. That one was interesting. I’m not sure I loved them, but it threw out enough story questions and action that I stuck with them. Of course, Caim’s magic and PoV were my favorite sections. It really boils down to his struggle with his magic and trying to understand what it all really means. I enjoyed his confusion. It felt real. I also enjoyed his growth in this book. Finding one’s self is damn hard, and you felt that with him. And of course when he did use his magic it was just darn fun.

We got a bigger view of the world in this book and I thought it was done well. Remember I’m not a huge world fan, so I’m not always the best source on this one. I was satisfied. It felt big enough. It had life. It had variety.

Though this book didn’t rate as high as the first, it sure did set up a possibility of an amazing third book. I’m very much looking forward to reading it, soon. Very soon. From where it’s going, Caim’s going to be entering some rather fun lands and I hope the adventure is crazy. I also think we’ll be getting out of the palace in Josey’s PoV, which will help me enjoy that plot a bit more.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first one, I’d definitely pick this one up. It’s a middle book with setup, some fun fights, and a cast of new characters.

I LOVED IT

I’m in the mood for entertainment, something fun with nifty magic and a great character. I’m not in the mood to think or solve a complicated plot. My brain needs a rest and I need an escape. So this series was perfect.

Caim is an assassin who gets a job that turns sour and is thrown into a political uprising. Nothing about it is remarkably unique, but it’s fast paced and just an overall fun read.

First off, the magic in this book was just plain fun to read. Our protagonist, Caim, can command shadows. This in and of itself kept my attention. How Sprunk wrote those scenes were engaging and very well done. I could easily imagine it and it was incredibly entertaining. What I think made it stand out even more was the lack of any other magic, and even better was the lack of drawn out explanations on how the magic worked. I got a basic idea how based on some key sentences that managed to raise some story questions along with answering some and providing backstory. It was weaved into everything nicely. Loved it.

The characters for the most part were engaging and done well. I wouldn’t say they were A complicated or intriguing set, but I was satisfied with what I was given. Caim was well thought out with some good layers added to his personality. He grew in the book, which is always a good thing. Josey was our other protagonist. I didn’t care much for her in the beginning, which I think was kinda the point. She changed the most throughout the book and I enjoyed watching her toughen up. I actually found Kit raised my curiosity and held my attention more than Josey. I enjoyed Kit and Caim's interactions far more than Caim and Josey's. They had nice banter and an ease to their relationship that Josey and Caim lacked. The other characters were standard, in my opinion. Nothing stood out about them, but the story carried me past any disappointments there.

Speaking of, I enjoyed the pace of this book. It wasn’t slow for me and held my interest. Some of the action scenes were brilliant. Sprunk’s descriptions were done incredibly well for a gal who doesn’t care much for descriptions. His fight scenes were also engaging and wonderfully entertaining. The world was fine by me, nothing crazy or unique, but had history and felt developed.

So overall I enjoyed this book enough to immediately pick up the next one in the series. The shadows were the deciding factor for that choice because I found them super fun. I’d recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy and is looking for a quick read that’s high on the entertainment value.

I REALLY LIKED IT

This was a terribly hard review to write. Honestly, this was sooooooo close to falling into my I LOVED IT category, but when I thought back on my reading, I did a lot of skimming.

What I loved most? The Captain and his weapon, Bloodsounder. Sadly, by the time I really came to be interested in Braylar (and saw him as something more than just your standard tough guy), and was introduced to Bloodsounder, I was 40% into the book. Now, this is a short book, so that’s not a lot of reading, but still. If maybe I had gotten a taste of Bloodsounder a bit earlier on, I might’ve had no problem moving this up because I would have been invested sooner. Unfortunately I can’t say why I loved the Captain and Bloodsounder without ruining it for those who’ve not read the book. I will say when I hit that part I sat up straight and said: “Holy crap, that’s awesome!” 

And another crazy fun part about this book? The fight scenes. They are done incredibly well. Detailed and riveting. Those moments I couldn’t get enough of, especially when the Captain is involved. Shame there were only two major fights. There was some tension, don’t get me wrong, but it was the actual fight scenes that amazed me.

So what kept me from loving it and what made me skim? Well, the skimming is simple: Too much description for this girl and too much setup. Of course the descriptions were done wonderfully and really set the scenes. They weren’t excessive, but combined with my other reasons for not loving it, they seemed more prominent to me than they probably were. And then there just seemed to be so much introduction and setting up the characters. Sure, the dialog to do so was fun and watching the soldiers interact was entertaining. I just wish it would have been cut down by half.

This book is in first person, which I generally tend to love. The problem is I found the voice of Arki ... I don’t know, boring, maybe? Flat? Distant? Arki’s descriptions of the soldiers, especially the Captain, were so engaging that it made times when he was not with them seem very flat. I’m not sure how else to describe it. Perhaps I’m used to the first person PoV coming across with a slight bit of humor, or dry observations that make the internal processing sessions fun. Since Arki is along as a scribe meant to document the quest in detail, I guess he goes about it a bit more business-like. I will say toward the end I started catching glimpses of a bit of personality, but it really comes down to a bit too late for me.

On a smaller note, be prepared for a few typos here and there. It’s not excessive, but I did notice a few.

Overall, despite my gripes, I’d recommend this to everyone who loves fantasy. I think my issues with it are minimal and a lot of fantasy fans would love this book. The books are pricey (even for the ebook), so be sure to read a fair share of reviews to make sure you’ll enjoy it.

I REALLY LIKED IT

Saul is a prince who was captured and forced into slavery by an emperor who’d conquered his kingdom. We start Saul’s story on the day he escapes his captors and sets off to regain his kingdom’s freedom. The premise is very simple yet I found the story took some rather nice turns.

For me, I loved the first 15% of this book and the last 15%. I mean, I really really enjoyed it. Matter of fact, if the middle had been faster paced, I would have easily loved this book. And I bet that if things moved quicker, I might have even become obsessed. Unfortunately, the middle of this book felt like one drawn out plan to get into a castle and then was followed by a detailed execution of that plan. Granted, it was a good plan and there was stuff that needed to happen to deepen the plot and set up some things for the series, but for me it was just too slow. It probably goes back to my occasional wandering mind when stuck in one location for too long. For the entire middle of the book, we were in one city set on one task with some side adventures. I tend to like a bit more travel in my stories, and if you’re going to be in one location, the story needs to move super fast for me. This is—obviously—purely personal preference. There are a few stories that I have loved where the characters never move from one location, but it’s rare. This isn’t a short read, but it’s not overly long if you’re a reader who likes a bit more detail in their books, especially involving plots and planning.

The world was interesting enough. I felt satisfied in what I was given, had a good mental image and understanding, and enjoyed the run-ins with the Inquisition that gave this story a nice depth.

What pulled this book completely from my indifferent feeling was Saul. The story is told in first person, which I always enjoy, and we really get a good look at a man who has grown up in slavery. He comes out not exactly whole, and he went through some pretty horrible stuff that explains why. His intentions are good, but his callousness toward human life gets him in some tuff situations. There were some great lines from him that managed to get me to smile. Because of the sure enjoyment I found in Saul’s voice, I would definitely pick up the second book. I would hope it’d move faster since a lot of the building blocks are already set.

The two secondary characters are interesting enough, and Marcus’s carefree attitude is a good play on Saul’s more serious nature. I liked their interaction. The other characters felt very standard with nothing sticking out. Most played a very minor role so it didn’t bother me. I never felt cheated nor did I ever want to explore any other characters. I was satisfied with what I got from them.

So overall, this is a good book with huge potential in the second installment, which I fully plan on reading.

I’M INDIFFERENT

If one were to look at my checklist of things I love in a book, this one would hit quite a few of them. One of the characters has gone through something traumatic and is trying to overcome it, there’s magic, there’s action, there's animal interaction, and there’s nifty creatures. It’s basically about a small group that sets out to learn what is amiss at The Hall. It’s got a questy-type vibe to it, which I generally enjoy. So what went wrong?

I find that if I’m skimming a lot, there’s something that’s just not speaking to me. Unfortunately, that can be hard to pinpoint sometimes. For this book, I think it was an accumulation of things that ended up making this a run-of-the-mill story. Nothing stood out to boost this up in my rating. It was readable, but because of my pickiness, I just didn’t move past indifferent.

The major reason didn’t become apparent immediately. It slowly revealed itself over the first three chapters. It boiled down to either too much description for things I didn’t care at all about, or there’s too much summary where things could have been much more interactive. I felt like I was being told stuff way too often. Instead of giving me a conversation in dialog, there were several instances where the conversation was summarized as he said this, they all agreed, and then she said this and then he commented about that and so on. It continually pulled me out of the story. Because I was never grounded, the characters came across as forced. When you read a book at a distance, I think you notice things that you probably wouldn’t have if you had been entranced. Odd dialog can be digested without thought, whereas when you’re not invested, it becomes stilted.

I think—and obviously based on some of the reviews—that what bothered me will in no way bother some other readers. I am, self-admittedly, a finicky reader with a strong distastes for tiny details in descriptions. I don’t mind them occasionally, and sometimes they can really add to a story, but most of the time I’m just ready for things to move along. Especially early on in a book or series. If I can’t get invested enough in the characters, everything will stand out to me. Furthermore, summaries that draw out for paragraphs that have no impact on the story will yank me right out of my reading trance. So for those who can enjoy a story just for the story and not need to be crazy obsessed with characters, you’ll likely enjoy this book. For those character driven readers like me, I highly suggest reading the sample as far as you can.

So overall, this isn’t for everybody, but it has an interesting story idea and some fun creatures and fights. And it has a dog in the group, which I loved right off the bat. That interaction was done brilliantly.

All pit breaks loose in this book. Adro is in occupied by a foreign invader, there’s a Kez army camped on her boarders, and betrayal is rampant. 

Gosh, where do I begin? This is a hard review for me to write. Those who follow my reviews know that I’m a character driven reader. They are what make me come back to a series. So after book one and certainly after book 2, I was completely obsessed by Taniel. Don’t get me wrong, Olem, Pole, and Tamas are some of my favorites as well, but Taniel is the one I gravitated to the most. Which is why this review is hard to write.

If I sit back and think about my feelings while I had been reading the book, they were nothing shy of enthralled and angry that I couldn’t read faster. I was caught up in it all and was damn curious how McClellan planned on closing this series. I wasn’t disappointed. The ending, though I was expecting some of it, was well written and managed to get me to shed a tear to two. So while reading, I was utterly in love. Then it was over and...

I felt a tad bit little cheated. Upon reflection, I wasn’t as satisfied as I was with book 2, which happens to be my favorite. After much deliberation, I was able to understand why: I didn’t get enough Taniel and Pole time. Since those two are the ones who drive my obsession, I wanted more than what I got. In book 2, Taniel had some amazing fight scenes and I really missed those in this book.

There was also a ... how can I say this? Lack of closeness, maybe? In book 2, the battles and scenes were personal to the characters; smaller fights, close quarters, smaller scale. Those that might have been more high level were short and sweet. In book 3, there’s much more of a battlefield feel to it, more overview of how the entire fight is going. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still amazing. The scenes are done incredibly well and are needed, but since I’m a character reader, I like those more closed in battles.

What I was pleased with was the development of Nila, who happened to be one of my least favorite characters in the first two books. She took a turn for the better and made her PoV sections as interesting as Adamant, a storyline that is needed and can be—for me—either incredibly interesting or ever so slightly boring. I can’t help but wish her page time could have been shortened and Taniel’s lengthened.

Tamas’s storyline was a whirlwind. Poor guy never had a chance to breathe. His sections propelled the story onward while others gave us some breathers. I feel we got a lot more time with him, Adamant, and Nila, so if you love any of those characters, you’ll definitely love this book.

It might sound like I didn’t love the book, but it’s quite the opposite. I’ll read this series many times over. McClellan has my attention and I’m going to be a lifelong fan. I hear he’s writing another series set in the same world and I can’t wait. I’ve got a few of his short stories to read, but they won’t last long. After those, I’ll be impatiently waiting for the next thing McClellan types out.

So overall, a fantastic end to a great series and I’ll happily recommend these books to everyone.

I REALLY LIKED IT

I’m straddling the I’m Indifferent rating and the I Really Liked It rating. I’d say the first half of the book was a bit rough, but after the middle it smoothed out some and I really liked it. I rounded up because I enjoyed the premise of the story. Had a few things been different, it might have even moved up to my I Loved It rating. 

First, the dialog formatting. Now, this could very well be a cultural difference in styling, but, for me, it was highly bothersome while reading. First, the dialog tags were as follows:

“You have to take me.” Enrig Said.

Or: “You want excuses,” He told Merriqh. “fine.”

When you’re so accustomed to reading dialog formatted a certain way, any variance becomes distracting. And there was a lot of dialog. I couldn’t ease into my reading trance because it didn’t flow right and my brain kept pausing to say “What? Oh, okay. Continue.” Another issue was that the paragraphs were not indented. This made reading short dialog sections difficult. It jumbled together and sometimes you had to go back because you got off from who was talking. These things are simple fixes that would ease the flow of reading dramatically and would have easily solidified this as a I Really Liked It. Again, this could be a cultural difference, but I’ve never read a book that had it formatted like this one. And as I said, when you read tons of books, it’s going to throw you a bit.

Second, it felt rushed, especially in the beginning. The initial dialog felt a tad bit forced in order to get things moving. I wish there had been more setting and slower scenes. This does not mean I wanted more description, but would have liked everything to unroll a bit slower so I could adjust to this new world. It’s an incredibly short book so it had room for it. It would have helped developed the story more in the beginning and had me concerned for the characters from the get go. That said, the middle smoothed out a bit and the scenes were more detailed, especially toward the end.

Which brings me to the all things I enjoyed about this book.

First, the entire story idea was brilliant. Dragons rule the land and people live in caves. Dragon Dodgers is a group of Runners that carry messages across the “surface” for cash, also sometimes venturing into trinkets or goods. Since not a lot of people travel—because of the hungry dragons—Runners are basically badasses. The Dragon Dodgers are a motley group led by the Captain. Fun so far? You bet! Then it gets better. He’s not loved by all his people, so there’s some dissension in the ranks. It keeps you on your toes. Of course you’re rooting for the Captain, but the people disagreeing with him had some valid points. So it makes Captain a likable, flawed character. Half way through this book I was definitely a fan of the story. Again, if those distracting errors hadn’t been there and the book slowed down and flowed a bit better, I would have been all over this.

Second, there were two characters whose backgrounds were explored, and I found each to have an engaging history, especially the Captain. What they’ve been through is heartbreaking, and Captain’s situation is understandable and I felt a huge swell of pity for him.

Lastly, I never, ever saw that ending coming. Never. So kudos for throwing me for a complete loop! Love that!

So overall, I recommend reading a sample on Amazon. If the dialog tags and formatting doesn’t bother you, give it a go. I can say that I will definitely be checking out the next book because the story was engaging and different. 

I LOVED IT

What a surprisingly fun, engaging, and addictive read. I wasn’t planning on liking this book. I guess I hadn’t heard much and my expectation was low. So when I found myself irritated by interruptions, I realized it was blowing past those low expectations.

Be warned, the plot isn’t terribly unique. A thief is blackmailed into helping a baron so as to save his kidnapped love. So why did I love it so much?

First and foremost, I can honestly say I loved the voice of Crow. That’s what drew me in. That’s what made me want to keep picking this up. So that translates into a very well written book, in my opinion. The voice of Crow was addictively funny and solidly consistent even as his character grew during his travels. I loved the dry, cynical, realistic, clever, selfish, selfless, and sarcastic nature of Crow, which played wonderfully against Tanris’s altruistic personality. The two had a sort of chemistry that worked together. It wrestled quite a bit of smiles out of me.

The other part of Crow’s character that I much enjoyed was his vulnerability. He had fears, and I love that in characters. I love to see them break down and not always be the stalwart heroes standard in fantasy books. Tanris had his moments as well. 

Sadly, I had the plot figured out from the get go. I had already foreseen quite a few turns the book took. I don’t think many jaws will drop at some of the revelations. That’s not to say the book wasn’t enjoyable. Again, it was Crow’s voice that kept me entranced, not necessarily a complicated plot. Also, there were some definite slow parts. The farther along in the book we got, the more I noticed lengthy descriptions popping up. That’s not to say they weren’t there in the beginning, but since some of it is slow, I noticed these descriptions a bit more toward the end. The journey Crow takes is quite long. There’s some adventure in it for sure, but it is long and therefore slow in some parts. But the more addicted I became to Crow, the less and less I could put it down, even through some slow sections.

The world isn’t terribly complicated nor explored in depth. For me, I read for characters so it wasn’t a hinderance for me at all. However, those into heavy world building probably won’t find satisfaction in this book. What we were given was clear and simple and fit my tastes just fine.

I have high hopes that there might be a sequel. This is not part of a series, but I would love to read another adventure of Crow, Tanris, and Girl (yes, that’s what they call her for reason that would become clear if you decided to pick this up). Speaking of her, I actually quite enjoyed her character. I found her humorous in her own way and she added some comical moments to the book.

So overall, I would highly recommend reading the entire sample available on Amazon. If the voice of Crow appeals to you, I can’t recommend this enough. It was long, but fun and witty with a nice dose of adventure.

I LOVED IT

I was completely caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this book. I read it in one day and never had a desire to set it aside.

Vervain is a magic instructor who ends up getting an orc bodyguard when the university fears for several instructors’ safety. Riyu is the orc assigned to her. For me, the best part of this book was Vervain battling with her perceptions about orcs. One by one, what she thought of the “brutes” was quickly proven wrong. Seeing her struggle with her own prejudices was delightful.

I found Vervain to be a refreshing character to follow. She isn’t young as most books peg their protagonist. She’s in her late forties and has dedicated her life to magic. With Riyu’s presence, she begins to see outside her bubble of a world. It was great to watch her grow and even more rewarding to read about her relationship with Riyu, who I found a delight to read about.

The other characters were great supports. Vervain and Riyu steal the show, for me, but the other characters were done well enough to add to the story.

The world wasn’t explored a lot, and I was completely fine. I had a good feel of it all and was able to focus nicely on Riyu and Vervain. There’s some great action, terribly nasty creatures, a dose of romance, and an ending I saw coming, but was no less engaging because of it. There was one part with one of her companions that I never saw coming and my jaw dropped when I read it. It made up for the otherwise predictable ending. There was a light tone to this, but the creatures and some of the action were pretty harrowing. I enjoyed the combination immensely.

The writing flowed brilliantly for me, and I found myself devouring this book rather quickly. As I said, I never had a desire to put it down. 

Overall, I’ve already recommended this to a few. If you like a bit of romance in your fantasy, I highly encourage you to pick this one up. It’s a stand alone, and I must say I’m sorry to see it end. I’ll definitely be picking up more of Corvidae’s work.

I REALLY LIKED IT

I must confess, when I first started reading this book I was a tad bit bored. It took about a quarter of the way into it before I found myself wanting to pick it up. At about 60 percent in, I was engrossed. It’s a story about a man, Alsed, who has lived in a walled-in city all his life. The place he lives in is cut off from the rest of the world, literally walled up from it. What was interesting was the fact that the people in the city had no idea what was going on outside. That is, until one day when Alsed rescues a woman. I don’t want to spoil it, but I will say that Alsed and the woman go outside the walls with a group of volunteers and go off to help the said woman’s country. Once outside, Alsed and his friends must learn about the world rather quickly. That interaction was my favorite part. However . . .

Boy was it heavy in history. Some of it was worked in nicely, using dialog and a setting to teach us. Others, it just felt so long to me. Keep in mind, I tend to glaze over when it comes to backstory and history lessons about the world. I would prefer to receive the info in quick interactions or maybe some spruced up dialog. This felt just a bit hand fed. Since this happened a lot in the beginning, I think that’s why it took me so long to get into it.

Some of the lore and creatures were quite interesting and fun to read about. What/who the group encountered on their little adventure was also entertaining. It had a questy type feel about it once they left the walled city of Sakaret, which I found very fun to read. The action picked up, it had a bit of gore, some good fight scenes, and some great character interactions.

Speaking of characters, I sadly never connected with one in particular. They were fun to read about, I didn’t hate any of them, and I loved the fact that we stayed with the group instead of moving around between a thousand different story lines. It was refreshing. It had a few PoV’s, but like I said, the group stayed together so I enjoyed the fresh perspective. Unfortunately, there were a few sections of head hopping that threw me. Especially since it seemed the author was breaking the sections out by PoV.

As far as the writing goes, for the most part I found it extremely enjoyable. It did tend to be a bit lengthy in the beginning, but it evened out, and by half way I wasn’t skimming any descriptions, some of which were amazing. Unfortunately, I found quite a few editing errors in my version. None of it turned me off from the book, but if that sort of thing drives you crazy, you might want to wait for a second edition. 

Overall, an entertaining read.

*I received an ARC from StoryCartel

I’M OBSESSED

Oh how I love these books. The week has been a bit stressful so in a desperate ploy to escape, I read this book. It worked like a charm. I thought of nothing and lived in a different world for a while.

I couldn’t put this one down. Not only did it move at neck-breaking speed, but we learned a heck of a lot about Harry’s mother. I can honestly say I was surprised by every twist Butcher threw at me. I was doing this read with a friend of mine and had to email him right away when I learned one secret. I was seriously thrown by the revelation.

Even with all we uncovered in this book, there’s still a lot that’s a mystery. I honestly thought Butcher would wait to reveal some stuff he did in the book since he has tons left in the series. Because he did, I’m dying to know how he keeps this going.

My favorite parts of the book were when Harry was with Murphy. They spent tons of time together in this book (finally!!!), and I couldn’t have been happier. For those of you looking for more Murphy time, this book delivers. Their interactions were great!

So overall, Butcher has once again nailed it for me. I was beyond satisfied with this book and am doing everything within my power not to snatch up the next one right away.

See this and other reviews on my website: booksbylkevans.com