Books

Book Review: A King’s Radiance

Chad the Hiking Reader3 Comments

“The sun’s light shines bright over the land of Zapour, and only a select few can harness its power. But all power comes with a cost, and the world is not kind to those who refuse to pay it.

Raiz Glaive, a strong shine wielder, was born into royalty, though even royals have to answer to someone. When the King-Radiant sends one of his precious underlings to the Kingdom of Trost, Raiz quickly learns who holds the true power in the realm. After his sister is taken prisoner simply for having the violet eyes of a mystic, Raiz swears vengeance. But when an unwilling father stands in his way, Raiz promises to take revenge into his own hands.

Dazen Glaive remains heir to the throne of Trost, and a sworn defender of the King-Radiant, but he has not forgotten what happened to his sister, and will not forgive their cruelty.

Forced to be the centrepiece of her “master’s” twisted human art gallery, Isha remains a prisoner. Though she has not lost hope. Finding friends among fellow captives, she begins to formulate a plan for escape. Though what she discovers has a much more sinister bearing on the fate of all of Zapour.”

Title: A King’s Radiance

Series: Bonds of Kin #1

Author: L.R. Schulz

Page Count: 555

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.75/5.0

Date Read: April 8th, 2024

A King’s Radiance by L.R. Schulz has been on my radar and want to read list for very near two years. I just looked and I added it to my list May 13th, 2022 and here we are in April 2024 and I finally got to it. This is another read this year that I can thank the Domains Reading Challenge hosted by Trudie Skies. This was my prompt of the month that represented sun magic. I was very excited when I found out that this would fit nicely into the challenge as it’s been hovering right on the edge of my TBR each month for far too long.
 
I felt the pacing went very well. There is quite a bit going on with this book as far as number of locations and characters. The page count was a bit on the higher side than what some non-epic fantasy readers may like. I even thought this one would take me a bit longer to get through than what it did. It was a real page turner for me though. When thinking of peaks and valleys within a book, I never really felt like any of the valleys were very low. It felt more like we had some massive peaks, some lower peaks and baseline. Again, with this being book one and setting things up for what could be an epic fantasy series, this one kept my attention very easily.
 
The worldbuilding was also very well done in my opinion. From  friends telling me there was some type of sun magic to help me slide this read into my reading challenge selection, that was about all I knew of it going in. That was rather intriguing though. And that aspect didn’t disappoint. I really liked the magic system in this story. There was really only a couple of moments that I couldn’t quite tell if I was understanding the scene or intent quite right but I think that was my own lack of understanding and hopefully as the series continues we might learn yet more about this magic. The geography of the world was also great. As characters were introduced it helped us get an idea of how many regions and cultures there were. Then as the story progressed, we got to know more and more about those as well.
 
The character development was exciting. I previously mentioned there are a lot of characters in this book and that might even be an understatement. Not to mention we see a lot of change or growth with many of them by the end of the book. One of my favorite parts of this read though was the way that so many of the characters were connected in one way or another. The reveals start fairly early and then they just keep coming at you with a flurry! A couple of my favorite characters were Draz (comic relief), Echo (young but finds his strength) and Veil (tragic love). That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy many of the other characters as well. I still hope we learn more about Puk in the future.
 
All in all this was a very enjoyable read for me. There were a few editing issues along the way in the form of typos or wrong words used (not always easy to catch) but for a book with this much going on, they didn’t really trip me up much.
 
I’d certainly recommend this to readers looking for a read with a lot of characters, those twists and reveal moments, a good magic system and a bit on the epic fantasy side but still keeping that sword and sorcery feel to it.

World Building 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Character Development 4.5/5

Books

Book Review: A Grave for Us All

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“’A civil war on that scale would make Harfal little more than a mass grave.’
‘There would be death. There would be chaos. But this time there would be a lasting peace…’

Follow Cael, Emil, Merily and the others as they try to make sense of the world after the thrilling conclusion of The Traitors We Are.”

Title: A Grave for Us All

Series: Crown and Tide #2

Author: Michael Roberti

Page Count: 489

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.75/5.0

Date Read: March 31st, 2024

I read The Traitors We Are last year and loved it. It was a book that was timed perfectly for me as I had a lot of time on my hands at that point and was able to sit down often and just devour a lot of it. Fast forward close to a year later and I was having a conversation with the author as I had his novella from this series on my radar since shortly after finishing the first book. He let me know at that time the second book A Grave for Us All was due to be released in a couple of months and asked if I would be interested in giving an eARC a read through. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fit it in before it officially released but once again the timing just worked out nicely.
 
I didn’t find myself with quite as much time to sit down and read A Grave for Us All as I had The Traitors We Are but I still found myself picking this one up as often as I could and still ended up getting through it in just a few days. Before I get to my usual breakdown of my three main topics I rate, I’ll say that the writing growth was very evident in this book. The overall theme and feel is still very similar to what I’ve read with book one and the novella. The difference is the scale of the scheming and weaving plots to see them twist and turn and eventually come together nearing the end.
 
The pacing was smooth. There is a lot going on with this book and yet I some how continued to just flow right along. I think the fact that it’s the second book and we both have a nice list of characters at the front and we should be fairly familiar with a lot of these characters helps with that. This isn’t one of those non-stop action type of reads but there always seemed to be something going on whether it was solid action, educating us on situations or that sense of something building up and about to happen. This read had each of them for my tastes.
 
The world development was very strong in book two. We get to know this world even better. We were introduced to a lot of geographical regions in book one but this time around we get to know them more in depth in regards of why certain factions or cultures act as they do. I’m a bit of a history fan as well so when books provide history within their stories, it usually resonates with me well. Having those understandings really brings the story and it’s characters to life more in my opinion.
 
The character development was also really strong again. I was surprised to see our small groups of characters kind of do their own things through most of this book before those plots and characters really started coming together. But we seen a lot of growth and depth for many of the characters this time around. Cael is continuing to struggle with figuring out who he was, is and will be. Freia has a solid arc this time around where we see a lot of growth for her. Of course I have to mention Merily as we learn so much more about her this time around. I’m excited to see where things end up with her moving forward! Then on the Keep side of things we continue to learn more about Emil and the other Lords and Ladies who all seem to be scheming one way or another. Then we also have a lot going on with what I’ll call our wild group with includes the religious and magic groups.
 
The depth of this story which has begun to reveal itself this time around shows some amazing promise of things still to come. I mentioned to Michael that book two gave me more Game of Throne vibes with all the different factions and the plots with each of them. Book one had quite the body count and I’m not sure this one touched that simply because we didn’t have the scale of large battles it had. But as far as deaths with what seem more important characters this one is easily equal if not more brutal.
 
I also really liked the notes from the author at the very end. I always enjoy hearing how the ideas behind the books happen. In this case it was interesting to know that a major event over half way through book two was initially slated to happen within book one. I definitely agree it worked well taking place in this read, even if I felt it was still long overdue and I kept hoping it would happen sooner in book two.
 
As for the recommendations, I’d of course say if you enjoyed book one, definitely give this a go but be ready for some changes this time around. I feel these changes are for the good though. If you’re new to the Crown and Tide series in general but like those darker brutal epic fantasy stories, give this a try.

World Building 5/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 5/5

Books

Book Review: In the Blood

Chad the Hiking Reader1 Comment

“A woman boards a plane in the African country of Burkina Faso having just completed a targeted assassination for the state of Israel. Two minutes later, her plane is blown out of the sky.

Over 6,000 miles away, former Navy SEAL James Reece watches the names and pictures of the victims on cable news. One face triggers a distant memory of a Mossad operative attached to the CIA years earlier in Iraq—a woman with ties to the intelligence services of two nations…a woman Reece thought he would never see again.

Reece enlists friends new and old across the globe to track down her killer, unaware that he may be walking into a deadly trap.”

Title: In the Blood

Series: Terminal List #5

Author: Jack Carr

Page Count: 459

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 4.75/5.0

Date Read: March 31st, 2024

If you haven’t been following along with my reads and reviews, I actually got through both The Devil’s Hand and now In the Blood by Jack Carr in less than two weeks apart. Needless to say, I’m rather enjoying this series. I only have one more book to be caught up on the series just in time for the next release in another couple of months.
 
The pacing continues to be smooth as far as the prose but lots of suspense and excitement to keep things fresh along the way. I continue to devour these in audio format narrated by Ray Porter. I’ll continue to say he does an excellent job bringing this story and it’s characters to life.
 
The worldbuilding continues to surprise me and how well I can feel present within the story. As a reader who has primarily focused on science fiction and fantasy for years, I always thought it would be difficult to pull off stories that take place in a mostly real and familiar world like this. The entire series has bounced all over the globe with it’s story whether it’s providing background and history or current moments and events. Jack Carr also does an excellent job in finding some real life events to mix into his stories which can help readers who are at least a little familiar with them. It just makes things feel that more believable.
 
The character development is solid once again. I felt that we finally started to see some change in James in this story. It’s just unfortunate on the timing of how this book ended. However, that does make me anxious to get to the next one to see what happens from that point. The final hunt(s) for In the Blood were just awesome. Seeing two of the best snipers in the world face off in what is basically a chess match trying to guess or second guess what each other may do was just great to see unfold.
 
I don’t have much else to add to this read and series other than once again I feel that the author does a great job in making his characters feel very human whether that is for the better or not. Sometimes it helps us connect and feel for the characters and other times it makes us understand just how cruel and twisted people can be as well.
 
I’m going to guess if you are this deep into the series you’re probably going to continue to read them as they are released. If you haven’t checked out the Terminal List series yet and are looking for good thrillers with plenty of mystery and military fiction type of characters and stories, this is probably right up your alley!

World Building 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Character Development 4.5/5

Books

Book Review: The Price of Faith

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“NOT EVERYONE HAS A DESTINY.

Separated and miserable, Thanquil Darkheart and Jezzet Vel’urn both have their reasons for wanting to leave the Dragon Empire.

Jezzet flees from the wrathful fury of an Empress scorned while accompanied by the ever insidious Drake Morrass and Thanquil sets out to find and judge his one heretical loose end.”

Title: The Price of Faith

Series: The Ties That Bind #3

Author: Rob J. Hayes

Page Count: 370

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Date Read: March 28th, 2024

Yet another series comes to completion for me with reading The Price of Faith by Rob J. Hayes. This was the third book in the Ties That Bind series. I’m not sure if all three of these were the first three books released by this author or not as I know he has quite a few books and series out in the wilds at this point. I do recall seeing that book one was his first release and I could even see the growth in that first book alone let alone as the series progressed. By this point things definitely had that RJH feeling that I’ve come to expect whether its fantasy or science fiction.
 
I don’t know if it had been too long between reading books one, two and then three here from this series, but I honestly thought at least one of the characters first mentioned in The Price of Faith had died earlier in the series. Or that may just be my poor memory showing itself again. Either way, we have a lot of characters, history and story coming full circle by the end of the third book here and it was a pleasure to see it happen.
 
The pacing was solid. To this date I have yet to get a feeling of a slog with anything I’ve read from this author. I felt that Jaret Ross did a really good job narrating the audiobook version. His performance certainly helped bring this world and it’s characters to life.
 
The worldbuilding was good. It didn’t feel like we added a lot of girth to the world but a bit more depth in the third book. One of the most interesting aspects was the focus on the Empress and her dragons. Even if she might not be that likeable I thought this added a nice bit of depth to things mentioned throughout the series. There is also some further revealing history that “ties” so much together.
 
The character development was nicely done. Even though I thought we had lost a character or two that returned in this story, I really liked how things came together throughout this one to the end. There were some really good revealing moments that were surprising for me which if done nicely is always an excellent addition to a read. I’ll try to prevent mentioning any names directly which may be a bit of a spoiler but I think one of my favorite character developments was the tattoo rune covered templar killing machine. The moment he returns to the story was tense and awesome.
 
In researching a couple of items for this review I found out that one of my only remaining reads left (other than his latest Kickstarter series) is actually a duology diving deeper into Drake Morass so I suppose this trilogy is finished but I still have a bit more to experience within this world at least. I’m expecting some exciting tales to be presented in Where Loyalties Lie and The Fifth Empire of Man.
 
I would certainly recommend that if you’ve made it this far in the series, continue to wrap it up. If you haven’t dipped into The Ties That Bind yet and you’re looking for a darker fantasy read with some depth to the world and characters, give this one a shot.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: From the Depths

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“The world can sustain the needs of many, but the greed of a few can destroy it for all.

In a life steeped in peril, the Brune family has thrived on the knife’s edge. Renowned for their smuggling and bounty exploits, Konar and Karliah’s parents command both respect and fear. Comfortable yet haunted, the family faces the constant threat of perilous assignments, leaving scars that even a parent’s protective embrace can’t heal.

Still, Konar dreams of scholarly pursuits, and Karliah sees the world as something ripe for the taking. When the emperor dangles an irresistible offer—a job to end their dangerous pursuits forever—the Brunes seize the chance. But there’s a catch: the item in question is little more than a myth, deemed impossible to find.

As the family embarks on the voyage of a lifetime, their bonds are tested like never before. Locating and securing the prize will require sacrifices beyond measure, and when your family is in the business of pirating, trust is the greatest myth of all.”

Title: From the Depths

Series: The Heart of Quinaria #0.6

Author: B.S.H. Garcia

Page Count: 161

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.25/5.0

Date Read: March 25th, 2024

I am finally caught up on The Heart of Quinaria Series with reading From the Depths by B.S.H. Garcia this month. Of Thieves and Shadows is still one of my top reads of last year and though I have enjoyed both of the novellas, they didn’t hit home with me quite as much. I did enjoy From the Ashes more than this one though. I don’t feel the level of my enjoyment reflects on the author in anyway which I’ll get to shortly.
 
The pacing was done well for a novella which I still insist has to be difficult for authors to achieve in such a fewer amount of pages. I felt both of these books still felt like the author’s style though which is always impressive. I didn’t feel that this story was rushed in anyway and continues to add more to this world.
 
The worldbuilding continues to be great! As I just mentioned I love when novellas help to flesh out the world and characters we are already familiar with. This is such an intriguing world of magic with plenty of darkness where finding hope is rare at times. One aspect on the world building that I noted early was the slight change in languages which help us feel like we are experiencing a culture of it’s own. I’m speaking of the use of amma for mother and appa for father. There are more of these such as that for brother and sister but I don’t want to go through listing them all. These are just really nice little touches to her story and world she is putting together.
 
The character development is also nicely done. I’ll start with saying that the arc of these characters within this novella length story was done really well. Karliah, Konar, their parents and several other supporting characters were portrayed nicely along the way. Unfortunately, this is where my own personal preferences come in. I still struggle with stories focused on younger characters. Even though I understand the importance of a good coming of age story in helping understand the characters, I just have a hard time relating or connecting to characters younger than at least adulthood. If you don’t have any issues with this, I have a feeling you’ll really enjoy the characters in From the Depths.
 
All in all I still enjoy reading about this world and am looking forward to the next full release for book two. I’ve heard mention that the author is taking some chances in trying something new with it and I’m excited to see what she has in store for us in the future! I’d also like to add that scenes like one in this book are the type of thing that always has me second guessing going out into open waters.
 
As far as recommendations, I’d say if you’ve read any of the other books from The Heart of Quinaria, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. If you haven’t read any yet, I’m not sure this would be the best entry point. I personally read in publication order but I think if someone is looking for something smaller to sample the author’s work, I’d recommend starting with From the Ashes over this one. Again that is just my opinion though.

World Building 5/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: Knight’s Shadow

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“A few days after the horrifying murder of a duke and his family, Falcio val Mond, swordsman and First Cantor of the Greatcoats, begins a deadly pursuit to capture the killer.

But Falcio soon discovers his own life is in mortal danger from a poison administered as a final act of revenge by one of his deadliest enemies.

As chaos and civil war begin to overtake the country, Falcio has precious little time left to stop those determined to destroy his homeland.”

Title: Knight’s Shadow

Series: Greatcoats #2

Author: Sebastien de Castell

Page Count: 606

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Date Read: March 23rd, 2024

The Greatcoats series by Sebastien de Castell continues to be a solidly entertaining story. I was the pleasure of enjoying the audiobook of Knight’s Shadow while also visually reading another equally enjoyable book. I’m not sure when the last time I experienced two five star rating books at once. These two were only my second and third five star of 2024 as we close out the month of March.
 
I believe I mentioned this on the review of book one but this series had been on my radar for a while now as some other bookish friends in the community that I often have similar likes in books enjoyed them. I’m so happy I had the opportunity to receive book one as a gift and finally get me started. The series is starting to remind me a lot of how I felt about The Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan which is one of my favorite series of all time.
 
The pacing is very good with book two just as the first was. I’ve had no issues with names of characters or places and there are plenty to go around in this story. As previously stated I have been listening to the audiobook version narrated by Joe Jameson who has thus far done an excellent job bringing this story and it’s characters to life. I believe this series if the first exposure I’ve had to his works but I’m liking what I’ve experienced so far.
 
The worldbuilding continues to be epic. I definitely feel the author does a great job in making me feel like I’m right with the characters in this world regardless of the environment or location they may be in at the moment. The world continued to grow not entirely in geographical breadth but as the story progresses we learn more and more about the different parts of the realm and the people within them. The history is beginning to unfold more as well.
 
The character development was also really done well in Knight’s Shadow. I’ve been trying to look back for a bit of a comparison to book one and I’m not sure I could pick a winner. From my experience the character development in book one is typically a bit more than in book two. But in this case, I don’t feel that way at all. There was just as much character development here as the first installment. I feel there has been enough character arc independently in both books but they can also be seen as an over arching growth if you take a step back and look at the overall picture to this point. I really hope that pattern continues but it can’t be easy to pull this off book after book.
 
In closing, I’ll say there was no sophomore slump with Knight’s Shadow and I am looking forward to continue this series soon. I have already mapped out my next month and unfortunately, it didn’t make it into the TBR but I have hopes it will be in the following month with any luck.
 
As far as recommendations, the obvious comes first. If you enjoyed book one, continue as I’m sure you will enjoy this one as well. If you haven’t dipped your toe into this series and you like a good fast pace, easy reading epic fantasy with a heaping helping of swashbuckling excitement, dive right in!

World Building 5/5
Pacing 5/5
Character Development 5/5

Books

Book Review: Seeds of War

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“‘He ran like the monster he was. And the smoke followed.’

GIMLORE is a single mother and war veteran turned crime boss set on protecting her family and her town.

ORBERESIS is a petty thief pretending to be God to protect a terrible secret.

REDNOW is the world’s most feared mercenary, but his best days are behind him and there’s one job left to do.

In a world of dangerous monsters and devastating smoke magic, the seeds of war are being planted. Allies must be treasured and enemies defeated.

The Smokesmiths is a gritty epic fantasy series with a harsh world of smoke magic, alien creatures and ancient secrets where characters do their best to come out on top. Peace will not last.”

Title: Seeds of War

Series: The Smokesmiths #1

Author: João F. Silva

Page Count: 588

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Date Read: March 22nd, 2024

My thirty-sixth SPFBO-9 person TBR read was Seeds of War by Joao F. Silva. This is one of those books that have been floating right on the edge of my month TBR for far too long. I’ve had a couple of friends who know what kind of books I really click with and knew I was going to enjoy this one. They were NOT wrong!
 
It’s been quite a while since I have had not one, but two reads that ended up five star ratings from me at the same time. Seeds of War was my visual read and my other was an audio which also landed very well with me. More on that book in it’s own review soon.
 
One thing I noticed with my current read struggles and now looking back at these two is I really do prefer stories that start off with characters that aren’t teenage or younger. I realize that the coming of age aspect allows authors to really build up those character arcs but it’s just difficult for me to relate to younger characters at this stage in my life. So, I can look back and notice this was a read that started off on the right foot already.
 
I felt that the pacing of Seeds of War was fairly smooth. It might lean a bit to the fast side of things but I didn’t feel like anything was rushed. I will point out that as I was watching my percentage read at the beginning I looked more than once to make sure I was seeing the page count correctly as I felt like I was getting through this book quicker than I thought I would have. I guess I’ll just chalk this up to the fact that I picked it up often and read a bit longer than normal each time. There is a lot going on with book one to keep up with but I didn’t feel overwhelmed and didn’t struggle with keeping the multiple characters and storylines straight. As usual, I’ll mention I didn’t have any real issues with names or editing issues tripping me up either.
 
The world building was excellent. I thought the magic system between the god power, the smokesmiths and the elixir using characters were all unique. The world itself was described very well too. I felt we had a good sense of the environments each scene was taking place in. From the palaces, the huge ships and the overly humid swampy new lands, each of them felt very believable. We also have several cultures and factions covered in book one alone. I’m excited to see where things go from here.
 
The character development was also very good. We certainly have some very interesting and memorable characters. The story starts out with basically three different points of view to follow along as things progress and come together later in the read. We have characters we might relate to, despise or at the very least annoyed with and of course those that may tug on the heartstrings a bit. I’ll mention that we do have one character loss in the second half that even though we don’t spend a lot of time with, I felt that one! And as I eluded to above I can’t help to be drawn to the old veteran Rednow. I loved his arc in book one. I’d love to talk more about these characters if anyone is interested. I just don’t want to give too many spoilers away in my review.
 
I’ve read 35 books so far in 2024 and the only other true 5-star read I’ve had was back in January. This past week I added two more. Seeds of War and one other. It was a really good week for stories to be enjoyed!
 
I’d recommend Seeds of War to fantasy reads who like a good amount of magic, solid characters and just a good story of people trying to survive a world full of struggle, evil and gods. I know I’ll be keeping my eye on this series. I know there is a novella available for this series that I will be looking to get my hands on soon and I believe book two Thorns of War is due out in May of this year.
 
Another bonus note, I love books that include glossaries in them. Seeds of War is one of those such books. They make things easier on me when looking back at my notes and piecing things together.

World Building 5/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 5/5

Books

Book Review: The Devil’s Hand

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“It’s been 20 years since 9/11. Two decades since the United States was attacked on home soil and embarked on 20 years of war. The enemy has been patient, learning, and adapting. And the enemy is ready to strike again.

A new president offers hope to a country weary of conflict. He’s a young, popular, self-made visionary…but he’s also a man with a secret.

Halfway across the globe a regional superpower struggles with sanctions imposed by the Great Satan and her European allies, a country whose ancient religion spawned a group of ruthless assassins. Faced with internal dissent and extrajudicial targeted killings by the United States and Israel, the Supreme Leader puts a plan in motion to defeat the most powerful nation on earth.

Meanwhile, in a classified facility five stories underground, a young PhD student has gained access to a level of bioweapons known only to a select number of officials. A second-generation agent, he has been assigned a mission that will bring his adopted homeland to its knees.”

Title: The Devil’s Hand

Series: Terminal List #4

Author: Jack Carr

Page Count: 524

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Date Read: March 18th, 2024

March allowed me to return to The Terminal List series with The Devil’s Hand by Jack Carr. This was another fast paced thriller of a story. I’m still loving this series overall and I have a previous coworker to thank for introducing me to it (Thanks Nick!).
 
I continued the series with the audiobook version narrated by Ray Porter who continues to do a fantastic job with the series.
 
The pacing is smooth with this read just as the previous three have been. The pattern seems to be throwing us readers into the story allowing us to learn where we are and who these characters are. We often begin with new characters before our returning ones get introduced to the current story which I don’t mind. At this point, we should already know who our returning characters are. I can’t speak for all readers but I tend to start with a bit of a confusion fog around my head until things begin to settle in. Then there is plenty of tension, intrigue and action to be had in these reads.
 
The world building continues to be nicely done. Jack Carr always makes me feel like I’m right there regardless of which part of the world we may be in at the time of the story or the physical locations themselves. There is also the added wonder of just how much he pulls from real life events to mold them into these wonderfully entertaining tales. As someone who has lived as an adult through both September 11th and more recently the Covid pandemic, those were two aspects that really grabbed me and never let me go in this read.
 
The character development was also nicely done. After I finished the read I took a few days now before returning to write this review. Something I noticed at this point but didn’t at the time of reading was there wasn’t a lot of the usual assistance from his other military buddies or connections in this one. This isn’t a bad thing and believe me there are still some of those moments here as well. But the majority of the help for Reece this time around are more from medical professionals and his current love interest and partner in crime whom he tries to keep away from these things. I also want to mention I thought the presidential character was also very interesting to see that arc take place from the beginning to the end of book four here.
 
I don’t have much else to add to this as if someone is looking into book four here I’m assuming you’re already a fan of the series. Just rest assured that Carr continues to grow and be creative with the stories, yet still staying true to expectations.
 
I am looking good for being caught up with the series before Red Sky Mourning comes out in June of this year.

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 5/5

Books

Book Review: The Woods

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“Old loyalties. New love.
And a secret more dangerous than any monster.

Long ago, a sorcerer cast a curse that filled the woods around Red’s village with wolves. The village put up a wall to protect its people and only the Huntsmen—an army of ax-wielding warriors led by Red’s legendary Gran—are allowed outside.

Red is no legend. She lives trapped. Until a brutal attack leaves Gran on the edge of death. To save her, Red must brave the Woods alone.

The beasts track her every step, driving her deep into the shadows, where she discovers a secret, horrifying truth.

A wolf, Timber, promises Red safe passage home if she helps him reveal the secret and break the ancient curse that afflicts the Woods. Red’s every instinct screams not to trust him. But as old loyalties are called into question and new love threatens to break open her heart, Red faces a choice that will determine the fate of all those who live in the Woods.

For she never expected she could love a beast.”

Title: The Woods

Series: Standalone

Author: Em McDermott

Page Count: 455

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.25/5.0

Date Read: March 16th, 2024

My thirty-fifth read from my personal SPFBO-9 list was The Woods by Em McDermott. I don’t often do this but if I’m being honest this was initially added to this list strictly on the cover art. It wasn’t until recently when I was figuring out where to work this read in that I found out that it was a retelling of the classic Red Riding Hood story. I don’t know how much stock I’d put into that but there are some aspects sprinkled here and there with the characters and the world.
 
This read was also my March pick for the Domains Reading Challenge put together by Trudie Skies as well. It’s representing a story taking place within a forest. That it certainly does as the entire story takes place within the woods. Whether that in the Big Village within the woods or what is often referred to as the deep woods which seems more of an unknown.
 
Other than a retelling of the classic Red Riding Hood, I can’t help but share my thoughts that I felt this had some strong influences from the show True Blood (minus the vampires). That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as I really enjoyed that series for years as well.
 
The pacing was quick and smooth. I realized early on that I was flying through words and pages whenever I got a chance to sit down and read some more of The Woods. We do have quite a few characters being introduced in this book but I didn’t have any trouble with names of these characters or locations. I think each character was unique enough to stand out as the number of them piled up. I really think Em’s prose with this book fit me very well. It really was a pleasure to read.
 
The world building was a lot of fun as well. Even though we don’t have what seems like an expansive geographical area where this story takes place, the description of the woods, the village, the pack camp and grandmother’s house were all well done. Even the tone was set nicely with just how ominous the woods seem early on and then how that feeling can change to it’s characters overtime where there seems to be other bigger fears. The woods are large enough where getting to some areas take a week or more on foot or by horse so it’s still a good size amount of land to house this story.
 
The character development was also nicely done. We had some solid character arcs to be followed with some nice twists and turns along the way. Obviously Red’s arc was fun to see unfold but also Timber, Gran and some others were also both entertaining and surprising at times. There are some good faction and point of view growths in The Woods and even some nice underlying themes regarding humanity in general if you take a step back and think.
 
I’ll finish once again mentioning how surprised I was on the amount of fun I had reading this one. I think anyone looking for a quick easy fantasy read could have fun as well. I would just temper any expectations on how close this may be to the classic Red Riding Hood.

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4.5/5
Character Development 4/5

Books

Book Review: The Lost World

Chad the Hiking ReaderLeave a comment

“It is now six years since the secret disaster at Jurassic Park, six years since the extraordinary dream of science and imagination came to a crashing end—the dinosaurs destroyed, the park dismantled, and the island indefinitely closed to the public.

There are rumors that something has survived. . .”

Title: The Lost World

Series: Jurassic Park #2

Author: Michael Crichton

Page Count: 393

Genre: Science Fiction / Thriller

Rating: 4/5.0

Date Read: March 11th, 2024

As I slowly work through both my backlogs of open series as well as my Michael Crichton collection, it only made sense to get around to reading The Lost World to follow up my reading of Jurassic Park a year or two ago. Even though I know that I have seen the films in the past I really don’t recall a lot about this one. I will admit that reading this did give me the itch to load up the film and give it another watch soon. If for no other reason, to perhaps see some of the changes from book to film. I definitely have a feeling there were some fairly major changes. I looked through the cast and it seems like they may have even left out a couple of the major characters from the book or perhaps just repurposed their part of the story into others, I’m not sure.
 
The pacing of The Lost World was a bit on the faster side but not too much. I will say that even though I own a physical copy of this book I opted for the Audiobook narrated by Scott Brick, who in my opinion, did a very good job in bringing this story to life. I think for a reading coming into this book having only read the first book (Jurassic Park) and no exposure to the first two films, this would be an even more enjoyable experience. I only say that going back to my previous statement that there were times that when a character or event was mentioned I found myself getting sidetracked at times trying to recall how or if that was handled in the film. Other than that, I felt this kept with what I come to expect from my other previously read books by Crichton.
 
The world building was really good. I love the Jurassic Park stories where we get to see prehistorical animals living in a modern world one way or another. This one provides a new location compared to the first book which is still in a bit of a fallout from that storyline. Site two provides more interesting observations. There is also a solid antagonist in this one along with some fairly obnoxious characters on the protagonist side of things. It gives us some nice inclusion of factions in a story like this. Crichton once again provides us a good amount of details in his descriptions of environments and events to let us feel like we are there but not simply information dumping trying to bury us.
 
The character development was good in this one. I can’t really think of a lot of true character arcs in book two alone. It seems more of a continuation and just how some past characters and this world interact. What I mean is we do have several characters in The Lost World that weren’t in book one and we get to know them but not a lot of overall growth of these characters. This seems far more a story driven read than character driven in that respect. That’s just my opinion. Sure we see some characters do some questionable things and perhaps see some subtle changes in how some characters see the world around them by the end still.
 
Overall all I’d say if you enjoyed Jurassic Park, then it only makes sense to read The Lost World as well. I do think that if you haven’t seen the films, you might actually enjoy this one slightly more. This one still feels very much like a typical Crichton read so of course I enjoyed it.

World Building 4.5/5
Pacing 3.75/5
Character Development 4/5