Behind Blue Eyes

Norylska Groans by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review live at Grimdark Magazine Grimdark steampunk Russian influenced fantasy set within an industrial city in a Russian flavored fantasy world with mob families competing over magical memory stones? I’m in! Norylska Groans is a fine fantasy collaboration between Snyder and Fletcher, mixing these great story elements together and creating a story that’s unique. “The city moaned, the creak of shrinking wood. Off to the north the furnaces rumbled like sleeping dragons. Never silent. Noryslka groans.” Norylska Groans is told through the perspectives of two characters, with the chapters alternating between their views. Genndy Antonov is an ex-soldier, struggling to acclimate to life after his military service, becoming disgruntled with the feeling that he’s been discarded by the system he served. He’s currently making ends meet with his heavily taxed pension and his current job as a cutt...

She Dreams in Blood by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine She Dreams in Blood is the sequel to the excellent Black Stone Heart , book one of The Obsidian Path . The first novel is a finalist in the 2021 Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO), and with good reason as it’s an excellent book. The sequel continues the first-person narrative of Khraen, once and (future?) Demonist Emperor. He has a few more shards of his obsidian heart and the memories that come with each piece, but still searches for the remaining pieces. He’s becoming more powerful with each shard, but also increasingly frustrated as his memories are just shy of completion. “If my soul-devouring empire was all that stood between humanity and utter destruction, I wasn’t the villain. Maybe I wasn’t the hero, but stories of dashing heroes doing noble deeds are horseshit.” At the heart of Kraen’s partially restored memories are two wom...