Behind Blue Eyes

Mother Howl by Craig Clevenger My rating: 3 of 5 stars There's a great book in here, I'm just not in the right mind set to push through... Maybe later on.. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC copy. View all my reviews

An End to Sorrow by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine An End to Sorrow is the concluding novel in the Obsidian Path series by Michael R. Fletcher. The first novel, reviewed here for Grimdark Magazine , was a finalist in the 2021 Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO), and with good reason as it’s an excellent book. The follow up novel, She Dreams in Blood, reviewed here , continued Khraen’s quest to piece together his fractured obsidian heart. So finally, we come to the resolution of the tale of Khraen, the Demon Emperor, who has been resurrected as a shell of his former self, missing the shards of his heart and with these pieces, his scattered memories. He’s accompanied by his faithful friend and follower, Bren as they attempt to recover the necromancer queen Henska, who might or might not have Kraen’s best interest at heart. “Once we had a nest egg, we could open a cosy little tavern somewhere, sel...

Death's Beating Heart by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Picking up just moments after the ending of Sins of the Mother , Death’s Beating Heart brings us at last to the conclusion to The Eternal War .. Eskara Helsene has come out of retirement to help fix the mess that her daughter has caused. Sirileth has brought down one of the moons in order to prevent The Maker from entering their world. While this event saved Ovaeris from that terrible fate, slamming a moon down onto the planet tends to bring catastrophic results to most of it. Saving everyone from one disaster has only opened it all up for another. Sirileth’s actions have opened a portal to the parallel world of Sevorai, where Eskara’s ancient horror originates. That’s the good news. What’s very horribly bad is that that world is being consumed by Norvet Meruun, also known as Death’s Beating Heart. Now that the portal is open, Eska’s world is n...

Sins of the Mother by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Two years ago, when I’d finished reading From Cold Ashes Risen , I thought I had finished a brilliant trilogy that would rank among the greats in the Grimdark pantheon. I still hold to that belief, but I was pleasantly surprised early this year when Rob J. Hayes released a continuation of Eska’s story in Sins of the Mother. It seems she wasn’t finished with the world just yet. Ten years retired from ruling her kingdom, Eskara Helsene is enjoying her life away from it all. She lives in a village called Wrysom where everyone believes her to be an eccentric old wise woman. Only one little girl calls her “The Corpse Queen” these days, and she’s doing so in jest. The poor thing doesn’t realize how close to the mark she hit with her casual insult. ”Still, I was old now, and all my life I was reliably informed that age brings wisdom and patience and a bunch of...

Skallagrim – In The Vales Of Pagarna by Stephen R. Babb My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Two years ago I was given the chance to hear a new album by the band Glass Hammer entitled Dreaming City . I was intrigued and within moments was able to become totally absorbed in the music. I reviewed this album for Grimdark Magazine, and in that review , I stated a hope that there would someday be an actual book detailing the adventures of Skallagrim. Imagine my pleasant surprise at being presented with a copy of this paperback in my mailbox courtesy of the author, Stephen R. Babb. Skallagrim – In the Vales of Pagarna begins much as the first song on the album (The Dreaming City) with Skallagrim himself coming to, after a blow to the head and with some severe memory loss, forced to do battle with a gang of ruffians as an evil wizard steals off with the woman of his…dreams. “Two things happened nearly at once, both of them bad. Fir...

Scorch by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine A fresh new series by Jesse Teller, Scorch tells a story from two distinct perspectives. While we see shadows of his great epic The Madness Wars , this story is much smaller in scale and scope, but no less entertaining. Our story takes place after The Madness Wars , but one doesn’t need to have read that series to fully enjoy this tale. It occurs in a separate part of the continent, and the references back to the larger series are subtle enough to serve as Easter eggs for the returning reader. Tack is a young man that hasn’t found his place in the world, though he seems to be moving constantly in its pursuit. He’s an expert with the bow, or so he thinks until he starts training with the Ramblers, a small group of mercenaries that have taken on the duty of protecting the Queen of Syphere from all dangers, including the King. The training program he’s put through by th...

Spirits of Vengeance by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Spirits of Vengeance is the third standalone novel in the Mortal Techniques series by Rob Hayes, following the excellent Never Die and Pawn’s Gambit . Though independent of the first two, this one does build on the intriguing Japanese based mythology and worldbuilding that Hayes set up in those. ”’Sorry then, about stabbing you. But why can’t you die?’ She thought everyone could die given enough prodding with sharp things.” Haruto is on a quest, a lifelong quest. No, make that a many-lifetime quest. He is an onmyoji, trained in the spiritual arts of tracking down yokai, which are spirits trapped in the world. He confronts them, and upon defeating them, sends them on to the other side, freeing their souls. He’s actually a character of legend, though he tries to keep a fairly low profile. He’s assisted by Guang, a poet of (his own) renown who also has a...

Fate of Madness by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Here we go, the final doorstop of a volume in the massive tetralogy by Jesse Teller, Fate of Madness. After the first three tomes, Onslaught of Madness, Wrath of Madness, and Plight of Madness , the reader is definitely invested and past the point of backing down. We’re in it to win it, or to be crushed into pulp by the Drine war machine. Rextur is still leading the Drine forces in their conquest of Tienne, but it’s taking too long. And while he’s winning the overall conflict, the boy king Peter Redfist is still a thorn in his side, constantly turning up and sparking little victories here and there, even when he should have been killed long ago. The Madness, as Rextur is also known, is starting to feel that it’s time to push through before the tide turns. “’Those are Lunatics out there,’ Gralton said. ‘Those are the elite of the elite. The worst, most devas...

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...

The Part About the Dragon was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine A bard’s job is to tell a story. Beyond that, whether the story is true or not is relative. While most good bards will want some element of truth in the tales to give them legitimacy and garner respect, a learned tale spinner also understands that a little bit of spice will sometimes make the difference between a story and a tale to be remembered. The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True is such a tale, and we can tell immediately from the title that our narrator will be using a bit of embellishment. “(Mostly) True” gives that away and is a subtle admission that there will be some flavoring to make the story more enjoyable. With that in mind, our narrator wants her story to be believed as well as enjoyed. Or at least, mostly believed. “I’m all in favor of using the people’s vernacular, but sometimes the people should get a bi...

The Sandman by Dirk Maggs My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Neil Gaiman is one of today’s most beloved and well-known fantasy authors, with good reason. Dirk Maggs is a force in the industry too, having developed many popular properties from comics and prose and movie universe tie-ins into successful audiobooks. Bring these two creators together for The Sandman , and you’ve got a recipe for a successful and entertaining few hours of listening. The Sandman audiobook is the first in a developing series of adaptations of the famous Sandman DC comic series, as written by Neil Gaiman. It’s one of the most successful “graphic novel” series out there, serving as a benchmark for dark fantasy comics ever since. It was also the series that launched Gaiman into a highly prolific career as an author in multiple formats. The series is currently in development over at Netflix, so this audio serves as a wonderful bridge between comics a...

Widdershins by Alex Alexander My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Widdershins begins in the slums, where we meet our protagonist Niclas. It’s difficult to call him hero, as he’s a pretty simple lad and if we’re being honest, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. He means well and tries to do the right thing, but he’s just not cut out for great heroics. What’s unfortunate for Niclas is that he’s thrust into a series of situations where if he can’t be heroic, at least he is around others that can. The first thing he does is bungle a pickpocket assignment he’s given as a rite of passage into the top slum gang, the Crimson Men. But after he lands in prison, he’s rescued by a talking cat named Balthazar. “It was the first time Niclas had seen a cat smile. The majority of it is in their eyes – their narrow, mischievous eyes.” The city of Laburnum is ruled by a monarchy, but the real power is the Academy, whose laws are ...

Plight of Madness by Jesse Teller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Plight of Madness is Book Three of The Madness Wars , the penultimate volume of this epic sprawl covering a massive military conquest of the warrior nation Drine over its refined and cultured neighbor, Tienne. Continuing on the previous reviews of Onslaught of Madness , and Wrath of Madness , I found myself immersed in the struggle not only between these two nations, but a resulting series of conflict within each. War is Hell, and takes its toll on everyone involved, whether they’re winning or not. As with the previous volumes, Plight of Madness is split up into chapters with shifting point-of-view from a variety of characters. Continuing from Wrath of Madness are the chapters told from the perspective of Rextur and Aaron the Marked, who have been with us since the first book. Also continuing from the previous entry are Tarana and Saykobar, and we’re giv...

Dune: The Duke of Caladan by Brian Herbert My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine As the classic novel Dune by Frank Herbert opens, we’re introduced to the noble family of House Atreides, as they’re moving operations from their homeworld of Caladan to a new holding, the desert planet Arrakis, also known as Dune. We can immediately see that this family will be the source of our upcoming story, with the young protagonist Paul Atreides taking center stage. While it’s easy to pull for Paul and his family from the outset, it would have been nice to get to know these people a little before their great journey began. Dune: The Duke of Caladan gives us that experience. Set in the year leading up to the novel Dune: The Duke of Caladan centers on House Atreides before they embark on their voyage. Duke Leto and his concubine Lady Jessica have been together for some time, coping with the struggles that the Imperium forces on their relati...

Ink by Jonathan Maberry My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine The concept of a dream thief, or a stealer of memories is fascinating. A creepy villain with the ability to sneak in and access the mind of victims, especially in such a way as to be unnoticed, is quite scary. What Jonathan Maberry does in Ink is that, but he takes it to a higher level. In Ink the method of the villain’s access is as intriguing as the theft itself. He gets in by way of the victim’s tattoos. Several characters from different walks of life come together in the small town of Pine Deep, Pennsylvania. This is a town that Maberry has had as the central location for some of his works before, but it’s not necessary to read those first (I haven’t). There is a good bit of background, but the essentials are provided in story to cover the reader’s lack of experience. Monk Addison is a skip tracer, a private investigator specializing in tracking down those who h...

We Men of Ash and Shadow by HL Tinsley My rating: 4 of 5 stars #SelfPubFantasyMonth Review now live, at Grimdark Magazine We’ve all heard the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and I’d have to say this is good advice. The best artwork in the world won’t make a story engage the reader. What a great cover can do is catch the eye and stand out in an unending sea of books. We Men of Ash and Shadow did this for me, as one evening I was scrolling through social media and my attention was caught by the wonderful book cover. This got my attention enough to read the blurb, and I was immediately hooked. “It was the most highly recommended venue the city had to offer. It was called the Ring O’ Bastards and it had the lowest patron to murder victim ratio in a five mile radius.” That’s the opening paragraph to this fine novel. Within moments, I knew I had stumbled on something special. HL Tinsley didn’t disappoint me as I read further. Right away we are ...

From Cold Ashes Risen by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine All good trilogies come to an end. It’s something that we are sad to see, yet we can’t turn away from that final entry in a series even if we wanted to. From Cold Ashes Risen is no different. We’ve come a long way in the saga of Eskara Helsene and while we can’t wait to see how it turns out, it’s a bit bittersweet that it will be over soon. And in the case of our narrator, Eska, a little scary too. “I could feel the fear, and it was delicious.” In my review of The Lessons Never Learned by Rob J. Hayes, I made a comparison to The Empire Strikes Back , in that as a middle-of-trilogy installment, it was a somewhat uncommon occurrence that it didn’t lag in the middle. In many (if not all) ways, Empire was the best of the (original) Lucas trilogy, and I felt that Lessons could be that in The War Eternal . I was half right. My original comparison holds...

Ash and Bones by Michael R. Fletcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine Smoke to Ashes, and Stone to Bones… Here we go again, continuing the saga where Fletcher introduced us to the world of Bastion in Smoke and Stone . Ash and Bones is the second novel in his City of Sacrifice series, and here we start to see a little more of the sacrifice part of the series title. In my review for Smoke and Stone I went into how intrigued I was with the unique worldbuilding and magic system employed by Fletcher. He certainly continues that, digging deeper into the mythology and the machinations of the Gods that rule Bastion. “…those who blasphemed against Bastion’s sacred laws would be offered up to the gods. The gods fed well.” Once more we get the shifting point-of-view chapters from our two characters on opposite ends of the struggle, Akachi and Nuru. They survived their first squaring off at the end of Book One, where Mother Death...

The Lessons Never Learned by Rob J. Hayes My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review now live at Grimdark Magazine The Lessons Never Learned is Book Two of the War Eternal trilogy, that began with the fantastic Along the Razor’s Edge . “Opinions are like children. Those who have them want them to be special, rarely realizing they are just as dumb and ugly as all the others.” With this in mind, I’ll go forth with my review. Now, before we start to worry that The Lessons Never Learned will suffer from middle-book syndrome as so many bridge novels in trilogies seem to do, let me state right here that this is not the case. I would actually compare this more to the classic Empire Strikes Back level of middle-books, the perhaps rare case where the bridge is better than the ends. I don’t know (yet) if it’s better than Book Three, but I would venture to say that if you enjoyed Book One, you will like this at least as much. Eskara Helsene and her companions have esc...