Book Reviews: May 2021

As promised, I am continuing my book review blog series. All book links below will take you to the page on Amazon. Some of the authors sell elsewhere, and details can be found on their website (listed at the end of each review).

Here is what I’ve been reading for the past month (in the order I read them):

The Rift Cycle Series – Halo Scot

Warning: Every book in this series contains some graphically violent and sexually explicit content, as well as language that might be offensive to some readers. If your tolerance for any of the above is low, you may wish to avoid this series.

I reviewed the first book (Edge of the Breach) in April, but have since finished reading the rest of the series (Echoes of Blood, Eye of the Brave, and Elegy of the Void). All four books are fantastic reads. From my previous post:

This is a very dark, post-apocalyptic/futuristic series. Due to nuclear war, humanity has been pushed to the last “safe” haven left to them in Antarctica, which has become a desert wasteland. Humans have also evolved to harbor powers, dictated by the season of their birth, which I found to be a very cool concept. The two main characters are Kyder, a summer-born mage, and Rune, a winter-born shield.

Halo Scot has a relatively unique writing style, and I particularly enjoy when the characters break the fourth wall and address the reader directly. There were also a couple times in the fourth book when Kyder makes a comment directed at Halo, which made me laugh out loud.

Throughout the series, Kyder and Rune both change and adapt to the dozens of ugly situations they are thrown into. Each time I began to think that things might actually turn out okay for one or both of the main characters, something else occurred to completely change the direction of the story. When the gods became involved, Ra in particular, things got even more complicated for the pair. There is a major cliff-hanger at the end of book three, but thankfully for the readers of the world, book four is already available!

The series is a wild ride, to reiterate what I said about book one in my previous post. There are moments I laughed out loud, I cried, I rolled my eyes – but once I started, it was hard to put the books down. The ending, though tragic, is exactly what I came to expect, and exactly what was needed for the series. I think it was one of the best endings to a series I’ve encountered. If the warning at the top of this review doesn’t drive you away, I recommend you check out this series.

Author website: haloscot.com

Last Hope for Hire – Matthew Wilcox

This is a near-future science fiction novel featuring an amazing (and dangerous) medical breakthrough, and a father (Allen) who takes up mercenary work in a desperate attempt to save his son from crippling epilepsy. In spite of the many obstacles that Allen faces throughout the book, he is able to overcome them with the help of his wife and a few close friends, all of whom play a role in his missions.

The book takes a while before much action happens. Though the story at first seemed linear and straight-forward, a couple major plot twists occur about 60% through that definitely came as a surprise for me, and drove the story in a new and unexpected direction. From that point on, the action is almost non-stop, and it becomes a much more exciting read. Even though most of the plot points were tied up at the end, it was left open for the possibility of more stories to come.

Last Hope for Hire was an interesting and entertaining read. I want to thank Matthew Wilcox for providing me with a copy of his book in exchange for my review.

Author website: writerwilcox.com

Salford World War – Mike Scantlebury

I also agreed to read and review this book after being contacted by a representative of the author (many thanks to Mr. Scantlebury and Mr. Roi for the copy of this book in exchange for my review). What drew me was the premise that was presented; the story sounded interesting, and I like a good action/thriller book.

The book focuses on a British spy, Melia, who is given an important mission to protect a Chinese diplomat during his visit to the UK. The diplomat has many enemies who wish to see him dead, but his death could lead to a situation similar to the one that sparked the first World War. There is much at stake, and Melia’s career depends on his safety. As the book progresses, it becomes increasingly more difficult to know who can and cannot be trusted.

The idea of this story was intriguing, and I liked some of the historical references that were made. There were some decent action sequences, as well.

However, the main character felt very one-dimensional to me, and though it was established early on that she was an experienced agent, she made many unrealistic decisions and seemed to be unaware of her surroundings more often than seemed believable. I also thought it was an odd choice to cast her as the “leader” of the operation, when she consistently failed to know basic elements of her mission. She seemed to rely on people giving her information rather than taking the initiative to research it herself, and as an agent, I would have liked to see her question the validity of that intel at least once. That she seemed to always accept her information as-is did not seem in line with reality. (Maybe this is the scientist in me, always demanding to know the why and how, and needing to verify the truth for myself, but I struggled to relate with the main character’s decisions).

I want to remind other readers that this is just my opinion, and it might not be shared by others (there were several reviewers on Amazon that stated they thoroughly enjoyed this book). There were some positives to this book, but my main issue was with the main character, as stated above.

Author website: mikescantlebury.blog

Demonheart: Walkers from Another Dimension – J.J. Egosi

I reviewed the first book in this fantasy series (Demonheart: Raging Elementals) in my April blog, and have been excited to dive into the second.

Walkers from Another Dimension picks up right after where Raging Elementals left off. In much the same style as the first book, this one continues its action-packed, fast-paced sequence of events. Michael finds himself in even more unusual situations, and he begins to uncover some of his true capabilities. Michael definitely becomes the focus of the story, more so than he did in book one, while his friends take a backseat to much of the action. It was nice to see him finally coming into his own.

Though I think I preferred the first book to the second, this was a nice continuation of the story, and I’m looking forward to book three.

The author’s been teasing some things from the third book, which is now available for pre-order (it’s set to release on July 16). It looks like there are sea monsters. Sea monsters! I can’t wait to read it – as a scuba diver, I love underwater and ocean settings.

Author website: demonheartchronicles.com

Aestus: The City – S. Z. Attwell

And I’m back to science fiction with this book choice. Aestus: The City follows the story of Jossey, a solar engineer who manages to save a crew of civilian workers from a vicious attack by a night-dwelling creature called an Onlar. The creatures seem to hunt humans, and even injured survivors risk poisoning by their claws or teeth. After the attack, she is given a prestigious award, and offered a job working alongside the Patrol, whose job it is to protect the city from the Onlar, amongst other things.

This book is written in such a way that once I started reading, it was difficult to put down. Though it’s over 700 pages long, it certainly didn’t feel that way. Every time I had to stop reading, I found myself thinking about the story, wondering what was to come next, as there were quite a few unexpected plot twists. Given the ending, I will be reading the second book because I have to know what happens next! This was one of the best science fiction books I’ve read in a long time.

Author website: szattwell.com

A Drowned Kingdom – P. L. Stuart

I actually purchased this book back at the beginning of April, and fully intended to include it in my #IndieApril reads, but I ran out of time. I was happy to finally get started on this one, as I’ve been intrigued by the book’s description and I love the cover.

A Drowned Kingdom is the story of Othrun, a prince of his kingdom, and how he came to lead a rebellion against his older brother, Erthal, the heir to the throne, and eventually king. The rebellion is sparked after Erthal shuns the religion of his homeland in favor of the pagan beliefs of his foreign bride, some of which are rumored to include human sacrifice. As punishment for his insurrection, Othrun is sentenced to exile. An hour after he and his followers leave the harbor, natural disaster hits the island kingdom and it sinks beneath the sea, leaving the rebels as the only survivors of what had been a great nation.

This book is one of the most detailed I’ve read in a very long time, and the world-building presented is incredible. That being said, it does take some time to read, even though it wasn’t as long as some of the other books on my list this month (it’s worth taking the time though!) The book begins a little on the slow side, but once you get to about the half-way mark, the story picks up significantly… right up to the very end, which left me wishing I could read the next book. The second book has not yet been published.

Author website: plstuart.com

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I’m planning to have an actual theme to my book reading/reviewing next month. Since June is Pride Month, I’ll be looking at books by LGBTQ+ authors. Have a book you’d like me to read and review? Contact me here!

As always, thank you for reading my blog, and I hope you’ll find some more great books to enjoy!