LEAST FAVORITE FANTASY BOOKS IN 2017

Posted on December 28, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Well, it is that time of year again. The end of the year to be exact. The time when we all look back at the twelve months in the rear view mirror and reflect on the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. Sure, I hate picking my Least Favorite Fantasy Books in 2017, but you can’t appreciate your favorite books without contrasting them with those you did not like as much.

Does that mean I’m saying the novels on this list were not good, had bad characters, or were boring? Not necessarily. It merely means I did not enjoy these picks as much as I wanted to, or to phrase it another way, they highly disappointed me in some way or another. So please take this list as my own personal experience with these novels, not a critique of their worthiness for your reading attention.

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5) HALLS OF LAW

I was very excited to start this fantasy. It sounded amazing. A cabal of magic users who are known collectively as the Halls of Law. Strong female protagonist. An invasion which throws The Faraman Polity (an empire) into chaos. Paranormal outcasts who live underground. Our protagonist and her companion attempting to outpace pursuit, gather up allies and find a surviving member of the royal bloodline to put back on the throne. Unfortunately, the main characters never grasp my attention, and after reading about fifty percent of the novel, I abandoned it.

4) THE DINOSAUR PRINCESS

I desperately wanted this to be a great book. Having followed the series up to this point, I had mixed feeling about the trajectory of the story. Definitely, the concept of a strange world with dinosaurs and dinosaur knights amazed me and left me craving more, and the first two books even had flashes of intriguing storytelling and compelling characterization, but the narratives always failed to hold my attention from first page to last. So The Dinosaur Princess needed to really grip me, mesmerize me. It didn’t, turning into a rather pedestrian fantasy that was merely okay. Huge disappointment.

3) THE SEVENTH DECIMATE

As a lifelong fan of Stephen R. Donaldson, this was one of my must reads for 2017. My excitement for the author beginning a new fantasy series set the bar really high for this one. And, to be completely fair, it was an okay read, just not the great one I was expecting. If I had to point to one key element which caused the book to fail to live up to expectations, I would look directly at the main character, who was more annoying in many ways than Thomas Covenant ever dared to be, and the fact I feel this way makes me pessimistic about my continued interest in this series.

2) RED SISTER

Huge fan of Mark Lawrence’s previous grimdark offerings. Sure, I have my favorites and least favorites, but, overall, I have always loved more of his works than I’ve disliked, which is why I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this initial installment in the Book of the Ancestor series. Soon, however, I found this book about fighting nuns on an alien world pretty meh reading. Much of my angst came from the detailed, training narrative, but I also never found any particular character to empathize with. I’m glad others love this one, but for me, it was a terrible disappointment.

1) SKULLSWORN

Now, I don’t recall exactly why my expectations for this book were so high. Not having finished Brian Staveley’s Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, it wasn’t because I was a huge fanboy of the world or Pyrre Lakatur or her God of Death or anything. Instead I believe I was swept up in the hype for this one. So many other fantasy readers craved this story about this character and a return to this world that I got swept up in their excitement. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this story at all; the tale of Pyrre leaving me with a distinct feeling of disillusionment, so much so that I haven’t found the desire to even finish off the original trilogy.

Well, those are my picks for My Least Favorite Fantasy Books in 2017. Agree? Disagree? Have your own disappointments which you believe should have made it on my list? Let me know!

Posted in Fantasy, Fantasy, Lists | Tagged Brian Staveley, Halls of Law, Least Favorite Fantasy Books in 2017, least favorite fantasy series, Mark Lawrence, Red Sister, Skullsworn, STEPHEN R. DONALDSON, The Dinosaur Princess, The Seventh Decimate, Victor Milán, worst fantasy 2017, worst fantasy books 2017 | 7 Comments

INDIE WEDNESDAY: CHARLES E. YALLOWITZ

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Bookwraiths

Along my reading journey, I’ve made a conscious decision to not only read the books on the shelves at my local Barnes & Nobles store, or online at Amazon, but to also try self-published, or indie, works as often as I can.

With this in mind, I’m turning over the blog to one of my favorite indie authors (Charles E. Yallowitz), who has been nice enough to submit a guest post for everyone’s reading enjoyment.

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TIPS FOR ASPIRING SERIES AUTHORS

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Thank you to Wendell for letting me be a guest on his blog and helping to promote the grand finale of my series, Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age. At least I hope it’s grand. Well, the cover is pretty awesome and that’s something that has been true for the entire series. I wouldn’t have made it far without Jason and his artistic talent, which always get compliments on social media. They say that the cover is the introduction for your book and I believe that. Some of my other books have had horrible first impressions and not gotten very far while these have always done very well. Now, as an author, I know more about the words than the images, but I do have a few tips for any aspiring series authors.

Continuity and consistency is very important. Think of all the series you’ve read and think about how the covers all looked the same. At the very least, the style was similar enough that a person could look at the book and know what it was without reading the title. I ran into this problem with Family of the Tri-Rune (Book 4) because the covers got tweaked. They looked even better than before without the black border and a more stylized title. Yet, these little changes caused people to think it was a different series. Took a week to sort that out and they’ve stayed this way ever since.
Never forget to give credit to your cover artist. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it gets overlooked more often than you think. They’re helping you bring your vision to life and readers, so naming them in your posts is the least you can do. If cover art is their business then take every opportunity to send new authors their way. Just return the favor.
It helps to get an idea of what you want for every cover before you start. This is really if you have all of the books planned out, but you can be at least 3-4 ahead to help the artist. Now, they might have a better idea, which means you have to trust them while still voicing your opinion. As authors, we can get a little blinded by the images in our head, which could be unfeasible. I had an idea for Prodigy of Rainbow Tower that had the heroes standing back-to-back in a swamp with red eyes above them. It was cool, but overly complicated. The one that was made is easily one of my favorites.
Jason did all of the art by hand and sent me updates when he could. These sketches can make for great teasers. Not even though whole thing, but crop a section to put up on social media. It wets the appetite and proves that progress is being made in that arena. More importantly, it can get a conversation started about what the end product might be.
This isn’t something we did because I was only told about it recently. Heck, this might not even be a tip, but a cool trick reminiscent of the comic book covers of the 90’s. If you have a plan beforehand, you can make it that all of the covers combine to make a single picture. This is very complicated and very risky. If you have to get a new cover artist then the plan falls apart.
When promoting a new book, set up either a slideshow, collage, or make a listing to have people see the previous volumes. This gets more and more difficult as a series gets longer, so the slideshow might be the easiest option for blogging. Only downside to this is they don’t allow for links. At least I haven’t figured it out yet, so hopefully someone proves me wrong in the comments.
This is going to sound silly, but try not to mix your covers up. Easy to avoid if you make sure the files are set for large icons and Amazon gives you a preview before you hit publish. Yet, there are times you might be given a cover without the title and author name because they can be used for other promo materials. These are the ones that can get in a little trouble if you aren’t careful. After 15 books and 5 years, I’ve learned that accidents happen.

Again, thank you to Wendell for helping with the promotion and giving me an opportunity to write a guest post. Please check out or spread the word about Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age. Enjoy the adventure.

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Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Whether in darkness or light, every path inevitably comes to an end.

As Gabriel, the Destiny God, determined centuries ago, his chosen will face Baron Kernaghan for the fate of Windemere. Through many victories and losses, the champions have stood together and prepared for this great battle. Now that the Baron’s influence stirs those with evil hearts, they have run out of time and must travel to Shayd. Yet, there are more secrets for them to uncover before entering a battle where the only way to survive is surpassing limits and putting everything they have on the line. Through it all, Gabriel’s statement that he made them destined to fight, but winning was not set in stone rings in their minds.

Will the champions usher in an Age of Heroes or become the sacrifices for an Age of Darkness?

Buy Warlord of the Forgotten Age Today at Amazon!

Don’t forget to add Legends of Windemere to your Goodreads ‘To Read’ List too!

**Need to catch Legends of Windemere from the beginning? Then click on the covers below!**

You can start for FREE . . .

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Or grab the $4.99 ‘3 in 1’ bundles!

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Also Available:

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Interested in a new adventure? Then grab your Kindle & dive back into the world of Windemere! Don’t forget an apple for Fizzle.

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About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you, and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz
Website: www.charleseyallowitz.com

Posted in Fantasy, Indie Wednesday, Young Adult | Tagged Beginning of a Hero, Charles E Yallowitz, Indie authors, indie fantasy, indie fantasy books, indie fantasy novels, indie fantasy series, indie wednesday, Jason Pedersen, Legends of Windemere, self-published fantasy, self-published fantasy books, Warlord of the Forgotten Age | 5 Comments

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Wishing everyone the best on this beautiful Christmas Day 2017! Thanks so much for another great year of sharing and discovering great books.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged christmas fantasy, merry christmas 2017 | 5 Comments

STAR WARS THE LAST JEDI REVIEW

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Bookwraiths

This is a post I did not wish to write, but felt I needed to. Mainly, for a personal catharsis.

For those who haven’t already guessed, I was horribly disappointed with Episode VIII. It was a boring film and a terrible Star Wars movie. In fact, I tend to fall into the group who believes that while The Force Awakens was a fan fiction love letter from J.J. Abrams to George Lucas The Last Jedi is Rian Johnson’s Fuck You to George and SW fandom in general. But as much as I want to say this movie was just a cringe-fest and leave it at that, I can acknowledge there were some good things about the movie, so this review is going to try to sum about all my feelings.

Before going further, please be forewarned that this will be filled with spoiler and isn’t an epic rants, a loving endorsement or an unbiased review of a non-Star Wars fan. Nope, it is simply a short post I like to think of as “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of Episode VIII!”

THE GOOD

1) The visuals were beautiful. The CGI was very well done, and the look and feel of everything was Star Wars beyond a doubt. Beautiful film.

2) The music was classic Star Wars. Nothing can ever compare to the original scores, but this film at least equaled the past in this regard, which was a point in its favor.

3) The new planets were all interesting, visually different from one another, and just looked damn good on film.

4) The new creatures and races were cool to look at and turned fairly generic scenes into interesting ones by the fact there was new eye candy to survey.

5) The space battles were realistic, had great CGI, and were entertaining.

6) Mark Hamill’s performance. Seeing the actor portray an older Luke Skywalker was really fun.

THE BAD

1) The overall story was a horrid, disjointed mess with pointless sub-plots.

2) The story violated the accepted internal structure of the Star Wars universe in many, many ways. Examples of this abound including Rey’s unexplained and non-trained Force powers, the new concept of hyperspace jumps destroying other ships, and many more head scratching moments.

3) The returning characters like Finn, Rey, Kylo, and Poe experienced no development. Every single returning face ended this film as exactly the same person they were before. Even Kylo — whom some people argue underwent an evolution — is the same Darth Emo character he was in the last movie including temper tantrums.

4) The new characters fell flat. Whether you think of Rose, Holdo, or anyone else, there is nothing memorable about these people. They show up in the story, tag along with the other guys, then they are gone.

5) The epic struggle between the Light and Dark sides of the Force was jettisoned in exchange for a nihilistic narrative filled with moral relativism.

6) No heroes journey here. Sure, Rey and Kylo are the stars in this saga, but neither has experienced any real trials or tribulations that they must overcome. Certainly, Kylo has been wounded and scarred, but other than that he is whole. Rey . . . well, she has gotten better and better with no setbacks at all.

THE UGLY

1) Snoke’s story line. After two years of wondering who the Supreme Leader is, where did he come from, and what is his plans, his story ends in a whimper. It really seemed like Rian Johnson didn’t know where to go with the character, so he basically just killed him off for shock value.

2) Rey’s storline. First, her parentage ended in a huge nothing, which might have been fine except for the fact it removed the only rational excuse for her use of Jedi powers. Second, now, since there is no shadowy past with training to explain her continued use of the Force, her Ma”Rey” Sue-ness is absolute. And please don’t say the Force gifted ehr all this knowledge to counteract Kylo because that goes against everything ever shown about the way the Force works.

3) Luke’s evolution from persistently optimistic hero of the original trilogy to creepy, bitter hermit in The Last Jedi. Like Mark Hamill, I too fundamentally disagreed with everything about Rian Johnson’s vision of Luke Skywalker.

4) No lightsaber fights. Yeah, there is a fight in the Supreme Leader’s throne room, but it isn’t between Jedi and doesn’t count. I mean, no Star Wars movie is complete without a rousing lightsaber fight, which I would have thought Rian Johnson would have known.

5) Leia’s Superman impression outside her command ship. I honestly heard people laughing when they saw this scene in the movie theater. It was just awful.

6) Rose preventing Finn from sacrificing himself to save the remnant of the Resistance hiding in the old Rebellion base. This was a ridiculous scene; Rose’s dialogue with Finn afterwards was equal to any of Anakin’s drivel in the Prequels; and the fact they somehow survived was beyond insulting with troopers, walkers and other First Order combatants surrounding them.

7) Yoda. He looked strange, talked strange, and acted out of character.

To close, I was intensely disappointed by this movie. The only positive I left The Last Jedi with was the fact that Rogue One was even better than I originally thought, so maybe there is hope that Disney can accidentally make a good Star Wars movie after all.

Posted in Star Wars | Tagged Star Wars, The Last Jedi, The Last Jedi disappoints, The Last Jedi review | 14 Comments

BEST FANTASY COVERS VOL. 10

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Bookwraiths

It’s that time again! Time to highlight some of my favorite fantasy covers!

Now before anyone completely loses their minds when they scroll further down the page and discovers the covers I’m highlighting this time around please let me explain. Sure, I realize the franchise I’m focusing on is usually labeled a space opera or science fiction, but it has come to my attention in the last week that many critics consider it a space fantasy. A fact which was quite shocking to me, since I’ve never heard of the term before. But who am I to argue with critics? I mean, those people are never wrong, right?

As you view my favorite covers from the past, please also understand I am not commenting on the reading quality of the books themselves (though there are many of my picks which I’d heartily recommend), but the fact that I thought they had great covers. Covers which captured my attention and made me want to open them up, immersing myself in all the amazing places and events the image on the front promised me. You will also see that more than a few are comic or graphic novel covers, which I had to include for the simple fact they are too stunning to not recognize.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this retrospection of this franchise!

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Posted in Cover Lover, Star Wars | Tagged best Star Wars covers, Fantasy Cover Lover, fantasy covers, Star Wars, Star Wars book covers, Star Wars Expanded Universe, star wars the old republic, Star Wars: Legacy, Thrawn | 1 Comment

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: CHILD OF A MAD GOD

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Bookwraiths

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme I’ve participated in for years which lets readers share their excitement for books coming out soon, and the novel I’m eagerly awaiting is . . .

Child of a Mad God by R.A. Salvatore

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Coven #1

Publisher: Tor Books (February 6, 2018)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 496 pages

From R. A. Salvatore, the legendary creator of Drizzt Do’Urden, comes the start of abrand new epic journey.

When Aoleyn loses her parents, she is left to fend for herself among a tribe of vicious barbarians. Bound by rigid traditions, she dreams of escaping to the world beyond her mountain home.

The only hopefor achieving the kind of freedom she searches for is to learn how to wield the mysterious power used by the tribe’s coven known as the Song of Usgar. Thankfully, Aoleyn may be the strongest witch to have ever lived, but magic comes at price. Not only has her abilities caught the eye of the brutish warlord that leads the tribe, but the demon of the mountain hunts all who wield the Coven’s power, and Aoleyn’s talent has made her a beacon in the night.

Purchase the book at Amazon

Posted in Waiting on Wednesday | Tagged Child of a Mad God, Coven, most anticipated fantasy 2018, R.A. Salvatore's new series, RA Salvatore, Tor, Tor Books, Waiting on Wednesday | 6 Comments

DC EXTENDED UNIVERSE RANKED

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Flash. Green Lantern. Some of the most iconic superhero characters of all times reside in the DC Universe. You’d think that would make it terribly easy for Warner Brothers to provide some great films for fans to devour at the cinema. Unfortunately, that hasn’t really materialized with the recent Justice League set to go down as a huge disappointment in its box office. So with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to make a list of my worst to first DCEU movies.

5. SUICIDE SQUAD

This disjointed, confusing, mess of a movie is my least favorite of all the DCEU films. Sure, Margot Robbie did a great job capturing the essence of the Harley Quinn character, and Deadshot was okay, but other than that this is the poster child for a meh film. By far the worst part was that Jared Leto’s Joker (which I and my others generally hated) was a much better villain than the main villain of the movie (Enchantress), who was literally the worst villain in any superhero movie ever. At least, she was in my opinion.

4. JUSTICE LEAGUE

Superman’s CGI mustache. Flash’s costume. The boring villain Steppenwolf. The grand Justice League was a movie which wasn’t bad but definitely wasn’t very good and nowhere close to being great. Everyone has an opinion as to who is to blame, and how the movie could have been improved. As for me, I believe WB should have just allowed Zack Snyder to tell the story he began in Man of Steel and not try force the Joss Whedon elements into a serious film. The two visions did not work, turning the movie into a Frankenstein film.

3. MAN OF STEEL

This film was a more serious take on the ClarkKent/Superman mythos. It was most certainly darker and more cynical, but it worked. Probably the fact I thought Henry Cavill was a great Clark/Superman and all the other major actors did amazing jobs with their characters helped me buying into the film, but I actually enjoyed the plot. General Zod is a damn good villain. The fight scenes were amazing spectacles. And Superman’s actions had real consequences. No, it isn’t a perfect movie, but it was a great attempt to make a more serious superhero film.

2. WONDER WOMAN

Great movie. Gal Gadot is amazing. The world of the Amazons is beautifully portrayed. The World War I story had flaws but was a great vehicle to get Diana out into the world of man. There was emotion, action, and laughs galore throughout the film, which made it almost feel like a Marvel film. What was most compelling was the fact the movie successively portrayed Diana as a strong and confident woman without taking away the character’s beauty, grace and caring nature. WW is a exactly the movie this character deserved!

1 BATMAN V SUPERMAN

First, when I’m referring to Batman v Superman, I’m speaking of the Ultimate Edition, not the cinematic release. We can all agree the version of the film released in cinemas was a jarring, confusing story to watch. WB butchering Zack Snyder’s real vision. In the Ultimate Edition, every plot element makes sense and fits together seamlessly to result in the realistic battle between our heroes and the epic conclusion. When you take into account Snyder was able to introduce so many new characters yet still create an entertaining albeit dark story is amazing. Nope, Batman v Superman isn’t for everyone, but I for one believe this Ultimate Edition was a worthy successor to Man of Steel and set up the Justice League movies Snyder wanted to make. You know, the ones where we got to see a bad Superman, a Mad Max Batman, and Darkseid in two awesomely amazing movies. Yeah, it sounds good after the Justice League we actually got.

Agree? Disagree? Give us your own list!

Posted in Lists | Tagged Batman v Superman, DC Extended Universe, DC movies, DC movies ranked, DCEU, DCU, DCU movies ranked, Justice League, Man of Steel, ranking the DC movies, ranking the DCEU, ranking the DCU, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman | 12 Comments

FUNDAY MONDAY, OR THE BOOKS THAT WILL HELP ME SURVIVE THE WEEK AHEAD (DECEMBER 18, 2017)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Another week begins. I quickly slip into my business suit and head back into the office to save a few innocent people. But while I try to fool myself into being excited about the promise of a new year and the continuation of the regular grind, deep down, I’m not, so I’m going to escape dreary reality by reading some great books.

Work. My children’s sporting activities and school midterms. Christmas parties and activities. All of these things have combined together o practically obliterate my already finite reading time. I’m still trying though. And this week I’ll be doing my best to read the following novels.

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Helen’s Daimones by S.E. Lindberg

Genre: Fantasy – Horror

Series: Dyscrasia #2

Publisher: IGNIS Publishing (September 23, 2017)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 214 pages

Helen’s Daimones – the gateway novella for Dyscrasia Fiction. Helen and Sharon are orphans haunted by supernatural diseases, insects, and storms. They are your tour guides in this entry-way novella into Dyscrasia Fiction which explores the choices humans and their gods make as a disease corrupts their souls, shared blood and creative energies. In Helen’s Daimones, guardian angels are among the demons chasing the girls. When all appear grotesquely inhuman, which ones should they trust to save them?

Purchase the book at Amazon

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Kill All Angels by Robert Brockway

Genre: Horror – Urban Fantasy

Series: The Vicious Circuit #3

Publisher: Tor (December 26, 2017)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Length: 288 pages

The concluding volume in the humorous punk rock adventure that began with The Unnoticeables and The Empty Ones .

After the events of the first two books of the Vicious Circle series, Carey and Randall reached LA during the early ’80s punk scene, which was heavily mixed up with Chinatown. A young Chinese girl with silver hair is the Empty One that seems to run things there, and her ex-lover, an Empty One named Zang, has apparently turned against them and may or may not be on Carey’s side.

In modern times, Kaitlyn and company have also returned to LA because her powers have been growing and she has been having visions that may be telling her how to kill all of the angels. The downside being that they have to find a new one, first–and LA is the only place they know where to do that.

Steeped in the LA punk scene in the ’80s, Chinatown, sunken suburbs, the ocean and gargantuan things that swim in it, Kill All Angels is everything that fans of Robert Brockway’s irreverent humor have been looking for to end the series with a bang.

Purchase the book at Amazon

Posted in Funday Monday | Tagged Dyscrasia, fantasy horror, Funday Monday, Helen's Daimones, Kill All Angels, Robert Brockway, S.E. Lindberg, The Vicious Circuit, Tor Books, Urban Fantasy, urban fantasy horror | Leave a comment

MOON HUNT: SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Since I am always looking for ways to bring books to my readers, I jumped at the chance to participate in a book spotlight for Moon Hunt. Thanks to the good people over at Forge Books we are not only spotlighting the novel but giving away one copy of the book to a winner in the US or Canada. More about that a little later. First, let us take a closer look at Moon Hunt and its authors.

Moon Hunt by W. Michael Gear & Kathleen Gear

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series: North America’s Forgotten Past #24

Publisher: Forge Books (November 21, 2017)

Author Information: Website

Length: 416 pages

Whispering Dawn has come to Cahokia as the bride of the living god Morning Star. She brings with her dark secrets. Political intrigue. And deadly magic.

When Morning Star drinks her poisoned nectar, the Night Moth carries his souls off to the Underworld to be slowly sucked into oblivion.

Cahokia is shaken to the roots by Whispering Dawn’s betrayal, and as the empire teeters on the verge of civil war, the immortal god’s human sister Night Shadow Star realizes that only she–intimately tied to the Underworld–can make the journey into the dark realms to retrieve Morning Star’s captured souls. To do so, she and Fire Cat must descend into the Sacred Cave’s terrifying depths where, beset by soul-devouring monsters, it may come down to Fire Cat to save the man, city, and people he once despised.

Moon Hunt is the third epic tale in the Morning Star series by New York Times bestselling authors W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear. Against the intricate majesty that was America’s greatest pre-Columbian city, the Gears have once again woven the latest archaeological data into a painstakingly accurate reconstruction of Cahokia and provide a rare look into the mystical underpinnings of Native American culture.

“The Gears have provided another successfully compelling and enlightening excavation into America’s forgotten past that will appeal to their large fan base.”

—Booklist on Sun Born

“Basing this new chapter in their ongoing Native American saga on current research and evidence, the Gears are able to communicate often arcane historical and archaeological information within a compelling fictional format.“

—Booklist on People of the Morning Star

“Rich in cultural detail . . . Both longtime fans and newcomers will be satisfied. Another fine entry in an ambitious, long-running series.“

—Kirkus Reviews on People of the Longhouse

“Blended with the carefully drawn suspense of court intrigues, colorful characters and sharp plot twists, this is a terrific tale.“

—Publishers Weekly on People of the Thunder

AUTHORS INFORMATION

MICHAEL GEAR holds a master’s degree in archaeology and has worked as a professional archaeologist since 1978. KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR is a former state historian and archaeologist for the U.S. Department of the Interior. She has twice been rewarded for her “outstanding management” of our nation’s cultural heritage.

Together, W. MICHAEL and KATHLEEN O’NEAL GEAR are the bestselling authors of the North America’s Forgotten Past series, which has sold over 7.7 million copies.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

With thanks to Forge Books, this giveaway will be for one copy of Moon Hunt. This giveaway is open to residents of the US and CANADA. To enter, check out the Rafflecopter giveaway. The winner will be randomly selected, then be notified by email of the great victory!

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY: CHARACTERS ON MY NAUGHTY LIST

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Bookwraiths

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Today, the guys in the Goodreads Top 5 Wednesday group have an interesting topic, one which is straight forward and to the point: Characters on My Naughty List! “Villains or just characters you don’t like!”

Well, well, how do I narrow them all down. There are so many whom I dislike for different reasons. But I have to admit really enjoying the idea of getting to point fingers at certain individuals and say “Lump of coal for you, you jerk.” It makes me smile.

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5. Prince Bifalt

This eldest son of the Bellegerin King is a serious sort, determined as well as loyal to his father and his country. He will lay down his life for either without a second thought, but he is the most stubborn, ridiculously bull-headed person I’ve read about in quite some time. His one track mind so firmly fixed on a single objective that he can’t see the solution to his problems if it slapped him. So here is your coal Bifalt, because you definitely earned it in my book.

4. The Warden

Even though I like this guy, empathize with him to a certain extent, I can’t say that I understand why a man with such unique talents has set his sights on doing nothing with it. Sure, he has issues. Disgraced intelligence agent. Forgotten war hero. Independent drug dealer. Each setback and bad choice in his life having left him with scars, but he is such a cynical, unpleasant bastard all of the time that he probably would be happy to land on the naughty list, since it would prove his negative outlook on life.

3. Princess Melodía

This Imperial Princess is on my list because I just cannot ever seem to truly grow to like her. Sure, she has moments here or there where I begin to think she is growing up and we can be fast friends, or at least companions, along this journey, then she does something damn annoying which causes me to roll my eyes, shake my head in disdain, or sigh loudly. No matter the method of my display of annoyance it always means one thing and one thing only: I’m damn tired of the immaturity already.

2. Princess Adare

There are many elements of this trilogy from Brian Staveley which I truly adore, but one of them that I never warmed up to was Adare. I appreciate her unique position at her father’s side at his death, her struggle to deal with the politics of the capital, and her continued precarious situation. Not sure exactly what it was that consistently rubbed me the wrong way about this imperial scion, but she and I never could make a real connection where I was fully invested in her journey, which led to me ultimately disliking her.

1. Nona

I’m not sure it is fair for me to dislike Nona as much as I do. Mark Lawrence did a good job developing her, showing her growing up, and placing her into several dangerous situations where she showed her true grit and skill, but I found her rather boring. Annoyingly boring. Well, except for the flashforwards to some epic fights. Now, those I really enjoyed and liked that Nona. The young, teenage Nona I could live without and believe readily deserves her place on this list.

Agree? Disagree? Have your own characters you’d like to mention? Let us know!