Spring Anime 2023

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Writing UpdatesLeave a comment

Hello!

I’ve spent the last three days nursing a lurgy, so reviews are a bit beyond me at the moment. Although there are at least two to come this week for Gates of Hope by J.E. Hannaford and The Mountain of Souls by Marcus Lee, and those are both nearly finished, but I want to do them both justice as the books were fantastic.

But, I’ve also been meaning to start doing more anime and manga related on the blog, and with the Spring 2023 season just days away, I figured it would be a nice way to kick it off with a look at what I’m excited to watch this season. Please note this is not a complete list, there is still anime being announced and there are others I might try out. This is also just the ones I intend to at least give a go, if not outright watch from start to finish.

I’m also going to have a review up this weekend for what has been my favourite anime from winter 2022 – Buddy Daddies which ends on Friday (I am not ready!!).

Continue reading “Spring Anime 2023” →

Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): The Sword of Wrath and Mercy (Swords of Dominion #1) – NC Koussis

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Book Spotlights, FantasyLeave a comment

Hello!

Today I am hopping onto the Escapists Books blog tour with a spotlight for The Sword of Mercy and Wrath, which is the first book in the Swords of Dominion series and debut by NC Koussis. There’s an extract to whet your appetite, and please do check out the rest of the tour to see what the other reviewers think and check out the book and author.

Book Summary:

VENGEANCE CUTS A BLOODY PATH

In a cathedral at the south of the Istryan Empire, young men and women are trained to be killers. The Order of the Golden Sword’s inquisitors are feared for their brutality masked as piety. Masters of blade and crossbow, their quarry is the god-cursed werewolf, whom they hunt with impunity to herald the return of their god.

Betrayed by her monstrous father, Selene loses her left arm and nearly her life when she’s saved by a traveling inquisitor. Scarred and broken, she swears vengeance on the cursed beasts and joins the Order. It takes all her will to overcome her limits, only for her violent past to drag her back into blood.

With the fabric of the empire at stake, Selene must master her hatred, hone it to a sharp point, then let it loose on her enemies.

The stunning fantasy debut from “One of Australia’s most promising young writers.” Perfect for fans of Andrzej Sapkowski and Mark Lawrence.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): The Sword of Wrath and Mercy (Swords of Dominion #1) – NC Koussis” →

Blog Tour (Book Review) – His Ragged Company (Testimonies of Elias Faust) – Rance D. Denton

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Review, Self-Published, Weird West, WesternLeave a comment

Hello!

Late because trains apparently hate me, and yesterday was a fiasco in terms of travel and today the train wifi decided to eat the entire post apart from the title and header. However, despite all that, I am delighted to be joining the Escapists Books blog tour for His Ragged Company by Rance D. Denton.

Please do check out the rest of the tour stops.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

A pissed-off warlock with a taste for revenge.

An army of sand-golems with fistfuls of magic.

A wishing well with a mind of its own.

No wonder Blackpeak, Texas never got its spot on the map.

Town marshal Elias Faust thinks that he can make any problem go away if he throws enough lead at it. The living’s easy for a lawman. Bloody, but easy – that is, until Magnate Gregdon arrives with his undead syndicate to tear the town of Blackpeak, Texas apart.

When a shootout with a pair of outlaws goes sideways, Elias Faust accidentally draws the Magnate’s attention. As if dealing with arcane sorcery, reanimated corpses, and the Magnate’s personal vendetta aren’t enough, Faust finds himself at the center of a power-struggle for Blackpeak’s eldritch secrets.

Suddenly, staying alive just got a lot more complicated.

Hunted by a cadre of sandshades and hounded by sinister spellcraft, Elias Faust may be the only bag of skin defiant enough to keep Blackpeak from being destroyed. To outlast the Magnate’s disciples, he’ll need to shoot straighter, run faster, and live longer…even if it means sacrificing a part of himself to do just that.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review) – His Ragged Company (Testimonies of Elias Faust) – Rance D. Denton” →

Cover Reveal: Stargun Messenger – Darby Harn

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Cover Reveal, Sci-FiLeave a comment

Hello!

Today it is my pleasure to be helping out with theEscapist tours Cover Reveal for Stargun Messenger by Darby Harn. It’s available for preorder now (see links below), and will be released on the 5th May.

Book Summary:

To save the stars, Astra Idari must outrun her own shadow.

Astra Idari is a mess.

She drinks too much, remembers too little, and barely pays for it all as a Stargun Messenger. She hunts down thieves who steal filamentium, the fuel that allows for faster-than-light travel. When Idari meets Gen Emera, she meets the girl of her dreams and the last living star. There’s just one problem.

Filamentium is only found in the blood of living stars.

Everyone wields knives and justifications for butchering the living stars to get around, but once Idari knows the truth, she faces a stark choice. Either she turns Emera over to her employers who control the filamentium monopoly, or risks everything to help Emera fulfill her quest to save her people.

The choice should be simple, but it’s not losing her life that terrifies Idari. It’s finally living. Idari knows she’s human despite outwardly appearing to be an android with a failing memory stitched together by her ship’s irascible AI, CR-UX. She’s been just getting by for longer than she remembers, assured in her humanity, but not enough to risk it.

Idari has lived her entire life in darkness. The dark comforts and shields. The dark preserves in its cold, and Idari may not be able to keep her star out of her shadow.

“If James Joyce had grown up reading X-Men comics and obsessively playing Destiny, he would have written this. A breathtakingly imaginative, star-spanning romp that is equal parts swashbuckling galactic adventure and lyrical introspection about love and identity.”

– Wayne Santos, author of The Chimera Code

Continue reading “Cover Reveal: Stargun Messenger – Darby Harn” →

Book Review: Eleventh Cycle (Mistland #1) – Kian N. Ardalan

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Review, Self-PublishedLeave a comment

Hello!

Today I am sharing my review for Eleventh Cycle by Kian Ardalan, the first book in the Mistland series. This was a book that I really wanted to love, but as you will see from the length (and I apologise…I think this is my longest review to date) that didn’t happen. There is so much potential in this book, and it has some of the most spectacular worldbuilding, but it turned out not to be the book for me.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

It has been a thousand years since the last Seed abandoned their duty. The mists are closing in. Finally, the Morning Bell tolls. A new Seed is born, but is it too late?

The rot eats away at mortals. The Witnesses pray so that they may not turn into one of the forgotten. And the constricting mists infect the lands with fear.

But there is more to this tale than just the Elders and their Seeds. Four mortals will have a part to play in Minethria’s fate. A farmer girl with only love in her eyes. A warrior born to the life of a refugee. A highborn stuck between the realm of gods and men. And a woman running into front lines and away from home.

Will the cycle finally be completed? Or will the mist swallow all?

“A seed is born and the evil is slain, so doth another cycle commence. Yet the last Seed born hath turned traitor, and the mists which had been pushed back, returneth.”

Continue reading “Book Review: Eleventh Cycle (Mistland #1) – Kian N. Ardalan” →

Cover Reveal: Orphan Planet (Odyssey Earth Series #1) – Rex Burke

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Cover Reveal, Sci-FiLeave a comment

Hello!

Today it is my pleasure to be helping out with the cover reveal for Orphan Planet by Rex Burke. This is the first book in the Odyssey Earth series and is available for preorder now (see links below), and will be released on the 18th April.

Book Summary:

With Earth in crisis, humans are travelling deep into space. But humanity’s future just took a wrong turn.

A seventeen-year colony-ship voyage – a straight shot to a new planet. Handpicked, single-minded crew, and a thousand settlers in hypersleep. No children, no families, no fuss.

That was the plan, anyway.

Captain Juno Washington commands a ship of loners and oddballs. The teenagers of the Odyssey Earth didn’t ask to be born, and face an uncertain future. And Jordan Booth really didn’t want to be woken up early.

After an unexpected change of course, relationships are tested like never before. If they listen to advice, pull together and stop squabbling, they might just make it.

Yeah, right. Good luck with that.

Continue reading “Cover Reveal: Orphan Planet (Odyssey Earth Series #1) – Rex Burke” →

Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): The Way of Unity (Velspar – Elegies Book 1) – Sarah K. Balstrup

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Book Spotlights, FantasyLeave a comment

Hello!

Today I am joining the Escapist Books blog tour for The Way of Unity by Sarah K. Balstrup with a spotlight post featuring a extract to whet your appetites.

Please do check out the other stops on the tour.

Book Summary:

The Seven Lands of Velspar put their faith in the Intercessors, a psychic priesthood responsible for the purification of the spirit. Where passion flares, they soothe its intent. Those who cannot be soothed, are cast out, their spirits destroyed by fire.

The Intercessors are mystics of the highest order, but Velspar’s ruling Skalens believe their power has grown too great.

Surviving the Intercessor’s murder plot against her family, Sybilla Ladain rises to power. The Skalens come together under the banner of her grief, bringing the practice of Intercession to its brutal, bloody end.

Yet victory brings Sybilla no peace. In time, she will have to face the people of Velspar, forced to live in a psychically alienated world, and a band of rebels led by an escaped Intercessor set on her annihilation.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Spotlight): The Way of Unity (Velspar – Elegies Book 1) – Sarah K. Balstrup” →

Blog Tour (Book Review): Chronicles from the World of Guilt – Chris Durston

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Fantasy, Indie, ReviewLeave a comment

Hello!

After A WEEK and train wifi playing absolute havoc with my attempts to get this post up and running, I’m delighted to be belatedly joining the blog tour for Chronicles from the World of Guilt by Chris Durston, a book that caught me by surprise.

Disclaimer – I received a copy in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts are my own.

Book Summary:

What is Guilt?

Is it an enormous flying whale? Maybe an alien, come from deep space to punish us? Some call it an angel or a god, others a demon.

What nobody can deny is that it is the end.

These tales chronicle the story of the Earth in the centuries after the apocalypse: struggles for survival against twisted, horrific foes; small moments of kindness and warmth in the dark; life going on, even as the whole world changes.

These are the Chronicles from the World of Guilt.

Continue reading “Blog Tour (Book Review): Chronicles from the World of Guilt – Chris Durston” →

Cover Reveal: The Necessity of Rain – Sarah Chorn

On By Rowena AndrewsIn Cover Reveal, FantasyLeave a comment

Hello!

Today it is my honour and pleasure to reveal the cover for The Necessity of Rain by Sarah Chorn which is coming 27th June 2023 and is available for preorder now! There is also an extract from the book (and oh your hearts are not ready for this one) to whet your appetite.

Book Summary:

It begins with a butterfly in chains.

Since the dawn of time, life has been comfortable and predictable. The gods have wrested pockets of Creation from Chaos, formed civilizations, and built entire realities. Now, the nature of Creation is changing and the Divine are losing their divinity.

Rosemary, daughter of the God of Creation, can no longer deny this when a strange delegation from Dawnland braves the paths through Chaos and survives. Come to negotiate trade and protection agreements with the Divine of Meadowsweet, it is the butterfly woman who so captivates Rosemary. The weight of her sorrow, the heaviness of her secrets.

For the soul is a battleground. Clouds are massing along the horizon, and Rosemary… 

She must survive the storm.

Continue reading “Cover Reveal: The Necessity of Rain – Sarah Chorn” →