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Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.
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Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.
If you liked this post, why not share it with your friends?
For this post I thought I would give you a rundown of my 10 favourite books as they stand right now. You may notice that the top 5 are all by the same author. I make no apologies for this. This is my favourite author and I’m yet to find another whose writing I enjoy so much. Then the next three are again from one author – but I note that one of these titles is clearly different from the other two. Anyway, here they are:
1 – The Blade Itself by Joe Abercombie.
Wow! I love this book so much. It has everything I want: fantasy, magic, blood, gore, great characters and more. If you haven’t read this, you’re missing out.
2 – Before they are hanged by Joe Abercombie.
Oh, so awesome.
3 – Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercombie.
Oh, so twisted.
4 – The Heros by Joe Abercombie.
Oh, so gory!
5 – Best Served Cold by Joe Abercombie.
Oh, so good!
6 – Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.
This book was a pleasure to read. It is witty and quirky, well paced and fun.
7 – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.
I loved the magic system in this book, I found it to be very original and interesting.
8 – The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.
Because I enjoyed the first book so much and this continues the story.
9 – The Lascars Dagger by Glenda Larke.
I liked this because the characters were interesting and the paganism that was included in the story really helped to build a magical world for me.
10 – Blood Faerie by India Drummond.
This book surprised me and I found it a really enjoyable read.
And there you have it. So what’s your top ten?
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.
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Hello Readers,
I recently read a book that really surprised me. It is called Blood Faerie by India Drummond, if you’re wondering and you can find my review on my previous blog post. Anyway, I was browsing on amazon when I came across this freebie. I had not read anything by the author previously and it appeared to be in the fantasy Genre, which is my genre of choice, so I thought I’s grab a copy and give it a go. The book was not what I expected at all. While it had a large element of fantasy, it was set in the real world and was more of a crime/thriller. And do you know what? I really enjoyed it.
Here are a few others I picked up blindly that turned out to be really good:
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke
A Keepers Tale by JA Andrews
So, it set me wondering, how many readers had stumbled across a book they really enjoyed? I don’t have any answers on that question, but you may be able to help out. I’m interested to know what books you have stumbled upon that turned out to be a hidden gem?
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.
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Blood Faerie by India Drummond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Book Review – Blood Faerie by India Drummond
Blood Faerie by India Drummond is a kind of fantasy crossed with a crime/thriller. It tells us the tale of Eilidh, an outcast Faerie living in a human world, trying to catch a killer roaming the streets of Scotland.
The Cover: This cover was quite simple and gave me the distinct impression of a fantasy novel. While it is a good fit with the story, I’m not entirely convinced it fits this genre mash-up.
The Good Stuff: I really enjoyed this book. The writing is good, I was drawn in by the likeable characters and I found this to be an original storyline (at least it was like nothing I have ever read before). It was an interesting read that kept my interest all the way through. No mean feat, given it was not what I was expecting.
The Bad Stuff: I was expecting a fantasy novel and I got a genre mash-up, this may put some readers off. There were one or two moments when I questioned the story content, for example, Eilidh has lived in the human world for 25 years, watching, and yet she does not know what a treadmill is? She’s never been in a house or a car. There is a loose reason for this and I grudgingly accepted it because I was enjoying the story so much I wanted to read on. I also felt that the climax fizzled, it was all over in the blink of an eye. It was like the author said, that’s it, I’m done. It’s all over. I feel this could have been handled so much better with just a little more effort and it would have turned a good story into a great one.
Overall, this book is well worth a read. If I had known it was a fantasy-come-thriller I doubt I would have picked it up. I am so glad I didn’t know! This was a pleasure to read and I really wanted to keep turning the pages. A little disappointing at the end and for that reason I’m giving this one a heart gripping, bone cracking, 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book Review – The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson is a story of hope. Vin is a Skaa. A slave girl who has learnt to trust nobody. Oppressed, beaten and betrayed, her life feels worthless, until she meets Kelsier, then everything begins to change.
The Cover: A solid fantasy cover that depicts the story well.
The Good Stuff: I loved this book. There is an ‘allomantic’ magic system like I have never seen before (maybe it’s been done before, but this is the first time I have seen it). Personally, I love martial arts and I love the Matrix. The Mistborn in The Final Empire remind of both, they’re like magical Ninja’s with Matrix type abilities. Who doesn’t love a magical Ninja! Kelsier and Vin are both strong characters you will love, both with their own tear jerking stories. The Inquisitors are an original and ominous foe and the Lord Ruler is as much a god as he is made out to be. The characters work well with their individual traits and the world is well constructed with class distinctions, and a believable economy built off the backs off the Skaa.
The Bad Stuff: Okay, I’m going to be quite critical here in a nit-picking way, because I am actively looking for something to say on the bad stuff. Honestly, for me, it came down to two things. Firstly, in the beginning, there was a lot of white boarding in meetings. This took me out of the fantasy world and dropped me into the reality of my day job. There was also some word repetition with sentences ending in the same word or the same word being used several times in a paragraph. On the whole, these things were not a big issue for me, like I said… I’m nit-picking here!
Overall, this is a great fantasy novel and I look forward to reading the rest of Brandon’s books. If they are all as good as this one, I’m in for a very enjoyable time. This one gets a mist swirling, steel burning 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
amazon.com
amazon.com.au
Get it on Kobo
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie is ultimately a story of revenge. Monzcarro Murcatto is betrayed by the man she has spent years elevating to a position of power. Strangled, stabbed, beaten and thrown down a mountain side clinging to life by a thread. All those involved will come to wish they had done the job right.
The Cover: Though not what I would consider a traditional fantasy cover, it is appropriate for the story and its genre. There is also a hint at the blood and gore between the pages.
The Bad Stuff: Not for the faint hearted, there is blood, gore and treachery. A bad point if you don’t like these things.
The Good Stuff: There is blood, gore and treachery – and so much of it. Abercrombie’s style is so raw, so tough, so gritty, that for me it’s like a fine blue cheese – filled with everything rotten, but tastes so good and leaves you wanting more. The characters, as always, are so mean and so bad arse, yet so well developed that you can’t help but love them. If you’ve read Joe’s other books, there’s reference to characters like ‘The Bloody Nine’, ‘The Cripple’ and others, that make the memories come rushing back and have you thinking “Oh yeah, I remember that” or “Yep, that sounds like something they would say/do,”. I loved this book as much as his others and even though it follows the story of new and less explored characters, they became my new best friends.
Wow! How does Joe do it? How does he make you love such despicable characters? Set in the same world as the First Law Trilogy this book continues the story of some of the characters I have come to love, building on their characters and giving insights into how they became who they are.
This one gets a bone crunching, skull smashing 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks with a splash of blood for good measure.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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The Destroyer by Michael-Scott Earle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Destroyer by Michael Scott-Earle is a story about a legendary warrior, awoken from centuries of slumber to help defeat a magical enemy from his past.
The Cover: I love the cover on this book and it is a great fit for the story itself. The book is listed as fantasy and the cover certainly places it into that Genre for me.
The Good Stuff: There is a great story here that pulled me in from the very start and kept me reading. In fact, I wanted to keep reading even though there were things about the story that I did not like (refer to ‘The Bad Stuff’ below). I loved the characters (except Paug, I found him to be a little annoying) and the author has created a great fantasy world where elves and humans are at war. The tone was quite dark, which I enjoyed, and quite sexual at times, which I was not expecting from a fantasy. The pacing was good, the book is well edited and the author is quite a competent writer, who I have no doubt will only improve as he progresses in his craft.
The Bad Stuff: I love fantasy and that is what I expected from this book, but at times it felt like a smutty romance novel. There is explicit sexual content within the pages that I was not expecting, after all, the book is billed as a fantasy novel. I also felt it was out of character, making it seem gratuitous. The author gives us details in the characters backstory showing a world where sexual promiscuity is commonplace and marriage is unheard of. Yet at this time, Kaiyer has betrothed himself to one woman and promised never to be with another? Fast forward to his re-awakening and Kaiyer is a horny devil who doesn’t understand the concept of marriage. It just didn’t gel for me.
I was confused by the change in point of view (POV) across the chapters and felt the need to be grounded in the POV character a lot sooner. That is, until I realised that each chapter heading is actually the POV character’s name and this method is carried through the whole of the book.
The author has a tendency to go into too much detail. This slowed the pace of the story and made it read a little like a step by step guide in places. On top of that I felt cheated at the end, there was no resolution. I understand that the use of a cliff-hanger is a good tool for an author to keep the reader turning the pages or buying the next book. The author has certainly used a great one at the end of this story, however, I would much prefer some kind of resolution with a cliff-hanger leading into the next book, than no resolution and a cliff-hanger which leaves me unsatisfied.
Overall I was conflicted over this book. The story was interesting and I really did enjoy it, but the cross-over in genres threw me and put me off. I was expecting a fantasy novel and got a cross between a fantasy and what I would call an explicit romance novel (though I don’t read romance, so it may just be classified differently). If the book had been labelled as such, I would have gone into it with a different mindset and been more accepting – If I had picked it up at all; romance is not my thing.
If you enjoy fantasy and romance you should love this, but if you are after a traditional type of fantasy novel you are going to be surprised and possibly even disappointed with some of the content. I’m giving this one a very tumultuous 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.
Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.
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Hello Readers and Welcome!
This is the first post on my new website. If you’re after a welcome gift, jump over to my ‘Home’ page and grab yourself some free books.
For those of you who have followed me previously on ‘Allan Walsh – Author, A Writer’s Journey’, I say thank you. Rest assured, I have brought you over to this new site, so you should receive all my blog posts as normal. If you have not got your copies of the free books on the home page, go and grab them now.
Happy Reading.
Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.
If you liked this post, why not share it with your friends?