Tag: books

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Book Review: Path of a Novice by R.K. Lander.

Path of a Novice (The Silvan, #1)Path of a Novice by R.K. Lander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Path of a Novice by R.K. Lander is a debut novel and the first book in ‘The Silvan Trilogy’ series. The story follows an elf named Fel’annár trying to prove his worth by chasing his dream to become a captain in the kings army. But things are complicated by the struggle he has with his mixed heritage and a secret that has been kept from him all his life.

The Cover: There are a couple of versions of this cover, the one I have depicts a cloaked elf standing in the forest. He wears a leather jerkin, bow knocked in hand, with sword and quiver slung across his back. I like this cover and feel it is a good match with the genre and certainly fits the story. The font is also a good match and the colour choices contrast well. The other cover I have seen shows the upper torso of a bare chested elf and looks more like a fantasy-romance novel to me. I doubt I would have picked the book up if I had come across this cover first, and that would have been a real shame.

The Good Stuff: R.K. has built a clearly defined world with cultural and political issues that bring it to life. The enemy are many, with a variety of deviants and Sand Lords that I want to learn more about. It has all the elements of a great fantasy with its magic, swordplay, bowmanship, and creatures. I like the characters and their interactions, the prose runs smoothly enough and provokes emotion well in places. There are also passages from elven chronicles at the beginning of each chapter that added that little bit of extra flavour to the book for me. A job well done by the author in my opinion.

The Bad Stuff: This novel is not without its problems for me. I felt that there were some unnecessary words that slowed the prose and made the sentences longer than needed. These could have been stripped back, especially in the action scenes. There are some strange names too, which some readers won’t mind and may even expect, but I find that they pull me out of the story at times as I try to wrap my head around the pronunciation. The author also uses some uncommon words, which is fine when only used once or twice, but used more often, they stand out like a lit beacon.

Overall, despite the points listed in the bad stuff above, I found this to be a great epic fantasy and I really enjoyed it. When a tale is as good as this one, any minor issues roll over you like fire on a dragon’s scales. This is a solid debut novel and I can only see R.K.’s work getting better from here. I’m giving this one a tree loving, sword dancing 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

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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A Thank You in These Troubled Times

Hello Readers,

While I appreciate all who purchase my work and read my stories, I would like to say a special thanks to those of you who have purchased one of my books during this time of Covid-19. My book sales only provide a small income, but during these times, it is my only income. So, please take a moment to feel good about yourselves for helping out a fellow human being. And for those of you that have offered to support me through subscriptions if I create a Patreon account, you are amazing people. You all are. Thank you!

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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Book Review: Blood of Heirs by Alicia Wanstall-Burke

Blood of Heirs (The Coraidic Sagas #1)Blood of Heirs by Alicia Wanstall-Burke is a debut fantasy novel that follows the separate paths of two protagonists in a dark and perilous world. For the purpose of full disclosure, Alicia is a part of my writers group. Due to circumstance however, I have only met her twice and this is the first time I have had the pleasure of reading her work.

The Cover: This is a good cover for the genre. The image shouts fantasy, the colour hints at the underlying tone of the book, and the font is well contrasted and clear.

The Good Stuff: This is a solid debut fantasy novel. The world is clearly defined and well-built with some nice touches that distinguish between the different cultures within the world. There are some formidable enemies, and as with any good fantasy there is a sound magic system. The characters are individual, well developed, and have their own distinct stories. The prose runs smoothly and I found there are some great quote-worthy passages within the pages. One I particularly liked was “His plan had to work. If it didn’t, he’d have the blood of thousands on his hands; such a stain would never wash clean.”

The Bad Stuff: This is nit-picking, but there are a couple of minor inconsistencies that drew me out of the story. In chapter five they’ve been waiting for the snow, but it hasn’t come. Then we move to chapter seven and Ran’s mother queries if the snows have come early? There is also a mention in one sentence that Lidan has been studying her parents, but then a little further on we hear that she has been avoiding them. This had me thinking how she could study them if she was avoiding them? I also question a couple of the words choices, such as sofa – this seems too modern for the setting to me.

Overall, having not read any of Alicia’s work prior to this book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this story or not, but after chapter four I was hooked. The minor issues noted above did little to detract from my enjoyment of this book. It is a great fantasy novel, and while Lidan has a solid storyline, I really found myself drawn into Ran’s story. I’m giving this one a magic pulsing, steel slashing 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks with a deep guttural growl for good measure.

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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Ramblings of An Author in Times of Lockdown.

Hello Readers,

Many people are doing it tough around the world in the current environment and yours truly is no exception. Like many others, I’ve been looking at ways I can generate a bit more income while I’m out of work in these times of Covid-19. I read a statistic just yesterday that said you have a 0.5% chance of getting a new job in Brisbane right now. If you’re looking for work too – I know, it doesn’t fill me with confidence either, but hey, we’ve got to keep trying or that chance reduces to 0%.

It has been good to see communities helping each other out in these times. I’ve seen people volunteering to get groceries for other who are in isolation, businesses offering free courses, writers offering discounted books (myself included), friends playing games via Zoom, etc. I’ve even started learning the guitar again through a free online course from Fender. It has been a welcome distraction from everything else that’s been going on over the last couple of months.

I’ve also been finding it a struggle to write at present. You’d think this would be the ideal time to knuckle down and get some writing done, but it’s hard for me to get into the mindset with everything else going on around me. I will need to get more work out if I want to break even with my writing though. I do have some new short stories I have finished, but I need to get them edited and that costs money, so I need to hold off on those until I find a new job. I could put ads on my website, but I’ve always hated going to websites only to be inundated with them, so I’m very reluctant to use ads on my own website. I had arranged with a couple of local businesses to get some of my art up for sale on their walls. Then lockdown measures were put in place… that’s going to have to wait until the restrictions are lifted now (which thankfully isn’t looking too far away here in Queensland).

In the mean time I’ve been toying with the idea of adding one of those ‘buy me a coffee’ donation type plug-ins to my website. But then I got to thinking. My short stories cost less than a cup of coffee anyway – and my readers get something to read during isolation. It’s a win-win right?

So, if you want to help out this author in these uncertain times, don’t buy me a coffee, buy one of my books! You’d make this guy really happy, and who knows, you may even enjoy my stories.

How are you coping in the current environment? Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.

Happy Reading.

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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 libraries.

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Book Review: Become An Amazon Keyword Master by Peter MacDonald

Become an Amazon Keyword Master - Maximize your Amazon Book SalesBecome an Amazon Keyword Master – Maximize your Amazon Book Sales by Peter MacDonald

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Become an Amazon Keyword Master by Peter MacDonald claims to show you how to increase your sales by using more effective keywords.

The Cover: This is a typical non-fiction cover and fits the title well, the yellow text on blue background works, but the red text is hard to see/read on smaller images of the book cover. The font choice works for me, but I would change the red text to white or a similar light colour that works with the blue background.

The Good Stuff: This book is well presented and does provide some useful information. It will give you a better understanding of search engine optimization (SEO), and the differences between Amazon and Google. While I believe the author is incorrect on the issue noted in ‘The Bad Stuff’, he still has a good grasp on maximising your keyword efficiency and there is merit in the method he uses.

The Bad Stuff: I’m no expert on this topic, but I believe the author may be mis-informed on identifying keywords other people are searching on. The method described to find Amazon’s most popular keywords is, in my opinion, incorrect. I believe that when you search on Amazon, they provide you with search options tailored to your own interests and search history – Not the most popular searches by other people as suggested. This is an older title from 2014 and I can’t see that there is an updated version. It could be that the keyword issue noted was correct at time of publication, but with Amazon continually evolving and changing their algorhythm, some of the information in this book is likely to be inaccurate.

Overall, I found this to be of some use and believe the methods described will be of benefit, even if I do disagree with the authors understanding of how to find optimal search words. I’m giving this one 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

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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Are you searching for authors like Joe Abercrombie? Why not check out this list.

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Hello Readers,

I know I harp on about Joe Abercrombie (JA) being my favourite author, and that’s because he is, but I have been trying to find some new favourite authors to add to the list. So I put a call out through some of my groups on social media to find similar authors to JA, and this is what my contacts came back with:-

  1. Anthony Ryan
  2. Luke Scull
  3. Daniel Polansky
  4. Mark Lawrence
  5. Scott Lynch
  6. Brian McClellan
  7. Richard Kadrey
  8. Charlie Huston
  9. Peter Newman
  10. Ed McDonald
  11. Steven Erikson
  12. Jonathon French
  13. Brian Staveley
  14. Michael R Fletcher
  15. Richard Morgan
  16. Anna Smith Spark
  17. Stephen Donaldson
  18. A Z Anthony
  19. Glen Cook
  20. Jay Kristoff

I haven’t read all these authors yet, but I have added them to my list of authors to try. Of those I have checked out, I offer my opinions below:

Anthony Ryan – I love this author and have added him to my favourites. I read his novel Blood Song, and while I don’t get a JA vibe from his work, I really enjoyed the book. Anthony has his own style and tells a great story. I highly recommend checking him out.

Luke Scull – This is another great author that I have added to my list of favourites. I read his Grim Company novel and I found his world and characters to be very similar to JA. In fact I constantly found myself thinking this guy is so like 9 fingers, or I love these Northmen. Luke does have a style of his own and tells a unique story that is interesting and pulled me through the book. I highly recommend giving him a go.

Daniel Polansky – I read the novel She Who Waits by this author. I can’t say that I see any resemblance to JA other than the world is really gritty. I didn’t love this author, I enjoyed the book enough to finish it, but I doubt I will read anymore of his work. The world was not quite what I expected or wanted and it threw me off a little right from the start. If you like Grimdark that isn’t your typical medieval world, don’t discount this author. His style is sound, his characters are well rounded, and his writing is solid, his world just wasn’t what I was looking for and I don’t particularly like 1st person POV. If however you are chasing an author similar to JA, I’d give this one a miss.

Brian McClellan – I read Wrath of Empire from this author, and I loved it so much that I have also added Brian to my list of favourite authors. I didn’t draw any similarities between his work and JA’s. Brian has his own style, a great world, great characters, and a good storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed his work and would definitely recommend him, just don’t expect his work to remind you of JA.

Richard Kadrey – I didn’t actually read this authors work, I picked up one of his books and read the first few pages. It didn’t grab me because it seemed to be more of a western world and I was after good old medieval fantasy. So, I can’t really make any comparisons to JA for this author, nor recommend/criticise his work.

Peter Newman – I tried to read The Vagrant by this author and it’s the one book on my DNF list. I didn’t like the authors style or the world the story was set in. I certainly wouldn’t compare this author to JA. I do not recommend reading this authors work if you’re looking for something similar to JA. I’m not saying don’t give him a try, I’m just saying this author isn’t for me and I can’t see any similarity to JA’s work. I do know people who have read and enjoyed this author, so make your own mind up on this one.

Well, I’m still working through the list myself and this is as far as I’ve gotten. I’m keen to give Mark Lawrence, Scott Lynch, Steve Erikson, Brian Staveley and Ed McDonald a go. So I’ll probably prioritise these above the others, but hopefully I will find a few more gems on this list that will be added to my favourite authors list.

Happy Reading!

This post was updated Sept 29, 2024. Check out the updated version here. 

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Book Review – The Grim Company by Luke Scull.

The Grim Company (The Grim Company, #1)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Grim Company by Luke Scull is a grimdark fantasy set in a world where the gods have been slain by wizards. We follow the stories of several characters who’s fates seem intertwined. Characters such as Davarus Cole, an orphan who wants to be a hero; Brodar Kayne and his companion Jerek, a pair Northmen on the run; Eremul, a paraplegic mage seeking revenge; Sasha a rebel with troubles of her own; and Yllandris a sorceress with ambitions.

The Cover: This is a simple cover showing a helm sitting on a white background that fades to a golden brown. The image itself represents the fantasy genre well, the fonts are clear and I like the title. All up a suitable cover for the genre.

The Good Stuff: This is a solid fantasy world that is dark, dangerous, and full of magic. The characters are well developed with their own goals and desires. The plot is sound and brings everything together at the end, yet still leaves enough story questions to make you want to read the next book in the series. Some of the characters reminded me of Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy, but hey, who doesn’t love Joe and his characters.

The Bad Stuff: There are some over-packed sentences at the beginning of the book as the author tries to build the world. I found some characters focused on in the beginning of the book disappeared quite quickly, leaving me to wonder why they were highlighted in the first place. The character descriptions are also dropped in through small info dumps, which I think could have been written in more seamlessly. There was a point where soldiers in chainmail climb down a rope ladder while each holds a longsword in one hand leaving me wondering how that is even possible.

Overall, initially I had my doubts about this story, but the more I read, the more I got into it, and by the end I found I thoroughly enjoyed the book, even with the few points I mentioned in the bad stuff. I think this is because I am a little cautious when reading a new author and I tend to notice things in their writing, at least until I get drawn into the story. I would recommend this book to fans of dark fantasy/grimdark. It is getting a blood staining, bone breaking 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.

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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Book Review – Blood Song by Anthony Ryan.

Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1)Blood Song by Anthony Ryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Blood Song by Anthony Ryan follows the story of Vaelin Al Sorna as he is given to the Sixth Order by his family. The Order are protectors of both the realm and the faith, the Sixth is their martial arm where the brothers are trained from childhood for one purpose – to become deadly weapons.

The Cover: This is a solid fantasy cover. The image, the fonts, the title, and the colours all complement each other, yelling ‘I am dark fantasy’ from the bookstore rafters.

The Good Stuff: Wow! I absolutely loved this novel. There is fighting, magic, magical weapons, politics, scheming, love, betrayal, and so much more. There were actually 728 pages in this book, around 200 more than I thought I was getting. The more the merrier I say. In a way it reminded me of ‘The Name of the Wind’ with the scribe taking down the story as it unfolds, only this is done so much better, placing you firmly in the world among the action. The author, Anthony Ryan, effortlessly feeds so many little details into the prose that the world feels so authentic. So real. And what a dark, tough, and gritty world he has created. The characters are true to themselves, well developed, each with their own personality, but dare not to become attached to them, there will be sadness. In this world there is plenty of death.

The Bad Stuff: What can I say here? I got so involved in this book that nothing really bothered me. The things I remember are the author’s tendency to use a phrase like ‘it could have been a minute or an hour’ where the character gets so absorbed in a task. This stood out to me, but by no means detracted from the story. I also saw a character name spelt incorrectly once – but shit happens! You can’t catch every typo even if you send a book to 3 different editors.

Overall, this is an excellent book. I loved every page of it. For me, this is what fantasy is meant to be and I would highly recommend it to any fantasy fan. This one is getting a dark encompassing, knuckle cracking 5 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

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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Book Review – Irradiated by S. Elliot Brandis.

Irradiated (The Tunnel Trilogy, #1)Irradiated by S. Elliot Brandis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Irradiated is about Jade and Pearl. Two sisters fighting for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Pearl is different, she has a mutation. When Jade comes home to find Pearl missing one day, she sets out to find her.

The Cover: The cover has a good clean font, but I’m not overly fond of the image. While it may give some readers the idea of a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel, It doesn’t really work for me other than to provoke a feeling of the tone of the book.

The Good Stuff: The book is well written and has some great characters. The world is dark and gritty and S.Elliot Brandis sure knows how to create a mean antagonist! I thought the story had an original element to it that I personally haven’t seen in post apocalyptic stories before.

The Bad Stuff: This is a dark world with some mean characters and yet for some reason I felt it was more suited to a YA audience.

This is an original story with some great characters. The author has created a savage world and he has a way with words that makes it a thoroughly enjoyable read. Some readers will absolutely love this book, but as it felt like it was for a younger audience and Post-apocalyptic Dystopian stories are not my favourite Genre, I’m giving it a sun-scorched 3 out of 5 Golden bookmarks.

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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Book Review – Zen of eBook Formatting by Guido Henkel.

Zen of eBook Formatting: A Step-by-step Guide To Format eBooks for Kindle and EPUBZen of eBook Formatting: A Step-by-step Guide To Format eBooks for Kindle and EPUB by Guido Henkel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Zen of eBook Formatting is a book for writers who want to know how to format and create eBooks. Written by Guido Henkel, a writer and an experienced programmer, for writers. This book provides a step by step guide on how to correctly format and produce your own eBooks.

The Cover: This is a clean and simple cover that matches the branding of Guido Henkel’s other non-fiction title Zen of eBook Marketing. It is evident from the cover that this is non-fiction and clearly states the topic covered. I like it.

The Good Stuff: This book gives you a great insight into how to format and create an eBook, from cleaning up your manuscript to adding the cover. Guido provides all the code and links to the tools you will need within the pages, making the process as simple as possible. I certainly recommend you read this book if you are looking at publishing your own eBooks online. I have definitely gained some knowledge in the process that I will be putting into practice in the future.

The Bad Stuff: If you are just looking for a book that says do this, then do that, this book may frustrate you a little. There is a lot of explaining, but to be fair, it is of value to know ‘the why’ behind what you are doing. I think the book would benefit from a summary at the end, that details what you have learned in the book without all the explaining in between, and can be used as a quick reference guide.

There is a bit of a learning curve required for this book, so don’t expect it to be really easy. It isn’t hard, but you will need to put a little effort into learning. I constantly refer back the book when I code my stories for publishing, but the more I do it, the easier it gets. This is certainly considered a great addition to my toolbox as an Indie writer. It will save you time and effort, and could even prevent you damaging your brand name as an author by giving you the advice you need to produce quality eBooks. I’m giving it a code dropping 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

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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