Tag: readers

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Book Review – Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

Cover of Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. The image depicts a man holding a crown above his head, he stands looking over a pile of bodies. The swords that killed them standing upright, like crosses over graves.

Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the third book in The Broken Empire Series. Once again King Jorg has to defend his kingdom, but this time it’s against the Dead King and his undead army, and it’s not just Jorg’s kingdom at stake, but the whole empire.    

The Cover: This is another a good cover for me. The image depicts a man, holding a crown above his head, a red cloak draping from his shoulder. We see him from behind, as he faces away, looking over a pile of dead bodies, still impaled by the swords that snuffed out their lives. The swords jut up, the hilts at the top, like crosses on graves. It matches well with the other covers in the series. The title in a large silver font and the author’s name in a white font, contrast well against the dark black/grey cover art and also align with the series. It screams dark fantasy/Grimdark and represents the story well.

The Good Stuff: Another solid fantasy novel by Mark Lawrence with a number of characters we have met before. When I started this series I didn’t like the main character much at all, but I have grown to like King Jorg of Ancrath and understand his character much better than before. He is still a murderous bastard, but that’s part of his charm. This final book in the series completes the story arc and has a twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. I am accustomed to this world now and the blend of modern tech and fantasy was expected, therefore it didn’t bother me this time around. A very enjoyable read if you like dark fantasy and grimdark novels as much I do.   

The Bad Stuff: The 1st person POV did pull me out of the story a few times, I just don’t like 1st person. I found the ending a little confusing and think I will have to read it over to grasp what actually happened, but that could just be me. I may look at other reviews to see if anyone else has thought so. Other than that, I can’t think of much else to say in this segment – and that’s a good thing. 

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the series. It is a sound grimdark story with a strong fantasy feel. The story has continued on and developed well. Book 3 in the series is getting a dead walking, blood spraying, emperor making, 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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Time for a Quick Update and an AI Art Exploration.

Hello Readers,

I know, I know… It’s been a long time since my last post. To be honest, I’ve had a lot going on. I went away for a few weeks on holiday to South Korea and came back with Covid and the flu all at the same time. Then I got a chest infection, and after that I got some styes on my eye, I guess because I was a little run down after being unwell, but it has taken months and I still have a stye that just doesn’t want to go away. And now my job has been made redundant, so I’m looking for work. The knock on effect is that I came nowhere near to finishing the reading list I committed to for 2025, which drives the reviews I post here.

All up 2026 has started out as a bad year for me, but life goes on, and I’m looking forwards to things getting better! Sometimes we get comfortable in our lives and the problems and changes we experience, shake things up. I look at this as a good thing. It creates opportunity for improvements and can force us to actually do something new, starting new adventures in our lives.

Speaking of new things, before I went on holiday I started playing around with some AI image generation to see if I could generate some artwork related to my books. It took a little while working with the prompts to get something close to what I was after, but here are a couple of images based on ‘Blood Rage’.

This one is the Ku-Shee, my prompt asked for red eyes, I didn’t get them, but I really like the image itself, it is very close to what I had imagined when I wrote the creature into my book.

Here is another attempt in a more active pose:

I got the red eyes I asked for on this one, which is inspired by the scene where the Ku-Shee is chasing Conall and Erin and leaps at Erin’s horse.

I hope you like the images. I am feeling much better now, but as I still need to look for a new job it may be a while before my next post.

Until then… Happy Reading!

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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 – The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe

The Heir of Night (The Wall of Night, #1)

The Heir of Night by Helen Lowe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Heir Of Night is a tale of Malian, heir to the house of night, finding lost powers and protecting the people of Haarth against the Darkswarm.

The Cover: I have a different version of the cover displayed here. The copy I have has a young girl with a sword standing in a brick archway as flames rise up in the background behind her. I prefer the one I have to be honest, but both of these convey a fantasy novel and fit well with the genre.

The Good Stuff: I found this book to be a well written with a richly crafted world. The protagonist and other main characters are well defined, and there are some very dark creatures.

The Bad Stuff: You may get the urge to give up on this book as it is quite slow to get started.

There seems to be a lot of mixed reviews about this book. I sit in the camp of those that enjoyed it. In my opinion it was an interesting read with a good storyline. I’m giving it 4 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
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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Book Review – Half a King by Joe Abercrombie.

Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Half a King is the story of a boy with his life planned out, suddenly forced to become a king, only to thrown from grace to the depths of depravity where he strives to take back his life and his rightful place among his people. More so, it is a story of greed and betrayal, friendship and loyalty, but most of all… Vengeance.

The Cover: I like the cover for this book. It is clearly a fantasy novel with both picture and font lending themselves to the genre.

The Good Stuff: I have been trying to read a wider variety of authors over the last year, but I was only a few pages into this story when I thought to myself – ‘Damn, I’ve missed the quality of Joe’s writing’. This is another great book by what I must say is without doubt my favourite author. This title has the same amazing character development, great description, and everything else I love about Joe’s work. Maybe not as gory or bloodthirsty as his First Law Trilogy, and certainly less coarse, making it more suitable for a broader audience. I am a big fan and with quality writing such as this, who wouldn’t be?

The Bad Stuff: (Insert the sound of Crickets chirping here).

Overall, this is a great fantasy novel with all the elements I love – good world building, great characters, and a solid story line with twists and turns you will… and won’t, see coming. I’m giving this one a whip lashing 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
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.

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Book Haul – Look What I Scored.

 

Pile of books

Hello Readers,

A writer friend of mine here in Australia recently moved back to the USA. Having lived here for some years he had years of possessions to get rid of before the move. Amongst these possessions was a stash of books. So naturally, when he put the call out for anyone interested in buying any of them at a discount, I put my hand up. Now I was only expecting to come away with a few books of interest, but wow, what a collection. I came away with 12 books on the craft of writing (and I even left a handful of others as I am limited on shelf space at home). Thankfully someone got in and bought his whole collection of fantasy/sci-fi novels before I got there, or I would have been in a real fix.

So, what did I get? Here is the list:

Fondling Your Muse

Picture of book titled Fondling Your Muse

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

Picture of book title How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

Scene and Structure

Book titled Scene and Structure

Characters and Viewpoint

Book titled Characters and Viewpoint

Worlds of Wonder

Book titled Worlds of Wonder

Creating Characters: How to Build Story People

Book titled Creating Characters

Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction

Book titled Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction

Make a Scene

Book titled Make A Scene

Eyes Like Butterflies

Book titled Eyes Like Butterflies

The Forest for the Trees

Book titled Forest for the Trees

The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy

Book titled The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy

The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference

Book titled The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference

What a haul!

A stack of books

I have started reading a reviewing these books already, it will take me a while to get through them, but I plan to get to them all in coming months. If you’ve read any of them and care to comment, please do so below, it may sway my reading order.

Happy Reading.

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Book Review – The Cloud by K.I Zachopoulos

The CloudThe Cloud by K.I. Zachopoulos

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Cloud is a fantasy graphic novel about a boy and his wolf who go on a journey to find the boy’s father and return a wish that was stolen from him.

The Cover: This is a beautiful cover that clearly defines the fantasy elements of the story, however it does not convey that the book is a graphic novel. This is fine if it is housed on the bookshelves under graphic novels, but my suggestion to the author would be to add some subtext to make it clear. Something along the lines of ‘A fantasy graphic novel that will take you on a beautifully illustrated adventure.’

The Good Stuff: There is an interesting tale here set in an interesting world and it is beautifully illustrated. The layout and quality of the artwork is done to a professional standard, and it certainly looks like a graphic novel should do.

The Bad Stuff: While the tale is interesting and the artwork is visual feast for your eyes, by all accounts the story seems to be a little hard to follow. If you are a die-hard graphic novelist/comic reader, you may not be fazed by this, but for me, well… the artwork made it well worth a read.

Overall, if you are a lover of good art you will enjoy this book, but if you are after a smooth flowing, easy to understand story this may leave you a little unsatisfied. I’m giving this one an eye opening, mind marvelling 3 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
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.

If you liked this review please share it on social media.

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One for the Book Lovers

Hello Readers,

I’m still exploring the suburb I’ve recently moved to and I thought I would share this photo of one of the local pubs. It is called ‘Archive’.

20180831_134915

The really awesome thing about this place is – the bar is made of books. How cool s that!

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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Book Review – Magician by Raymond E. Fiest.

Magician (The Riftwar Saga, #1-2)

Magician by Raymond E. Feist

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Magician is an epic fantasy novel about the lives of Pug and those around him, their victories, their defeats, their friendships, oh… and there is magic.

The Cover: A good traditional fantasy cover that clearly demonstrates the genre and gives you some idea of what sort of story you’re going to get.

The good stuff: While Magician bears some similarities to Tolkien’s work, it is an epic tale in its own right. Feist has put an original spin on a plot that has been used before and has some well rounded characters. His world building is done well, creating different races and cultures in worlds far apart. The Magician has everything a great fantasy epic should have: magic, magical weapons and armour, dragons, elves, dwarves and more.

The Bad Stuff: If I said I had just read a book with wizards, dwarves, elves, goblins and a mad king, what would you think of? Well, The Magician is not the title that most people would think of. As mentioned above, there are a few similarities to another well read epic fantasy in this book. There’s also some over explaining and repetition, with a fair bit of telling in the writing style.

In my opinion, this is a great fantasy novel and is a much loved classic that deserves a space on the shelf of any true fantasy fan. This one gets 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks from me.

Want to know if you agree with my review? Grab your own copy from these links:

amazon.com
amazon.com.au
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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