Reviewed: June 23rd, 2023 Released: December 15th, 2021 Genre: Epic Fantasy
An epic spiritual, political, and military fantasy full of profound thoughts about the meaning of freedom, human compassion, women’s empowerment, true leadership, and the stark contrast between absolute good and absolute evil
The Blood-soaked Sorcerer tyrannizes the land of Icilia with every form of cruelty imaginable, dying his armor red in the blood of innocents. Crushed to pieces under such savagery, the people of Icilia abandon hope and begin to forget the gifts of civilization that had once been their dearest blessings.
In Amena Jamali’s The Bell Tolling, Book One of the The Lord of Freedom series, we meet Lucian, the divinely-appointed hero of Icilia and Leader of the Quest of Freedom. Educated in all of the ancient arts, Lucian has the virtue and power necessary to cleanse evil from the land. But not alone—answering the call of his sacred destiny, Lucian gathers his four divinely-chosen companions and embarks on a journey to free his world. He is determined to restore the forgotten laws, heal the tormented, and unite the land behind his banner.
But how can it be possible for him to succeed? His companions seem too shattered to save anyone, while his people might be too blind to see the light…Read on for content warning and Read My Thoughts...
Reviewed: June 16th, 2023 Released: March 31st, 2023 Genre: YA Fantasy
Welcome to Foothills Fae Academy, where four thirteen-year-old students begin their journey to harness the power of the elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Wind. Ben, Amber, Ellen, and Michael soon become friends as they navigate the challenges of the school, but they soon discover that their training is not just for when they reach adulthood- there are dangerous Dark Magic Welders that threaten their world. As the four friends learn to control their abilities and become true Fae, Ben and Amber discover that they have a special gift that puts them in grave danger. Set in 1999, this thrilling fantasy adventure follows the four students as they learn to prepare themselves against the Dark Magic Welders while also training to be Fae.
Reviewed: June 15th, 2023 Released: January 1st, 2023 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
For Elle, haunting a share house comes with a unique set of challenges. Living tenants come and go, leaving her with nothing to fill her days except a crush on longstanding housemate, Dean, who literally doesn’t know she exists. Talk about unrequited love.
Just as she despairs at being stuck halfway to the other side for the rest of her afterlife, the newest resident sparks hope for something more than the humdrum of everyday death.
As far as mediums go, Ethan barely knows he is one. He just wants a place to knuckle down and finish his medical degree. But as soon as he moves in, he senses a presence. He tries to ignore it – but Elle is insistent…
The more Ethan uncovers about Elle, the more he suspects her death was no accident. Can he help her move on, or will greater forces intervene?
Erika’s journey includes a trek through childhood friendships, narcissistic family, an obsession with 80s rock music, and the trials and joys of being a wife and mother. With relationships tested and secrets revealed, can she face the stakes of her quest and become who she needs to be?
Reviewed: June 11th, 2023 Released: September 15th, 2022 Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Loneliness can motivate a woman to put herself out there, to meet new friends. But when it doesn’t go as planned, what’s next? Perhaps a little revenge…
Erika Thompson is a lonely housewife. With her kids recently off to college and her husband working long hours, she spends much of her time reading, hanging out with her dog, and trying to figure out what her next steps should be.
But an invitation to join a local mom group is about to change everything. After numerous attempts to fit in and make new friends, Erika is all but shunned. Her sorrow over this unexpected outcome quickly turns to anger, and she retaliates against the moms who’ve done her wrong. But things don’t go as planned for Erika, and she’s in for some surprises of her own.
Erika’s journey includes a trek through childhood friendships, narcissistic family, an obsession with 80s rock music, and the trials and joys of being a wife and mother. With relationships tested and secrets revealed, can she face the stakes of her quest and become who she needs to be?
Not in the US?? Then enter the International Giveaway. Shelve DragonBound on your Goodreads tbr shelf and Enter here.
DragonBound is the second enthralling book in the Fantasy Romance SoulMist series full of vibrant characters, political intrigue and betrayal.
How could so much go awry in so short a time? Crossing the divide between gloomy Eidolon and sunny Puronia was the least of their problems.
Solanji Her brother is still soulless and lost in Eidolon. Having exchanged tantalising promises of love with the mesmerising fallen angel, Demavrian, she led him straight into a trap, and he is running out of time to prove his innocence. She has no idea how to use her SoulBreathing skills or to control the dragon that comes with it, and to top it all, the Heavenly Host kicked in her door. They had better repair it!
Demavrian Ageing isn’t fun. If he didn’t reconnect to the citadel fast, he may even die of it, if the queue of angels wanting him dead didn’t get to him first. Unexpected enemies and surprising allies surface as he navigates the dark web of corrupted politics in the angel’s assembly. Let’s hope his newly independent oathsworn can keep him alive long enough to unravel his memories of what really happened the day he was cast out – and his beautiful SoulBreather, Solanji, may be the key.
Solanji and Mav may be immortal, but they are running out of time to discover who is behind all the scheming and how to redeem the soulless. When the timepiece makes it last turn, they will not be the only ones to suffer if they fail.
Reviewed: June 8th, 2023 Released: June 1st, 2023 Genre: Epic Fantasy
“No surrender. No retreat.” With twenty enemy swords at their backs and a broken bridge ahead, the last knights of an outlaw order turn to fight. A young woman with forbidden magic joins their final stand. And as blade meets blade, she starts to sing…
Adelais was raised in the far north, learning stories of the old gods and the skill of weaving runes into magic. Now, she is locked in a convent far from home, forced to kneel to a foreign god.
When inquisitors arrive with plans to torture an innocent man, Adelais cannot stand by. She aids an attack to free the prisoner and joins the raiders as they flee into the night.
Her new companions are the last of the Guardians—once a powerful holy order, now ragged fugitives, hunted almost to extinction.
The knights carry a secret treasure, precious and powerful enough to shape kingdoms. Their pursuers, desperate to possess it, will crush any who stand in their way.
Nowhere is safe—in city or chateau, on the road or in the wilds. And even disguised as a boy, Adelais draws attention wherever she goes. Is she angel or demon, priestess or witch?
Adelais must summon all her courage and all her memories of the old gods’ magic as the noose tightens around her and a thunderous final reckoning approaches.
Reviewed: June 7th, 2023 Released: January 27th, 2023 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
A war is brewing on the horizon; choices will have to be made that will bring unexpected allies together or tear apart clans forever.
Isolated her whole life in a village of fellow sirens, Thess finds her world turned upside down after she sets her eyes upon the tall mysterious male who walks into her life while training for the clan’s tournament that would decide her fate. Kage, a crocodile shifter from a lowborn family, has been trying to redeem his family’s name and pull them out of the mud. Kage finds his next mission will not only change his life but impact the lives of those around him.
The Clan of Mist is the first book in the Calpa Series, a new adult fantasy romance featuring shifters, magical amulets, fated mates, and enemies to lovers tropes.
Today, I am pleased to welcome author Geoff Gudgion to talk to us about the Hammer of Fate, the first book in his new epic fantasy Rune Song trilogy which released on June 1st, 2023.
Helen: Welcome Geoff. I am so excited to chat about your new epic fantasy book today!! Congratulations on the release. I am currently reading Hammer of Fate, and I am loving it. Tell us a little about it.
Geoff: Hammer of Fate is the first in the Rune Song epic fantasy trilogy, which was released on 1 June. The publishers (Second Sky, an imprint of Bookouture/Hachette) are positioning the series alongside George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones and Robin Hobb’s Farseer series, but I’d like to add a nod to Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Lions of Al-Rassan.
The heroine, Adelais, was raised in the far north, learning stories of the old gods and the skill of weaving runes into magic. Now she’s locked in a convent far from home and forced to kneel to a foreign god. Adelais falls foul of the Inquisition, escapes dressed as a boy, and finds herself caught up in much larger conflict between faiths and nations. She must summon all her courage and her memories of the old gods’ magic as the noose tightens around her and a thunderous final reckoning approaches.
Some will adore her as an angel. Most will hunt her as a witch. She may be both.
You’ll find more details at https://geni.us/B0BT8BH85Dcover Two other titles in the series, Runes of Battle and Blood of Wolves, will be released in July and October respectively.
Helen: I love the nod to the Knights Templar and the renaissance feel of the world, reinforced by the naming. And I am so happy this is a trilogy, more books to enjoy! I am assuming that is Adelais on the cover?
Geoff: The fantastic cover art was commissioned from the talented Lance Buckley ( https://www.lancebuckley.com/ ) by Second Sky. I can see elements of my suggestions in the design, though I pictured Adelais as being a little more vulnerable and feminine in the first book; more like Daenarys Targarian in Season 1 of Game of Thrones than Brienne of Tarth in Season 2. By Book 3, Blood of Wolves, her character has evolved through adversity and this image would definitely fit.
Helen: I love the character of Adelais, you have written her so beautifully. She is still feminine under her disguise, so I do agree that the cover does portray her more as boy, which loses the sense of her vulnerability and naivete at the start. But the cover does still suggests an underdog against the powers that be.
Geoff: Adelais is all my agent’s fault. Ian encouraged me to focus on historical fiction ‘with a female protagonist’. I was researching the 14th century at the time, an era when the only empowered women were queens or nuns, but writing a ‘nun on the run’ seemed like a fun idea. ‘What about a kick-ass, cross-dressing nun?’ I asked, and was rewarded with a literary air-punch.
Sadly, publishers did not buy the manuscript as historical fiction, much to Ian’s frustration, so he suggested I keep the characters and the essence of the plot but rewrite it as fantasy. That worked.
I had reservations, at first, being a man writing a female protagonist, but Adelais became very real to me faster than any character before. Sometimes it feels as if we wrote her adventures together. Fortunately I had an excellent lady copy editor who could ensure that masculine thinking did not intrude into a feminine point of view, but she had to make very few changes in that regard.
Helen: You mentioned researching. How much research did you have to do for Hammer of Fate?
Geoff: Masses! Research for the Rune Song series has taken me into the Old Norse language, arcane aspects of Nordic rune lore, the trials of the Knights Templar, the mindset of chivalry, and medieval sword fighting techniques. I could add a few minor diversions such as medieval medicines. (Hot tip; wash wounds with wine and pack them with sphagnum moss; it contains a form of penicillin.)
Helen: Researching can be quite consuming, but these subjects sound really interesting. Let’s talk about your writing process. Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Geoff: A bit of both. I’ll always have a premise; the key characters, needs, jeopardies, and resolution. Then I’ll start crafting craft words but stray off track, and write the premise again because I’ve improved on the original idea. That could happen three or four times in the course of a novel.
Helen: How does your writing fit into your daily life?
Geoff: At the moment the difficulty is fitting everyday life around my writing! I’m a keen amateur horse rider but deadlines mean even my lovely mare is neglected. When Blood of Wolves is out & running I will heave a massive sigh of relief and book a holiday.
Helen: Hammer of Fate is a new genre for you. How easy was it to write in a different genre to your previous books?
Geoff: Remarkably easily. In fact it was liberating. In historical fiction the plot has to fit within the framework of known facts, but a fantasy author can let their imagination rip. Rune Song would only have run for two books as HF, but in fantasy I could give Adelais a character arc that would have put her into the history books. If I want dragons, ‘here be dragons’. There aren’t, by the way. Dragons, that is. Just a little magic that’s based on pre-Christian, Nordic rune lore.
Helen: It was good job you clarified that, otherwise we’d all be asking where are the dragons! Do you have a favorite tool or software that helps your writing?
Geoff: I’m a fan of Scrivener. It keeps all my research in one file, allows me to ‘cork board’ plots, and keep side notes to remind me what to change. I’d be lost without it.
Helen: I have Scrivener, I’ve just never had to time to figure it out! Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Geoff: Don’t give up, just learn to fail better.
Write for yourself, but if you want to reach a wider audience recognise the realities of the market, particularly genre structures. These days, you can have a brilliant manuscript but if you don’t fit into a neat Amazon tick-box, mainstream publishers don’t want to know because they can’t position the book into their primary means of distribution. There can be a huge gap between what people like to read and what the market is prepared to sell them.
Helen: It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, Geoff. I wish you all the best of luck with Hammer of Fate. Any last words you’d like to share?
Geoff: Fifteen years ago I left corporate life and went freelance to release time to write. My mother-in-law was not impressed. When, eventually, my wife rang her and said ‘wonderful news, Mummy – Geoff’s got a publishing deal! He’s going to be a published author,’ the response was ‘that’s nice, dear, but has he got work?’
Helen, thank you so much for inviting me onto your blog. It’s a privilege to be here and in such good company.
About the Author
G.N Gudgion
G.N. Gudgion (‘Geoff’) grew up with his nose in a book, often one featuring knights in armour. These days he prefers tales where women don’t have to be either beautiful damsels or witches. He likes to craft stories with complex, conflicted characters that a reader can bleed with, cry for, and perhaps fall in love with. They live in worlds where you can smell the sweat and the sewers, as well as the roses.
Geoff lives in a leafy corner of England, where he’s a keen amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist. He spends much of his time crafting words in a shed, fifty yards and five hundred years from his house.
He is also the author, as Geoffrey Gudgion, of supernatural thrillers Saxon’s Bane (Solaris, 2020) and Draca (Unbound, 2020)
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If you enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather, or my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
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Today, I am pleased to welcome Maltese author Rowena Grech to talk to us about her collection of dark fairytale retellings Ktieb Tas-Shahar.
Helen: Welcome Rowena. I am so excited to meeet you and that we get to chat about your book today!! Tell us about your collection of adult fairytale retellings. I understand they are quite dark and thought provoking.
Rowena: This book features 19 stories. It is a re-telling of different fairy tales for an adult audience in contemporary settings. Not all stories consist of immersive fantasy. Some tales are solely used for their titles and the repertoire that they carry in order to create another story. I also used photography in order to accompany further story telling with symbolism found in the photos.
Helen: That is quite an accomplishment, pulling together 19 stories into one book. And I love the twist your photos suggest you have incorporated into your version of the fairytales. How did you decide on the cover for you retellings?
Rowena: The cover is showing a broken castle and red-riding hood staring in front it. I chose it since it represents the dark attributes that adulthood brings with it upon us humans.
Helen: It is a beautiful cover, drawing you in, much like Little red riding hood and very atmospheric. How about the title? You published this collection in Maltese with a Maltese tilte, I believe?
Rowena: The title in English means A book of Fairy / Witch Tales.
Helen: What made you decide to write fairytale retellings? What made you write this particular book?
Rowena: It was a therapeutic way for me to pour my disappointments and bitterness that life had in store for me. I finished during the pandemic, where the first 3 months in Winter were an introvert’s paradise. I could just write and read without any social obligations imposed on me.
Helen: I think Covid stirred many inner creatives, and gave many people the chance to express their ideas. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?
Rowena: Since I was a child I used to invent stories and then I started writing them in narrative essays at schools. My stories were often read in the classroom due to being original and I guess that encouraged me to keep on writing. Then I totally stopped during my teenage years and got back to writing when I was around 30 years and older.
Helen: Well, I’m glad you returned to writing. Which genre do you prefer to write?
Rowena: Dark fantasy. The pleasure of building allegories in between the lines of what seems a simple story for pleasure.
Helen: Turning to the writing process for a moment, which element of the writing process do you find most challenging?
Rowena: When I need to write dialogue I tend to get a bit stuck. The reason is because the way we speak is very different from the way dialogue is written in a book. And also because I am not the most talkative person on earth thus it gets a bit hard to imagine what other people would say.
Helen: Every writer experiences self-doubt. How do you overcome the fear and the little voice in your head to keep writing?
Rowena: Even though I have been published, the little voices still torment me when it comes to writing out my new stuff. I guess you have to keep on pushing and ignoring these little voices till they are nothing more than whispers.
Helen: Great advice. What is one of the most useful resources you have found to help you write?
Rowena: Music. It is a must. And other good books that inspire my imagination.
Helen: Authors are typically great readers. What are some of you favourite reads. What would you recommend?
Rowena: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. It is my favourite book for re-telling of fairy-tale characters. Also, Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore, John Boyne All The Broken Places, Lord of The Rings, Stephen Fry Mythos, Verity by Colleen Hoover.
Helen: If you didn’t write Dark Fantasy, what genre would you love to try?
Rowena: Science fiction since I’m a laboratory analyst and I find science very amusing.
Helen: Thnk you so much for joining me today, it was lovey chatting with you. Final question, what is the best piece of advice you’ve recieved?
Rowena: Jan Carson. The use of past and present verbs make a huge difference. She also emphasized on the importance and how to create credible characters.
If you enjoy fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love SoulBreather, or my epic fantasy Sentinal series. As a new threat against Remargaren is discovered, only one man can wake the ancient guards who can protect them, only he doesn’t know how. Start the adventure and stay for the journey. Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.
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Reviewed: May 20th, 2023 Released: June 28th, 2018 Genre: Historical Fantasy Audiobook Narrated by Emma Powell
India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her – an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.
Matthew Glass must find a particular watchmaker, but he won’t tell India why any old one won’t do. Nor will he tell her what he does back home, and how he can afford to stay in a house in one of London’s best streets. So when she reads about an American outlaw known as the Dark Rider arriving in England, she suspects Mr. Glass is the fugitive. When danger comes to their door, she’s certain of it. But if she notifies the authorities, she’ll find herself unemployed and homeless again – and she will have betrayed the man who saved her life.
Helen Garraway 