Reviewed: October 16th, 2025 Released: August 20th, 2021 Genre: Urban Fantasy
I’ve trusted nature spirits with my life, until the storm king decided I had to die.
Did you ever wonder what living on the streets of Berlin is like? My name is Rika and I’ve been homeless for eight years. It’s not too bad, since I’ve got salamanders to warm me in winter and dryads to protect me from stragglers. People say I’m crazy, because to everyone else, those nature spirits are invisible. But they’re real. Real and dangerous, as I learn when I accidentally cross the plans of the Erlking, an ancient and hate-filled spirit. Now he and his deadly storm are after me. My only chance are the Spirit Seekers, an elite group of soldiers trained to battle nature’s wrath. Since their precious commander is missing in action, they need me to be their eyes. Signing up with the Spirit Seekers is the opposite of run and hide, but they offer me protection and the tools to fight for my survival. All I have to do is betray my old spirit friends and try not to die. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: October 6th, 2025 Released: October 28th, 2025 Genre: YA Fantasy
The Mother. The Sister. The Daughter of the Forest.
When Ebony wakes in the realm of the Fae, she learns she’s the final link in a bloodline bound by prophecy. But with the Shadow’s mark burned into her skin, darkness creeps into her mind and threatens everything she loves.
With the help of her long-lost aunt, Ebony must confront a haunting legacy and face the fears she’s spent a lifetime running from – because the fight is no longer about her own survival. It’s about saving a world on the brink of falling into shadow.
Reviewed: September 27th, 2025 Released: November 26th, 2023 Genre: Epic Fantasy
Magic is the enemy. When he discovers all is not what it seems, can a young knight survive long enough to protect the world from the forces of darkness?
Adrian Navarro burns for revenge. The lone member of a defunct military sect, the nineteen-year-old can’t shake the horrific nightmare of witnessing his father’s murder by shadowy fiends.
So when a cataclysm devastates a neighbouring kingdom and his superiors blame a powerful sorceress, he gladly agrees to assassinate her to settle the score.
Striking out across another realm’s border, the relentless soldier tracks the evil wielder of the dark arts. But after he’s ambushed by magic-users and captured, he’s shocked to discover his crusade for vengeance could be built on a stunning lie – and now the fate of the world is at stake.
As he’s confronted by soul shattering truths, can Adrian overcome his greatest fear and save the world? Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: September 6th, 2025 Released: March 4th, 2025 Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Embark on a wholesome journey of healing and self-discovery. A cozy fantasy tale of forging new friendships and overcoming fears. A quiet quest of family bonds and budding romance.
From dragon fire to garden flowers …
Felton Holdum spent his entire life training to become one of Galium’s elite dwarven warriors. When a bloody battle leaves him injured, he has no choice but to move into his eccentric twin aunts’ quaint home in the town’s quiet Garome District.
With his life of military service seemingly over, the captain of the city guard gives Felton his only chance at a fresh start in the new life he never wanted.
But when a human woman barges through his front door, the grumpy dwarf starts to wonder if there is more to life than war. The sunshine woman invites him to visit her garden, where Felton gains a new nemesis and a new purpose in life.
Take a walk through the garden and see what magic awaits.
Come enjoy the hospitality of the whimsical Garome District. Meet new friends as you sample new breads at the bakery, play a game of Castle Brick at the tavern, and taste homemade pies during the annual pie baking contest at the Fall Festival. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: July 31st, 2025 Released: July 8th, 2025 Genre: Cozy Fantasy
She’s always flying toward the next shiny idea. He’s resolve incarnate—literally. Now they’re stuck together in an isolated mountain cottage with only one bed.
When Kovan, the strongest living avatar of a god, is tasked with removing a magical field preventing priests from wreaking destruction unchecked, he defects, leaving behind everything he knew for the sanctuary of the Quiet side.
Alone for the first time and unable to work the magic that has defined his life, Kovan finds Tasa, who has made her home on the mountain at the Quiet’s heart and knows about everything—unlike Kovan, who no longer knows how to do anything that matters, from baking bread to protecting her, let alone the Quiet side.
Tasa takes Kovan in despite the risk to her safe haven because no matter how his belief in her makes her feel, Kovan isn’t staying. No one ever does, and he’ll have more important places to be once he learns to stand on his own.
But when the priests come looking for Kovan, the sanctuary they’re creating one loaf of bread at a time is at risk… unless they can discover their real strength together. Read My Thoughts…
I was fortunate to meet fantasy author J.M. Tibbott at a writing group I attended, and I am very pleased to welcome her to my blog.
Helen: Welcome, JM. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Could you tell us about your Pridden Saga series, and the first book, The Arrival?
JM:The Arrival is the first book in My Pridden Saga series, and introduces Kat, my protagonist. She’s a rather feisty young woman, who hates to be controlled.
Kat, a brilliant video game designer with a desperate desire to control her own life is faced with the option of losing a job she adores. Sent on a forced vacation to adjust her attitude she is stunned to find herself in a strange tech-free world. Confused and lost all she wants is a fervent desire is to return home.
Promised aid by the local ruler she is horrified to be tasked with an assignment to aid in preventing a devastating war, but without clear instructions on how to achieve this.
Amid vicious creatures and enemies lurking around every corner she must defend against a villain with sinister plans to seize the power she has no idea she possesses.
Can Kat survive in a land hurtling towards destruction?
Helen: That sounds like a great adventure, and for a gamer to be stuck in a world without technology, I am sure that gave you plenty of opportunity for conflict! What were your thoughts behind the cover design?
JM: Although I have designed covers for other authors, when I sat down to do this for my first novel, I simply couldn’t come up with anything that pleased me, so I contacted a UK designer (Deranged Doctor Designs) and after answering a lot of questions about how I envisioned the appearance of my protagonist, they suggested the woman on the cover. I loved the picture they chose – the red hair, and the rather stubborn look to her face. I think in this first series I rather tended to see how I would act in the situation the book suggested.
Helen: The story behind the cover is always so interesting. What about the title? How did you decide what to call your book?
JM: I spent a lot of time on the titles of the books and since this is the one where Kat is thrust into a strange new world, “The Arrival” just seemed to make the most sense, because this was the first time Kat found herself on Pridden.
Helen: What made you write this particular book?
JM: I had been writing many short stories, and I knew I was ready to attempt a novel, so when I woke one day with an idea for a story, I was captivated, and although I only planned a single novel at the beginning, the ideas for expanding it, began to drench me with ideas, and so it turned into seven novels.
Helen: That is so wonderful when the ideas begin to flow. Congratulations on writing seven novels. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?
JM: I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love writing. At about the age of ten, I wrote strange plays, which I forced my sister to act in, and demanded my parents watch and pay a penny admission to view my efforts.
Helen: It’s nice that your creativity started young and you never lost it. What is the main genre you write, and who inspired you to start writing?
JM: I love writing high fantasy. My mother inspired me to read Sci-fi, and when I began to read Isaac Asimov, I was so entranced, I figured I could also do what he did.
Helen: If your main character, Kat, could tell us why to read your book, what would she say?
JM: I think Kat would say that we all have the opportunity to change, and even though she resists change, even she has managed to learn things from the odd life she is having to live on Pridden. Each book has changed her and made her a better person.
Helen: Are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?
JM: I am definitely a planner, I have a very specific way of planning my books, something I was privileged to learn from john Truby
Helen: Do you need to do much research as part of your writing process?
JM: I initially began Book one, and stopped because my characters needed challenges, and I then spent two years designing the world. I spent enough time on it, and did enough research, that it was sufficient to help me with all the subsequent books in the Saga.
Helen: What is the best thing that have happened to you since you started writing?
JM: I actually like reading my own books.
Helen: I first wrote my books for me read, and I decided to publish them so I could read them as a book, instead of on my laptop! Thank you so much for joining me today. One last question. If you didn’t write in High Fantasy, then which genre would you like to try and write in next?
JM: I believe I would like to attempt to write a cosy fantasy.
About the Author – J.M Tibbott
J. M Tibbott
JM Tibbott has been writing since childhood, but The Pridden Saga is her first series of published novels. As a writer of magazine and newspaper articles, being an editor for an online news-letter, and a writing instructor, JM belongs to a community of local writers, all of whom are continually upgrading their own skills.
JM has been teaching writing skills for over ten years.
She is in the process of combining a collection of her short stories, which she expects to publish later in the year.
JM welcomes comments from her readers, and encourages them to visit her website, to which she will be shortly a blog, showing illustrations and information about the various creatures populating the world of Pridden.
JM declares — “If I could not write, I could not breathe,” which is similar to how her favorite author, Isaac Asimov, felt about his writing.
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If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.
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Reviewed: June 26th, 2025 Released: April 4th, 2025 Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
A cursed king. A stolen bride. A desperate quest.
Emana hasn’t seen her best friend Daenn since she left their gryphon rider clan for an arranged marriage eight years ago. She doesn’t believe the rumors that he’s become a ruthless tyrant since ascending the throne… not until the warm, kind boy she once knew hunts her down, kills her husband, and steals her back to the clan.
This new Daenn is cold, driven, and harder than the steel he wields with bloody efficiency, yet he claims to need her. Or at least, he needs her magic to temper his own chaotic, deadly power—through the shackles of marriage. But when Emana tampers with the new bond between them, their magic begins lashing out on its own, striking down innocents in alarming numbers.
Now, to save her clan and free herself from Daenn, Emana must journey deep into the heart of the jungle with him in search of a way to destroy his magic for good. But the more they are together, the more she sees echoes of warmth beneath his icy exterior that hint that maybe he hasn’t changed as much as she thought. Except the search to sever their bond is filled with horrors, and destroying Daenn’s magic might require a heavy cost—his very life. Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: June 22nd, 2025 Released: September 16th, 2024 Genre: Epic Fantasy
Rebel. Captive. Dragon.
Condemned for leading a rebellion against a petty tyrant, Mikoneh and his twin sister resign themselves to a fiery death. But when the stake is lit, the flames answer to Mikoneh—and he and his sister escape amid the ensuing chaos.
On the run, they discover they’re being chased by worse than the tyrant’s knights. From deep underground, Dark Mages hunt them for a birthright they never knew. With unexpected help from a magic box and a peculiar woodelf, the twins race for foreign lands to seek refuge from the legendary Dragon King.
But their relentless pursuers will stop at nothing to use Mikoneh’s blood to stir the embers of an ancient war against humans, elves, and dragons.
Soar into the first book of a dragon-centric adventure rife with political intrigue, fierce duels, and deep lore set in a complex fantasy world! Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: June 18th, 2025 Released: August 13th, 2019 Genre: Epic Fantasy
Phenomenal power. Cursed for his father’s sins.
Marshal lives in magically-enforced silence, unable to communicate with those around him. When he discovers he’s also heir to immense magical power, he sets out on a quest to escape his curse, and maybe find a way to end the corrupt system that gave it to him.
But his half-brother, wanting the power for himself, dispatches a leper assassin to kill Marshal and those he loves.
Seri wants to use the system to become the most powerful mage in history. But her ambitions are disrupted when the earth itself begins to shake. The magic that holds the world together is failing, and the combined power of all the mages is not enough to save it. And then someone begins murdering mages.
Manipulated by outside forces, stalked by murderous foes and monsters, Marshal and Seri each must learn how to use their unique abilities before it’s too late. Dark powers from another realm are watching them. Watching and planning… Read My Thoughts…
Reviewed: June 17th, 2025 Released: October 31st, 2024 Genre: Writing craft
Revised and updated for the twenty-first century, Steering the Craft is Ursula K. Le Guin’s carrier bag of the essentials of a writer’s craft, a generous gift from one of the great thinkers about how – and why – to write.
This handbook is an accessible and profound guide to the craft of writing and editing. Le Guin lays out ten chapters that address the most fundamental components of narrative, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view. Drawing on the global canon, Le Guin offers her inimitably witty commentary and incisive dissection, developing into an exercise that the writer can do solo or in a group. No other writing guide offers such a comprehensive, experienced and kind approach to “steering the craft” as a writing crew.
Steering the Craft deserves a place on every writer’s shelf. Read My Thoughts…
Helen Garraway 