On my last trip to Africa, I finished the book I had been reading before my first connecting flight, so I had to dig into my Kindle library to find a new read. That was when I stumbled upon the Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. It has probably been in my library…
The holidays set me considerably behind on posting book reviews, so I am playing catch-up. My first of three belated reviews is Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. Emperor of Thorns concludes Lawrence’s The Broken Empire trilogy, a series that has grown stronger with each installment. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth that,…
I’ve been spending time lately in Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire, and perhaps my favorite sojourn to date was The Red Queen’s War Book 2, The Liar’s Key. The “Liar” in question is the god Loki, whom we meet in an intriguing prologue set deep in the past inside a Silo-like facility where survivors of a…
I finally got around to reading King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, the second book in his Broken Empire trilogy that began with Prince of Thorns. In the first book, the protagonist Jorg Ancrath was challenging to root for. He was a genuinely evil character, redeemed only slightly by the fact that his enemies were…
Halfway through 2025, I can safely say that The Devils by Joe Abercrombie is the best book I’ve read so far this year. It’s a laugh-out-loud, character-driven fantasy with harrowing action, massive set pieces, brutal betrayals, and a bittersweet ending. In other words, it’s classic Abercrombie. I was hooked after the first chapter. Maybe even…
In preparation for a recent vacation that included several days in Bavaria, I read The Ludwig Conspiracy by German author Oliver Pötzsch. The novel concerns the mysterious death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1886. Ludwig, known sometimes as “Mad King Ludwig” or the “Fairy-tale King,” built some of the most eccentric and fantastical…
I really enjoyed Richard Swan’s Empire of the Wolf series, so I was eager to read Grave Empire, which is set in the same world, albeit hundreds of years later. While it doesn’t quite match the gripping quality of the earlier trilogy, Grave Empire presents an intriguing premise and shows promise as the new series…
Everything comes to an epic, violent conclusion in Joe Abercrombie’s Last Argument of Kings, the final book in his First Law Trilogy. This book is the most spectacular in the series, wrapping up—for the most part—the two main plotlines and a myriad of subplots. Some of these conclusions are quite satisfying; others, not so much….
On a long plane ride back from Africa, I had the chance to finish Camelot by Giles Kristian. This completes my journey through his trilogy of historically based Arthurian novels, even though I read them out of order—mistakenly beginning with Arthur. All three were excellent, and I’m honestly torn about which of them is my…
I began Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie as soon as I finished the first book in his First Law Trilogy, The Blade Itself. Book 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first and offers much more insight into the fascinating history of Abercrombie’s world. Before They Are Hanged has a more…
After finishing Arthur by Giles Kristian, I dove straight into Lancelot, his first book based on Arthurian legends. Written in the first person from Lancelot’s point of view, it offers the most unique portrayal of the famous warrior I’ve come across, along with a fresh take on his love story with Guinevere. Nearly half the…