Book Reviews

Wondering what to read next? Can’t decide if that book you keep hearing about is worth reading? Simply looking for a marginally entertaining reviews of book you may or may not ever read? Then this is the place for you. Peruse to your heart’s content.

The Silmarillion

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien Age: 16+

The story of the creation of the world and of the First Age of Middle-earth, this foundational epic fantasy is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back and in whose events some of them, such as Elrond and Galadriel, took part. The three Silmarils were jewels created by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves. Within them was imprisoned the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor before the Trees themselves were destroyed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord. Thereafter, the unsullied Light of Valinor lived on only in the Silmarils, but they were seized by Morgoth and set in his crown, which was guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth. The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all their heroism, against the great Enemy.

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom

Author: Louis Sachar Series: Wayside School (book 4) Age: 7+

Your favorite students and teachers have been waiting for you! That includes Sharie, who loves her striped and spotted umbrella more than anything; Kathy, who has a bad case of oppositosis; Jason, who has to read the longest book in the world; and the rest in Mrs. Jewls’s class on the thirtieth story, who are busily collecting toenail clippings. They all need to prepare for the Ultimate Test, despite the Cloud of Doom looming above them.

Moonlight Howls

Author: S.D. Sampley Age: 16+

For seven thousand years, supernatural beings have existed in the shadows alongside humanity. Even for vampire Talon, seven thousand years is a long time. She plays errand girl for the supernatural queen, if just to pass the time. But when one of these “errands” reveals the resurrection of a long dead, genocidal cult responsible for the death of thousands of supernaturals and humans alike, Talon’s boredom is replaced by gut wrenching terror.
Talon and her two friends team up with nomad Jesse after the cult kidnaps his sister. Who and what he is remains a burning question in her mind. But all that matters to her is protecting what is most important: family. And she’ll be damned if anything or anyone destroys it again.

Beyond the Stripes

Author: Justin Harvison Genre: Written Verse

I titled this book Beyond the Stripes because we all have some sort of battle wound. Many of our painful memories are not visible to the naked eye. Yet, your scars being visible or invisible to natural sight have a story. The stories that are overlooked are those that are not told. This is an attempt to increase people’s courage through my transparency.

Journey to the Sky

Author: Paul Edward Turner Series: Jedidiah Davenport Adventure Stories (book 1) Genre: Steampunk

“Journey to the Sky” is a Western-themed novel enriched with steampunk elements, focusing on the protagonist Jedidiah Davenport. Jedidiah, a resilient and resourceful entrepreneur, grapples with formidable adversaries as he strives to protect his land and legacy amidst a rapidly transforming American West. The story weaves action, mystery, and drama set against this changing frontier landscape, with steampunk aspects enhancing the narrative. Jedidiah’s interactions with steampunk technology reflect his adaptable and forward-thinking nature, emphasizing themes of individualism. The novel features richly detailed settings and a well-developed cast of characters, centering on Jedidiah’s journey from entrepreneur to strategic leader. The plot is filled with twists, suspense, and intrigue, exploring deeper themes like the clash between tradition and progress, community importance, and human resilience.

Archer

Author: Quinn Knightly Series: Stallion’s Quest (book 1) Genre: Fantasy

One girl. One tyrant. One kingdom about to be destroyed. Raina Swiftmain is forsaken. Her family executed in the resistance, she alone must decipher the riddle that will reveal the true ruler, while shielding it from the enemy at all costs. Desperate to succeed, she must face a warrior set on her capture.

Battling him, Raina fears her sword and bow won’t prevent her demise. When every resource is exhausted, she must find the key to the riddle which the warrior claims to possess.

With the entire kingdom in the balance, dare Raina trust the rogue warrior?

Quackery

Author: Lydia Kang, MD & Nate Pedersen Genre: Non-Fiction

What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth? Packed with outlandish cures and outright scams, Quackery is a visually rich, humorously macabre, smart, and lively journey into the dark side of medical history. Revisit a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants, when snorting skull moss was a cure for a bloody nose, and when dieters took to ingesting sanitized tapeworms. From monkey glands to blood jam, Quackery shows us that when it comes to health, humans will believe literally anything.

Empyrion Series

Author: Stephen R. Lawhead Age: 15+

Orion Treet, an itinerant and often-unemployed writer, is abducted at gunpoint. Then he is offered eight million dollars and the adventure of a lifetime. The mission? To observe and chronicle the growth of a new extraterrestrial colony: Empyrion.
Arriving on the planet Fierra, Treet discovers a civilization in decline, fragmented by millennia of mistrust and hatred. To survive, he and his odd assortment of companions must unscramble the mysteries around them…before time runs out for the settlement.

Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen Genre: Period Drama

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows us the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Evil in Men

Author: Alfred Muller Series: The Water Crystal (book 3) Genre: Urban Fantasy

It seems demons aren’t the only danger to Anthony and his friends. Before he can go back to Hell and finish what he started problems on earth demand his attention. A cult from Father Mike’s past resurfaces in the midst of all the demon activity in Heckhaven. The seals are spreading and growing violent as tensions in the town peak making any move Anthony makes a potential jail sentence even without Detective Printer to hound his every move.

Gabriel is at a loss of who could be causing the seals to act erratic. To make matters worse his mind is distracted by his standing amongst his kind. Someone or something seems to know secrets he’s kept for millennia and their using them to mess with his head. Relying on Anthony and his friends more and more the dangers facing the mortals begin to rise and more than one casualty could be around the corner.

Dezeray struggles with the knowledge she erased a human soul with her power and the grime she feels from Hell. The more she dwells the more she can’t help but see a connection between her power and the abyss. In the midst of the storm of emotions she somehow finds herself drawn into church politics.

Micheal’s threat to end Anthony still looms over the group if he transforms again, Anthony will need to rely on more luck than he can cash and determination to make it through.

Afterlight

Author: Jonathan Shuerger Series: Shades of Black (book 2) Genre: Fantasy

The dark sorcerer Ashkelon and his reluctant apprentice Gideon Halcyon leave the carcass of Rachna behind them to confront a new threat. The dead march upon the North, raised by a necromancer far more powerful than any of the house of Sheol, able even to raise the fleshless dead. The Bonescribe has unleashed his hordes, and the world darkens as light itself fails at his touch.

As the dead walk and the light dies, as men break and run around him, will Gideon hold his courage amidst the horrors of the Dark, or will he be forever lost to the Afterlight?

A Traitor's Path

Author: J.B. Mangold Series: The Scrolls of Azbel (book 3) Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy

The Trials Ahead May Claim Them If They Don’t Kill Each Other First.

Dispirited and battered, Maluem and company find themselves adrift, their crippled vessel sinking, a plague nation their only harbor. As they venture into the very heart of an unfolding apocalypse, the diverging goals of their eclectic crew threaten to sever the threadbare ties binding them together. With the stakes escalating by the pulse, drastic actions may be required if any of them are to survive. Will Maluem find the strength and resourcefulness within her to pull their fragmenting party back together? Or will the swarming chaos devour them one by one?

The Count of Monte Cristo

Author: Alexandre Dumas Genre: Thriller/Period Piece

The story of Edmund Dantes, self-styled Count of Monte Cristo, is told with consummate skill. The victim of a miscarriage of justice, Dantes is fired by a desire for retribution and empowered by a stroke of providence. In his campaign of vengeance, he becomes an anonymous agent of fate. The sensational narrative of intrigue, betrayal, escape, and triumphant revenge moves at a cracking pace. Dumas’ novel presents a powerful conflict between good and evil embodied in an epic saga of rich diversity that is complicated by the hero’s ultimate discomfort with the hubristic implication of his own actions.

The Knowledge Seeker

Author: Rae Knightly Genre: Sci-Fi

I never asked to be the sole bearer of the entire knowledge of your civilization.

Yet, here I am, barely sixteen-years-old, and it has fallen upon my shoulders to save what remains of humanity from a second Dark Ages.

Your civilization is gone now, lost six hundred years ago in cataclysmic wars brought on by climate change. Your virtual information vanished along with electricity. Only your ancient printed books remain, and they have been scanned into a memory device hanging around my neck, to which only I have access.

For Knowledge is power, and the dreaded Wraith Lord knows this. He would keep the Knowledge for himself. He would hunt me down and force me to give it up, submitting humanity to infinite darkness and servitude.

Knowledge must belong to all, or to none. I must find a way to spread Knowledge back to the world, or die trying.

The Kingdom Series

The Kingdom Series (6 books)

Author: Chuck Black Genre: Fantasy/Allegory

Sixteen-year-old Leinad thought he was a common farmer’s son, nothing more. He wondered why his father had trained him for years to master the sword – not exactly a tool of the trade for farmers – but one tragic event initiates a world of revelation.

Only then does he begin to understand his calling – a calling no other man in the entire kingdom of Arrethtrae can fulfill – a calling given him by the King Himself.

Teamed with a young slave girl, Leinad is thrust into adversity and danger – for the Dark Knight and his vicious Shadow Warriors will stop at nothing to thwart the King’s plan to restore the kingdom. Leinad will need more than a sharp blade and a swift hand to fulfill his mission and survive the evil plots of the King’s sworn enemies!

Journey to Arrethtrae, where the King and His Son implement a bold plan to save their kingdom; where courage, faith, and loyalty stand tall in the face of opposition; where good will not bow to evil – and the future of a kingdom lies in the hands of a young man.

Choice of the Mighty

Author: Kenyon T. Henry Series: Chronicles of Stephen (book 1) Genre: Urban Fantasy

On the brink of madness, Stephen returns home with a terrible secret – he’s a monster! With the abilities to read peoples’ minds changing him in ways he never intended, he turns to the only father-figure he ever knew.

As Stephen begins understanding his special gift, he learns that his bloodline traces back to ancient lineage more than 3,000 years old, thrusting him into the middle of an underground battle between good and evil that has raged for eternity.

He soon finds himself forced to choose a side in a battle he wants no part in, leaving him with the existential question of the ages, “Who am I?”

The Price of Honor

Author: Richard Fierce Series: The Haidren Legacy (book 1) Genre: Fantasy

Some traditions are meant to be broken.

Lailani has always known that being a woman means that she will never be a dragon rider, but when a messenger shows up demanding that all dragon riders must prepare for war, Lailani knows that her father’s crippling illness will get him killed. She must choose between two paths: let him go and die or put on his armor and go in his place.

Disguising herself as a boy, she joins the dragon riders and finds herself facing danger at every turn. With her father’s dragon the only friend she can trust, Lailani must learn to be a warrior and fight to save her homeland … if she can keep her secret that long.

House of Bastiion

Author: K.L. Kolarich Series: The Haidren Legacy (book 1) Genre: Fantasy

Centuries after the Forgotten Wars ravaged the world and turned it to ash, the Houses of Pilar, Darakai, Boreal, and Bastiion forged an accord with the royal line of Thoarne, founding a Quadren of advisory to the throne of Orynthia. Every generation, a single haidren from each of the four Houses is appointed to this coveted chair.

Upon her Ascension to adulthood, Luscia Tiergan takes her seat at court as al’haidren to the House of Boreal and is quickly drawn into a maze of political traps and dark secrets. As she adjusts to her new life, Luscia uncovers a pattern of forgotten children, slain in the streets of Bastiion.

Raised on superstitious rumors about Boreal’s penchant for sorcery, Zaethan Kasim, al’haidren to the House of Darakai, inevitably clashes with Luscia when she arrives in Bastiion. But when his position is threatened by an old rival, Zaethan is forced to set aside his hatred and form an uneasy alliance with the Boreali al’haidren to secure his claim.

Following a disturbing stream of innocent bloodshed across Orynthia, Luscia and Zaethan discover their ideals are far more aligned than they might have imagined. But in a land of war and deceit, the path to peace should never be trusted.