Tag: Action Packed

High Rise by Gabriel Bergmoser

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Australian, Thriller1 Comment

Publisher: Harper Collins (Trade Paperback – 1 August 2025)

Series: Standalone/The Hunted spin-off

Length: 309 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars

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Prepare for carnage as rising Australian author Gabriel Bergmoser presents a high-octane and beautifully brutal thriller, High Rise, an outstanding and deeply entertaining novel with some real intensity behind it.

Gabriel Bergmoser is an intriguing author who has written some compelling and exciting pieces of Australian fiction over the last few years.  Originally known more for his work as a playwright, Bergmoser has been more active as a thriller author in recent years with his Hunted books, as well as the standalone novel The Caretaker.  High Rise serves as continuation of Bergmoser’s previous Hunted books, The Hunted and The Inheritance, as well as some of the author’s separately released Audible Originals, and follows a supporting character from The Inheritance on his own brutal adventure.

Plot Synopsis:

After a year of searching, rogue ex-cop Jack Carlin has finally found his estranged daughter, Morgan, holed up in the top floor of a rundown, grimy high-rise building. The trouble is, Jack’s unconventional policing and information-gathering methods in the past has made him some serious enemies. And what Jack doesn’t know as he heads into the building, intent on saving his daughter, is firstly, that Morgan doesn’t want to be saved – particularly not by him – and secondly, that the entire criminal underworld in the city are on their way too… There’s a bounty on his head, and they’re after his blood – and they don’t mind if Morgan is collateral damage.

As bounty hunters and gang members converge on the building, father and daughter are thrown into a desperate fight for survival through fifteen storeys of deadly enemies – with only each other to rely on. Die Hard meets The Raid, but the funnier, grittier Australian version. Fast, furious and ferocious, this is thriller writing at its nail-biting, unputdownable best.

Now that was a load of fun.  High Rise was a highly entertaining and relentlessly exciting Australian novel, as Bergmoser unleashes one of his dangerous protagonists on a horde of criminals.  Featuring a continuous blast of action, violence and family drama, High Rise was an amazing and addictive novel that I absolutely powered through.

I had a great time reading the ultra-exciting narrative featured within High Rise, especially as Bergmoser eagerly created an Australian thriller in the same vein as some classic over-the-top action films.  Starting off fast with an effective reintroduction to protagonist Jack Carlin, Bergmoser sets up the main points of the narrative extremely well, and you soon get stuck into the main part of the book, with Jack finding himself trapped on the top floor of a high-rise building filled with petty criminals, bikies, thugs and even some professional hitmen.  What follows is an entertaining blitz of outrageous and brutal action as Jack, and his daughter Morgan, attempt to fight their way downstairs.

Unsurprisingly for an action-packed brawl against criminals and killers, the plot of High Rise moves at a very quick pace.  Bergmoser does a good job splitting the narrative between the two main protagonists, Jack and Morgan, which allows the author to dive into their strained relationship, as well as their own complicated pasts.  Thanks to some creative splitting up, both characters have some interesting solo moments in the middle part of the novel, which also features some unlikely allies.  The climax of the story comes on fast, and there are a couple of good twists there, as well as the appearance of a figure fans of Bergmoser will be very familiar with.  While the identity of the main antagonist of the novel isn’t too surprising, some of the supporting villains were quite fun, especially as the author made good use of the character history he introduced in this novel.  Everything leads up to an intense and emotionally charged finale, which features even more over-the-top action for the reader to enjoy, including some very unique weaponry for an urban Australian setting.  The conclusion of the High Rise was quite poignant and served as a good wrap up to the character development Bergmoser had been exploring throughout the book.  This was an overall exciting and intense narrative that has a lot of great moments for action fans.

Bergmoser did a great job of showcasing his action-packed story throughout High Rise, and this proved to be a very entertaining and addictive read as a result.  The many, many fight sequences I have already gushed about are well-written, and readers can easily visualise these brutal battles and over-the-top sequences thanks to Bergmoser’s descriptive style.  The author also successfully kept up his frenetic pace the entire way through, which allowed me to easy power through this book quickly.  There is a certain level of humour to High Rise, especially with a range of clueless goons and other entertaining characters, and things do get a little ridiculous at times.  This bit of comedic charm is well balanced by the deeper personal issues of the two protagonists, whose dysfunction is further showcased by various flashback sequence, which Bergmoser works into the plot without slowing the pace of the book down.  As such, there are no impediments to powering through this book quickly, and I guarantee most readers will knock this off in only a few sessions.

As I mentioned at the start of the novel, High Rise serves as an extension to the author’s Hunted series.  The protagonist has previously appeared in some of Bergmoser’s previous novels and audiobook releases, most prominently The Inheritance, while another of the author’s protagonists is reintroduced later in the novel.  Despite being part of a larger series, any reader interested in checking out High Rise should be able to follow the plot of this novel without any issues.  Indeed, I personally haven’t had the chance to read Bergmoser’s previous books, and I was able to enjoy High Rise quite easily.  While there are references to previous events from the series, and the author is a little cagey at first about the protagonist’s connections to Maggie, the main character of The Hunted and The Inheritance, Bergmoser quickly fills in any necessary gaps with his accessible writing, and new readers should be able to follow along easily.  As such, High Rise is a great book for any thriller reader, and indeed it works quite well as an introduction to Bergmoser and his writing style.

While I did decide to read High Rise mainly because of its fun-sounding plot and the excessive violence it promised, I came away appreciating the great character work that Bergmoser featured.  Most of the book follows main protagonist Jack Carlin and his daughter Morgan, both of whom have a troubled past and a tense relationship with each other.  The author does an excellent job diving into their complex personal history, especially with the novel’s regular split in perspective, and you get some intriguing insights into their pasts, much of which impacts their current motivations and reactions.  This includes Carlin’s regretful history as a corrupt cop, much of which impacted his relationship with Morgan, who herself suffered a dark childhood due to her mother, as well as her own alcohol induced mistakes.  These character elements become cleverly entwined with the main narrative, and the antagonism and mistrust between the two added to the drama of the plot.  I think that Bergmoser handled this troubled relationship very well, and it was a great highlight of High Rise’s plot, especially attempt to address it in their own troubled way.

While High Rise is primarily focused on Jack and Morgan, several other characters do get their moment to shine.  This includes Maggie, the protagonist of several of the author’s previous books, who has a more supporting role in this novel after appearing later in the plot.  Due to her lack of perspective chapters, Maggie does have less of an impact than the author’s previous novels, but her intense personality and unique friendship with Jack ensure she stands out.  Other key figures, including a Swedish assassin and the violent former member of a bikie club that Jack and Maggie previously destroyed, add some interesting flair to the plot, especially when some unlikely alliances form, and both had some memorable histories and appearances here.  Throw in an army of low-level thugs and criminals who also attempt to claim the bounty on Jack, including some who have history with him, and High Rise features a very entertaining cast of characters, and it was very fun to see them try to kill each other.

Gabriel Bergmoser continues to produce extremely thrilling and entertaining Australian crime fiction content with his latest novel High Rise.  A relentlessly brutal novel, loaded with action, bloodshed and some fantastic emotional depth, High Rise was a great read that I had an amazing time getting through.  Highly recommended!

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Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books6 Comments

Publisher: Head of Zeus (Audiobook – 5 December 2024)

Series: The Tyrant Philosophers – Book Three

Length: 21 hours and 39 minutes

My Rating: 5 out 5 stars

Amazon

One of the current top authors of all things fantasy and science fiction, the improbably imaginative Adrian Tchaikovsky, continues to greatly impress with his outstanding and epic early 2025 novel, Days of Shattered Faith.

I think it is fair to say that few fantasy and science fiction authors are as consistently prolific and entertaining as the relentless Adrian Tchaikovsky, who has been continuously putting out clever books over the last few years.  While he has written many intriguing series and standalone novels throughout his career, I am more familiar with some of his more recent works, including the novella Ogres, the gripping interstellar novel Alien Clay, one of my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels, Day of Ascension, and the hilarious and insightful robot apocalypse novel, Service Model (one of my favourite books of 2024).

While the above books are all quite exceptional, my favourite body of Tchaikovsky’s work has so far been The Tyrant Philosophers series.  A gripping, brilliant and highly amusing series, the Tyrant Philosophers novels are set in a cool fantasy world filled with magic, gods and demons, all with a fun Tchaikovsky twist to them.  With the first two books, City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds, both of which were amongst my favourite books of 2023 (with City of Last Chances being one of the best audiobooks of 2023) the series has really grabbed my attention over the last couple of years.  Much of it is down to the author’s clever narratives that work to expand this intriguing fantasy world through some interesting overlapping characters and events.  In particular, the series examines the dark impact of the Palleseen, a conquering army of fanatics who violently supress superstition and belief in the gods in the name of expanding their own worldview of perfection and correctness.  Both the previous books in this series were quite impressive, and I was very eager to read Days of Shattered Faith when it first came out.  While I have been delayed in writing a review for this book, it proved to be an outstanding read, especially with its rich and powerful narrative.

Plot Synopsis:

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world.

Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.

As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.

Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?

As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.

Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…

Wow, what an incredible read.  Adrian Tchaikovsky continues to deeply impress with his elaborate and intense narratives, especially as he expertly continues his Tyrant Philosophers series in his distinctive and creative way.  Featuring a complex plot that follows various damaged and self-serving characters as they navigate the attempts to influence and control a mighty city, Days of Shattered Faith was an addictive read from start to finish, and I loved how the entire novel came together.  A very easy five-star read, Days of Shattered Faith was one of my favourite books and audiobooks from the first half of 2025, and I had such an exceptional time getting through it.

I really loved how Days of Shattered Faith’s story turned out, especially as Tchaikovsky managed to turn this into both a powerful standalone novel as well as a moving entry in the larger Tyrant Philosophers series.  This book has quite a complex and layered narrative to it, as it follows multiple intriguing characters through chaotic events that are about to overtake the city of Alkhalend.  Initially focusing on the two Palleseen characters, Sage-Invigilator Angilly and Cohort-Invigilator Loret, Days of Shattered Faith sees them as unlikely ambassadors in a city that mostly hates and fears the Palleseen and their attempts to subvert and control the world.  When the sudden death of Alkhalend’s ruler results in a brutal civil war, Angilly and Loret attempt to help the Palleseen supporting heir to retain the throne following a coup from his brother.  At the same time, various other figures in the city, including a familiar former priest and several unconventional doctors, attempt to survive the chaos engulfing their home.

Tchaikovsky does an excellent job building up a lot of complex storylines, details of the main setting, and character arcs in the first half of Days of Shattered Faith, all of which came into play in fantastic ways as the novel continued.  Following a large collection of complex character-driven storylines throughout the novel, Tchaikovsky moulds these together into a compelling overarching narrative, with these protagonists impacted by various major events.  This includes the brutal civil war at the centre of the novel, which completely changes the course of the narrative and sets several major characters down some compelling and dark spirals.  Due to the appearance of more Palleseen influence in the second half of the book, things in Alkhalend naturally go to hell in a variety of ways, especially when all the unconventional and imperfect methods of Angilly and her unusual Palleseen colleagues in Outreach are questioned and changed by her more by-the-book superiors, who also drop the subtle tactics when it comes to controlling the city.  This results in a darker, more intense second half of the novel, where every protagonist makes mistakes or experiences greater tragedy.  The author perfectly builds up the tension and suspense before leading up to the big revolution sequence where all the separate character arcs converge for the last time, which was as devastating and crazy as you would expect from Tchaikovsky.  Everything ends on a satisfying, heartbreaking note, especially as several characters find themselves in worse positions then when they started.  It will be very interesting to see where the wider narrative of the series goes from here, especially for the series’ recurring protagonist, but it’s clear that the events of Tchaikovsky’s universe can only get sadder from here.

Tchaikovsky has a very distinctive and compelling writing style for the Tyrant Philosophers novels that coveys his elaborate and entertaining narrative in some unique ways.  Once again relying heavily on multiple perspective changes to tell his layered story, Tchaikovsky embarks on providing a deep and personal story, set around a large collection of compelling supporting characters.  The author excels at creating elaborate and complex backgrounds for the various characters, which are worked into the larger plot extremely well, especially as each character has their own unique motivations and damage.  All these varied story elements are well woven together into one complex story, and it was fascinating to see all the different figures react to the continually changing events.  As with the previous books, Days of Shattered Faith has a range of tones within it, as Tchaikovsky works hard to produce the right balance of intrigue, action, world building and dramatic and moving character moments, all of which are done perfectly and work to create an impressive novel.  The elaborate battle sequences pair well with the subtle and often forced betrayals of the various characters, while deeper personal troubles and dark histories lurk just beneath the surface.  All these sequences are well laced with the excellent and often cynical humour of the author, which really ties the entire thing together quite nicely.  I loved how so many complex scenes were made better by the sarcastic and realistic commentary of either the characters or the narrator, which worked to highlight the dark, and often absurd nature, of so many of the fantasy elements of the story.

As with the last two books in the series, Days of Shattered Faith works well as both its own distinctive, standalone narrative and as a continuation of elements and character-focused storylines from the previous books.  Due to how it initially focuses on an original group of central characters navigating an unfamiliar setting in the series’ wider world, new readers can easily come into this series without any real pre-knowledge of the other books.  However, as the story eventually grows to focus on several major characters from the first two novels, I think those readers who know the full story of these figures and the complex events they’ve had to navigate will end up appreciating the plot of Days of Shattered Faith a little more, especially as Tchaikovsky continues to torture a certain former priest with even more tragedy and hardship.  The author also features references to events from the previous books throughout Days of Shattered Faith, and readers will find it fascinating to see how certain decisions or plots from the recurring characters, such as some vengeful religious conversion in House of Open Wounds, had larger, devastating impacts on the wider world.

Tchaikovsky once again pulls together an elaborate setting for his compelling narrative, as while Days of Shattered Faith is set in the same fantasy world as the other Tyrant Philosophers novels, much of the action occurs around the newly introduced complex city of Alkhalend.  Loaded up with cut-throat politics, various conflicting religions, distinctive magic, and various otherworldly beings who have migrated from other realities, Alkhalend is an exceptional focus for much of the plot.  Tchaikovsky excelled at introducing the various unique elements of Alkhalend and its surrounding nations in the early part of the book, and it was fascinating to see how they impacted the plot going forward.  Alkhalend honestly had so many fun and quirky unique fantasy features, and this had to be one of the more memorable settings I have had the pleasure to see in fantasy figure.

Of course, as this book is set within the Tyrant Philosophers universe, Tchaikovsky had to once again include the Palleseen, who serve as the main antagonistic group in the series.  Ideological zealots often bound by their own rules and processes as they slowly and greedily try to take over the world, all the books in this series are dedicated to examining their methods and serves as a humorous critique of militarisation and empire building.  While the previous books have either looked at the Palleseen as an occupying force or at their weaponisation of magical medical practices, Days of Shattered Faith focuses on their diplomats and how they influence conflicts in lands outside their empire.  This ends up showcasing a new side to the Palleseen machine, especially as the empire’s diplomatic department, Outreach, is made up of more fluid personnel, willing to go outside of standard practices to achieve their goals.  It was quite entertaining to see the differing methods of this empire conflict with each other, especially when it brings some conflict between the various Palleseen characters, and it added some great drama to the second half of the book.  I loved once again seeing the dangerous bureaucracy and insatiable desire for more magical material turn the Palleseen from reasonable allies to controlling occupiers as the plot continued, especially as it perfectly influenced various characters to take a new course of action.

As I have mentioned a few times above, Tchaikovsky loaded this novel up with an outstanding array of complex or damaged characters who are the true highlight of the plot thanks to their collective dark histories and layered motivations.  The sheer range of different characters in Days of Shattered Faith is very impressive, featuring a great mixture of locals of Alkhalend, Palleseen visitors, and other memorable figures seeking refuge in the sandy city.  Much of the plot was focused around the two members of Palleseen Outreach in the city, Sage-Invigilator Angilly and Cohort-Invigilator Loret, whose unique take on diplomacy often causes more chaos.  Angilly was a great lead for much of the plot as a pragmatic Palleseen operative, who finds her loyalty compromised by her romantic connection to the city’s crown prince.  This doomed romance leads to all manner of trouble for both characters, and the various betrayals and eventual end resulted in some of the author’s more tragic writing.  Loret, on the other hand, was a great fish out of water in this novel as she attempts to learn the rules of diplomacy and understand the many facets of Alkhalend, all while keeping her troubled past a secret.  I felt that Tchaikovsky used Loret well as a good stand in for the audience to showcase his new city setting in more detail, while her eventual development and tragic past connected to the events of the previous book proved to be a particularly compelling, if bloody, part of the plot.

The rest of the cast are also impressive, including a couple of opportunistic Palleseen operatives who have less issues with exploiting the people of Alkhalend for their own means.  I also personally enjoyed the return of several familiar figures from the previous Tyrant Philosopher novels, including the unusual batch of former military doctors who made their escape in the previous novel.  While given less focus in this novel, Tchaikovsky still makes excellent use of these fugitive doctors, and it was interesting to see how the most junior member of the troupe got upgraded to a major character now he’s a little older.  Accompanying the doctors is character now known as Happy Jack, who readers of the series may recognise as the priest of small gods from the first two novels, Yasnic.  Now bereft of his original petty deity, Jack has now found happiness and contentment in Alkhalend, especially thanks to an unlikely doomed romance.  Of course, that happiness can’t last too long, and Tchaikovsky soon returns to torturing one of his best characters, ensuring he’ll be even more compelling in the next book of the series.  Throw in the many other unusual denizens of Alkhalend, which includes pirates, necromantic priests, scheming nobles, and even a giant frog god, and the cast of Days of Shattered Faith is impressive, especially as the author carefully balances the many alternating character storylines to create an overall outstanding narrative.  I cannot wait to see what awesome characters Tchaikovsky comes up with in the rest of the series, but I’m expecting some truly fascinating figures going forward.

While I did end up buying a physical copy of Days of Shattered Faith, I ended up listening to its audiobook format instead, mainly because I had such a good time with the City of Last Chances audiobook.  Days of Shattered Faith also proved to be an incredible listen, with the audiobook format deeply enhancing the complex plot and showcasing all the excellent fantasy elements in even more detail.  Coming in with a notable runtime of nearly 22 hours, I was able to get through Days of Shattered Faith quickly, especially with the outstanding David Thorpe narrating the story.  A veteran narrator who has lent his voice to many of Tchaikovsky’s audiobooks, Thorpe did an excellent job bringing Days of Shattered Faith to life, especially as his tones and voices matched the style of the author’s writing.  Thorpe really dives into the various unique characters loaded into Days of Shattered Faith, coming up with a range of fun and fitting voices.  I felt that these voices, as well as his excellent narration of the complex fantasy plot details of this novel, turned Days of Shattered Faith into a very enjoyable audiobook, and it was such a good format to enjoy this unique story.  Easily one of the top audiobooks I have so far enjoyed in 2025, Days of Shattered Faith comes highly recommended in this format, and you are guaranteed to have an amazing time listening to it.

With even more crazy characters, distinctive fantasy elements, and a twisty and captivating plot, Days of Shattered Faith was another exceptional novel from Adrian Tchaikovsky.  A perfect continuation of the incredible Tyrant Philosophers series, Days of Shattered Faith had so many awesome elements to it, and I loved its complex story and compelling protagonists.  An outstanding read I loved so much, Days of Shattered Faith is one of the best fantasy novels of 2025, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the series unfolds.  Indeed, the fourth book in the series, Pretenders to the Throne of God, is out in a few months’ time, and it is already shaping up to be another epic read.

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The Pilgrim’s Revenge by Scott Mariani

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Historical Fiction, Thriller2 Comments

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (Trade Paperback – 26 August 2025)

Series: Will Bowman – Book One

Length: 323 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for war in Scott Mariani’s compelling and action-packed historical thriller, The Pilgrim’s Revenge, an awesome read with some real heart to it.

Scott Mariani is a veteran author whose work I have been meaning to check out for a while.  A major thriller author, Mariani is best known for his long-running Ben Hope series which features modern spy fiction narratives with the protagonist unwinding puzzles and conspiracy theories from history.  While I haven’t had the chance to read any of Mariani’s thrillers, his 2025 release, The Pilgrim’s Revenge caught my eye, especially as it is the first time that Mariani has written a full historical fiction novel.  The first book in Mariani’s new Will Bowman series, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an intense and captivating take on the classic medieval historical fiction adventure, featuring a great revenge twist.

Plot Synopsis:

1190 – Humble layman Will Bowman lives in the countryside with his pregnant wife, when soldiers from Richard Lionheart’s army tear through his home. Will is beaten unconscious, and awakes to find his wife murdered, his farm burnt down, and his life forever changed.

In vengeance, Will infiltrates Richard’s army to find the marauding gang, and finds himself swept along in the march of the Crusades. With the help of new allies and fuelled by his loss, Will crosses Europe with the King’s army.

Can Will avenge his wife? Or will he be swept away by the unstoppable force of Richard’s Crusade?

The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an outstanding and action-packed novel from Mariani, who dives into full historic fiction with great enthusiasm.  Setting the scene quickly, with an introduction to point-of-view protagonist Will Bowman, a minor landowner and skilled hunter, the book soon takes a dark twist when a group of pillaging soldiers kill his pregnant wife, burn his farm and leave Will for dead.  Determined to get revenge, Will takes up his bow and starts following the attackers, determining them to be pilgrims on the way to join Richard the Lionheart’s attack on the Holy Lands.

After a good initial period in England, where Will encounters friendship and additional heartbreak as part of his personal journey, the protagonist soon boards a ship towards the Holy Land.  This middle section of the novel is useful for introducing several great supporting characters and provides some compelling historical context to the events that Will is a part of.  After some exciting sequences at sea, as well as a sudden action-packed siege, the plot takes the protagonist into King Richard’s orbit in Sicily as part of some established historical events.  Mariani also gives Will the first glimpses of his goal, which ends in an exciting and tense series of encounters that add some excellent drama and risk.  Following some surprising developments, Mariani continues to explore the early parts of Richard’s crusade, including his landing in Cyprus, which provides some awesome fight sequences, before setting the protagonist up for the big confrontation of the novel.  While the development of the later part of this story isn’t too surprising, it features some fantastic and exciting moments, and plays into the established historical events really well.  Wrapping up on an excellent, if unexpectedly complete, note, Mariani leaves the story open for more adventures, which we’ll probably see very soon.

I think that the author provided a strong story for The Pilgrim’s Revenge, and this proved to be an excellent piece of historical fiction with a bit of a thriller flair to it.  Loaded with action, intriguing descriptions of the period, as well as some entertaining characters, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was a great historical adventure, which Mariani ensures stands out from the various other novels set in this period thanks to its central character and he’s unique motivations.  I particularly appreciated the author’s use of the third-person perspective through the eyes of protagonist Will Bowman, which really paints a personal and insightful look at the events of the Third Crusade.  Having a simple English farmer, who has relatively little knowledge of the land outside his local community, slowly learn about the lands of the later 12th century as part of his own personal journey, really allowed new readers with less historical knowledge to dive into the events of this book a lot easier.  At the same time, Mariani clearly puts the work in describing the historical elements of the book, whether it’s the details of the crusade, interesting depictions of real-life figures, or even complex depictions of day-to-day life and the social, technological and military element of the time.  Thanks to the exciting, action-packed plot, readers can power through The Pilgrim’s Revenge quickly, but for those who stop to savour the author’s compelling writing, there are some amazing details and compelling character moments to appreciate.

Overall, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an outstanding and captivating novel, as Scott Mariani sets up an exciting new series.  Featuring an enjoyable, action-laden plot, The Pilgrim’s Revenge was an amazing novel to get through, especially with its compelling depictions of war and life in the 12th century.  A very exciting read, I quickly flew through The Pilgrim’s Revenge and is worth checking out especially if you enjoy intense and detailed historical reads.  I look forward to continuing the Will Bowman series going forward, and I’ve already got a copy of the sequel, The Knight’s Pledge, which I am hoping to read soon.

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Star Wars: Sanctuary by Lamar Giles

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Star Wars, Tie-in Novel4 Comments

Publisher: Random House Audio (Audiobook – 6 August 2025)

Series: Star Wars – The Bad Batch

Length: 11 hours and 46 minutes

My Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

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New Star Wars author Lamar Giles presents an epic and highly entertaining novel that follows everyone’s favourite group of rogue clones, with the Bad Batch focused novel, Sanctuary.

2025 has been an awesome year for Star Wars fiction.  Between the intense political novel, The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed, and the upcoming Darth Vader-focused novel, Master of Evil by Adam Christopher, there are some interesting and heavy books coming out to further the lore of this iconic franchise.  However, there have also been some highly entertaining entries in this canon, including the fantastic novel Sanctuary.  Written by young adult fiction author Lamar Giles, Sanctuary is the author’s very first Star Wars novel, having previously written a short story in an anthology book.  A tie-in to The Bad Batch animated series, Sanctuary was an intriguing adult Star Wars novel that wasn’t originally on my reading radar.  However, in the mood for an audiobook from a familiar franchise, I decided to check it out, and boy was I glad that I did.

After turning on the Empire and deciding to live their own lives, the members of Experimental Clone Force 99, better known as the Bad Batch, are on the run, taking odd jobs and helping the innocents of the galaxy.  Made up of the grizzled Hunter, brilliant Tech, loveable powerhouse Wrecker and child prodigy Omega, the Bad Batch members have become an unlikely family.  However, after a series of dangerous missions, the members of the squad are tired, especially with their former comrades Echo and Crosshair on their own separate journeys. 

Needing a safe place to rest, the Bad Batch have found sanctuary on the planet of Pabu.  An idyllic settlement hidden from the eyes of the Empire, Pabu appears to be the perfect place for the clones to finally settle down and escape the constant battles.  However, before they can enjoy the peace of their new home, they’ll first have to help rebuild it.  With the settlement desperate for resources after a massive tidal wave, the members of the Bad Batch team up with pirate and self-proclaimed liberator of treasures, Phee Genoa, who promises an easy payday.

Hired to recover a valuable relic from an auction house, the crew’s ploy to steal it is quickly discovered, forcing them to revert to their usual fugitive ways.  However, their escape plan becomes complicated when Phee insists that they take on a second job, ferrying a mysterious couple to safe harbour.  Going against his better judgement, Hunter agrees to take on the passengers, but soon discovers that their new cargo has many secrets.  Forced to contend with an obsessive ISB agent and murderous tycoon with dangerous connections, the Bad Batch will risk it all for their new home.  But have they finally found an enemy too dangerous to defeat?

Sanctuary was an excellent and very entertaining Star Wars novel that proved a lot of fun to read.  Perfectly bringing the characters from The Bad Batch to life for an exciting new adventure, Sanctuary was an outstanding read that featured a compelling and action-packed story of love and life in the Star Wars universe.

Giles pulled together a captivating and very fitting narrative for Sanctuary, the serves as a great addition to The Bad Batch show, while also telling its own unique story.  Set towards the end of second season of the series, right after the events of the 13th episode, Pabu, Sanctuary is a fast-paced, character-driven story that takes the protagonists into the gritty underbelly of the Star Wars universe.  Starting with a very entertaining heist sequence, which goes about as well as any of the team’s plans, the titular Bad Batch and their pirate associate Phee Goena, escape with the loot, planning to sell it to a wealthy buyer.  At the same time, they take on two passengers, pregnant woman Keshiri Sohi and her masked partner Kuuto, who require smuggling across the galaxy.  Giles does a great job setting up all these initial story elements, and he quickly adds in some compelling complications that add some exciting drama to the narrative.  This includes a righteous ISB agent, Supervisor Sendril Crane, who is hunting their passengers, as well as the squad’s potential buyer, Cellia Moten, who would prefer to kill Phee Goena rather than pay her.

After an excellent shootout sequence halfway through the book where the protagonists are forced to simultaneously resist both Crane and Moten, the book slightly slows down as Giles works in some excellent story elements for both the protagonists and antagonists.  This includes growing drama between the Bad Batch and their passengers over their various secrets and lies, which also ties in nicely to internal conflicts amongst the team.  At the same time, Crane finds himself in the sinister orbit of the highly connected Cellia Moten, with the two trying to manipulate the other for their secrets and influence.  After a series of personal scenes for the protagonists that finally get them on the same page, Giles moves the story towards the end game, with the antagonists finding out where they are hiding.  This results in a series of awesome action sequences, with all the protagonists forced to fight to escape.  All the book’s characters, including its two villains, have their moment to shine here, and there are some powerful examinations of the relationship between new characters Crane and Sohi.  After some suitably climatic moments, the book ends on a high note that fans will really enjoy.  Giles also adds in an excellent cameo at the end that serves as a cathartic conclusion to another character’s story, and which I thought was a fitting and fun way to end the book.

I really enjoyed Giles’s writing style for Sanctuary, especially as he managed to achieve a lot in this novel.  Not only do we get a fantastic Bad Batch focused narrative loaded with action, adventure and other exciting Star Wars elements, but Giles also managed to include some powerful, personal moments, as various character dramas from both the show and this specific novel are played out.  The result was a slick and fast-paced novel that quickly draws the reader in with its easy humour and fun focus on The Bad Batch’s entertaining characters.  Thanks to some excellently timed shifts in character perspective, all the key members of Sanctuary’s cast have their moment to shine.  I particularly loved parts of the book that showcased the antagonist’s journey, which served as outstandingly entertaining contrast to some of the more character-driven chapters around the protagonists.  The combination of intrigue and Imperial politics in these scenes, as well as the mind games between to delightfully devious villains, was a true highlight of the book, and it allowed Giles to up the stakes of the plot, especially when it starts diving into some deeper Star Wars elements with some excellent references.

As a fan of The Bad Batch animated series I personally really enjoyed Sanctuary as Giles perfectly captured the tone and humour of the show.  Working as a great tie-in, Sanctuary fills in some interesting gaps between two of the show’s episodes, and the author does an excellent job of examining some of the issues the characters are facing during this period.  While naturally geared towards those familiar with The Bad Batch, Giles ensures that Sanctuary isn’t too show-lore dependent, and most general Star Wars fans will be able to read this book and have a great time.  Indeed, those unfamiliar with the animated series get a good glimpse at the humour and character dynamics in this novel, and it could serve as a good entry point to show.  Even if they don’t, the author also adds in a bunch of references that anyone familiar with Star Wars will be able to appreciate.  I felt that Giles did an excellent job exploring the period the novel is set in, the early days of the Empire a couple of years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, which is one of the more fascinating times in the franchise’s lore, and it was interesting to see how some of the new characters fit into this time.  As such, Sanctuary is going to appeal to a wide range of readers, and it’s a great read for fans of the Star Wars extended universe.

I have already mentioned a few times the excellent character work in Sanctuary as Giles features a great cast for this book.  Naturally for a Bad Batch book, the titular cast get much of the focus in Sanctuary, with excellent portrayals of Hunter, Tech, Wrecker and Omega.  Giles expertly captures their personalities from the show and reproduces them in Sanctuary.  As such, you are given some very interesting insights into the minds of each of these characters at this point in the series, with a particular focus on each clone’s glance towards the future and what they want out of life.  While there are some interesting alternating characters here amongst the cast, including Omega trying to become more independent, Tech’s unlikely romance with Phee, and Wrecker’s simple desire to blow things up, much of the character development for the main cast revolves around Hunter.  Giles spends a large amount of time diving into Hunter’s issues with losing control and no longer being a soldier, as well as some of the resentment he has from Crosshair’s abandonment of the squad.  This results in several fractious family moments, especially as Hunter’s caution tends to put him at odds with the rest of the team’s desires, and his distrust of Phee and their new passengers causes some noticeable friction.  These character dramas are a compelling part of the book’s overall plot, although Giles also does a good job of showcasing the more happy-family version of the Bad Batch, which fans of the show will appreciate, considering we all know what’s coming in a few episodes time.  That being said, I’m not sure I can forgive Giles for his line about Tech’s grapnel gun never failing him.

Aside from the titular Bad Batch, Giles features several additional outstanding characters, including returning show favourite Phee Genoa.  A free-spirited pirate and treasure hunter, Phee was a breath of fresh air amongst the stuffier clone soldier protagonists, and it was entertaining to see the unique interactions she had with the other characters.  Her antagonism of the rigid Hunter was particularly fun, especially as it brought up some much-needed drama, however, it was her relationship with Tech that was a true highlight of the book.  Giles did a good expanding on the feelings hinted at in the show, and they proved to be a very distinctive couple as a result.  I felt this gave some of the upcoming events of the animated series a little bit more of a tragic air, as you try to imagine what could be, and you end up liking them in a very bittersweet way.  The main cast of protagonists were well rounded out by new figures Keshiri Sohi and the masked Kuuto.  Mysterious passengers with secret pasts who cause all manner of trouble for the main cast, Sohi and Kuuto spend much of the book seemingly untrustworthy with their own agendas.  However, thanks to some excellent reveals, as well as a couple of good flashbacks, you grow to understand the complexity around their actions, and they proved to be a compelling addition to the cast as a result.

While I really enjoyed the protagonists, I felt they somewhat got overshadowed by the book’s impressive antagonists.  This includes ISB Supervisor Sendril Crane, a diligent and intense figure on the heels of Sohi and Kuuto.  Crane has a brilliant introduction in this book, which shows off his intelligence and ruthlessness, and he only gets better from there as you come to understand his background as a spy and his obsession with Sohi.  While Crane proves to be a ruthless adversary, he is well matched by Sanctuary’s other main antagonist, Cellia Morten.  An ultra-rich, politically connected tycoon with a penchant for murder, Morten is shown to be an outstandingly deranged figure early on, and she swifty amps up her evilness as the book continues.  Giles does an exceptional job sculpting Morten into the very worst rich villain he could, especially once her motivations for killing are revealed, and it was very fun for to eventual face reality on the real power structure in the galaxy.  While both serve as great antagonists to the main cast, the real beauty of these villainous characters occurs when they interact with each other, which results in a series of manipulative conversations which are thoroughly entertaining.  I particularly enjoyed how Morten continuously got the better of the normally unflappable Crane, especially in their first meeting when she gets out being arrested by asking if he had been sent by her good friend Sheev, with her use of namedropping and connections only getting better from there.  These two antagonists played off each other perfectly, and their battle of wits and cruelty, was even more entertaining than their hunt for the protagonists.  All these great characters added so much to my enjoyment of Sanctuary, and I loved the amazing arcs and interactions that emerged.

Naturally, I ended up listening to Sanctuary on audiobook, rather than seeking out a physical copy, as the audiobook format is the absolute best way to enjoy a Star Wars novel.  I love how incredible a Star Wars novel can sound when read out, and this was particularly true with Sanctuary, as all the awesome action and great characters were so much more impactful and fun in this format.  A lot of this is due to the narration of Marc Thompson, who does an exceptional job voicing all the characters and bringing the entire book to life.  Thompson, who is one of my favourite audiobook narrators, has long been one of the top narrators of Star Wars fiction thanks to his brilliant vocal talents and ability to impersonate various characters from the shows (see my previous reviews of Thrawn and Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn and Dark Disciple by Christie Golden).  His skill was on full display in Sanctuary, especially as he perfectly voiced Hunter, Tech and Wrecker throughout this novel, as well as several other characters from the show.  I was honestly so impressed by how he managed to accurately he was able to voice the three main clones from the show, with each of their distinctive but similar voices, coming across so damn close to their voice actor in the show, Dee Bradley Baker.  At the same time, he also does a good take on Wanda Sykes’s character Phee Genoa, and even does a passible voice for Omega, which includes the New Zealand accent of actress Michelle Ang. 

Thompson’s outstanding narration is further enhanced by the fantastic inclusion of Star Wars sound effects and music, which is an outstanding part of all Star Wars audiobooks.  The entire story really comes to life when you can hear crowd sounds and blaster fire amongst the dialogue, while the iconic Star Wars music makes several scenes just a little more epic, especially when they help remind you of moments from the films.  These extra audio inclusions pair perfectly with Thompson’s narration, and it honestly felt like you were listening to an episode of The Bad Batch with this audiobook.  I really enjoyed this full listening experience, and I ended up powering through Sanctuary’s near 12-hour long runtime in no time at all.  This was such a great listen, and this was honestly one of the better audiobooks I had the pleasure of listening to in 2025.

With a brilliant story, fun characters and a ton of action, Lamar Giles’ Star Wars novel, Sanctuary, was an outstanding hit.  An excellent tie-in novel that follows the entertaining characters from The Bad Batch animated series, Sanctuary was an impressive and exciting novel that had me hooked very early on.  A deeply compelling and addictive read, Sanctuary comes very highly recommended, especially on audiobook, and all Star Wars fans are going to have a great time with this awesome read.

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Warhammer 40,000: Final Deployment by R. S. Wilt

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 30 August 2025)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 11 hours and 23 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for battle as R. S. Wilt presents his debut novel, Final Deployment, a captivating read that perfectly highlights bloody war in the grimdark future of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

There are few franchises that bring me as much joy as the Warhammer 40,000 series, which follows the numerous factions of the infamously grimdark 41st millennium.  The sheer amount of imaginative stories and tales that are featured in this universe, as well as the talented authors who contribute to it, is quite impressive, and includes some major established writers.  I particularly like how the Warhammer 40,000 publishers also give some interesting opportunities to new authors looking to break into the fantasy or science fiction space.  Many aspiring authors have had their very first novel published in the Warhammer canon recently, and I deeply enjoy reading debuts from these new writers.  Examples of this include Fire Made Flesh by Denny Flowers, The King of the Spoil by Jonathan D. Beer, Ashes of Cadia by Jude Reid, Longshot by Rob Young, Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward and Lord of Excess by Rich McCormick, to name a few.  Many of these debuts are first class reads, and I’ve featured a few on my favourite Warhammer 40,000 novels lists over the years.

Due to my previous awesome experiences with debuts in this franchise, I am always very excited to check out first Warhammer 40,000 novels from new authors, especially those with epic plots.  The latest example of this is Final Deployment by R. S. Wilt, which was the author’s very first novel.  Spinning off from his previously published short story Eradicant, Final Deployment had a very exciting plot behind it that follows the most lethal human soldiers in the grimdark future, the Tempestus Scions.

In the far future, the Imperium of Man battles for survival on thousands of planet-spanning battlefields, with untold numbers of human soldiers fighting and dying every day against monsters, xenos and heretics.  Of these soldiers, none are more deadly or skilled than the Tempestus Scions.  Moulded into unquestionable killing machines from a young age with relentless training and mental manipulation, the Tempestus Scions serve as an elite force with the soldiers of mankind, taking on the missions that no other soldier could complete.

Amongst these Tempestus Scions are the fighters of First Eradicant squad of the Xian Tigers.  Led by Tempestor Traxel and “inspired” by Commissar Fennech, First Eradicant are an unusual regiment made up of several misfit Scions damaged by the battles they have seen.  Deployed to the planet of Rilis, a formerly loyal world now fighting a brutal civil war, First Eradicant is tasked with destroying the rebelling regiments and bringing order to the planet.  Utilising their superior training and equipment, First Eradicant quickly turn the tide against the enemy and being to lead the loyalist forces on Rilis to victory.  However, their success leads them discover the full strength of the traitors, as well as their dark allegiances.

After a disastrous battle that sees their loyalist allies massacred, First Eradicant find themselves facing monstrous opponents even more lethal than they are; three Chaos Space Marines from the Iron Warriors legion.  Determined to slay the ancient, genetically enhanced traitors, First Eradicant take the fight to the Iron Warriors across the planet.  However, with their leader traumatised by past battles and Commissar Fennech playing his own sinister games, can even the best human soldiers in the galaxy defeat the evolved might of the Chaos Space Marines?

R. S. Wilt starts his professional writing career off in explosive fashion with this amazing and compelling debut. Final Deployment was a deeply exciting character-driven Warhammer 40,000 story that followed several highly damaged characters as they attempted to survive the horrors of war. Intense, action-packed and deeply addictive, Final Deployment was an outstanding read that I had an incredible time getting through.

I really enjoyed the epic and deeply exciting narrative that Wilt pulled together for Final Deployment, which perfectly showcases futuristic special forces soldiers going after a deadlier opponent.  Set after the events of the author’s previous short story Eradicant, Final Deployment has a quick and effective start to it, as Wilt first sets the scene for the war on Rilis, before introducing the members of First Eradicant as they literally drop onto the scene.  Each of the protagonists, especially lethal and reckless recon trooper Norroll, gets their moment to shine in these opening scenes, which also work well to highlight Wilt’s intense writing style.  You are soon dragged into the story, and while the initial parts of the book are a tad slow, that changes with the pivotal battle around a third of the way through that sees the Chaos Space Marines arrive in bloody fashion.

Wilt did an outstanding job of changing the tone of Final Deployment after this big moment, as the protagonists find themselves heavily on the backfoot, and there are some notable PTSD elements hitting Tempestor Traxel.  The rest of the novel revolves around the protagonists attempting to hunt down and stop the Chaos Space Marines, no matter how the rest of the war is going.  The story from that point is essentially broken down into three distinctive parts, each of which showcase the very different, but equally brutal, fights against the separate deadly antagonists.  Wilt does an excellent job setting up the scenarios around these battles, which include infiltrating a deadly facility, a brutal ambush by a daemonic possessed foe, and an air drop into enemy territory, and you soon get enthralled in the protagonist’s desperate mission.  These events work extremely well as a sequential and cohesive narrative, and you get really absorbed in the mission of the slowly dwindling group of Tempestus Scions.  Everything leads up to the desperate final confrontation between the protagonists and their deadliest foe, which hits hard and keeps you guessing about who is going to survive.  I felt this entire story came together perfectly, and the ending does an excellent job wrapping up Final Deployment as a standalone Warhammer 40,000 story, with the potential left open for a sequel.  An overall excellent narrative that was quite impossible to put down at times.

While the story is very cool, I also felt that Final Deployment was extremely well written, as Wilt produces a powerful, character-driven narrative that focused on the horrors of war in the grimdark future.  Expertly utilising the iconic Warhammer 40,000 universe in this clever and brutal war story, I loved how the intense personal narratives blended with the more outrageous elements of franchise.  Wilt puts his evident skill at writing brilliant and bloody action sequences to good use in Final Deployment, and the resulting firefights and close combat sequences were some of the more intense and striking you are likely to see in Warhammer fiction.  The author maintains an excellent, fast pace throughout the entire novel, and there wasn’t a single slow moment or inclusion that didn’t play into the story in some interesting or compelling way.  I also appreciated the great use of alternate perspectives, as the story cleverly jumps between several key characters.  This is primarily utilised to showcase multiple angles to the book’s awesome action sequences, which was a ton of fun.  However, I also enjoyed how Wilt took the opportunity to examine the plot from the perspective of several interesting supporting character, including a couple of antagonists.  This helps Wilt to present an even more layered narrative, and it is always really entertaining to see the villain’s reactions to the protagonist’s actions.

Final Deployment is also an excellent and entertaining addition to the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, which works well as an exciting standalone novel.  Despite diving straight into the universe, Final Deployment is accessible to readers no matter their experience with Warhammer fiction, as the author provides a lot of intriguing universe details.  This includes the Tempestus Scions, who serve as the human faction’s ultimate special forces unit outside of the genetically enhanced Space Marines.  The author does an incredible job showcasing the skill and tactics of the Scions throughout Final Deployment, and you really appreciate that they are a highly trained and better equipped regiment.  While Wilt somewhat exaggerates the effectiveness of the Scions and their equipment for narrative purposes (especially carapace armour), you get a realistic sense of these figures in combat, and I appreciated how the characters were slowly debilitated by injuries and losses.  There is also a fascinating look at the harsh training and religious brainwashing these figures undergo, which fits the grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe perfectly.  Other elements of Warhammer fiction are cleverly utilised here, and I loved the author’s depiction of just how dangerous Space Marines and their chaotic counterparts are compared to normal humans, even the Tempestus Scions.  The damage three Iron Warriors were able to do to the loyalist army, and the lengths the protagonists went to beat them, was so beautifully excessive, and I felt it was an appropriate amount of power scaling.  Thanks to these cool features from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, this book will primarily appeal to established fans of the franchise, although thanks to Wilt’s great writing, new readers will also have a lot of fun with it, even if they didn’t read the author’s previous short story.

While much of the appeal of Final Deployment was its epic story, great writing, and impressive action, I also felt the complex characters helped to make it even more special.  Primarily set around a group of Tempestus Scions, Final Deployment featured an intriguing look at these figures, their damaged pasts, and the struggles they experience on and off the battlefield.  Wilt does an excellent job of splitting the focus of Final Deployment over much of the extended cast, and indeed its nominal main characters, Tempestor Traxel and Commissar Fennech, don’t have that much of the book shown from their perspective.  Instead, most of the story is told through the eyes of other key members of the squad, including Norroll and the squad’s medic, Daviland.  This allows these secondary figures in the squad much more room to shine, and I felt the book was stronger as a result.  Norroll in particularly was quite a fun character.  An overly reckless Scion, Norroll finds himself caught between loyalty to Traxel and his squad, and his own death wish, and it was often really intriguing to see him in the middle of the bloodiest scenes in the book.  Daviland served as an excellent counter to Norroll’s more outrageous perspectives, especially as she is one of the saner members of the squad.  A transplant from another regiment, Daviland provides an interesting outsider’s perspective to the book, especially as she has a lot less mental damage the rest of First Eradicant.  Despite her loyalty primarily being to Fennech, Wilt writes an excellent storyline around Daviland becoming closer to her squad, and I felt that her perspective scenes were some of the more thoughtful and provided some great insights in the minds of the rest of the characters. 

Of the rest of the cast, Tempestor Traxel and Commissar Fennech, had the most presence.  Despite not serving as perspective characters, both were major parts of the book’s plot, and Wilt did an excellent job showcasing their personalities and issues through the eyes of the other protagonists.  This includes Traxel’s mental trauma at once again facing Chaos Space Marines after a previous deadly mission, and his impacted leadership adds an extra layer of difficulty to the protagonists’ mission.  Fennech, on the other hand, was a great portrayal of a classic, cold-blooded Imperial commissar, shooting allies first and never asking questions.  Fennech served an interesting role as both an ally/gun-bearing motivator, and a potential secondary antagonist to First Eradicant, especially as he questions their effectiveness and resolve.  While Fennech’s storyline doesn’t go as far as it could have, and I would have liked seeing some of the book through his steely eyes, I felt that he was an outstanding inclusion to Final Deployment’s cast that added some excellent alternative menace.

In addition to these characters, I enjoyed how the rest of First Eradicant also got their time to shine in this novel.  Featuring a mixture of existing members and later transfers from another squad, each of these characters had their own unique charm, and their compelling interactions added a lot to the novel’s enjoyment.  While there isn’t an excessive amount of development with some of these characters, which is mainly down to the mental indoctrination they’ve gone through, they were still fun to follow.  Just make sure not to get too attached to them, as the death toll in this novel is quite high.  Wilt matches these excellent perspective characters with several additional outsider characters, including several gloriously over-the-top antagonists, and the clash of styles and mentalities increased the overall fun and excitement I had with Final Deployment.

Unsurprisingly, I ended up listening to Final Deployment on audiobook, rather than seeking out a physical copy of the book.  I always find that the audiobook format brings out the very best of the grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe and the unique characters that inhabit it, and the Final Deployment audiobook was a great example of this.  Perfectly narrated by Andrew Wincott, who previously impressed me with his voice work in Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker by Steve Parker and Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom by Mike Brooks, the intense action and harsh nature of war featured in Final Deployment really comes through in this audiobook, and I loved hearing all the intense firefight sequences come to life.  Wincott did an excellent job moving this intense story along at a quick clip, while also providing all the characters with distinctive voices that really fit their unique and gritty personalities.  The fun mixture of voices between the battle-weary human soldiers and the more unnatural forces of Chaos was extremely enjoyable, and you really get drawn into the compelling narrative as a result.  I honestly flew through the over 11-hour long audiobook in no time at all, and I loved every second I spent listening to it, especially some of the more brutal and deadly fight sequences.

Loaded with awesome action, damaged characters and an epic narrative, Final Deployment by R. S. Wilt was an incredible read and an amazing piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  A fast-paced novel that follows some intense protagonists through hell and back, Final Deployment was an outstanding debut from Wilt, and comes very highly recommended, especially on audiobook.  I look forward to seeing how Wilt’s writing career continues in the future, and I am sure I will enjoy any additional contributions to the Warhammer franchise.

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Warhammer 40,000: Dominion Genesis by Jonathan D. Beer

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Extended Universe, Science Fiction, Tie-in Novel, Warhammer1 Comment

Publisher: Black Library (Audiobook – 21 September 2024)

Series: Warhammer 40,000

Length: 10 hours and 47 minutes

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Destitute tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus embark on a massive quest for redemption in the excellent 2024 Warhammer 40,000 novel, Dominion Genesis by Jonathan D. Beer.

Beer is a talented rising author in the Warhammer 40,000 fiction space who has so far impressed with two interesting books covering unique spheres of the fandom’s canon.  I deeply enjoyed his first novel, The King of the Spoil, which was a particularly epic entry in the Warhammer Crime sub-series, and which ended up being one of my favourite debuts of 2023.  Beer followed up this debut last year with his second novel, Dominion Genesis, an intriguing read that takes place in a very different Warhammer 40,000 setting.  I had an excellent time with Dominion Genesis, although I spectacularly failed to write a review for it last year.  However, with Beer’s third Warhammer 40,000 novel just released, I felt that this was a good time to finally write something about Dominion Genesis, which honestly was an awesome read.

Plot Synopsis:

Gryphonne IV is dead – one of the mightiest forge worlds in the arsenal of the Adeptus Mechanicus, succumbed to the relentless hunger of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Devoured. Lost.

The few magi that survive drift in idleness, robbed of purpose and direction. But there is one who rejects that fate.

READ IT BECAUSE
It’s the gripping tale of an Explorator desperately seeking ancient technologies from humanity’s past as she races against time to restore one of the mightiest forge worlds in the Imperium.

THE STORY
Explorator Talin Sherax seeks ancient and miraculous technologies from humanity’s distant past. When she learns of a fabled relic that could restore all that has been lost, Sherax embarks on a journey, the outcome of which could change everything. Nothing will stand in her way… even if the quest brings her to the brink of heresy.

Dominion Genesis was a particularly intense and compelling entry in the Warhammer 40,000 canon that proves quite enthralling to read.  I like how Beer managed to achieve quite a few things with this book, as he produced an excellent quest narrative with a focus on obsession, trauma and survival, while also cleverly showcasing several different factions of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Beer came up with a very awesome story that hits a lot of highly emotional story notes early on.  The start of Dominion Genesis was one of the more striking sequences of Warhammer fiction I have read, as the protagonist, Explorator Talin Sherax, is forced to witness the destruction of their home world.  Moving quickly into a time skip, you see a very different version of Sherax several years in the future, as she still attempts to make sense of the destruction while searching for valuable lost technology.  After a great sequence aboard a derelict spacehulk, Sherax finds a clue about a potential artifact that could help to restore her planet.  Going against the orders of her superiors, Sherax leads a crew of human soldiers and Adeptus Mechanicus forces on a quest to several deadly and hidden locations in the galaxy.  Along the way, the protagonists examine their humanity in several different forms, while also being stalked by dangerous alien fighters determined to stop them achieving their goal.

There are some great sequences in the middle of this book, as the protagonist desperately follow the clues into a trap, which shakes all the characters to their core.  After a gruelling sequence of events that help to highlight and move along several, well-constructed character development arcs, the adventure moves to its destructive conclusion.  After another disaster, the protagonists are dropped in amongst a war between rival xenos forces and must journey into the fray to achieve their goal, resulting in a brutal series of battles and the intense conclusion to the narrative.  Beer wrote in some great tragic moments as the protagonists are outmatched at nearly every turn, although many of these sequences work well to provide closure to some of the book’s various character arcs.  The conclusion to Dominion Genesis was as bleak as you would hope for a novel in the grimdark Warhammer 40,000 universe, but it provides some great closure for the main character and will keep readers very satisfied.

I felt that Dominion Genesis was a particularly good addition to the Warhammer 40,000 canon, as Beer provides a thoughtful and complex novel loaded with unique action and damaged characters trying to survive the inherent darkness of the war-torn universe.  Beer ended up producing an intense character-driven story for Dominion Genesis, and I loved the great balance between action, exploration and interaction between certain unique Warhammer races, and the focus on character elements.  I personally really enjoyed the deep dive into the Adeptus Mechanicus, with various character perspectives diving into their culture and thought processes, even though certain sections of the plot need to be altered to emulate the machine nature of the tech-priests.  Beer tried to showcase a more emotional side to the Adeptus Mechanicus in this book, especially through his protagonist which, while different from other portrays of this faction, fits the trauma-rich narrative as all these characters struggle with the loss of their home.  The author also has fun fitting in several of the main alien races of the Warhammer 40,000 universe into the story, including orks, Tyranid, Aeldari and Necrons.  While not a lot of focus is given to understanding them, they serve as good foils to the obsessed protagonists, and it was interesting to see the Mechanicus takes on these different enemies.  In the end, Dominion Genesis proved to be a compelling, and impressive standalone novel that makes great use of its Warhammer 40,000 elements.  However, be warned that this novel is probably better read by more established fans of the franchise, rather than newer readers, as Beer covers a lot of complex lore in a short period of time.

One of the key things I liked about Dominion Genesis was the rich array of compelling characters featured throughout the plot.  Beer does an outstanding job introducing and following several very damaged figures, including the protagonist Explorator Talin Sherax, who finds herself in a depressed state following the opening sequence of book.  Cutting herself off from the technological hivemind used by the rest of Adeptus Mechanicus brethren, Sherax proves to be a brilliantly complex figure in Dominion Genesis, and Beer’s take of her as the depressed member of a group known for having no emotions was really fascinating.  The author also features an interesting array of other Adeptus Mechanicus members who provide great alternate viewpoints to that of Sherax.  I really enjoyed how Beer managed to include a lot of intriguing individualism in these machine-like Adeptus Mechanicus characters, and the range of different opinions and feelings around Sherax and her mission added some interesting drama to the story. 

Finally, I must highlight the human members of the Dominion Genesis cast, who provide intriguing alternate viewpoints to cybernetic protagonists. I particularly enjoyed the focus on a depressed former Imperial Knight pilot, who, after losing his ancient war machine, decides to join the crew of Sherax’s ship.  There are some fascinating focuses on his parallel grief to that of the Adeptus Mechanicus characters, as well as his own self-anger, especially while forced to pilot a seemingly lesser machine.  Beer writes some interesting side plots around this more human character, including his relationship with an Imperial Guard regiment also aboard the ship, and he must balance his need for human contact with his own grief and arrogance.  I felt this compelling collection of distinctive characters helped to make Dominion Genesis really stand out, and I enjoyed seeing their unique interactions.

As with most Warhammer 40,000 novels I review, I ended up listening to Dominion Genesis on audiobook, which is pretty much the best way to enjoy this series.  The Dominion Genesis audiobook ended up being a lot of fun to listen to, and I managed to get through it’s near 11-hour runtime quickly.  It helped that Dominion Genesis was narrated by the very talented Colleen Prendergast, who is becoming the go-to narrator for any Warhammer 40,000 audiobook that features a human female protagonist, such as Justin D. Hill’s Cadia series, or standalone books like Creed: Ashes of Cadia by Jude Reid or Longshot by Rob Young.  Prendergast did an outstanding job bringing the various complex cast members of Dominion Genesis to life, and I particularly appreciated the skill need to voice a variety of cybernetic humans with altered or robotic voices.  This great voice work turned Dominion Genesis into a fantastic listen, and it was very easy to enjoy Beer’s outstanding and lore-heavy story when it was being read out.

Overall, Dominion Genesis was an amazing second novel by Jonathan D. Beer, who did an outstanding job pivoting to a different area of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  I loved the complex character-driven narrative contained within Dominion Genesis, and this was one of the more enjoyable Warhammer 40,000 novels that came out last year.  I cannot wait to see how Beer continues to develop as a writer in the future, and I currently have a copy of his latest book, Tomb World, in my audiobook queue to listen to.

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Born of an Iron Storm by Anthony Ryan

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Fantasy, Five-Star Books7 Comments

Publisher: Orbit/Little Brown Audio (Audiobook – 26 August 2025)

Series: Age of Wrath – Book Two

Length: 19 hours and 33 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed fantasy author Anthony Ryan continues to explore an epic fantasy world of warriors, scholars and monsters with his outstanding new novel, Born of an Iron Storm, the impressive second entry in his Age of Wrath series.

In recent years, one of my favourite fantasy authors has been veteran writer Anthony Ryan.  Known for several intriguing and varied series, I become a fan of Ryan a few years ago when I started reading The Covenant of Steel series.  Following a young bandit turned scribe, who finds himself taking on many roles in his chronicled adventures, including that of knight, spy, rebel and heretical traitor, this amazing series was a really impressive example of fantasy fiction, and I had an incredible time with The Pariah (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), The Martyr (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2022), and The Traitor (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2023), all of which were five-star reads.

Due to how much I loved these amazing novels, I was very excited last year when Ryan released the first book in the Age of Wrath series, which served as a sequel to the Covenant of Steel books.  The first Age of Wrath novel, A Tide of Black Steel, is set a couple of decades after the events of The Traitor and builds on some of the events of the first series, while also featuring its own unique story.  I really enjoyed A Tide of Black Steel, which veered away from the chronicle style of the previous trilogy, and instead set out a Norse saga inspired tale of adventure and war.  Just like the Covenant of Steel novels, A Tide of Black Steel got a full five-star rating from me, and it was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2024.  As such, I have been very eager to get my hands on this sequel, which was one of my most anticipated books of 2025, and Ryan once again did not disappoint.

War and treachery have come to the sprawling island nation of Ascarlia, as the long-lost nation of Nihlvar begins an invasion centuries in the making.  The once powerful Sister Queens of Ascarlai lie dead at the hands of one of their own, the deranged Sister Lore, and their capital of Skar Magnol has been captured by Nihlvarian forces.  With their massive fleet in Skar Magnol’s harbour, and the forces of Ascarlia scattered, the Nihlvarian victory looks assured, and soon their eye turns to the wealthy port city of Olversahl and the lands of Albermaine beyond.

However, there are some who chose to resist the Nihlvarian threat.  In Skar Magnol, the young scholar Elvine finds herself trapped as an unwilling accomplice to Sister Lore.  To survive, she must play along with her queen’s twisted designs, while setting her own rebellious schemes into motion.  At the same time, loyal Ascarlian war leader Thera has survived the first skirmish against the Nihlvarian in the Outer Islands and finds herself leading a mismatched fleet against the invaders.  However, facing overwhelming odds, Thera must seek allies wherever she can, while the burdens of leadership lay heavy upon her, as if she fails, all Ascarlia falls.

As war rages in Ascarlia, other fights for survival occur across the sea.  Following his discovery of the Vaults of the Altvar, Thera’s brother Felnir has been promised a kingdom, and voyages to a hidden land filled with blood and suffering.  If he wishes to rule, Felnir will have to fight for the loyalty of his new people, while discovering the ancient secrets of those who came before him.  At the same time, in Nihlvar, the captured Ascarlian Ruhlin and his friends have escaped from captivity and are now fugitives from the Nihlvarian ruler, the Vortigurn.  If he wishes to keep himself and his comrades alive, Ruhlin needs to learn to control his inner monster and escape the bonds of prophecy, but dark secrets and beings have their eyes on him.

As war continues to spread like fire, Elvine, Thera, Felnir and Ruhlin must all fight their own desperate battles to survive and find their place in this new world.  But with treachery and hard choices all around, can these four unlikely heroes survive the wrath of the Vortigurn, or will their ambitions, fears and doubts tear them apart?

Anthony Ryan continues to showcase why he is one of the leading modern authors of fantasy fiction with this incredible and impressive novel.  Serving as an outstanding second entry in the Age of Wrath series, Born of an Iron Storm brilliantly continued Ryan’s complex, multilayered narrative, while taking the series in some exciting new adventures.  A classic fantasy tale filled with great characters, complex worldbuilding and intense, nautical action, Born of an Iron Storm was an epic read which gets a full five-star rating from me.

I felt that Born of an Iron Storm had an awesome overall narrative to it, as Ryan continued his elaborate series in strong fashion.  Once again split between the returning point-of-view characters from A Tide of Black Steel, you are essentially treated to four separate storylines, each with their own unique focus, setting and style.  This includes the intrigue laden storyline around Elvine as she attempts to survive the chaos surrounding the coup at Skar Magnol, which results in a compelling, espionage focused narrative.  Elvine’s story goes hand-in-hand with Thera’s storyline, which sees this protagonist attempt to raise an army to defend Ascarlia and retake the capital.  Thera’s chapters were some of the more action-heavy in the book, with a ton of great naval combat sequences, and it was fascinating to see this character grow into a leadership position.  Aside from Elvine and Thera, there was also the fantastic narrative around Felnir, who sets out to claim a new land as king by taking down a group of religious fanatics whose origins mirror that of the Nihlvarians.  Finally, escaped slave and occasional monster Ruhlin finds himself and his new comrades being hunted through Nihlvar and must seek an alliance with the land’s original inhabitants to survive.

Unlike the first book in the series, which saw several of the storylines cross over regularly, all four distinctive character plotlines remained mostly separate in Born of an Iron Storm, with only a few points of interaction in the Elvine and Thera narratives occurring.  This essentially meant that each of the narratives developed in a vacuum and were allowed to play out at their own pace.  Not only do these separate narratives stand out on their own merits but they come together nicely to form an intricate and addictive overarching narrative, as the alternating character-driven tales came to parallel each other extremely well.  All four of these distinctive narratives started off a lot quicker in Born of an Iron Storm than they did in the previous book, which allowed the reader to effectively get drawn into each character’s journeys as their storylines proceed.  Each storyline went in some intriguing directions, and the disparate adventures resulted in quite an exciting novel.  Ryan ensured that there were some exciting moments and compelling character interactions in each character’s respective chapters, and there was a great focus on action and war in this second Age of Wrath book.  Indeed, there were a few chapters that saw all four protagonists essentially fighting their own separate battles at the same time, with near simultaneous naval conflicts, sieges, pitched battles and forest ambushes.  Ryan ends each action and adventure laden narrative of Born of an Iron Storm on a very compelling note, with a few interesting twists and reveals hitting the two plotlines set outside of Ascarlia.  It also leaves the overall narrative of the series in a great place for the third, and presumably final, book, and I am extremely keen to see what happens to each protagonist in the next thrilling instalment.

I deeply enjoyed how Born of an Iron Storm came together, and it works well as the second entry in this epic series.  Ryan utilises many of the same style elements of A Tide of Black Steel, with the Viking-inspired setting and focus on multiple character adventures working particularly well to present an overall layered narrative with a lot of moving parts to it.  The author’s switch from the first-person chronicle style in the previous Covenant of Steel books to a third-person perspective told from four distinctive protagonists in this series allowed for a wider focus to the book, and Ryan makes sure to provide some intriguing expansions to his fantasy world.  Each chapter switches the narrative to another of the four perspective characters, and it was interesting to see how each switch would change the tone of the narrative depending on whichever protagonist was in focus.  I felt that Ryan did a great job of balancing the four distinctive storylines throughout the novel, and each plotline developed in some compelling ways.  I honestly found myself enjoying each of these separate storylines equally, with no noticeable weak links.  However, my favourite was the Elvine plotline, thanks to its inherent intrigue and focus on one of the book’s more fascinating protagonists, and Thera’s chapters, which had the most action and multiple cool scenes of long-ship on long-ship warfare.

Due to being the second book in a complex fantasy series, which is itself a sequel to a previous trilogy, Born of an Iron Storm is probably best enjoyed by those who have read the preceding novels from Ryan.  While there is a very intensive summary of the events of A Tide of Black Steel at the front of this novel, Born of an Iron Storm dives into the narrative very quickly, and reading the previous book really does help to increase enjoyment and understanding of the plot.  Ryan does a good job of recapping key plot points as he writes, and when combined with the comprehensive summary, new readers can probably drop into Born of an Iron Storm without too much effort.  However, this novel is going to appeal to those existing Ryan fans the most, especially those who previously enjoyed the Covenant of Steel novels.  While not too excessively vital to the plot, there are a lot of references to the events of the Covenant of Steel series, including the appearance of a couple of minor characters from these books, which was fun to see.  The events of these original books also play a big role in a couple of characters storylines and development, especially in the Elvine sections of the book (which features the two children of the Covenant of Steel’s protagonist), which lead to some compelling and intense moments.  I personally loved seeing Ryan continue to build on his already existing setting, and it was great to see what followed the chaotic events of the Covenant of Steel novels.

Ryan once again spent a lot of time developing his four central characters in Born of an Iron Storm, and their unique personalities, histories and continued changing perspectives, added some intriguing elements to the narrative.  Each of these characters have some fascinating moments and interactions in this novel, which cleverly builds on their storylines from the previous novel.  This includes Elvine, the young scholar revealed to be the long-lost daughter of Alwyn Scribe, who is forced to find her inner courage in this novel after being trapped in the captured Skar Magnol.  Caught up in the madness of Sister Lore, who develops a dark obsession with her, Elvine finds her inner rebel, while also trying to comprehend the sentient magical spear she recovered in the previous book.  Elvine’s storyline was really well written in Born of an Iron Storm, and Ryan had fun turning the previously mousy scholar into a dangerous warrior and leader, who gets into just as much trouble as her father.  Ryan’s other badass female protagonist in this novel was Thera, who finds herself the reluctant leader of the Ascarlian loyalist forces.  A skilled fighter, Thera spends much of Born of an Iron Storm learning to take on the mantel of leadership, while also dealing with her traumatic past, and her current emotional complexities.  Thera proved to be a very intriguing character to follow, especially with her chapter’s naval content, and it was fascinating to see her influence grow thanks to her actions.

On the other side we have the male protagonists, Felnir and Ruhlin, both of whom go through their own development and hell in this book.  Ruhlin’s character arc was a good continuation from A Tide of Black Steel, as he works to control his newly discovered inner monster and turn it into a force for good.  Like Thera, Ruhlin finds himself reluctantly leading a group of people who have placed their lives in his hands, and it was interesting to see him rise to the challenge, especially when even more figures put their hope in him.  Felnir, on the other hand, works to change fate by actively seeking leadership in a fun contrast to his sister and rival, Thera.  Finding himself in an unfamiliar land, Felnir works to inspire people unfamiliar with his past and soon finds the acclaim and respect he’s always wanted.  However, Ryan also writes a great storyline around his unchecked ambition and the consequences it has on those around him, and there is a great darkness to this character that is going to make him the wildcard of the series.

While the above four characters naturally get most of the focus in this series, Born of an Iron Storm also features a massive supporting cast, some of whom prove to be just as compelling and memorable as the main protagonists.  A lot of these figures are returning from A Tide of Black Steel, and I must admit that I was glad that Ryan put up his comprehensive summary at the front of this book, or I would have probably lost track of who they were.  Most of the best characters in this book were primarily in Elvine’s chapters, with the returning Colvyn (son of a certain scribe and a dark saint), being very fun, even if he got a little less focus here.  The ancient Ascarlian warrior and spymaster, Margnus Gruinskard, the Tieldwald was a great inclusion, first as a prisoner, then a reluctant ally to Elvine, and Ryan wrote a distinctive wearied element to him in this novel.  The author also did an amazing job of building off the big twist at the end of A Tide of Black Steel by featuring more of the traitor Sister Queen, Sister Lore.  Ryan made Lore into a particular twisted and dangerous antagonist, and her obsessive interactions with Elvine were some of the most compelling parts of the book.  Aside from these figures from the Elvine chapters, my favourite supporting figures were Lynnea, the innocent yet dangerous companion to Thera, and the mysterious Wohtin, who serves as Felnir’s guide to his new land.  Both were outstanding supporting characters in this novel, and I loved the intense, and very different, interactions they had with their respective protagonist.  I’m honestly barely scratching the surface of all the great supporting figures in Born of an Iron Storm, and I really appreciated the strong and varied cast that emerged in this novel.  All of them were very well written, and I really appreciate how Ryan utilised them to enhance his excellent narrative.

As I have tended to do with Ryan’s previous novels, I ended up enjoying Born of an Iron Storm on audiobook, which was an amazing experience.  I often find that compelling fantasy novels really come across well when read out by a talented narrator, and Born of an Iron Storm was an excellent example of this.  Thanks to the excellent narration of Steven Brand, who previously narrated the Covenant of Steel series, Born of an Iron Storm was a great treat to listen to, and I ended up powering through its near 20-hour long runtime.  Brand did an amazing job diving into the multilayered narrative and bringing out all the detail, action and compelling story elements through his narration, and I ended up absorbing a lot more detail thanks to having the story read out.  The narrator also brought back all his fantastic character voices from the previous audiobook, as well as a few new ones, to give the cast of Born of an Iron Storm life.  These characters came across amazingly, and I ended up having a blast listening to Born of an Iron Storm, especially the cool action sequences, which were so epic to listen to.  As such, I really recommend checking out this novel on audiobook, as you will be in for an amazing time.

Overall, Born of an Iron Storm was another exceptional novel from Anthony Ryan, who continues to expand on his cool fantasy world with another amazing, adventure-filled read.  Loaded with action, a fun story, and some excellent characters, Born of an Iron Storm was an impressive second outing in the author Age of Wrath series, and I loved how the story continued to evolve.  As such, this book comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait to see how Ryan continues his outstanding series next year.

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The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy4 Comments

Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 12 August 2025)

Series: The Rakada – Book One

Length: 470 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for one of the most entertaining, thrilling and over-the-top fantasy novels of 2025 with the intensely fun novel, The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford.

Jackson Ford is a compelling author who has written an interesting array of outrageous novels over the years.  Probably best known for The Frost Files series, which followed a telekinetic protagonist as she got in all manner of trouble, Ford has also released several fantastic science fiction novels under the name Rob Boffard.  I have been hoping to read some of Ford’s books for a while now, and I decided to finally take the plunge with his latest release, The Bone Raiders.  The first book in the author’s new The Rakada series, The Bone Raiders sounded extremely cool thanks to its entertaining plot and fun cover, and I couldn’t wait to dive into it.

In the grasslands of the Tapestry, raider bands used to run free as the supreme force of the wilds, pillaging towns and caravans at their leisure.  However, the glory days of the raiders are over, thanks to the rise of a new Great Khan with a vision to have all the people of his realm living under his thumb.  From his capital in Karkorum, the Great Khan has organised the slow destruction of anyone living in the Tapestry, with his mighty armies killing all who defy him.

Of the remaining raiders, none are as feared as the Rakada.  Better known as the Bone Raiders, the members of the Rakada are deadly fighters capable of fighting off most threats in the Tapestry.  However, their greatest weapon is their carefully cultivated reputation, gained by adorning their armour with the bones of the few people stupid enough to fight them.  But after the constant battles to escape the Khan’s armies, the Rakada only have a few raiders left.  With little food or viable targets to raid, the future of the Rakada looks grim, until a chance encounter with an araatan, a giant, fire-breathing lizard, gives young Rakada scout Sayana a bright idea.

After falling on the back of an araatan and accidently guiding its wild rampage to save the lives of her comrades, Sayana believes that these creatures are the future for her band.  Determined to find and train an araatan to be the ultimate combat mount, Sayana forcefully enlists the help of a legendary animal trainer from the capital.  However, coming up with the plan is one thing, but actually learning to ride the giant beasts without being burned alive is a very different proposition.  Worse, thanks to Sayana’s actions, the Rakada soon find themselves being hunted by the Great Khan’s ruthless right-hand, who wants her kidnapped sister returned to her.  To survive the vengeful onslaught coming their way and have any chance at a future, Sayana and her band will need to do the impossible and learn to ride the araatan or die trying.

Ford really did not disappoint with The Bone Raiders, as this awesome novel was everything I had hoped for.  Loaded with slick action, entertaining characters, and a particularly epic fantasy premise, The Bone Raiders was a fiery blast of fun from start to finish.  Working extremely well as the first book in the author’s new The Rakada series, The Bone Raiders was a great fantasy read with a lot of unique heart to it.

I have a lot of love for Ford’s ambitious and particularly awesome plot idea for The Bone Raiders, which saw a small band of badass, bone-covered female raiders attempt to change the status quo of their land by taming walking dragons, which frankly sounds a little out there, but which the author really makes work.  Starting off with a raid which goes bad very fast, Ford provides an excellent opening for The Bone Raiders, which features great character introductions amongst an unfortunate ambush and the sudden appearance of a giant fire breathing lizard, whom one of the protagonists, Sayana, inadvertently rides to save the day.  I really enjoyed how Ford quickly and effectively provided all the key details about this new fantasy universe, and some of the unique characters who inhabit it in this scene, and you get a great sense of the author’s style and humour here.  This opening sequence soon leads to Sayana coming up with the ambitious plan to train the araatan and ride them into battle against the Khan’s forces.  Forced to commit some light kidnapping of an additional supporting character, the protagonist is soon on her way to commit her plan, despite the worries of the Rakada’s leader.

While the protagonists attempt to gain the trust of a wounded araatan, Ford ups the stakes of The Bone Raiders’ plot through the sinister perspective of the book’s main antagonist Yesuntei.  Yesuntei proves to be an excellent complex villain for this first novel, and her deadly hunt for the Rakada leads to all manner of trouble.  Following some excellent sequences in the middle of the book, including a flooded raid and a brutal battle interrupted by sudden araatan attack, The Bone Raiders goes full throttle into its impressive final third, as Ford really amps up the action.  Thanks to a well-executed betrayal, the protagonists enter a particularly dark spiral which can only be resolved by a truly desperate plan.  As you can imagine in a book about first-time dragon tamers, things get crazy in this final section, including an all-out battle sequence with some true carnage.  I loved how all the key story elements of this book come together in this final scene, and it truly was the chaotic ending The Bone Raiders’ deserves.  Finishing off with a final foreshadowed reveal that sets up for some interesting continuation to the series, The Bone Raiders was so much fun to read, and I love its highly entertaining story.

I really enjoyed how this novel came together, and Ford clearly had a lot of fun writing The Bone Raiders, as the book featured a light-hearted style that expertly matched its over-the-top story.  Bringing together a great blend of high-octane action, chaotic characters and amusing humour, there is a lot to love and laugh about The Bone Raiders, as Ford tries to reach those readers who love a more comedic tilt to their epic fantasy.  However, there is far more to The Bone Raiders than that, as the author cleverly inserts inventive world building, subtle messaging, and some devastating emotional stakes around a particularly powerful cast.  All this captivating complexity is well showcased through three separate perspective characters, each of which provides a different take on the events of the book, including the main antagonist’s hunt for the protagonists.  Combine this with Ford’s excellent ability to pull together an over-the-top sequence of events, including several with araatan-riding shenanigans, and this was a very entertaining read that makes great use of the author’s complex and emotional writing.

One of the things that makes The Bone Raiders work so well is the varied and unique characters featured within the plot.  Ford does an amazing job of breaking the story up between three fantastic main figures, and there is some compelling character development which adds to the complex emotional intensity of this crazy novel.  Of these, the main protagonist is Sayana, a young scout of the Rakada, who ran away from a life of privilege to be free.  The idealistic and determined Sayana proves to be a great catalyst for many of the book’s main plot elements, and Ford provides some interesting character interactions amongst her plans, especially as she finds romance, rejection and the resentment of her chief in the same place.  The author writes an excellent arc around Sayana as she attempts to find herself, while also providing some hints at her past and who she truly is.  While I saw the big reveal about Sayana coming, it was still fun and should lead to some additional glorious carnage in the future.

While much of the focus of the plot is around Sayana, you also get some excellent chapters from the perspective of her fellow raider, Hogelun.  The Rakada’s muscle and brawler, Hogelun was an interesting choice for a secondary perspective figure, but it was one that worked well.  A straightforward figure, Hogelun provides some interesting alternate viewpoints to the plot, while also trying to deal with a complex romantic relationship.  Ford works in an excellent storyline about Hogelun finding her confidence and not letting others think for her, and I really enjoyed seeing her opinion on the chaotic events of the plot.  While Hogelun is fun, my favourite point-of-view character was the antagonist, Yesuntei.  A deadly figure who serves as the Great Khan’s right-hand, bringing about his vision, Yesuntei is resolutely determined to achieve her master’s goal.  However, when her sister is kidnapped by the Rakada, she risks everything to recover her, including returning to her war-crime roots.  Yesuntei ends up being a very worthy villain for this book, especially as Ford slowly strips away her veneer of control to showcase the deranged figure within.  Ford also increases the audiences dislike of this character by showing the layers to her manipulations, especially towards her sister, that are cleverly revealed as the book continues.  This helps turn Yesuntei into an excellent antagonist for this novel, and I was impressed with how Ford wrote her alternate perspective.

Of the remaining cast I need to highlight, one of the more significant is the eagle hunter, Tuya.  Yesuntei’s sister, Tuya’s affinity for training and controlling animals sees her kidnapped by Sayana and Hogelun to help in their wild plan.  Tuya proves to be one of the few truly selfless figures in the entire novel, and she proves to be a clever foil to both Sayana and Yesuntei, calling them out on their faults.  Ford writes a great storyline around Tuya getting her freedom, and her reactions and motivations are some of the more realistic in the entire book.  I also must highlight the other members of the Rakada, each of whom play a great role.  The Rakada chief, Chimeg, was a great pillar of wisdom for the book, even if her advice is ignored by the others, and Ford writes a great story around her weariness of the fight, especially after so many defeats and setbacks.  The archer Erhi was another great inclusion as the brains of the Rakada, as well as Hogelun love interest, and her complex narrative has some definite ups and downs.  Finally, there is the particularly awesome final member of the Rakada, Khun, a seemingly crazy raider who joined the Rakada and has been having fun ever since.  Khun is the book’s chaotic centre, and there were some hilarious scenes involving her.  However, as with the rest of the cast, Khun has a dark past that is cleverly revealed by Ford as the book progresses, and which helps to make the already entertaining Khun a favourite character.  All these great figures and their complicated development help to enhance the book’s amazing and epic plot, and I really appreciate how Ford uses them to make The Bone Raiders into something special.

With some brilliant chaotic energy, amazing action and a great sense of fun, Jackson Ford blazes into an awesome new series with The Bone Raiders.  An outstanding novel, The Bone Raiders was a highly addictive read that effortlessly keeps the reader’s attention.  I had an incredible time reading The Bone Raiders, and I cannot wait to see how The Rakada series progresses going forward.  The recently announced sequel, Sisters of the Lizard, is already a highly anticipated 2026 fantasy release for me, and if it’s as entertaining as The Bone Raiders, I already know I’m in for a good time.

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Artifact by Jeremy Robinson

On By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Science Fiction, Thriller3 Comments

Publisher: Podium Audio (Audiobook – 26 August 2025)

Series: Standalone

Length: 9 hours and 56 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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One of my very favourite authors of outrageous fiction, Jeremy Robinson, returns with another intense and horrifying science fiction thriller, Artifact, a captivating and powerful novel I couldn’t get enough of.

Jeremy Robinson is an outstanding author who has a fantastic career writing clever, fun, and occasionally terrifying thrillers, often featuring intriguing science fiction elements.  Best known for his Antarktos Saga, Chess Team and Nemesis Saga series, Robinson has written a staggering amount of fiction over the years, including additional cool series and standalone reads.  I personally got into Robinson’s work a few years ago when I read a few books from his massive, interconnected Infinite Timeline series, including Tribe, The Dark and Mind Bullet (the latter two of which were amongst my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), all of which were incredibly fun and addictive.  I have also started getting into Robinson’s standalone novels, such as last year’s fantastic novel Point Nemo (one of my favourite audiobooks of 2024), which contain some amazing stories.  As such, I was very excited when I got a copy of Robinson’s awesome new novel, Artifact, on audiobook, which sounded extremely amazing.  I honestly started listening to Artifact the same day I found out about it, and boy was I glad that I did.

Plot Synopsis:

In an isolated Alaskan town, the local sheriff uncovers a secret lab where generative A.I. and bioprinting have unleashed grotesque, living anomalies—and now, something monstrous is loose.

Sheriff Colton Graves prefers the quiet life in Raven’s Rest, Alaska, a remote town accessible only by tunnel and home to a hardy mix of locals and secrets buried in the ice. But when a camel wanders down Main Street—its head grotesquely sprouting a dozen eyes—Colton knows his quiet days are over. The bizarre incident leads him to NovaGen, a nearby research facility constructed inside a Cold War bunker, buried in the mountains above town. There, a trail of blood and eerie silence hints at something far more sinister than an escaped animal experiment.

With his deputies—the sharp-witted Tali and rookie Ethan—Colton recruits a few trusted locals, including the unshakable Marit, Tali’s sister, the intimidating ‘Grizz’ Norval, and Edgar ‘Old Red’ Rydell, an aging man plagued by demons from when he worked at the bunker during its covert cold war days.

Together, they investigate the abandoned lab. What begins as a search for missing scientists soon reveals chilling evidence: pools of blood without bodies, cryptic warnings left behind, a bloody six-fingered handprint, and the revelation of a new technology: a generative A.I. capable of printing living organisms. As they descend deeper into the lab, it becomes clear that the answers they seek may come at a terrifying cost—and that what was made in the dark may not be content to stay there.

Jeremy Robinson once again greatly impresses with his new thriller Artifact.  A complex and deeply clever read loaded with weird science, fantastic humour and incredible action, Artifact was an exceptional read that had me hooked very early on and kept my attention all the way to the end.  A particularly intense novel with so many amazing elements to it, Artifact gets a full five-star rating from me, especially on audiobook, and I ended up powering through it so damn quickly.

I deeply enjoyed the compelling and fast-paced narrative that Robinson featured in Artifact, which amps up the intrigue and excitement quickly and keeps it going all the way to the very end.  Starting with an enticing inciting event of a multi-eyed camel arriving in the middle of a snowed-over Alaskan town, the initial narrative of Artifact is quick and effective, with the protagonists quickly realising that something dark has occurred at the nearby and mysterious NovaGen facility.  Pulling together a band of scrappy locals, the group begin their decent into the facility, only to encounter mysterious creatures and tragic death.

Robinson soon takes the novel into twisted science fiction territory as you are shown the variety of experiments taking place in the facility.  In particular, the staff of NovaGen are bio-printing monsters and other creatures, which has inevitably gone wrong.  Forced to put an end to the experiments and save the town from potential destruction, Colton and his team continue to descend the various levels of the facility, all while being hunted by the worst monsters humans can imagine.  The author does an excellent job of building and maintaining tension throughout Artifact’s story, and you are expertly drawn into the personal struggles of the characters as they try to understand and withstand the horrors of the facility.  There are some outstanding twists and sudden deaths as the story draws towards its conclusion, and I enjoyed the mixture of shocking moments and well-crafted reveals many chapters in the making, which results in an outstanding novel where you never quite know what is happening next.  Robinson ends the book on a mostly hopeful note, along with an amusing cliffhanger, and this proved to be an impressive standalone narrative that is guaranteed to entertain.

I felt that the author pulled Artifact together in a very entertaining manner that allowed for the maximum thrills, tension and character development.  Perfectly utilising the first-person perspective that Robinson is so fond of, Artifact is a great standalone read that requires no prior knowledge of the author’s other works to enjoy (although there are a few fun references established fans will chuckle at).  The author does an excellent job of effectively setting out the key elements of Artifact throughout its run, including with the advanced science elements of the book.  These science elements are both compelling and quite interesting, and you can tell that Robinson did a bit of research into the subject.  This research allowed the author to envision some dark and horrifying creations of potentially realistic science, and I loved how the creatures the protagonist encounter was a combination of weaponised efficiency and dark human imagination.

These fantastic science fiction creations, and the dark conspiracy that birthed them, work well with the author’s Michael Crichton inspired scenario, to create a lot of excellent tension and uncertainty that keeps readers constantly on the edge of their seat.  I loved the constant uncertainty of what traumatising event was about to come out of nowhere next, and there are some great twists and reveals scattered throughout this captivating novel.  Throw in a series of particularly thrilling action sequences as the protagonists face off against printed monstrosities and the other disturbing denizens of NovaGen, and there is a lot to love about how Artifact was written, especially as it perfectly enhances Robinson’s fantastic and captivating narrative.

My favourite elements of Artifact were the complex and compelling characters whom Robinson set his narrative around.  Robinson has always excelled at creating entertaining characters, and I think he did a wonderful job pulling together a layered cast of Alaskan outcasts and rogues to fill the pages of Artifact.

The most prominent of these characters is main protagonist Sheriff Colton Graves, from whose perspective we see the events of this book unfold.  Colton is a widowed lawman who enjoys the simple life at Raven’s Rest, but who quickly rises to the challenge when strangeness invades his town.  Effectively established as a compelling and solid centre to the book’s plot, Colton is an easy character to like thanks to his fun humour, clever insights and leadership skills.  However, Robinson makes Colton even more interesting as the book continues by revealing some fascinating character details that are expertly weaved into the story.  This includes a new romance for Colton that helps him to move forward from his dead wife and serves as his inspiration to continue pushing through the horrors of the NovaGen lab.  In addition to this, the story reveals that Colton has autism and hypersensitivity, and these conditions have strong impacts on the plot and the way the perspective protagonist interacts with the world.  Robinson does an exceptional job really diving into these fascinating aspects of his protagonist, and it was clear that the author was trying to showcase the conditions as accurately as possible based on his own personal experiences.  I think that Robinson really succeeded in showcasing these character elements, and while certain aspects are no doubt enhanced to fit in with the science fiction aspects of the book, it was mostly realistic.  I really enjoyed how Robinson made Colton a particularly likeable and relatable protagonist, and he helps to make Artifact a very distinctive read.

In addition to Colton, Robinson loads up Artifact with a great collection of memorable supporting characters who are perfectly utilised in the narrative and add some entertaining spice on top of the protagonist.  Highlights for me include the troubled and mysterious Old Red, a survivalist with dark connections to facility, who serves as the groups guide and secret badass.  I also had a lot of fun with Grizz, a tough, bear-killing lady with the scars to prove it.  Colton’s deputy, Tali, was the perfect backup for the protagonist, while her sister, Marit, proved to be an excellent love interest to Colton, which resulted in some complicated and emotional sequences.  The rest of the cast, including some unique figures found in the bunker, are also quite entertaining, be they friend, bio-engineered organism, or evil antagonist, and I loved some of the amazing interactions that emerged.  I will warn readers not to get too attached to any characters, as most figures don’t last as long as you’d want, but Robinson makes full use of every character he features, even if they only have a brief life in the book.

As with all the previous Robinson novels I’ve enjoyed, I chose to check out Artifact on audiobook, which was a ton of fun.  I have always found that Robinson’s novels come across particularly well on audiobook, and Artifact was no exception as I powered through its near 10-hour long runtime very quickly.  Part of the reason why I had such a great time with this audiobook is the return of one of my favourite audiobook narrators R. C. Bray.  Bray, who has lent his voice to most of Robinson’s audiobooks, is a truly exceptional narrator, and I just love any story read out in his gravelly and distinctive voice.  This was particularly true for Artifact, where the intense action and the horrifying descriptions of the laboratory’s contents were so much more impactful thanks to Bray’s calm and powerful take on events.  Bray also expertly showcases each of the key characters of the novel, and I felt he developed fitting and personal voices for each of the members of the cast.  While I love Bray’s voice for Old Red and the slacker Jimmy, his best work was saved for main protagonist and point-of-view character Colton.  Bray has long perfected voicing Robinson’s various first-perspective protagonists, and he always manages to cover their complex personalities, dialogue and interactions extremely well.  His take on Colton was very moving in Artifact, and I felt that Bray really enhanced Robinson’s depictions of this character’s quirks and unique viewpoints on life.  Due to this impressive narration, and Robinson’s general cinematic writing style, the Artifact audiobook is exceptional, and it’s easily the best way to enjoy this novel.

With all the chaotic action, crazy science fiction elements, and great character I’ve come to expect from Jeremy Robinson, Artifact was an outstanding novel I had a blast getting through.  Featuring a thrilling plot, laden with shocks and monsters, Artifact grabs the reader’s attention early and refuses to let go.  This book comes very highly recommended from me, especially on audiobook, and anyone keen for a horror-filled and deeply intense thriller is going to have an outstanding time with Artifact.

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The Witcher: Crossroads of Ravens by Andrzej Sapkowski

On By The Unseen LibraryIn English Translation, Extended Universe, FantasyLeave a comment

Publisher: Gollancz (Trade Paperback – 30 September 2025)

English Translator: David French

Series: The Witcher – 0.1

Length: 310 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Legendary fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski returns to the epic world of The Witcher with the outstanding and awesome prequel novel, Crossroads of Ravens.

I doubt anyone familiar with fantasy fiction is unaware of the cultural juggernaut that is The Witcher franchise.  An exciting and intense fantasy series revolving around Geralt of Rivia, a wandering, monster hunting witcher who finds himself drawn into chaotic events that threaten the entire world.  The initial series birthed seven original novels that were released in Poland the 1990s (later released in English), as well as a series of short stories.  However, The Witcher novels would gain prominence around the world after they were used as the inspiration for an incredible video game series, as well as a later Netflix television show.  I personally have enjoyed several excellent pieces of The Witcher fiction over the years, including the previous novel Season of Storms.  As such, I was very happy when I received an early copy of the new prequel novel from the series, Crossroads of Ravens, which proved to be a gripping read.

Long before the events that would make him a legend, grant him the sobriquets of the White Wolf or the Butcher of Blaviken, or even before he claimed to be from Rivia, Geralt was a young, recently graduated witcher.  Descending from the witcher stronghold of Kaer Morhen for the first time, Geralt soon discovers that the world is a harsh place where ideals of heroism only get you into trouble, and that the entire continent holds nothing but disdain for his kind.

Swiftly finding himself on the wrong side of the law and a noose, Geralt is only saved by the intervention of grizzled veteran witcher Preston Holt.  An enigmatic and damaged figure with his own agenda, Holt takes the young Geralt under his wing, teaching him the true reality of being a witcher and honing the important skills that the future White Wolf needs to survive. 

Emboldened by this training, Geralt soon begins to gain fame as a witcher, serving the people previously protected by the ailing Holt.  However, as Geralt wanders the land, he finds many eyes on him, including those who hold a grudge against his order.  As new adversaries and dangerous secrets from the past are uncovered, Geralt will have to decide whether to become the noble hero he always envisioned himself to be, or the monster the world believes all witchers are.

Andrzej Sapkowski continues to expertly expand the lore of The Witcher universe with this exciting and action-packed prequel.  Crossroads of Ravens was an amazing novel that takes the readers on a series of intense adventures, loaded with intrigue, conspiracy and death that all fans of the franchise are going to have an outstanding time with.  I ended up powering through this novel in less than a day, and it proved to be a very impressive read.

Crossroads of Ravens was an outstanding and very exciting novel that piled on the action, intrigue and adventure in its fantastic story.  Starting off with an effective bang that sees a young Geralt in trouble during his first foray out as a witcher, Sapkowski does an excellent job of quickly setting up the scenario and introducing Geralt, and the reader, to a new mentor figure with the entertaining Preston Holt.  What follows is a series of compelling adventures, as Geralt initially learns from Preston, before journeying off into the wilds, facing off against various monsters and the even more troublesome human population of the land.  Sapkowski has fun placing Geralt into a new, mostly self-contained adventure each chapter of Crossroads of Ravens, the events and characters of which may reappear later in the book.  This allowed for a quick-paced and very interesting overall narrative, and it was entertaining to see the young Geralt in action.

While there is a good focus on Geralt’s independent adventures, Crossroads of Ravens has a larger, overarching narrative, that sees Geralt seeking knowledge of a historical attack on Kaer Morhen many years earlier.  Thanks to hints revealed in some of the earlier adventures, a run-in with a complex secondary antagonist, and in-universe notes from intelligence officers keeping watch on Geralt and Preston, readers get the general shape of this matter in the first half of the book, and it lies like a dark shadow over Geralt’s main adventures.  Everything comes to a head perfectly towards the last quarter of the book, as Geralt fully understands the threat towards him and those he cares about, and decides to act.  This leads to a tragic series of events, especially as Geralt faces the consequences of his action and his order’s history, while also trying to determine whether he should stay as a selfless witcher or become something far more vengeful.  Sapkowski makes sure that several open story threads from the protagonist’s previous adventures are also tied together by the end of the book, and it was interesting to see how certain plot elements from these earlier chapters came into play in the conclusion.  The result was an excellent and highly enjoyable story that serves well as both a standalone adventure and a prequel to the rest of The Witcher series.

I rather enjoyed how this great prequel Witcher novel came together, as Sapkowski imbues Crossroads of Ravens with his usual flair and wry humour.  Loaded with action, quick-paced stories and an array of unique monsters, Crossroads of Ravens was very reminiscent of early Witcher novels, especially as containing certain adventures to a specific chapter is very similar to the series’ original short-story format.  Naturally, this novel will be best enjoyed by those established fans of The Witcher franchise, especially readers of Sapkowski original novel series.  Crossroads of Ravens features various references to future events or characters in its pages, which long-running readers of the series will enjoy, and there is some great early characterization of the protagonist as well.  There are also interesting alternate versions of events readers might have seen in other media, including the historical attack on Kaer Morhen, which was featured in the Nightmare of the Wolf anime film.  While older fans will get the most of this book, anyone with any knowledge of the franchise will be able to enjoy Crossroads of Ravens to a great degree, especially as it is the earliest book in the current canon of The Witcher series.  As such, this novel will have a lot of appeal to wide array of readers, who will be in for a great time with the action and adventure.

As with all The Witcher books, Crossroads of Ravens features an excellent array of characters, including a great supporting cast around protagonist Geralt.  I very much enjoyed Geralt in this novel as Sapkowski features a young and inexperienced version of his iconic protagonist.  It was fascinating to see Geralt’s initial forays into both the world of ignorant humans, and monster hunting, especially as his reactions to both are different at a young age.  A great example of this can be seen in one adventure where Geralt attempts to save a girl turned into a striga, which parallels The Witcher short story, which is the first entry in Sapkowski’s original novel/short story collection, The Last Wish.  This adventure in Crossroads of Ravens goes very differently from the author’s original story, and it was fascinating to see how a younger, less confident Geralt dealt with the same situation.  I also quite enjoyed seeing Geralt, upon experiencing loss, go on a mission of vengeance, which threatens his previous attempts to be a respected hero rather than a monster.  I felt that Sapkowski cleverly balanced Geralt’s conflicting emotions in these sequences, and the end scene where he makes a choice about what sort of witcher he is, was a great finish to his story.  Throw in an array of excellent additional characters, including a wise, vengeful mentor, a dedicated investigator, a kind healer and many other fun figures, and Crossroads of Ravens proves to be an awesome book for fans of Sapkowski’s entertaining characters.

With another fun and captivating adventure, Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series continues in all its monster-hunting glory with Crossroads of Ravens.  An outstanding prequel novel that features an array of fantastic storylines and characters, Crossroads of Ravens serves as a highly entertaining entry in this acclaimed series that will appeal to a wide audience of fantasy fans.  I had a great time reading Crossroads of Ravens, and it’s worth checking out for anyone in the mood for fun action and an interesting narrative from an excellent established series.

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