Top Ten Tuesday – Titles with Animals in Them

On April 11, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn List4 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, participants are tasked with listing their top books with animals in the title. This is a rather interesting topic and it has several similarities to other topics that have been featured as part of the Top Ten Tuesday meme before.

I ended up coming up with quite a few good books that had animals in the titles, far too many if I’m going to be honest as it turns out it is quite a common practice to feature some form of animal in a title. To make this list a little more manageable, I decided to exclude any mythical creatures or animals from this list, mainly because I don’t think that was in the spirit of the topic, but also because this book would end up being very similar to my recent list that looked at book covers featuring dragons. When this exclusion still left me with way too-many options, I decided to further limit myself by restricting this list to only one book per author. This ensured that I had reasonable input from several authors who favour animal-themed titles, or who I have a great deal of books from. The resultant list, which still required some cutting, ended up looking pretty good and I think that I ended up covering the top books I have read with animals in the titles. So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Space Wolf by William King

Space Wolf Original Cover

Following the genetically enhanced and wolf-like members of the Space Wolves Space Marine chapter, this intriguing Warhammer 40,000 is pretty damn awesome, and the title fits extremely well.

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Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz

Dark Horse Cover

A great entry in Hurwitz’s awesome Orphan X series, Dark Horse was a fantastic book and its animal-themed title had great multiple meanings within the plot.

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The Black Hawks by David Wragg

The Black Hawks Cover

An amazing and captivating fantasy read; The Black Hawks references the titular mercenary group the book follows who get into all manner of trouble in a dark fantasy realm.

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The Bear Pit by S. G. MacLean

The Bear Pit Cover

An excellent historical murder mystery which features a fighting bear as a potential suspect and lethal murder weapon.

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Top Ten List:

Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 5: Lone Goat and Kid by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo Lone Goat and Kid Cover

Now, realistically I could include any of the Usagi Yojimbo comics on this list, as Usagi is Japanese for rabbit. However, I chose to ignore that and instead the animal in the title I am focusing on can be found in the fifth collected volume, Lone Goat and Kid. A great addition in the Usagi Yojimbo series, this is a pretty epic volume, and I loved the story focussing on the titular Lone Goat and Kid, who are animal parodies of Lone Wolf and Cub. I really like the fun homage contained in this title, which is why I included this volume, rather than the later volumes Fox Hunt and Red Scorpion, which I could have also used.

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Dogs of War by Jonathan Maberry

Dogs of War Cover

The always amazing Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry has some great titles to it, but the only one I could fit here was the fantastic novel Dogs of War. This was an outstanding read, and while the title, Dogs of War, is a play on the famous saying, it also refers to robotic attack dogs featured within the book. As such, I had to include this here, and this book is an outstanding addition to the series.

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Talon of the Silver Hawk by Raymond E. Feist

Talon of the Silver Hawk Cover

Legendary fantasy author, Raymond E. Feist has featured a couple of animals into his fantasy titles over the year, such as with King of Foxes, but the one I’m going to focus on in this list is Talon of the Silver Hawk, which was the first Feist novel I ever read. Not only is this an incredible and eye-catching title, but Talon of the Silver Hawk also references the main character, who gains his name early in the novel when he witnesses a hawk on a vision quest. An epic inclusion that has a very special place in my heart.

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The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Fifth Elephant

I’m featuring a few of my favourite authors on this list and that includes the legendary Terry Pratchett who used animal names in a few of his books. I was very tempted to use one of my favourite Discworld books, Hogfather, here, although that is more of a character name rather than a reference to an animal. So instead, I used The Fifth Elephant, which is a fantastic and impressive entry to the series. Elephants are a very important part of the Discworld books, as four of them hold up the titular Discworld while standing on-top of a giant turtle, so The Fifth Elephant is a title that is guaranteed to get reader’s attention. The book itself is a compelling addition to the City Watch sub-series and this entry sees the main characters to travel to a Transylvania-esque land, which has been gifted great riches by the crashing fifth elephant, to solve several murders and resolve political discord. This is an outstanding entry in the series and I’m glad I could feature it on this list.

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Death of the Black Widow by James Patterson and J. D. Barker

Death of the Black Widow Cover

An excellent, animal-themed book title I wanted to highlight was Death of the Black Widow by the excellent team of James Patterson and J. D. Barker. The black widow in the title refers to a mysterious, supernatural figure who seduces and kills many people over an extended period. I had an amazing time with this novel, which was one of my favourite books of 2022, and I will admit the cool title was one of the reasons I chose to read Death of the Black Widow.

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White Wolf by David Gemmell

White Wolf Cover

One of the more interesting books I wanted to feature on this list was the epic fantasy novel White Wolf by the late, great David Gemmell. I’ve mostly only ever talked about Gemmell’s debut novel, Legend, on this blog, but I also deeply enjoyed one of his later novels, White Wolf. Following a deadly warrior who attempts and fails to leave his life of violence behind, White Wolf is an incredible novel that has so many great moments to it. This was one of the earlier big pieces of fantasy that I read when I was younger, and it has stuck with me for years. I have been meaning to go back and read this series for a while and White Wolf is one of the main reasons for this.

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The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde

The Constant Rabbit Cover

When it came to books with animals in the titles, I just to include The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde, which is such an awesomely fun book. The Constant Rabbit is a complex novel set in a version of England where anthropomorphic rabbits have emerged and started living with humans. This ended up being a very impressive novel that is simultaneously inventive, hilarious and a brilliant parody of British politics. One of my favourite books of 2020 and a great addition to this list.

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Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow

Under the Eagle Cover

Out of all the authors I’m featuring on this list, few have as many books with animals in the title than historical fiction author Simon Scarrow. That is because his long-running Eagles of the Empire series, features eagle in the titles of the first seven books (i.e. The Eagle’s Conquest, The Eagle and the Wolves and The Eagle in the Sand), as well as some other animals, like The Blood Crows. I decided to feature the very first book in the series, Under the Eagle, which is a brilliant introduction to a gripping and powerful Roman history series, and which comes highly recommended.

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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Cover

Next, we dive into Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games series, which had a lot of bird imagery involved with it. While the third book does have an animal in the title with Mockingjay, I decided against featuring it as this was a fictional species. Instead, I decided to feature the prequel novel Collin’s released a couple of years ago with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which features two separate animals in the title. This was an excellent prequel to the very cool young adult trilogy and I look forward to seeing it turned into a movie later this year.

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War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell

War of the Wolf Cover

The final entry on this list is War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell, which served as a great addition to his long running Saxon series. This great book sees the aging protagonist engage in another series of battles against enemies on all fronts. Serving as the beginning of the end of this brilliant series, I have a lot of love for War of the Wolf and it was an outstanding addition to both the Saxon series and this list.

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Well, that’s the end of my list. It turns out that I’ve read a good number of books with animals in the title, so this ended up being a great list for me in the end. I am pretty happy with how this turned out and it was fun to figure what to include. Let me know what your favourite books with animals in the titles are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Sieges in Literature

On October 19, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday revolves around favourite words, which, while interesting, isn’t something that I felt I could really contribute to. So instead, I thought I would dive into one of my favourite story elements from fiction, the good old-fashioned siege.

Now I have made it very clear over multiple reviews that I absolutely love sieges in fiction. To me, there are few battle scenarios more awesome, more epic, and more impressive than watching a powerful attacker attempting to wipe out a fortress garrisoned by a group of desperate defenders. Whether you are rooting for the besiegers or the defenders, there are so many outstanding moments that can be woven into a siege scenario. From fighting on the walls, to a desperate stand in a breach, to watching an attacker slowly gain ground on the defender by a careful and elaborate series of siegeworks, artillery bombardments and the careful administration of traitors from within the walls, everything about a siege is just so amazing to me and I love reading about them in fiction. Sieges don’t even have to be that long or epic, as even a quick and bloody siege can be pretty impressive, especially if the attackers are desperate to achieve their goals.

Fans of this blog might have noticed that in recent weeks I have read a couple of books that contain some great sieges. Well, after getting really caught up in a few of them, it started making me think back to all the other awesome sieges scenes I have enjoyed over the years. Naturally my only option then was to come up with a list of my favourite sieges in literature and it did not take long for me to come up with an intriguing list of books.

This proved to be quite a fun list to come up with, and it was really interesting to dive back into some books from the past to see what great sieges I could find. I didn’t put a lot of limits on this list, and if the scenario in the book could be considered some sort of siege, I would consider it for this list. I did try to come up with a few examples that were outside the traditional medieval castle situation most people would associate with a siege, and I wanted to show a little variety. Despite that, most of the books I have featured on this list ended up being fantasy reads, which isn’t too unexpected. There are a few good historical fiction reads thrown into the mix, as well as entries from other genres, and I think this ended up being a very well-balanced top ten, with my usual generous honourable mentions section. So, lets dive into the breach and find out which glorious sieges made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

River of Gold by Anthony Riches

River of Gold Cover

A fantastic historical fiction read that saw an outnumbered group of elite Roman soldiers take control of an abandoned fort in the middle of Africa to stop an invading army. An excellent example of a Roman siege from historical fiction.

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Devolution by Max Brooks – Siege of Greenloop

Devolution Cover

One of the more unusual examples I could think of was the fantastic novel Devolution by World War Z author Max Brooks. Devolution sees the residence of a small, elite community get cut off from the rest of the world by a natural disaster, only to be then attacked by a group of sasquatches driven out of hiding by the same calamity. Forced to defend themselves against the hungry beasts, the community finds themselves in an impromptu siege against a group of monsters, which results in a very inventive and intense read.

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Warhammer: Beastslayer by William King – Siege of Praag

Beastslayer Cover

William King has featured several awesome sieges in his legendary Gotrek and Felix Warhammer Fantasy series, however, my favourite so far had to be the siege of Praag in Beastslayer. This book-long siege sees the doomed duo face off against all manner of monsters and demon worshipers on the walls, while traitors attempt to destroy them from within. A classic siege scenario that fit perfectly into the iconic Warhammer setting.

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Inheritance by Christopher Paolini – Siege of Aroughs

Inheritance Cover

I have a lot of love for Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, especially as it features several awesome sieges. However, my favourite probably occurred in the final book, Inheritance, when the protagonist’s cousin, Roran, is sent to take the fortified town of Aroughs with a small force. Running out of time and resources, Roran uses some unconventional tactics to invade it. Not only did this show how much Roran had grown as a tactician and commander over the series, but it featured some fantastic scenes of a great siege.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Legend by David Gemmell – Siege of Dros Delnoch

Legend

Let us start this list off with the book that might have the very best siege scenario I have ever read, with Legend by David Gemmell. Legend is an exceptional read that sees an invincible army attempt to conquer their world’s most impregnable fortress, Dros Delnoch. Utterly outnumbers, the defenders of Dros Delnoch have one advantage aside from their six walls, they are led by Druss the Legend, the greatest hero of all time. This is such an epic siege, which the late, great, David Gemmell, set up perfectly. Loaded with amazing characters, you really grow close to the defenders as you watch their desperate battle to hold off an unstoppable enemy till the very end. A must read for all fans of the siege; you will not be disappointed by this book.

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Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist by Janny Wurts – Siege of the Acoma Suite

Servant of the Empire Cover

Next, we have a book that shows that sieges don’t have to feature giant fortresses to be epic, with Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. The second book in the outstanding Empire trilogy, Servant of the Empire has many amazing moments, but the best is the compelling and intense siege of the Acoma Suite in the Imperial Palace. Following a massive calamity that plunges the Empire into chaos, all the great lords flock to the Imperial Palace to be close to the action. However, many take this as an opportunity to take out their rivals and the protagonist, Mara of the Acoma, finds herself one of the main targets. Barricaded in her suite in the palace, Mara, her allies, and their bodyguards must fight off waves of assassins that come for them during the night. This proves to be extremely impressive, and you really get caught up in the action watching the defenders attempting to hold a luxury apartment against an unending horde of assassins. A clever and amazing siege that makes full use of its smaller setting and intriguing scenario to create some exciting moments.

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Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker – Siege of the City

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City Cover

I had to feature the brilliant and hilarious Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K. J. Parker, as it contained an extremely fun take on the siege concept. This hilarious read sees the massive City besieged by an army of vengeful folk, intend on killing everyone within. With their army already destroyed, the defence of the city falls to a conman siege engineer, who uses his engineering knowhow and ability to BS anyone, to establish one of the most elaborate and inventive defences ever. This ended up being an incredible story, that perfectly blends humour and fun characters with the compelling siege scenario, to create an utterly addictive read. I have so much love for this siege novel, and Parker followed it up with the equally good How to Rule and Empire and Get Away With It, that showed the surprising outcome to the siege, which I really loved.

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Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom – Siege of Arete

Fire in the East Cover

While much of this list is focussed on fantasy fiction, I had to include the outstanding historical fiction read, Fire in the East, the debut novel of the amazing Harry Sidebottom. Set in AD 255, this book follows Roman siege specialist, Ballista, who travels to the Roman town of Arete to reinforce it against a besieging Persian army. Forced to hold out for months with no reinforcements, Ballista prepares a complex and deadly defence, while dealing with traitors and discontent from within his walls. A fast-paced, but extremely detailed read, this is easily one of the best historical sieges I have ever read, and it made me a life-long fan of Harry Sidebottom, who is still releasing distinctive and captivating historical fiction reads.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling – Siege of Hogwarts

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Cover

After six books spent within the magical castle of Hogwarts, it was appropriate that the Harry Potter series end there, and the author chose to finish everything off in a big way. With Harry, Ron and Hermione attempting to find and destroy the final Horcrux, Lord Voldemort sends all his forces in a massive assault on the magical school, facing off against students, teachers and the Order of the Phoenix. This is a pretty epic siege, which, while great in the movie, comes across as a lot more exciting and complex in the novel. Seeing the various dark forces attempt to destroy the castle you have come to know and love is pretty heartbreaking, and you can’t help but cheer at the desperate defence the supporting characters put up to give Harry time. Throw in a ton of tragic deaths, as many of your favourite characters are brutally killed off, and this becomes a key moment in the series that you will never forget.

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The Martyr by Anthony Ryan – Sieges of Walvern Castle and Highsahl

The Martyr Cover

One of the more recent siege-based books I have read, The Martyr is the second Covenant of Steel novel by Anthony Ryan, and its elaborate chronicle narrative quickly drags the reader in with an amazing siege scenario. The Martyr actually has two sieges in it, but as they occur back-to-back early in the book, I decided to combine them. The first, sees the protagonists occupy and defend a dilapidated castle against a massive host in a foreign land, which proves to be a lot of fun as the series canny protagonist and his apparently blessed leader, engage in quite an elaborate defence of their new bastion. I got pretty stuck into this book during the first siege and was pleasantly surprised when Ryan immediately followed it up with a second siege, with the protagonists this time acting as the attackers. Using the lessons they learned from defending the first time, they soon attempt a deadly attack on the city, which results in a particularly bloody and intense struggle through the breach. I had an outstanding time with this book, and I was absolutely spoiled with the two sieges it contained.

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Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie – Siege of Dagoska

Before they are Hanged Cover

The First Law trilogy is one of the bloodiest dark fantasy series out there, so naturally it is going to feature at least a couple of great sieges. There are actually several impressive sieges I could talk about here, especially in the third book, Last Argument of Kings, but my favourite siege occurred in the second book, Before They Are Hanged. This novel sees fan-favourite character, the crippled Inquisitor Glokta, take control of the city of Dagoska and hold it against a massive Gurkish army. Striking a devil’s bargain with a mysterious benefactor for resources, Glokta is able to fund a sustained defence, while trying to keep the city from turning against his forces. However, his greatest threat is within the walls, as several magical assassins are planning to kill and eat him to win the battle. This is such an awesome siege, especially as it sees Glokta in his element as a master manipulator, and there are some amazing scenes set around it.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein – Siege of Helm’s Deep

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers Cover

I was never not going to include a siege from The Lord of the Rings on this list, and naturally I had a couple of good choices here, such as the siege of Minas Tirith in The Return of the King. However, based on the recommendation of my wife, who recently re-read these books, I went with the siege of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. A much more fast-paced siege, the battle of Helm’s Deep sees a small force from Rohan face off against a giant army of Uruk-hai over a single night in their ancestral fortress. A classic siege which got an easy place on this list.

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Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill – Siege of Hydra Cordatus

Storm of Iron Cover 2

I had a hard time coming up with any good science fiction books for this list, but luckily, I only just finished reading an older Warhammer 40,000 novel, Storm of Iron by Graham McNeill, that was essentially one giant siege. This book sees the defender of the planet Hydra Cordatus, come under attack by a massive army of Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines, who besiege the planet’s seemingly impregnable fortress. However, the Iron Warriors are the universes’ best siege engineers, and they soon start smashing down the walls to get to their foes. A very elaborate and detailed siege book, there is so much incredible action in this book, and McNeill did an outstanding job setting up a siege story in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

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City of Lies by Sam Hawke – Siege of Silasta

City of Lies Cover

The final entry on this list is the extremely impressive City of Lies by Australian author Sam Hawke. Another great fantasy read, this novel sees the culturally rich city of Silasta suddenly come under attack by a mysterious army, intent on destroying it. With their army mostly away, the cities artists are forced to abandon their works and take up weapons. At the same time, the book’s protagonists, a pair of poison-eating siblings, work to defeat a massive conspiracy that is building within their walls. The encroaching attackers adds a great layer to the intrigue and politics going on within the walls in City of Lies, and I loved how well Hawke established this siege in this fantastic book.

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Well, that is the end of this list. As you can see from the above entries, I have had a lot of fun reading about sieges over the years, and I love when they are fit into a good book. All the above books have some exceptional sieges in them, and they all come highly recommended to those people who love a great siege storyline. I am pretty happy with how this list turned out, and I will probably revisit this at some point in the future, especially if I am lucky enough to read some more siege-focussed books. In the meantime, let me know what your favourite sieges in literature are in the comments below.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books with Magical Schools

On August 30, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday participants are given a School Freebie to with what they will. That means its up to me to come up with any sort of list about a school, which left me pretty open to list the best books with one of my favourite settings, a magical school.

I have long had a great love of the magical school setting in fantasy fiction (just check out the name of this blog). In many ways, magical schools are the absolute backbone of some of the better examples of fantasy out there, and who doesn’t love a fun and wonderful story set within the halls of a magical environment. There are so many cool stories and scenarios that can be imagined in these sorts of scenarios, and I have always had an amazing time with these sorts of settings from some of the earliest fantasy books I have read. As such, I thought it only fitting to examine the absolute best examples of this setting here.

In order to appear on this list, the book in question needed to have either a school, academy or university of some description magic is taught or the school itself is magical and fantastic in nature. This school must be a major setting of a descent part of the plot and must feature some sort of magical teaching or some variety of magical education in it. I have been a little lenient in places throughout this list and I have included a few examples where rather than the traditional magical school, you have a bit of an interesting or dark reimagining, which can often be quite fun. I ended up with an interesting collection of books in the end that I was able to whittle down to my top ten. All these books are really fun, and I think that they use their magical school setting extremely well.

Honourable Mentions:

The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth

Dragonclaw Cover

All the books in Kate Forsyth’s fantastic The Witches of Eileanan series featured some cool magical learning and school elements in them, and the author sets some impressive storylines around them. However, I would probably recommend the first book in the series, Dragonclaw, as the best example of this magical training. Not only are their multiple scenes of the protagonist learning magic, but it also features a fantastic magical trial scene at her initial place of learning.

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Master of Sorrows by Justin Call

Master of Sorrows Cover

Features an interesting ninja school where the participants learn to recover magical items.

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Magician by Raymond E Feist

Magician Cover

Many of Feist’s Riftwar Cycle books featured a magical school of some description, but nothing compares to the various magical learning scenes that occur in the fantasy classic Magician. The protagonist learns from several schools and teachers in this book before starting the path to create his own magical school.

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The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

The Tethered Mage Cover

A fun recent fantasy book that revolves around a fantasy nation where all magicians are captured and leashed so that they aren’t in complete control of their faction. Known as Falcons, these mages are sent to the Mews, where they learn to control their magic for the greater good of the nation. An interesting, if darker, take on the magical school system that worked really well.

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Top Ten List:

The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

Let’s face it, it would be impossible to write a list about magical schools without featuring the Harry Potter books here. J. K. Rowling created something very special with Hogwarts, and it is now the magical school setting that all others are measured up against, for very good reasons. All seven books in this series used the Hogwarts setting extremely well, from the introduction in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to the epic final battle in Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows. It is honestly very hard to single out one in particular for their use of the magical school setting, however, if I had to, I would probably go with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because it had some great scenes where the protagonist took over teaching, as well as the extended sequence with the O.W.L.S test.

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind Cover

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss gets a lot of credit from fantasy fans for many of its elements, but one of my favourites is the setting of the University, where the protagonist winds up is as a teenager. The centre of knowledge for this fantasy world, the university teaches many subjects, including various forms of magic, including runic metalworking, sympathy (magic that links one object to another for manipulation), and the ultimate magic, naming, where one calls something’s true name (for example the wind) and takes control of it. This proves to be an exceptional setting for much of this book, and the protagonist spends a substantial amount of time with some great narrative results. While the University is also a major setting of the sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear, I think that it was used a little better in The Name of the Wind and is one of the better magical school settings out there.

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Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Moving Pictures Cover

Yeah, there was no chance I wasn’t going to feature a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett here. So many of his books feature the epic and entertaining setting of the Unseen University, where the world’s wizards gather to learn magic and get up to all manner of other shenanigans. Most of the books feature the Unseen University as a setting, however, I’m going to limit myself to two entries on this list, the first of which is Moving Pictures. Moving Pictures is one of the more entertaining Discworld novels Pratchett wrote, and part of the reason is how he utilises the Unseen University in the plot. After several books with a rotating cast of senior wizards, Pratchett settles on a permanent staff for the university in Moving Pictures (helped by the introduction of an unkillable Archchancellor) and starts strongly developing their various members here. There are many brilliant scenes set around the university, especially ones that show the eccentric new Archchancellor setting in and upsetting the delicate wizards with his wild ideas. This book has some of the funniest scenes set in the Unseen University, and this book is a major favourite of mine.

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A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

A Deadly Education Cover

Easily the series that has been featuring magical schools the best recently is the Scholomance books by acclaimed author Naomi Novik. This series in the deadly Scholomance, an automated enchanted school where vulnerable magical teenagers are educated and partially protected from various monsters who want to eat them. Introduced perfectly in the first book, A Deadly Education, you soon get to know all the unique quirks of this fantastic school, as the protagonist tries to survive the lethal lessons, killer fellow students, and multiple monsters living within. I have so much love for the setting in A Deadly Education, and the exquisite story that Novik set around it made it one of my favourite books of 2020. The sequel, The Last Graduate, also featured the school extremely well, but I think that A Deadly Education is the best example for this list.

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Van Horstmann by Ben Counter

Van Horstmann Cover

You can’t be too surprised that I managed to slip a Warhammer novel in here somewhere. Van Horstmann was an awesome Warhammer Fantasy novel that explore the origin and problems of the human magical colleges that sprouted up in the heart of the Empire. In particular, Van Horstmann explores the College of Light through the eyes of enigmatic new student, Egrimm van Horstmann, who has his own nefarious reasons for journeying to the school. This is an excellent and captivating take on the classic magical school setting, as you get to watch this obvious villain learn everything about the school, all so he can gain ultimate power and gain revenge for a past wrong. A very clever Warhammer Fantasy novel that makes perfect use of its magical school setting.

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Cold Iron by Miles Cameron

Cold Iron Cover 1

Another great fantasy book from recent years that featured a cool magical university setting is Cold Iron by Miles Cameron. Much the narrative of Cold Iron takes place in The Academy and its surrounding city and follows the protagonist as he excels as a student, while also attempting to unravel a massive conspiracy that threatens the lands. I deeply enjoyed the use of the Academy setting in Cold Iron, and while there is a substantial focus on learning sword work, the character does spend time learning magic, which comes in help during this book. I loved many of the more classic fantasy elements featured in Cold Iron, especially the cool school setting, and this is a must-read book for all fantasy fans.

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Homeland by R. A. Salvatore

Homeland Cover

I had to slip something in from R. A. Salvatore on this list, and naturally that book ended up being one of my favourite Salvatore novels, Homeland. Set in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan, Homeland follows the childhood of Salvatore’s long-running protagonist Drizzt Do’Urden. While there are a lot of excellent settings and locations in, I loved the multiple scenes that take place in the combat school of Melee-Magthere. While technically not a magical school per say, it is filled with dark elves with inherent magical talent, who often use magical techniques to complement their swordcraft, so I think it deserves to be on this list. Personally, I just love the various tournament scenes set in this school, and it was a fantastic and epic setting for this great fantasy book.

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It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts

It Ends in Fire Cover 2

Another fantasy book that had a great alternate take on the magical school concept is It Ends in Fire by Andrew Shvarts. Featuring a compelling fantasy world where wizards rule over the non-magical, this book follows a rebellious young magic user who infiltrated the premier magical school, Blackwater Academy, to burn it down from the inside. This was a fun and compelling read with many fantastic homages to Hogwarts, and it was an outstanding book to check out.

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Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Hogfather Cover

The other Discworld book that I had to include here was Hogfather, which makes fun of many aspects of Christmas. While there is a focus on Death and his granddaughter, quite a lot of the book takes place in the Unseen University and shows the eccentric faculty attempting to understand the constant creation of multiple new minor gods around their grounds. The outrageous antics of the senior faculty blends well with the more education focused ambitions of the students, all with the Archchancellor watching on in exasperation. I loved all the university scenes in Hogfather and it was one of the better uses of it in the Discworld series.

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Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Eldest Cover

The final book I want to include on this list is Eldest by Christopher Paolini, the second book in his Inheritance Cycle. While the first book from Paolini, Eragon, featured a lot of magical tutelage, it didn’t really feature a school setting. The sequel though, Eldest, does, as it shows the protagonist journey to the homeland of the elves to learn magic there. The protagonist spends a substantial chunk of the book there expanding his magical knowledge and skills. While most of this tutelage does occur one-on-one, there is enough alternate teachers and characters to qualify it as a magic school in my mind, and I feel that Paolini did a great job introducing it and using it to expand the character’s knowledge. An overall epic book that made really great use of the magic school concept.

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Well, that’s the end of this latest list. As you can see there are some great books out there that feature a fun magical school concept in their plot. It is no surprise that many of my favourite books of all time feature a magical school in some capacity and there are so many exceptional stories that can be set around it. All the above books come very highly recommended and if you love magical schools, all of them are worth checking out.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books Written Over Ten Years Ago

On August 16, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List6 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. For this latest Top Ten Tuesday, participants had to list their top books that were written over ten years ago.

This is a very intriguing, if difficult, topic to look at, as there are an absolute ton of amazing books released over 10 years ago (written before 2012) that I can think about for this list. I kind of did a similar list on this subject a few years ago, with my list that looked at books written before I was born, however, there are a lot more intriguing entries that could be featured here, so I am going to have to think long and hard about what to include.

To limit my potential choices down (or make the decision harder), I chose to limit my entries to one book from each series or author, which will save me listing multiple Discworld novels for a start. I also chose to exclude any comic book series from this list, mainly because pretty much every entry on my previous favourite comic series list ran or started more than 10 years ago. Even with some of these restrictions, there were still an amazing number of books that I wanted to feature on this list, and I had to make some very hard decisions and cuts to figure it out. However, I am very happy with how the final list turned out and I think it represents the absolute best books written over ten years ago that I have read. So let us see what made the cut.

Honourable Mentions:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling – 2003

The Order of the Phoenix Cover

A classic from childhood and my favourite book in the series.

Amazon Book Depository

World War Z by Max Brooks – 2006

World War Z Cover 2

I only recently read this, but it is pretty damn epic, especially in the full-cast audio adaption with some amazing actors behind it.

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Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom – 2008

Fire in the East Cover

Still one of the best historical fiction books I have ever read with an awesome siege premise behind it.

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The Gray Man by Mark Greaney – 2009

The Gray Man Cover

The debut book from Mark Greaney, this was a very cool novel which the movie adaption honestly didn’t do justice to.

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Top Ten List:

Magician by Raymond E. Feist – 1982

Magician Cover

There were multiple books from Feist written more than 10 years ago that I could have featured on this list, including The Empire trilogy he cowrote with Janny Wurst. However, I had to feature the book that started it all, Magician. Magician sets the entire universe up perfectly and has one of the strongest stories in the series. A truly iconic fantasy read, Magician has inspired generations of fantasy fans and is well worth checking out.

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Legend by David Gemmell – 1984

Legend

Another fantasy classic I had to include, Legend was a brilliant and iconic debut from the legendary David Gemmell that I checked out a few years ago. Easily one of the best siege novels of all time, Legend sees an impossibly large army besiege the world’s best fortress, defended by a small number of heroes. Powerful, action-packed, and wildly addictive, this was an outstanding read that you will fly through.

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Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett – 1989

Guards! Guards! Cover

Since pretty much the entirety of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series was written before 2012 (only Raising Steam and The Shepherd’s Crown were released after), I could have filled this list with Discworld novels and left happy. Instead, I had to feature just one book from the series, which was pretty impossible, as nearly all of them rank amongst my favourite books. I decided in the end to feature Guards! Guards!, not only because it is one of the strongest books in the series, but because it introduced the City Watch sub-series, which feature many of my favourites. Guards! Guards! has a brilliant story to it that perfectly combines comedy, fantasy and crime fiction elements into one epic read, when the maligned Night Watch of Ankh-Morpork have to solve a series of murders caused by dragon. Hilarious, clever, and impossible to put down, this is an incredible read that will make you a Pratchett fan for life.

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Homeland by R. A. Salvatore – 1990

Homeland Cover

Another author who I could have featured multiple books from, R. A. Salvatore is one of the best fantasy authors in the world for a reason and he has a ton of great reads released more than 10 years ago. However, I limited it to my favourite book of his, Homeland, which expands on the early life of his standout character Drizzt Do’Urden. Taking place in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan, this book shows the character’s complex youth in the treacherous Dark Elf society and helps to established Drizzt as one of fantasy’s most distinctive and likeable protagonists. This was a truly impressive novel I have read multiple times, and its impacts can still be felt in Salvatore’s more recent books, such as Timeless, Boundless and Relentless, which show alternate perspectives to events of Homeland through other character’s eyes.

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The Third Day, The Frost by John Marsden – 1995

The Third Day, the Frost Cover

I have long talked up the epic Tomorrow series by Australian author John Marsden, and it remains some of the best books I have ever read. Following a group of teenagers as they attempt to survive a foreign invasion of Australia, the Tomorrow series is a powerful and deeply addictive young adult series that should be compulsory reading for all Australian kids. I have so much love for this series that I had to feature one of the books from it here. I ended up choosing the third (and probably the best) book, The Third Day, The Frost, which sees the protagonists attempt their biggest attack yet, only to suffer from some major consequences. Not only is this one of the most actions packed and intense novels in the series, but it is also one of the most emotional damaging as the characters you have grown to love, go through some major events that leave them deeply traumatised. An epic read that I cannot recommend enough.

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The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – 2006

The Lies of Locke Lamora Cover

Few books have ever caught my imagination and attention than the brilliant fantasy heist book, The Lies of Locke Lamora. The first book in Scott Lynch’s The Gentleman Bastards series, The Lies of Locke Lamora is an insanely good read that sees a group of conmen get dragged into a battle for a corrupt and dangerous city’s soul and must try to survive while also getting their score. Perfectly balancing great characters with cool fantasy and impressive thriller elements, The Lies of Locke Lamora is so much fun to read and I would strongly recommend it to any fantasy fan. I could have also featured the second book Red Seas Under Red Skies (released in 2007) here, as it was also extremely good, but I do think the first book was the best. Highly recommended!

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The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – 2007

The Name of the Wind Cover

I had to include The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss on this list as it is honestly one of my favourite fantasy books of all time. Following a legendary figure as he recounts the early days of his life, you find yourself getting dragged into the tale of Kvothe, a man destined to kill a king and become infamous. The Name of the Wind perfectly introduces the character and sets you deep into his intense and massive life story, which features tragedy, triumph, music, and an epic amount of time spent in a cool magic school. I love this book so much, and I really need to read it again and give it a proper review. The sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear is just as good, but I think the first book is a better one to include here.

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Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie – 2009

Best Served Cold Cover

I honestly could have featured any of the three books from Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy on this list, as all three are a masterclass in dark fantasy fiction. However, I decided to go with the third and final book in the trilogy, Best Served Cold, as I think it was the best book. Not only did it bring together all the epic storylines from the first two novels perfectly, but all the main characters who you have been getting extremely close to, have their defining moments here. There is so much awesomeness crammed into this book, and its impacts will be felt from years to come, as the sequel Age of Madness trilogy (made up of A Little Hatred, The Trouble With Peace and The Wisdom of Crowds), follows on from it perfectly.

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The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry – 2010

The Dragon Factory

I had to feature an entry from the epic Joe Ledger series here on this list, and luckily a couple of fun entries were released more than 10 years ago. While I could have gone with the first book, Patient Zero (modern zombies) or the fantastic third release, The King of Plagues (a world-ending cabal in action), I went with the second book, The Dragon Factory, which I think was one of Maberry’s best. The Dragon Factory takes damaged protagonist Joe Ledger on a deadly mission to save the world from two warring teams of advanced genetic engineers who have their own insidious plans. Intense, action-packed, and featuring some heart-rending tragedy, The Dragon Factory was an instant favourite of mine, and I cannot talk it up enough.

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The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – 2010

WAY OF KINGS MM REV FINAL.indd

The final book I want to highlight on this list is the massive and deeply impressive The Way of the Kings by impossibly talented Brandon Sanderson. This was the first book in Sanderson’s iconic The Stormlight Archive and follows several impressive and highly developed characters on an epic journey throughout a bold new fantasy world. This novel has everything you could possibly want, and I cannot emphasise the sheer level of creativity and universe building it contains. There is so much to love about this book, especially the complex and highly damaged characters, and I would recommend this to all fantasy fans.

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That’s the end of this latest Top Ten Tuesday. As you can see, I have had the great pleasure of reading several outstanding novels that were published more than ten years ago, and some of them are counted amongst my favourite all-time books. All the novels featured above are extremely epic and I would recommend all of them to readers looking for their next obsession. I had a lot of fun pulling this list together, and this might be one I revisit in the future, especially after I go back and read some more older novels.

Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books from the First Half of 2022

On June 28, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn List9 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that currently resides at The Artsy Reader Girl and features bloggers sharing lists on various book topics. The official topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday involved listing your favourite upcoming books for Winter 2022. However, as I had already done this list a few weeks ago, I thought I would instead take this opportunity to celebrate the fact that we are already nearly into the second half of 2022.

2022 has already proven to be a pretty fantastic year for books, and I have already read some incredible 2022 releases, including impressive standalone books, amazing new entries in established series and fantastic debuts. Because of this, I thought that I would take the time to work out what my top ten favourite books from the first half of 2022 were. To be eligible, a book had to be released in the first half of this year in some form. I have also excluded any books released during this period that I have not so far read, although a couple of releases I have my eye on might have appeared on this list if I had read them in time.

Coming up with this list proved to be a rather bigger task than I originally intended, as I ended up amassing nearly 20 different releases, all of which I consider to be some pretty outstanding reads. I ended up being able to eventually whittle this down to an acceptable Top Ten list, although I did include my typical generous honourable mentions section. I am rather happy with how this list turned out, although I am surprised at some of the great recent books that ended up being excluded. Still, the entries below represent what I considered to be some of the best books from the first half of 2022, and I would strongly recommend each and every one of them.

Honourable Mentions:

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone Cover

A clever and hilarious take on the classic murder mystery story from a talented Australian crime fiction author.

Her Perfect Twin by Sarah Bonner

Her Perfect Twin Cover

An impressive debut by Sarah Bonner that imagines a woman murdering her twin and impersonating her. Featuring a very twisty story that goes in some surprising, but fantastic directions, this was a very awesome read that sets Bonner up as an amazing new talent.

Warhammer 40,000: Steel Tread by Andy Clarke

Steel Tread Cover

A captivating and powerful Warhammer 40,000 tie-in novel from the start of the year that was an excellent piece of sci-fi military fiction. Following the crew of the tank, Steel Tread, on a hellscape of a battlefield, this was an intense and action-packed story that I quickly flew through.

Master of Furies by Raymond E. Feist

Master of Furies Cover

Raymond E. Feist finalised The Firemane Saga (previously featuring King of Ashes and Queen of Storms) in a big way this year. This was a great read that featured an addictive classic fantasy adventure with some very interesting surprise elements.

List (no particular order):

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Hunger of the Gods Cover

Let us start this list off with the book that has the best cover, The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne. Following on from Gwynne’s epic 2021 novel, The Shadow of the Gods (one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2021), The Hunger of the Gods perfectly continues the dark fantasy masterpiece, pitting men, gods and monsters against each other in a brutal, Norse-inspired fantasy world. Featuring some outstanding new character perspectives, a bunch of great twists, and a ton of action, this sequel was a worthy addition to this fantastic series, and I had such an incredible time reading it.

Desperate Undertaking by Lindsey Davis

Desperate Undertaking Cover 2

One of my favourite historical fiction authors, Lindsey Davis, continues to shine with her long-running Flavia Albia historical murder mystery series. This latest entry, Desperate Undertaking, features a complex and entertaining new mystery in ancient Rome when a troupe of actors start getting murdered in brutal, theatrical ways. Easily one of Davis’ best stories, Desperate Undertaking grabs your attention right off the bat and refuses to let go.

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World Cover

One of the very first novels that I read in 2022 ended up being one of the very best: the hilarious fantasy novel, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K. J. Parker. Set in the same universe as his previous connected releases, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City and How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, A Practical Guide to Conquering the World follows a scribe and translator who uses his scholarly knowledge and skills at manipulation to conquer the entire world. Containing whip-sharp satire and a brilliant story, this was such an addictive and fun read I honestly could not put down.

Usagi Yojimbo: Tengu War! by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo - Tengu War!

My love affair with one of my favourite comics, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo series, continued this year with the latest volume, Tengu War! Containing several epic new stories, loaded with cool art and impressive world building, Tengu War! was another amazing volume that got a full five-star rating from me. I loved this new volume so much and I can’t wait to get my hands on Sakai’s next release, Crossroads, later this year.

Sierra Six by Mark Greaney

Sierra Six Cover

Bestselling thriller author, Mark Greaney, is having a great year in 2022, with both the upcoming film adaptation of his debut novel, The Gray Man, and two awesome books coming out. The first of these, Sierra Six, is one of his best, following iconic protagonist, Court Gentry, the infamous Gray Man, on another intense mission connected to one of his earliest assignments for the CIA. I had a brilliant time with this new Gray Man novel (the 11^th in the series), as it featured an impressive, split-time narrative with some great characters. Another impressive book from Greaney that is really worth reading.

Against All Gods by Miles Cameron

Against all Gods Cover

The always inventive Miles Cameron continues to shine brightly with a bold and compelling start to a new fantasy series with Against All Gods. Set in a bronze-age inspired setting, Against All Gods follows a group of mortals who attempt the impossible and declare war on their violent and selfish gods. With an addictive, over-the-top story, Against All Gods was a ton of fun, and it ended up being a truly amazing novel.

The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer

The German Wife Cover

Last year Australian author, Kelly Rimmer, produced a very impressive and extremely moving historical drama, The Warsaw Orphan, which really stuck with me. As such, I was very excited to receive her new book, The German Wife, which ended up being a truly incredible read. This fantastic novel follows two intriguing protagonists up to the 1950s as they traverse some of the worst parts of world history. With a particularly intense focus on the rise of Nazism in Germany and the subsequent recruitment of German rocket scientists by the Americans, The German Wife is a captivating read that contains powerful emotional hit after powerful emotional hit.

Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

Amongst our Weapons Cover

One of the leading authors of urban fantasy fiction, Ben Aaronovitch, returned with another superb entry in his Rivers of London series. Featuring another exceptional fusion of a police procedural story with unique fantasy elements, Amongst our Weapons was a fantastic addition to the series. Slick, clever and constantly entertaining, Amongst our Weapons once again showed off Aaronovitch’s talent and is an outstanding book to check out.

Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! By Nate Crowley

Ghazghkull Thraka - Prophet of the Waaagh! Cover

I have been having so much fun reading Warhammer fiction over the last few years, and 2022 has already produced some amazing reads. My favourite of this year so far had to be Nate Crowley’s outrageous and amusing Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! Following the most iconic ork in the Warhammer canon, this was an excellent retelling of Ghazghkull Thraka’s life from a unique source. Filled with non-stop laughs, explosive action, and a real appreciation for the ork faction, this was a wildly appealing book that I had to feature here.

Death of the Black Widow by James Patterson and J. D. Barker

Death of the Black Widow Cover

The final novel I want to highlight is Death of the Black Widow, written by the superstar team of James Patterson and J. D. Barker. A crime thriller with an intriguing horror twist, Death of the Black Widow was a surprising hit for me, and I really was drawn into its terrific story. One of the more memorable and enjoyable books I have so far read this year, I had a lot of fun with Death of the Black Widow, and I deeply enjoyed its compelling tale of obsession, mystery and death.

I have already read some amazing and epic books so far in 2022 and we are only halfway through the year. I am pretty happy with how this list turned out, and it features some extraordinary reads that all come highly recommended. It will be interesting to see which of these books ends up being amongst my top reads of 2022, as there is some impressive competition coming out in the second half of the year, not to mention some outstanding current releases I need to check out. Still, all the novels above come very highly recommended, and you are guaranteed to have a wonderful time reading them. Let me know what your favourite releases for the first half of the year are in the comments below, as well as which of the above books you liked the most.

Canberra Weekly Column – Mixed Genre – 16 June 2022

On June 27, 2022June 28, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Canberra Weekly ColumnLeave a comment

Originally published in the Canberra Weekly on 16 June 2022.

Make sure to also check out my extended reviews for Blood Sugar, Star Wars: Brotherhood and Master of Furies.

Master of Furies by Raymond E. Feist

On June 20, 2022August 14, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy4 Comments

Master of Furies Cover

Publisher: Harper Voyager (Hardcover – 5 July 2022)

Series: The Firemane Saga – Book Three

Length: 515 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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One of the leading authors of fantasy fiction, Raymond E. Feist, brings his Firemane Saga to an end in a big way with the impressive and deeply entertaining Master of Furies.

I was recently in the mood for some classic high fantasy awesomeness, and few people do high fantasy better than one of my all-time favourite authors, Raymond E. Feist. I have been a massive Feist fan for years, ever since I stumbled upon his epic Riftwar Cycle in my youth. Made up of around 30 connected novels in a massive, multi-world universe, including his epic debut, Magician, and the fantastic Empire trilogy (co-written with Janny Wurts), the Riftwar Cycle contains so many fantastic stories and it remains one of the seminal pieces of fantasy fiction out there. Feist appeared to finish the Riftwar Cycle off in 2013 and after a break he started working on a different fantasy series, the Firemane Saga.

Set in a new fantasy world, the Firemane Saga followed several great protagonists as they found themselves dragged into a series of conflicts that threaten to tear their continent apart. This series started in 2018 with King of Ashes, an excellent book that served as a brilliant introduction to the setting, story and characters. This series was continued in 2020 with Queen of Storms, which continued the various character-based storylines, expanding on some existing elements while also throwing in a ton of new enemies and some surprising changes. This second novel included a pretty fantastic twist halfway through, as one of the major settings of the series was completely destroyed and various supporting characters were killed off. I have been eager to see how this series would continue and I was pretty excited when I saw that the third and final book in the series, Master of Furies, was set for release this year (it was one of my most anticipated releases for the first half of the year). I ended up grabbing this book the day it came out and I swiftly got drawn into its fun and action-packed story.

War and death have come to the Barony of Marquensas after unknown raiders from across the seas arrived and laid waste to everything before them. Their most savage action saw them destroy the town of Beran’s Hill, which resulted in the death of Gwen, Declan Smith’s beloved wife. Now determined to get revenge, Declan has become a soldier and allied with Baron Daylon Dumarch, whose family was also killed in the raid. As the Baron gathers a new army around him, Declan travels to the desolate far south of Tembria to recover rare materials that will allow him to forge the best weapons and armour for them.

At the same time, Hava, former spy for the shadow nation of Coaltachin, has drawn first blood against the mysterious forces attacking her friends. After capturing the enemy ship, Queen of Storms, Hava has become a notorious pirate captain, raiding ships from across the waves to find out who or what is threatening Marquensas. Her investigations will eventually lead her to the hidden continent of Nytanny, where a powerful group holds sway of a vast population of warring nations.

As Hava, Declan and Baron Daylon prepare their forces to fight whatever lies within Nytanny, the fate of the world may rest in someone else’s hands. Hava’s husband, Hatushaly, the last living member of the Ithrace royal family, has finally discovered his legacy as a legendary Firemane. Under tutelage on the hidden island Sanctuary, Hatushaly works to hone his destructive magical abilities. But as his powers grow, Hatushaly will find himself thrust into events beyond his control. A new darkness is rising within his world and Hatushaly will need all the help he can find to stop it.

This was another awesome book from Feist that I felt was a great end to the excellent Firemane Saga. This third and final book takes the character-driven story in some fantastic directions, and I think that Master of Furies was one of Feist’s better recent novels.

I had an outstanding time getting through Master of Furies’ clever and compelling narrative and I really enjoyed the elaborate and exciting third part of the series. Now, I must admit that I initially had a bit of a hard time getting back into this book, mainly because it had been two years since Queen of Storms’ release and I had forgotten some of the story details from the preceding novels. I probably should have done a bit of a reread of the series before starting Master of Furies, and this is one of those cases where interested readers should really check out the first two novels first. Master of Furies immediately dives back into the plot lines from the last book, and while a lot of elements are recapped, it does help to remember how the series has unfolded.

Master of Furies is told from multiple character perspectives as all the protagonists from the first two novels are featured here. There is a good mixture of different storylines throughout the novel, including the mystical training of Hatushaly, the adventures of Declan in a hostile desert, political intrigues occurring with Marquensas, and Hava’s nautical and espionage activities as she sails from location to location, attempting to find out who they are actually fighting. All of those storylines are spread out evenly through the book and they played off each other well, coming together into an exciting and expansive narrative. I particularly liked Declan’s storyline, not only because it was a very good example of a classic fantasy adventure but it also expertly showcased the character’s grief and anger after the events of Queen of Storms. I liked the balance between action, world-building and character development contained in each chapter, and this book had an amazing flow to it. The action scenes are particularly well written, and Feist features multiple epic battles and fights that really get the reader’s adrenalin pumping. The resulting story is very well paced out and there are no slow spots in the story at all. Each of the separate stories start coming together a lot more towards the centre of Master of Furies as Feist starts to prepare for the big conclusion.

While I was initially worried that Feist was going to rush the conclusion too much (I had some doubts with 150 pages to go, as there seemed to be too much that needed to get wrapped up), this ended up coming together really well. The established character arcs ended on an awesome (if slightly predictable) note and most of the open storylines are resolved in a satisfying manner. It was great to see some of the fun characters you have grown to like over the course of the trilogy finally get what they deserve, while others start new adventures that will lead to some interesting storylines in the future. Feist also works to set up some interesting storylines for the future and it is pretty clear that he has intentions to produce some form of sequel trilogy or series in the future. An overall strong and exciting story, I absolutely powered through this book and I was extremely entertained and happy the entire way through.

There was some interesting world-building in Master of Furies that I quite enjoyed as Feist sought to expand on his already established new fantasy realm. Not only did Feist take one of his main characters to the previously unseen harsh deserts at the lower part of the main continent of Tembria, but we also got our first real look at the rival continent of Nytanny, where most of the antagonists originate. I found both areas to be fascinating and detailed as Feist does a great job of building up both settings in this novel, ensuring that the reader gets an idea of geography, culture and history. I had a great time exploring both, and the fantastic landscapes of south Tembria were particularly cool, especially as one of the main protagonists spends half the book facing off against every enemy and threat he can find there. I did think that the focus on Nytanny came too late in the trilogy, as Feist has deliberately kept this continent and its people obscured from the reader and the main characters. While this did enhance the mystery surrounding their actions, it did mean that their sudden reveal in this book felt a tad forced and you did not care as much about who they were or savoured the eventual counterattack against them by the protagonists. Likewise, some of the political situations in the rest of Tembria that were featured in the earlier books, such as the impacts of the corrupt Church of the One and the politics of the other kingdoms of Tembria, are somewhat ignored here in favour of focusing on the characters in Marquensas. While I do not think this took away from the narrative too much, it might have made for a more elaborate and complete universe if more of these missing elements had been explored in more detail (I reckon Feist could have turned this into a four-book series to properly set up this world). Still, I really enjoyed the rest of the world-building and the change in the settings in this book, particularly surrounding the impacts of the massive raids from Queen of Storms which have devastated not only the Barony of Marquensas but also the various other kingdoms and lands featured in the book. I really hope that we get to see a lot more of this world in Feist’s future novels as I really want to see how it progresses and changes as it faces more dangers.

For the final thing I wish to discuss about this novel, I think I’m going to have to put a Spoiler Warning into effect as some of the details I’m about to discuss are significant and one of the more surprising things about Master of Furies.

This feature was the intriguing connection that Master of Furies, and by extension the entire Firemane Saga, has with Feist’s established Riftwar Cycle. I was pleasantly surprised when, seemingly out of nowhere, one of the most entertaining characters from the Riftwar Cycle suddenly appeared in the narrative and started helping Hatushaly learn how to control his magic, revealing that this new world is set in the same joint universe as Feist’s previous series. While I really should not have been too surprised, (multiple alternate fantasy worlds are a staple of Feist’s writing), I honestly did not see this coming. In hindsight there were some subtle hints in some of the previous books, but I did not realise to what extent the author intended to bring everything together. Feist really goes to town on the connections in this third book, and soon several additional Riftwar Cycle characters appear, referring all the existing books. It soon became very clear at the end of Master of Furies that the author was intending to substantially combine the Firemane Saga with the Riftwar Cycle, especially when an established malevolent presence was discovered on this new world. The book ends on a very interesting note, with the main characters of this series meeting with two of the biggest characters from the Riftwar Cycle, and it looks like Feist’s next trilogy is going to combine these two universes together in even more substantial ways.

Now, bringing the Firemane Saga into the larger Riftwar Cycle is a bit of a double-edged sword for Feist, although it is one that I personally enjoyed. I loved the surprise at seeing some of these favourite characters come across each other, and every single new connection or reference brought a thrill for me, Feist nerd that I am. However, I know that some readers are going to be disappointed, especially as people who were hoping for something new from Feist suddenly got thrown back into the author’s established universe and characters. This connection also means that those readers unfamiliar with the entire Riftwar Cycle might get a little lost here, especially if they do not fully realise the significance of events or characters. While Feist does a good job of highlighting who these characters are and why readers should care, I can see some people getting confused about what is going on. As such, I can understand if some readers are frustrated, but I think it was a great choice by Feist and I loved seeing the author bringing everything together. If nothing else, this is probably going to inspire me to do a big Feist re-read at some point in the future, especially if all his previous novels are going to come into play in his next series (can I read all the Riftwar Cycle novels before Feist’s next book? I don’t know, but I’m willing to try).

Spoiler Warning End

Raymond E. Feist continues to shine as one of my absolute favourite fantasy authors with the outstanding third and final entry in his awesome Firemane Saga, Master of Furies. Containing an epic and deeply entertaining narrative that cleverly concludes this fun trilogy, Master of Furies has an excellent blend of story, setting and characters, as well as some cool connections to some of Feist’s more iconic works. While there were a few issues with how this book came together, I honestly had a fantastic time reading Master of Furies as I was so wrapped up in its outstanding story. Overall, this book comes highly recommended, especially for those established fans of Feist’s work.

Master of Furies Cover 2

Amazon Book Depository

Book Haul – 19 June 2022

On June 18, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Book Haul1 Comment

I have been having an absolutely fantastic couple of week for books, as I have been lucky enough to receive several incredible and amazing new novels from some of my local publishers. These novels include some truly awesome new releases, several of which I have been eagerly awaiting for some time. I am extremely keen to check out all of the books below and they should make for some amazing reads.

Master of Furies by Raymond E. Feist

Master of Furies Cover

I made sure to grab a copy of that latest Raymond E Feist novel, Master of Furies, the day it came out. This awesome fantasy novel is the third and final novel in the Firemane Saga, following on from King of Ashes and Queen of Storms. I’ve actually already read Master of Furies (review to follow soon) and it is very good, ending the trilogy well and featuring some very intriguing elements.

Conviction by Frank Chalmers

Conviction Cover

I also received a copy of the interesting debut novel Conviction by Frank Chalmers. This cool Australian thriller is set in the 1970s and follows a banished cop as he attempts to solve a series of murders in a remote, outback town. I have been really enjoying all the recent Australian debut fiction and I cannot wait to see what happens in this awesome sounding book.

Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

Essex Dogs Cover

Another great debut I recently received was Essex Dogs by Dan Jones. Jones, a well-known historian, is making his fictional debut here with a very impressive sounding plot. Essentially a medieval Band of Brothers, Essex Dogs will follow a small group of English soldiers as they fight in the Hundred Years’ War (one of my favourite historical wars). This is a very cool concept and I cannot wait to see how Jones’ first novel turns out.

Airside by James Swallow

Airside Cover

I was very excited to get a copy of this fantastic thriller Airside by James Swallow. Swallow is an author I have been meaning to read for a while, mainly because he has written some awesome Warhammer novels. However, I am also rather excited to read this excellent thriller that sees an ordinary man make a big mistake when he steals some money in an airport. I like the concept surrounding this novel and I am curious to see what happens.

Weaponized by Neal Asher

Weaponized Cover

Neal Asher is another highly acclaimed author that I have been meaning to read for a while. It looks like I am going to get the chance soon as I just received a copy of Weaponized. A standalone novel set in one of his established universes, Weaponized has a great plot about a technologically enhanced soldier who finds trouble out in the wider universe. I am very interested in seeing if I liked Asher’s storytelling and writing style and this could lead to me reading more of his fantastic novels.

The Darkening by Sunya Mara

The Darkening Cover

A debut young adult fantasy novel with an excellent story to it. The Darkening by Sunya Mara sounds like an awesome novel about duty, revenge, family and betrayal and I am very curious to try it out.

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

Wrong Place Wrong Time Cover

I was also very happy to receive a copy of Wrong Time Wrong Place by established thriller author Gillian McAllister. This novel will see a mother going back in time to prevent her son becoming a murderer. I love the concept behind this book and I will hopefully start reading Wrong Time Wrong Place this week.

The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss

The Ghosts of Paris Cover

The final book I recently received was The Ghosts of Paris by Australian author Tara Moss. Set in 1947, this novel will follow a reporter as she attempts to find several missing men in the post-war Paris. Appearing to be part thriller and part historical drama, The Ghosts of Paris should be right up my alley and I look forward to reading it.

Well that’s the end of this latest Book Haul post. As you can see I have quite a bit of reading to do at the moment thanks to all these awesome books that have come in. Let me know which of the above you are most interested in and make sure to check back in a few weeks to see my reviews of them.

WWW Wednesday – 15 June 2022

On June 15, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn WWW Wednesday1 Comment

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next. Essentially you have to answer three questions (the Three Ws):

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

So, let’s get to it.

What are you currently reading?

Against all Gods by Miles Cameron (ebook)

I just started reading an advanced copy of the latest novel from Miles Cameron, Against all Gods. This intriguing novel is set in a world governed by malicious gods and follows a human’s attempt to bring them down by any means necessary. I am already pretty hooked on this awesome novel, which isn’t too surprising considering the quality of Cameron’s latest novels (Cold Iron, Dark Forge, Artifact Space). I look forward to seeing how this epic story unfolds and I will hopefully finish it off in the next few days.

Star Wars: Brotherhood by Mike Chen (Audiobook)

I haven’t made a great deal of progress on Brotherhood since last week, only chipping off a few hours. I will probably listen to more of it in the next day or two and hopefully it will be finished by this time next week.

The Sandman – Act II by Neil Gaiman (Audiobook)