The city of Tevanne runs on scrivings, industrialised magical inscriptions that make inanimate objects sentient; they power everything, from walls to wheels and weapons. Scrivings have brought enormous progress and enormous wealth – but only to the four merchant Houses who control them. Everyone else is a servant or a slave, or they eke out a precarious living in the hellhole known as the Commons. There’s not much in the way of work for an escaped slave like Sancia Grado, but she has Read more […]

I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me… Only a handful of people in Silasta know Jovan’s real purpose in life. To most, he is just another son of the ruling class. The quiet, forgettable friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible heir. In reality, Jovan has been trained for most of his life to detect, concoct and withstand poisons in order to protect the ruling family. His ister Kalina is too frail to share in their secret family duty. While other women Read more […]

Please note, King of Assassins is the final part of a trilogy and should be treated as such. If you have not read this novel’s predecessors then this review will contain minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING . . . Many years of peace have passed in Maniyadoc, years of relative calm for the assassin Girton Club-Foot. Even the Forgetting Plague, which ravaged the rest of the kingdoms, seemed to pass them by. But now Rufra ap Vthyr eyes Read more […]

It has been seventy-five years since the dragons’ rule of fire and arcane magic over Vinkerveld was ended, and the Empire was born. Since, the tyrannical Synod has worked hard to banish all manifestations of the arcane across the lands. However, children are still born bearing the taint of the arcane, known to all as witchsign. So each year the Emperor sends out his Vigilants across the continent to detect the arcane in these children. Those found tainted are taken, and never seen again. Steiner Read more […]

LIVE IN THE SADDLE. DIE ON THE HOG. Such is the creed of the half-orcs dwelling in the Lot Lands. Sworn to hardened brotherhoods known as hoofs, these former slaves patrol their unforgiving country astride massive swine bred for war. They are all that stand between the decadent heart of noble Hispartha and marauding bands of full-blood orcs. Jackal rides with the Grey Bastards, one of eight hoofs that have survived the harsh embrace of the Lots. Young, cunning and ambitious, he schemes to Read more […]

Please note Wyntertide is a direct sequel to Rotherweird and as this is the case it is entirely likely that this review may contain minor spoilers if you haven’t read what has come before. Don’t tell me later you weren’t warned in advance. The town of Rotherweird, made independent from the rest of England by Queen Elizabeth I, has resumed its abnormal normality after a happy ending to the travails of summer. But is it really all over? Disturbing omens multiply: a funeral delivers Read more […]

“I’m hiring you to steal the king’s crown.” Ardor Benn is no ordinary thief. Rakish, ambitious, and master of wildly complex heists, he styles himself a Ruse Artist Extraordinaire. When a priest hires him for the most daring ruse yet, Ardor knows he’ll need more than quick wit and sleight of hand. Assembling a dream team of forgers, disguisers, schemers, and thieves, he sets out to steal from the most powerful king the realm has ever known. But it soon becomes clear there’s more at stake Read more […]

For centuries, the five greatest kingdoms of North and South Tembria, twin continents on the world of Garn, have coexisted in peace. But the balance of power is destroyed when four of the kingdoms violate an ancient covenant and betray the fifth: Ithrace, the Kingdom of Flames, ruled by Steveren Langene, known as “the Firemane” for his brilliant red hair. As war engulfs the world, Ithrace is destroyed and the Greater Realms of Tembria are thrust into a dangerous struggle for supremacy. As a Free Read more […]

In the great kingdom of Quandis, everyone is a slave. Some are slaves to the gods. Most are slaves to everyone else. Blessed by the gods with lives of comfort and splendor, the royal elite routinely perform their duties, yet some chafe at their role. A young woman of stunning ambition, Princess Phela refuses to allow a few obstacles—including her mother the queen and her brother, the heir apparent—stand in the way of claiming ultimate power and glory for herself. Far below the royals are Read more […]

Rumer Cross is cursed. Scraping by working for a dingy London detective agency, she lives in the shadow of her mother, a violent criminal dubbed the ‘Witch Assassin’ whose bloodthirsty rampage terrorised London for over a decade. Raised by foster families who never understood her and terrified she could one day turn into her mother, Rumer has become detached and self-reliant. But when she’s targeted by a vicious mobster who believes she’s hiding an occult relic, she’s drawn into the Read more […]

Please note Arm of the Sphinx is a direct sequel to Senlin Ascends. There will be spoilers if haven’t read the first book in this series. Consider yourself suitably forewarned. Forced by necessity into a life of piracy, Senlin and his crew struggle to survive aboard their stolen airship. Senlin’s search for his lost wife continues, even as her ghost hounds his every step. But the Tower of Babel proves to be as difficult to re-enter as it was to escape. While searching for an unguarded Read more […]

Please note, before proceeding any further, The Bitter Twins is the second part of The Winnowing Flame trilogy. If you haven’t read part one then it is likely this review may contain something akin to minor spoilers. Don’t say you weren’t suitably warned! The Ninth Rain has fallen, the Jure’lia have returned, and with Ebora a shadow of its former self, the old enemy are closer to conquering Sarn than ever. Tormalin the Oathless and the Fell-Witch Noon have their hands full dealing with Read more […]

Blood of Assassins is a direct sequel to Age of Assassins. If you haven’t read book one in this series, then it is entirely likely that this review will contain something akin to minor spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you all… THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING . . . The assassin Girton Club-foot and his master have returned to Maniyadoc in hope of finding sanctuary, but death, as always, dogs Girton’s heels. The place he knew no longer exists. War rages across Maniyadoc, with Read more […]