Fantasy – Baskerville Book Reviews

Review: Serpentus

Dispatched to Stone Hill to oversee the city’s defenses among nebulous rumors of the Shadow Council’s threat, Owen Greenwaters must rely on the city’s guard and its natural defenses to protect the citizens.

But when an army of mythical hooded ones bolstered by a sea serpent and the Soulless arrive in the wake of a terrible storm, he knows there is little he can do beyond hope the walls hold – and pray to the gods he and Stone Hill’s people will survive.

They are outnumbered, outmatched, and without magical support. Owen is the only knight present in the city. They will be overrun.

The Soulless are merciless and rarely take prisoners, but Owen and the survivors of Stone Hill are exceptions…

And some fates are worse than death.

Review: Murtagh

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.

Review: The Curse of Cain

The Curse of Cain: When a necromancer is admitted to Vilokan Asylum against her will, and she evokes the ghost of Cain’s murdered brother, Abel, he’ll have to do more than treat the patient… he’ll have to confront the ghosts of his past, literally.

Razing Cain:After agreeing with the new Vampire Council to take on their newest batch of younglings, and help them tame their blood cravings, things quickly get out of hand at Vilokan Asylum. Dr. Cain will need more than a “blood suckers” support group to get a handle on the issue. He’ll require the aid of Baron Samedi… of course, when the Baron is involved, his help almost always comes at a cost.

Cain and Angel: A fallen angel has a change of heart. He just can’t stomach the big guy “downstairs” and his propensity for torture, fire, and all that devilish crap. But he’s burned his bridges with the celestials, too. When he comes to Vilokan Asylum, he hopes Cain’s experience with the guy “upstairs” can help him find his own path on the narrow road between the warring leagues of angels. But when the Archangel Michael is sent to arrest the “unfallen” angel, Cain must approach the Divine for the first time in several millennia to advocate for his patient.
Go up and click ‘Read for Free’ or ‘Buy Now’ to be admitted to the Vilokan Asylum of the Magically and Mentally Deranged.

The Vilokan Asylum of the Magically and Mentally Deranged is a paranormal romp, diving into a world of voodoo, werewolves, vampires, and magic. Dr. Cain is a snarky werewolf, an Old Testament character brought to life in a modern day fantasy setting. Readers of Monroe’s Legacy of a Vampire Witch or The Legend of Nyx have met Dr. Cain before. Now, we get a deeper look into the world of magic and mayhem that is the Vilokan Asylum.

Review: Children of the Night

“A page-turning read that leaves readers dazed and breathless…a thoroughly engrossing tale marked with intrigue, mystery, magic and murder.” (The Prairies Book Review)

For fans of the most famous gothic monsters comes a fantastical YA retelling.

Venice, 1865: Sixteen-year-old Ayanda Draculesti doesn’t remember her early life – all she knows is that she was found as a small child, wandering the streets of Venice with an intricate medallion and a mangled left arm. But Ayanda is unique – even though she’s alive, she has the powers of a vampire. She has the strength and speed to battle them, and most importantly, the will. She won’t let another child die.

Ayanda isn’t the only young Unnatural in Venice. Ghostly Yurei is in hiding, fleeing the captors determined to turn him into an assassin. Jette Jekyll and Belle Frankenstein are on the run from alchemists who want them dead and dissected. Their paths and Ayanda’s collide when a brutal enemy surfaces that threatens them all: one of the Greater Dead, a vampire that slithers through Venice murdering everyone she encounters.

Ayanda is determined to stop this Dead creature before she kills again. Yurei, Jette, and Belle aren’t. Why should they risk their lives to save people who see them as monsters? All they’ve ever known is hate and fear. They owe the world nothing.

But Ayanda can’t defeat a Dead creature alone.

Review: The Goblin Queen

This queen was never a princess.

Rejected as a child, Rangalan found family, friends and a home with the goblin folk of the mountains. Now hunted by the man who first rejected her, Rangalan’s father, King Longhorn, there’s nothing Rangalan will not do to protect her friends. That all sounds very serious. It’s not. It’s actually all rather silly, utter nonsense if you ask me. Listen to it if you must, but don’t say I did not warn you.

Review: Chronicles of Maradoum Volume 5

Pirates and vampyres. Sunken catacombs and monsters’ crèches. Plagued riches and eldritch eggs. Demon summoners and bridges to other worlds.

The alien but oddly familiar realm of Maradoum welcomes you home with a magical medley of stand-alone short stories set in the same world as the Convent Series, beginning with “A Dead Wizard’s Dream”.

From the ancient mysteries of Gorodzmeya – the lizard city in the desert – to the deities who protect the people of Quing Tzu, from the hidden treasures of Shimyahein to the sacking of the Spardican coast, this sword and sorcery anthology will keep you at the edge of your seat with stories of comeuppance and revenge, of mighty warriors and creatures of evil, of the lost finding family, of omens and urchins, and of portals to realms beyond what is known….

Featured in Chronicles of Maradoum, Volume Five:

Shazarad the Terrible
Nymph Eggs
The Shark and the Shadowers
Catacombs and Crèches
God of Gold
The Giant and the Sea Urchins
Vampyre Coven
The Adventures of Captain Mayhem
The Curupira’s Curse
The Nightmare Bridge
The Lost City

Review: Book of the Night

In this thrilling adventure by bestselling author Oliver Pötzsch, thirteen-year-old Lukas has been trained as a swordsman by his father, a nobleman who was once a famed Musketeer. When the threat of war and accusations of witchcraft spread across the land, Lukas’s life is forever changed. He flees his home and vows to find his missing sister. Surviving as an outcast, Lukas encounters thieves and mercenaries, a strange astrologer, and a master swordsman. He also meets three other fencers—Giovanni, Paulus, and Jerome. Each brings a special talent to their team that leads them to the Black Musketeers, the best fighters in the army. But living with the black-armored Musketeers is nothing like they imagined. In his quest to find his sister, Lukas learns of a legendary book that holds powerful magic. As he fights to keep the Book of the Night out of the hands of his greatest enemy, Lukas discovers the secrets of his own family and what it really means to be a Musketeer.

Review: The Price of Power

stunning debut that balances the deeply beautiful with the dark and brutal in a world bursting with detail.

Prince Barodane could not hold back the darkness. Not even in himself. He laid an innocent city in its grave and then died a hero.

In his absence, war whispers across the land.

Power-hungry highborn dispatch spies and assassins to the shadows as they maneuver for the throne, while an even greater threat rises in the South. Monsters and cultists flock to the banners of a mad prophet determined to control reality…and then shatter it.

Destiny stalks three to the brink of oblivion.

A dead prince that isn’t actually dead. Barodane buried his shameful past in a stupor of drugs, drink, and crime, and now, he’d rather watch the world fall apart than wear a crown again.

An orphan with hero’s blood who is forced to make a harrowing choice: betray her country or sacrifice her first love.

And a powerful seer who has no choice at all–her grandson must die.

If any of them fails to pay the price…

The cost will be the world’s complete annihilation.

Review: The Ballad of Alchemy and Steel

In the Murkor culture, it is customary for the individuals bound during the unity ceremony of ujar’havel to compose a book of memories detailing the events that led to their first meeting and subsequent desire to be joined.

As a Murkor without a mother to guide him, Sal’zar is afforded unusual freedoms in his path to ujar’havel and the selection of a caste. In their strongly matriarchal society, his father’s voice holds little weight. He must forge his own destiny, though he struggles to find the proper way.

Sal’zar knows he is unsuited to the soldier’s caste, but is running out of options. One fateful day, he journeys to the sparring ring to test his mettle, where he meets Jal’den. Jal’den is the same age, but has already proven himself a better fighter than most of the older children. Noting Sal’zar is without a sparring partner, Jal’den offers to pair with him, and so begins a long friendship that may ultimately become something more.

Note: This story features LGBTQ+ themes. If it’s not your thing, that’s ok – I don’t expect everyone to read it. I wrote this story for my brother.

Review: The Wonderful World of Scary Ass Shit 2

Your parents are lying bags of dicks. Everything in the woods: wolves, bears, and squirrels, aren’t just trying to eat you. It would be nice if they were, but there are other sphincter tightening horrors living in the woods that just want to be inside you: your body, that is.

The Aurora Wasteland exists, let’s get that out of the way right now. What matters more is that it’s larger and more prominent than anyone could have known. Spread across counties, countries, and notches…or whatever you want to call them. It’s everywhere, even in the most invasive places your grandmother would never tell you about. The strange and weird is like sand in your underpants.

Something is causing hikers to vanish on Mount Tekarra, which just so happens to be situated in the heart of the Brightness Falls National Park, maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s ok if you haven’t, it’s not really a come visit and expect to leave still living type of place.

Logan, Gabe, Monahan, and Jeff, having survived the cornfield maze creature, aren’t really talking about what happened to them. Mostly because they simply don’t understand it all. Since the merge, things have only gotten more confusing and weird. None of them are living the lives they remember, except they are…make sense? Because it really doesn’t to them.

Memories of their two lives continue to blend as each of them struggles to figure out who they are, what they are, and who they are…wait, did I say that already? Doesn’t matter, because the Aurora Wasteland isn’t giving them time to take things slow. Monahan’s co-worker Simone just so happens to be one of those missing hikers. You know, the ones from a few paragraphs up? With her newfound connection and lady boner for the Aurora Wasteland, Monahan sets out to find her co-worker while dragging her reluctant, apparent friends behind her.

As the book tethered makes its way through the group, a second book by the so-called discoverer of The Aurora Wasteland emerges. One that has been around for years, and has molded the lives of the team more than they know.

It’s ok to be confused and scared, but I should warn you that if you’re listening to this, then it’s already too late. The Aurora Wasteland has you. It knows you. There is no escape. Trust me, it’s better you just figure out what’s going on, for your own sake and sanity.