Category: 5 star Rating

A Lila Review: The Pirate of Fathom’s Deep by Megan Derr

Rating: 5+ stars out of 5

The Pirates of Fathoms DeepHigh Commander Lesto Arseni is the most feared man in the Harken Empire. None but the High King dares risk his wrath—and a pirate who once punched him in the middle of the imperial pavilion. A pirate who later snuck away with Lesto to an empty room, touched him in ways far more memorable. And then immediately bolted like a man who’d gotten what he wanted.

Shemal just wants to live a normal life, leave his pirating days behind him and prove that he’s respectable now. The last thing he needs is the two idiots who show up wanting his help with the noble they’ve kidnapped—the very man Shemal had been hoping to prove himself to, the man he hasn’t forgotten since Shemal punched him a year and a half ago.

The Pirate of Fathoms Deep is a marvelous tale of friendship and love between two strong men. There’s a small mention of the incident that brought Lesto and Shemal together in the first book in the series, but not enough to realized more had happened or would happen between the two of them.

Lesto is Harken’s High Commander, but more importantly, he’s High King Sarrica’s right hand and best friend. Their friendship kept them alive in the battlefield and now, helped them run the Empire. Their bromance stays strong in this book and extends to Allen and Shemal, too. Lesto is also the Duke of Fathoms Deep and Nyle’s and Rene’s older brother. He runs his troops and his family/friends like a well-oiled machine.

Shemal is trying to put his pirate ways behind him, but trouble met him at his door. The last thing he expected in his remote parcel were two of his mates bringing him, without warning, the very man he had wanted for the last eighteen months. The man he was trying to be better for. But after all, a pirate can’t resist a treasure.

Since that first encounter, they have been jonesing for the other without a way to get in contact. They both wanted normal lives with a family and a partner. They keep a strong veneer for everyone else, but when together, they were able to relax and be vulnerable. The way the first met, didn’t allow the other to share their wants, but in the end, destiny brought them together. The chain of events they were involved in helped to bring them closer and closer until they surrendered to each other.

In comparison to The King’s Golden Tongue, this second book in the series is more up to point. The reader is familiar with the Harken Empire and has a better understanding of all the little details that make this world work. All the characters we loved are back, and we get to know more about Sarrica & Allen and Rene & Lord Tara.

Even with only 54K words, this story has enough twists and turns to keep us reading the next page, and the next page, and… The author did an outstanding job keeping this story simple and not allowing the kingdom troubles to interfere with the romance. The main plot is Lesto’s and Shemal’s relationship; everything else is well-written but secondary. We get enough information to follow what’s happening with the Empire and to set the next book in the series without losing perspective.

Another great cover by John Coulthart. The colors of the duchy make it appealing, and the images from the settings are beautiful. Plus, it matches the cover of the first installment.

Sale Links: LT3 | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 216 pages
Published: July 13, 2015, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 9781620047934
Edition Language: English

Series: Tales of the High Court
Book #1: The High King’s Golden Tongue
Book #2: The Pirate of Fathoms Deep
Book #3: The Heart of the Lost Star (2017)

A Free Dreamer Review: The Hunger Man by Scott D. Pomfret

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

The Hunger ManAt the outset of the Great Irish Potato Famine of 1845-50, a family of Irish revolutionaries attacks a British food convoy and kidnaps a young English officer named Julian Hawke. This first act of overt rebellion unleashes a series of events that both inextricably ties the O’Rahilly clan to Hawke and to the gay seanachie (storyteller) Ciaran Leath, but also seals their fates.

The only daughter, Muireann O’Rahilly, an aspiring physician, fails to resist the strong mutual attraction between her and Hawke. Hawke tries to balance his love for Muireann and his growing love for Ireland with his duty to suppress the budding rebellion. Ciaran Leath, who falls in love with both Julian Hawke as well as an angelic young tinker man, foresees both the coming famine and the disintegration of his adopted O’Rahilly clan, but finds himself unheard and powerless to protect them—or himself. Encountering spirits of the dead and other bad portents, Ciaran Leath invokes his old benefactor, the ancient Faerie Fin Bheara, but in doing so learns something devastating about himself and of what he is capable. When the O’Rahilly clan sets its sights on assassinating Queen Victoria, whom Hawke is sworn to protect, during her 1848 state visit to Cork, the stakes loom large for all involved, and the story turns inexorably toward a tragic end.

Against the backdrop of the terrible beauty and exquisite misery of southwestern Ireland during the famine years, this part-comic, part-romantic struggle against starvation, oppression, and one’s own worst impulses plots an epic arc from London and Dublin to Cork and New York City. Magic, Faeries, haunts, spirits, legends, ancient kings, monsters, and lovers richly populate this clash between the British Crown and the Irish people, and there can only be one survivor.

This is a work of literary/genre fiction.

If I had only two words to describe “The Hunger Man”, they’d probably be “difficult” and “strange”.

Difficult because of all the Gaelic words. Difficult because of the subject matter. Difficult because of the countless references to Irish mythology. Difficult because this book broke my heart. And difficult, if not impossible, to forget.

And strange mostly because of Ciarana, the seanachie. I’m still not entirely sure what to think of him. Did he really spend years living with the Fae? Or was he just insane and hallucinated it all? Or did he just pretend to be insane?

One thing’s for sure: “The Hunger Man” was incredibly intense. I was captivated. Still am, really, even a week after finishing it. In all honesty, this book left me speechless, so I’m having a very hard time coming up with the right words.

I’m not very familiar with Irish history, and while I’ve heard about the Potato Famine, I didn’t know any details. Having finished “The Hunger Man”, I feel a lot more educated on the topic. The book definitely works without background knowledge, but I think it would have been easier to understand had I been more familiar with the topic.

I really liked all the way the author made Irish mythology such an easy, natural part of the story. Once again, I now feel better educated, without getting an info dump. More than once, I ended up hitting Google to find out more.

There is a lot of Gaelic in this story. Now, I have a thing for languages, so I’m always thrilled to learn new words. There is a glossary at the end, but sometimes the Irish just got a little too much for me. I even considered getting myself a dictionary, but couldn’t find anything for a decent price. Some more translations in the book itself wouldn’t have hurt. But that was a minor annoyance overall.

This story had real depth. Every character was unique, no matter how minor they were. Muireann, Ciaran (the only one in first person) and Julian each get their own POV. Neither of them was easy to like. Ciaran was very strange and felt a little other-worldly. Muireann was incredibly pious and always tried to impress her older brother. And Julian was horribly ignorant and arrogant. Still, they did grow on me. They just felt like real people, each with their own weaknesses.

The tone is very dark and does get pretty violent at times, which was to be expected.

Overall, this book was simply brilliant. I lack the words to do it justice, so I’m going to shut up now.

If you’re interested in historical novels and aren’t necessarily looking for an easy read, then go for it. Just don’t expect a sweet love story with a historical backdrop. This is a literary novel that happens to have an MC who prefers men over women.

First I thought four stars would be an appropriate rating, because I did struggle with all the Gaelic. But that felt incredibly unfair, because I’ve read other books with lots of Japanese, which I didn’t mind because I have a friend to help me with that. Then I gave it 4.5 stars. That looked a little better. But ultimately, I think this book deserves the full 5 stars. It woke an interest for the topic in me and the MCs won’t let me go. And it’s not often that a book makes me feel so conflicted.

The cover by Natasha Snow shows a heap of stones, probably one to mark a grave. The sky looks ominous and stormy. That part looks really good. I’m not too fond of the green mist on the edges. And the publisher’s logo is extremely jarring.

Sales Links:  NineStar Press | Amazon

Book details:

ebook
Published June 6th 2016 by NineStar Press
ISBN139781911153566
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Barb, A Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Sacrati by Kate Sherwood – audiobook narrated by Dorian Bane

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Sacrati_AudiobookThis was an amazing story, both complex and intriguing, and it held my attention throughout the twelve and a half hours of audio.

During a routine scouting expedition, Theos and his band of Sacrati, an elite military unit, come across what could be an advance team of Elkati. Being superior fighters, the Sacrati immediately subdue the invaders and Theos takes them prisoner. Among them is Finnvid, the brother of the King of Elkat. He’s on a secret mission to meet with the Torian War Minister, but it’s ultra-secret, and as we find out later in the story, it’s important to the Warlord that no one find out about it. In the meantime, it quickly becomes apparent that Finnvid is also a healer when Andros, Theos’s best friend, is bitten by a viper along the trail and Finnvid takes steps to save him. Save him he does, but in doing so, he’s come to Theos’s closer attention.

A few days after they get back to their land, Theos spots the Warlord shipping out a group of slaves, but with winter quickly approaching, he’s surprised because this is unusual, but even more—he’s shocked when he sees Finnvid about to be chained by the neck to the rest of the men. He immediately claims Finnvid as his prize for having captured the prisoners, and though he argues about it, the Warlord has no choice but to allow Theos to have him. Theos tells all that he’s claiming Finnvid as his bedwarmer, and a stunned Finnvid has no choice but to follow Theos to his room. As the days go by, what’s even more shocking to Finnvid is the Torian way of having sex with whoever is at hand, usually another soldier. The men think nothing of coupling in front of each other, whether it’s penetrative sex or oral or even handjobs. Pleasure is pleasure to them. But not to Finnvid who has led a sheltered life and comes from a land where men only mate with women and they mate for life.

There’s so much conflict in this story, it’s very important to pay attention to the audiobook at all times. We learn about the Torian way of life, and then when the Torian soldiers accompany the Elkati back to their country in an apparently peaceful mission, we learn even more about their way of life, and we learn just how underhanded the Warlord has been. More danger and intrigue ensue, and it’s quite a long time and even more conflict before Theos and Finnvid find their way back into each other’s good graces, and ultimately into each other’s arms.

Remarkably, in the midst of battle and chaos and political plotting, there is a HEA, one that these two men so richly deserve. I enjoyed listening to the story, and the narrator did a very good job. His voice reminded me of what I would think of as a storyteller of olde days, and the voice he gave Theos was perfect in its gruffness. I didn’t care for the voice he gave Finnvid, however, that didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

If you enjoy stories of faraway kingdoms, knights and soldiers, war and intrigue, you should definitely plan to get this audiobook. It was, as I said at the beginning, an amazing story.

Cover art by Kanaxa shows a robed and hooded figure with a sword in each hand. Good symbolism for this story, though in gray and white, it’s not visually appealing.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | Audible | Amazon

Audiobook Details:

Released May 26nd 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitleSacrati
Edition LanguageEnglish
URLhttp://riptidepublishing.com/titles/sacrati

Finalist: Best LGBT SF/F/Horror in the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards!