Tag: author Eoghan R. Cunningham

Review: Fall of the Crystal Moon: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 5) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 5🌈

Fall of the Crystal Moon is the finale novel of The Crystalline Dragons Saga and it’s a grand epic fantasy adventure. Cunningham’s young heroes are finally grown up, they’re facing the end of their world, the villain who they’ve battled they killed. That person has been replaced by someone who is more powerful, more frightening, yet still someone who they knew, who they once trusted. Dusk can understand her pain and trauma and anger.

The characters have been never been more nuanced than they are here, in their final battles to save each other and their world. Cunningham has them, especially Dusk, dive deep into their own stories, their fears and their worst self doubts, face them , before they can then take on the approaching world’s enemies and ultimate villain.

The author is smart because we travel with incredible companions, back through some of the very worst places our small group has already visited before, nightmarish stuff for Dusk, on their way to gather a army to vanquish the enemy. We see what has become of some very familiar places during their journey. It’s such a great narrative choice emotionally and visually. Cunningham makes so many interesting and layered choices here.

Fall of the Crystal Moon is full of amazing full throttle action scenes, dragons, incredible heroes each with their unique abilities and stories, and even a great villain we can emphasize with while knowing that they must be brought down.

And , it has that one element that’s a must for every epic adventure ending! That the finale makes you want to accompany our heroes wherever they go next, whatever fabulous beasts they see, beings they encounter, we want to be there too. What an absolutely fantastic romp this series has been! A thriller of an adventure with a bit of romance too.

More please. A YA LGBTGIA fantasy novel I’m so excited to recommend!

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

✓ Rise of the False King #3

✓ The Queen of Darkness #4

✓ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5

Buy link

Fall of the Crystal Moon: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 5)

Blurb

The final battle looms on the horizon. The last dragon has been found. The Crystal Moon has once again returned to Ditania.

The fate of the entire world lies in Dusk’s hands. But will he be able to save it in time?

Just when I thought we’d won the battle and stopped the evil in this world from coming to fruition, Tiernan outsmarts us again.

The world doesn’t know what kind of danger it’s in and the only people that can stop it are me, Lex, and Tara. But where do we even start? And is it even possible at this point to win against this evil sorcerer that’s cut us off at every turn?

I don’t know. But I do know one thing. I will not give up and I will not let the power of the Crystal Eye fall into the hands of someone like Teirnan.

There’s a final battle to be fought and I will lead the charge.

The fate of the world rest’s on my shoulders.

• Publisher: UwU Publishing (June 6, 2024)

• Publication date: June 6, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 329 pages

Review: The Queen of Darkness: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 4) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 4🌈

The Queen of Darkness is the penultimate story in Eoghan R. Cunningham’s epic YA epic fantasy adventure series about a young escaped slave, his two friends/companions on their journey through various kingdoms. It’s got evil villains, dragons, monsters, mythical beasts and legends for the heroes to follow.

The Queen of Darkness picks up right after the cliffhanger of Rise of the False King. It helps immensely that both books were already released so the reader could continue onto the next to pickup on the action.

Dusk is sometimes a very frustrating character here. Hes coming across as very inconsistent as far as the growth the author has given him from book to book, major trauma to trauma. Here he’s showing restraint and maturity in dealing with multiple situations and issues. Lex’s revelations and the impact it’s had on him, the separations, the immediate danger to himself and his friends, and any thoughts of power for himself. This is a person capable of intuitive thinking and trusting his instincts.

However, this more thoughtful “Dusk” is abandoned in favor of the first more untried “Dusk” that we encountered in the beginning of this journey. That Dusk has listened to the lessons he’s been taught, the wisdom that he has learned, doesn’t communicate to his friends , doesn’t think rationally, put together clues, and isn’t sure of what he wants. Even after telling someone he’s thought about the quest and knows he’s going through with it and his role.

This inconsistency is frustrating especially as there are so many wonderful people and moments here. The author has a terrific story and ability to build excitement for this adventure and a real emotional connection to these characters.

There’s one more book to go. That novel has a lot to accomplish because there’s still so much to learn about the characters as well as multiple storylines to explore and pull together.

One thing I keep forgetting to mention is the great maps of the world the author has created and includes for the reader to follow along with the characters as they travel. Fabulous.

While this series has some issues, it’s an entertaining, lively, and imaginative saga. It’s a YA fantasy adventure I’m happy to recommend. One more book to go.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

✓ Rise of the False King #3

✓ The Queen of Darkness #4

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy Link:

The Queen of Darkness: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 4)

Blurb

The moment Dusk steps foot in the free lands of Inahan, he is arrested and imprisoned. However, it seems the Queen has heard of his power and she wants a private audience with him.

When they dive into the dark depths below the castle to retrieve an artifact, Dusk wonders if he’ll ever see the light of day again.

I could hardly believe we’d finally made it to Inahan. After pirates, monsters, and a surprise visit from Tiernan, the capital city was a wonderful sight to behold.

But even in this safe harbor there are secrets that can tear the three of us apart.

Queen Lobelia has us arrested and before I know it, I’m summoned to her throne to complete a task for her. One I can’t refuse if I ever want to see my friends alive again.

There’s something hidden below the castle… something the Queen doesn’t want the world to see.

Much like Mist, Shadow, and Deep, this contains a diverse cast of characters and queer themes. It was previously published under another title by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

Review: Rise of the False King: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 3) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 4🌈

The Rise of the False King is the third book in Eoghan R. Cunningham’s YA epic fantasy adventure and it’s one I highly enjoyed. I was happy to have the fourth novel released so I could go quickly onto the next section, as this flows smoothly through one novel into the next.

It’s also definitely geared towards a younger reader. While there’s a romance brewing and romantic elements among other characters, there is still no rawly sexual scenes but kissing and anything else is “off page” or left to the imagination. And that main romance is most definitely a slow burn type of relationship, frankly due to the naïveté of the one character and the hidden secrets of the other.

The characters are very relatable and well defined, if not a certain type of epic character. Dusk, the escaped slave, has undergone the biggest challenges and changes in his life. Magic has come to him in the form of a crystal and a White Dragon. Now he’s hunted by several villainous factions, one lead by an evil man so deadly it might threaten the entire world. Also with him is Tara, a warrior formerly of the King’s Guards, and Lex, a young man of hidden background but clearly wealthy and not used to being on his own.

The author has a real knack for writing exciting action sequences, which is great because Dusk and his friends, but mostly Dusk, fall into trouble frequently.

The many storylines weave together a growing mythology of dragons, humanity, and magic undone that’s tragic for many and is still being played out. I’m throughly invested in this rich tale and the how the author is going to bring the stories that have been “told” in the narrative alive through the adventures of his characters.

One aspect that pops out, at least for me, is that certain actions or events are “telegraphed” in the story much like you’d see it in a movie like Scary Story. Where you yell at the screen, the villain is in the closet because, obviously that’s what’s going to happen. Here, if the dragon says don’t go in the bog. Or wherever. You just know the gang is heading to the bog.

Did narrative stuff like this ruin my enjoyment? No. I just wish I had “narrative” popcorn to throw and I merrily read right along.

Each book ends on a cliffhanger so having all but the last book released is great. One more to go.

This series was previously published under the title “The Crystalline Dragon saga” by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

✓ Rise of the False King #3

✓ The Queen of Darkness #4

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy Link:

Rise of the False King: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 3)

Blurb

Trapped and alone, Dusk must watch as his greatest enemy ascends the throne, using the stolen magic of the dragons to claim it. Suddenly, the world is thrust into an all-out war.

Will Dusk be able to stop the new king before he lays waste to the world?

I never thought my friends would betray me. After weeks of traveling together and bonds formed in the heat of battle, I thought I knew them. But the moment I arrive at Emerald Deep, everything begins to unravel.

And danger is coming.

Then, just when we’re close to our goal, my friends hesitate. Tired of them stopping me from reaching my goal, I send them away. However, no sooner had I sent them away than I found myself captured and imprisoned.

The False King stands before me and I can see the world burning to ash in his eyes. If he takes over Alamond, the world will fall.

• Publication date: April 11, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 247 pages

young adult fantasy/ epic fantasy adventure

Review: Mist, Shadow, and Deep: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 2) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 3.75🌈

Mist, Shadow, and Deep, the next book in The Crystalline Dragons Saga, suffers a bit from the second book syndrome. Where the first book introduces the characters, had the huge amount of mystery, fantastic emotional dramatics for the characters and in events, and lays out the mythology. We get pathos, murder, sorrow, and some heroic moments.

That’s hard for a second book to continue forward while maintaining the momentum of that previous novel, keeping the magic alive, and juggling the newly created relationships between the trio of widely different characters.

It’s a narrative job that can turn into a struggle as it does at points here. At times it’s overly dense, where the reader just wants them (Dusk and his two companions) to just get on with it. Other times, the author creates these gems of scenes that encapsulates moments of startling high scary action, ones that demonstrates both the camaraderie that’s growing between the group and the mysterious dragon magic hidden inside Dusk .

We don’t get nearly enough of those.

The character of Dusk is a well thought out, beautiful creation. He’s undoubtedly the best thing here because it’s his stolen adolescence as a salt mine slave that plays into his actions and thoughts here. He’s an innocent on the outside world. He can’t read people, he can’t read period. Can’t hunt or fish. And he’s got an impulsive kind heart in a world that wants to kill him.

We see the villain coming a mile away. Which is a real problem here. Because we still have most of the book to get through to see how it ends. We know badly. Just how badly is the question.

Which doesn’t make for enjoyable reading.

So read Mist, Shadow, and Deep as the bridge it is to get to the next level of this saga . I’m onto Rise of the False King next.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

◦ Rise of the False King #3

◦ The Queen of Darkness #4 -May 9,2024

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy link:

Mist, Shadow, and Deep: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 2)

Blurb:

A shadow rises to meet the light and, with it, an evil sorcerer. Dusk must choose between what is right and what is easy.

In his hour of need, a new face emerges. But is he friend or foe? Only time will tell.

Barely escaping with their lives, Dusk and his companions head south, following the mountains as they search for another way through. That is until they’re lost within a misty bog that threatens to consume them.

Out of the mist appears a figure who saves Dusk before the monster of the bog can consume him. Grateful and indebted, they head south together toward the port town of Emerald Deep. There’s a pass through the mountains there that will lead the party to their freedom at last.

But Emerald Deep is filled with mysteries, thieves, and temptation. The moment they arrive, the group begins to crumble, and Dusk is left wondering if his companions ever cared about him at all.

And that’s the moment the shadow attacks.

Mist, Shadow, and Deep contains a diverse cast of characters and queer themes. It was previously published under the title “The Crystal Archivist” by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

• Publication date: March 14, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 264 pages

Review: Curse of the Dragon’s Eye: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Crystalline Dragons Saga by Eoghan R Cunningham (also released by the same author writing as Blake R. Wolfe) is new to me.

I’m so happy to have found this as a lover of fantasy novels and epic YA adventure series, as this one has the elements of all those stories done so well.

The character of Dusk is incredibly well written. Dusk’s is a haunting story, a young man captured at the age of 11 or 12, and brought to the infamous deadly mines as a slave for the next 10 perilous, darkened years of his life. If slaves survive to a certain point, they “age” out of the mines, in a worst case scenario. And we live in the moment with Dusk.

Of course, so many things happen. Horrible and magical things. Simple moments like a shining light that stuns a youth that’s been buried in darkness to magical scenes that’s clouded by a lack of knowledge.

Along the path to a new life, Dusk gathers a few friends, a lot more enemies, some astonishing new powers, and his journey becomes a rollicking adventure, sometimes nightmare, on the path to enlightenment and self discovery.

It’s a fascinating story. I’m onto book two and recommending this as a highly entertaining take on fantasy adventure.

Plus. There be dragons.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

◦ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

◦ Rise of the False King #3

◦ The Queen of Darkness #4 -May 9,2024

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy link:

Curse of the Dragon’s Eye: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga)

Blurb:

When the last dragon died over a thousand years ago, magic disappeared along with them. Alone and powerless, humanity was left to pick up the pieces of their once magnificent world.

But now magic returns in the hands of a young slave.

Ever since slave traders captured me as a small boy, I’ve worked in the salt mines. My destiny is hard labor and an early death. There is no escape.

Until I found the dragon.

Inside a natural cavern, I discovered an ancient dragon skeleton made entirely of crystal. Whispers in my mind told me to steal the gem from its eye. And I did, thinking I could use it to buy my freedom.

However, the moment it touches me, it fuses to my skin, and my entire world is turned upside down. Magic isn’t supposed to exist, but fire erupts from my hands every time someone tries to harm me.

Escaped from the mines at last, I form a shaky alliance when I encounter another traveler down on his luck. We are both determined to make it to the neighboring country, although we keep our reasons secret. Once there, I’ll be free. Then I can get rid of this cursed gem once and for all.

However, a mysterious sorcerer nips at our heels as we reach the final mountain pass. With a hired guide, we try to make it through without being detected. The magic of the dragon’s eye has saved us more than once, but this time, it might just be our downfall.

Curse of the Dragon’s Eye contains a diverse cast of characters and queer themes. It was previously published under the title “The Crystal Eye” by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

• Publication date: February 1, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 299 pages