Tag: dark fantasy fiction

Review:  Janey Falke Saint Killer: Blood Oath (Janey Falke: Saint Killer Series Book 1) by M. M. Crumley

Rating: 4.75⭐️

I’m just enthralled by M.M. Crumley’s multi series universe, one I understand is complex in its plot and character dynamics and timeline fluidity. 

I started with the incredible House of Graves series, backtracking to the first in the Immortal Doc Holliday series (the first of them), and have read around the universe since. 

Becoming more invested and deeper engaged with each character and their respective stories. 

But I don’t think I was prepared for Janey Falke. She’s older, an adult in the other series. But here she’s a child. A terrifyingly battered and abused girl surrounded by her violent family in a wagon train headed west. 

Left behind in the East, a grandmother and the grave of her mother, Janey is a young girl who is brutally beaten constantly by her father and brothers. Told she’s worthless while being knocked about. On a journey west with dwindling numbers of wagons to destinations unknown. 

 That’s a backstory we get after we meet her, bloody and fleeing a massacre of the wagon train headed west.

Janey is a singular voice. Young, scared, rooted in her truth and raw emotion.  A survivor, and her story is told from the prospective of someone who lives in the 1800’s, with all that comes with its history of that era. The attitudes and the way history treated native peoples, women , and children. 

This is a often dark and brutal tale, which encompasses many sorrowful and violent crimes against women, children of all races , as well as those crimes committed against the various tribes of the area. Janey’s revenge is against the criminals here is as violent as theirs. 

It’s also a deeply emotional and psychological journey for Janey as she struggles with her trauma, her memories, her abuse, and the idea of actual magic in the world around her. 

It’s a social upheaval for her as well. That the very people who take her in and care for her are the “Indians “ she was taught were evil. 

It’s a thought-provoking, powerful, and compelling story. Janey is heartbreaking and a girl we take into our hearts. Her strength and struggles become ours. 

I believe she is one of the most memorable characters among many this author has written. 

An additional point about the many series and stories. 

To show exactly how fluid this world is , this universe and series fits in between chronologically, Janey Book 2, that’s the next book, falls between Andrew Book 6 and Andrew Book 7.

That’s the Legend of Andrew Rufus Series, which falls, maybe, after The Immortal Doc Holliday, which also meshes with The House of Graves. So very timeline fluid indeed! That’s the thing with immortality and magic. 

Anyway Andrew (somewhat ) and Janey are set in the Western United States in the late 1800’s and you believe in that absolutely. 

Highly recommend reading this, and those. And this author. But think about what the characters go through. This is a dark universe and these characters have brutal struggles to overcome. 

Fantasy horror indeed. 

Connected Universe and crossover series: 

  • I believe this is the reading order. But characters do appear within each other’s series. But Doc is the original source for them all. 

The Immortal Doc Holliday Series (21 book series)

The Legend of Andrew Rufus Series (7 book series)

Janey Falke: Saint Killer Series (4 book to date series)

Blood Oath #1

Blood Ties #2

Blood Feud #3

Blood Lust #4

The House of Graves Series (6 book series) 

Ghost Guy Series (3 books to date series)

Buy link 

 Book 1 of 4: Janey Falke: Saint Killer Series 

Blurb 

How far would you go for revenge?

After her family is murdered, young Janey Falke makes a blood oath to avenge them. But as her quest for personal vengeance shifts into a mission of protecting the innocent, she unknowingly draws the attention of a dark god who hungers for her growing power… Dive into a hidden world of dark magic and mayhem now!

Please Note: This series is on-going and additional books will be added to this list as they become available

Lone Ghost Publishing

Publication date

November 3, 2024

Language

‎English

Print length

332 pages

Book 1 of 4

Janey Falke: Saint Killer Series

Review: How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (Dark Lord Davi Book 1) by Django Wexler

Rating: 3⭐️

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying (Dark Lord Davi Book 1) by Django Wexler should be just my jam. But no matter how much I try to like it, I just can’t find it in myself to enjoy the story. 

It’s got a clever concept. A princess is caught up in a tale where she is defending her world against the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, she never wins. She loses, is subjected to horrific acts and dies. Or dies quickly. But usually she’s caught, captured, and tortured by the Dark Lord for a long time (very descriptive), then dies. Then she’s revived via a Groundhog Day plot and so it goes. For hundreds or thousands of years. 

It’s all very coldly narrated and factual. Let me say as a woman this was an aspect of the story I didn’t like. 

Davi then switches over to become the Dark Lord herself. This should be an important, and emotional moment for her and the story. However, its treatment is just as deadpan and flat as everything that’s preceded it. 

Her actions, and the events that follow are those that do little to connect the reader or celebrate her change in status. 

Honestly, the biggest fight here was to complete the book. 

The plot was clever but the characters are one dimensional. I didn’t have any problems putting the book down because I wasn’t interested in Davi or her future. 

There’s other humorous fantasy stories. Matt Dinneman’s series if you’re interested in RPG lit gamer fiction. 

You might want to check it out. 

Buy link

 Book 1 of 2: Dark Lord Davi 

Blurb 

Groundhog Day meets Deadpool in Django Wexler’s raunchy, hilarious, blood-splattered fantasy tale about a young woman who, tired of defending humanity from the Dark Lord, decides to become the Dark Lord herself.

“Takes the old saying ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,’ to the next level. A sarcastic, action-packed, intrigue-filled (mis)adventure. One of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time.”–Matt Dinniman, author of Dungeon Crawler Carl

Davi has done this all before. She’s tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she’s rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she’s killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she’s been defeated every time.

This time? She’s done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that’s who she needs to be. It’s Davi’s turn to play on the winning side. 

A humorous western isekai featuring the reincarnation of an antihero female lead.

Burningblade & Silvereye

Ashes of the Sun 

Blood of the Chosen 

Emperor of Ruin

Review:  Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King Book 2) by Rachel Gillig

Rating: 5⭐️

“The girl, the King… and the monster they became.”

That whispered haunting refrain still has a hold on me. So does that ending and Gillig’s memorable cast of characters. 

Two Twisted Crowns brings Rachel Gillig’s  dark fantasy duology, The Shepherd King,  to a heartbreaking emotional (in certain ways), and fabulously dramatic conclusion.  Gillig began creating her compelling dark gothic immersive world in One Dark Window, with Elspeth Spindle and her Nightmare , the dark magical being that’s sharing her mind, Rayvn Yew who’s out to save his infected brother from being sacrificed , as well as a internal conflict between royals against the evil King .  Gillig ‘s then gave us an ending that left everyone emotionally shattered, including the reader. Sobbing.  And wondering how Two Twisted Crowns could possibly make things right. 

Two Twisted Crowns is everything I want in a sequel and finale.  It’s darker, it’s richly textured in scope as when the author is developing her storytelling, and the magic is more complex, more powerful than previously understood.  And the back stories coming to light far more tragic.  

Gillig adds another powerful story, that of Ione and Elm, each one a complex character with intimate connections to Elspeth and Ravyn. The multiple POV’s are skillfully executed, depicting the evolution of relationships and developments in events in the story as to enhance the forward dramatic moments and our emotional connection to all of them and the horrors that’s happening.

Gillig’s writing is poetic, the imagery haunting, and her storytelling so strong and compelling that this duology made me go buy hardcover copies for my already groaning bookshelves. These novels are must reads.

I’ll save my last words for the Nightmare. How I love him. 

ɪ ᴡᴀs ᴛᴏᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ. ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴀᴍ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ, ᴛᴏᴏ. ғᴏʀ ɪ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɪɴ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴍᴇ

Don’t miss out on him and this beautifully written series, The Shepherd King.  

A new auto recommend and thrilled to have found another auto buy author.

Love these covers.

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.

The Shepherd King Duology-complete:

🔹One Dark Window #1

🔹Two Twisted Crowns #2

Buy link:

        Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King Book 2)

    

Blurb 

In the New York Times bestselling sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must confront the weight of her actions as she and Ravyn embark on a perilous quest to save the kingdom—perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson’s The Year of the Witching.

Gripped by a tyrant king and in the thrall of dark magic, the kingdom is in peril. Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last—and most important—one remains to be found: the Twin Alders. If they’re going to find the card before Solstice and set free the kingdom, they will need to journey through the dangerous mist-cloaked forest. The only one who can lead them through is the monster that shares Elspeth’s head: the Nightmare.

And he’s not eager to share any longer.

Praise for One Dark Window:

“Enthralling from beginning to shocking end.” —Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

“Pulse pounding, darkly whimsical, and aglow with treacherous magic.” —Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic

The Shepherd King 

One Dark Window 

Two Twisted Crowns

  • Publication date: October 17, 2023
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 458 pages

Dark fantasy, sword and sorcery, dark gothic, Gothic horror, dark fantasy fiction,

Review:  One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Another new author, another absolutely amazing novel.  This one actually had me sobbing, shattered at the end, even though the author’s story and characters said it was coming. 

I’m was and am so immersed in this dark world that Rachel Gillig has created, full of mystical elements, mythical beings, and sheer terror lurking in the shadows.  Literally a magical vindictive mist that’s slowly enveloping all the woods around the town and its people , able to infect them with an  sickness that turns their blood black with a magic that will eventually kill them. By immediate discovery by the cruel King’ magic hunters or by a slow disintegration by the magic itself.

Our main protagonist is young Elspeth Spindle. Infected and hidden from the hunters by her ex hunter Father himself in his brother’s house and raised with her uncle’s family, Elspeth immediately grabs our minds and hearts. One of my favorite characters of late. 

She’s got plenty of secrets, reason to keep them and herself hidden and emotionally isolated, resourceful and, naturally mistrusting.  In Elspeth, Gilleg has crafted a stunning character. She’s quietly brilliant in her unexpected qualities, so vastly multi dimensional in the depths of her needs , that an accompanying darkness feels even more terrifying. And shattering. 

The highly complex and imaginative use of a magical Deck of Cards as a base element in the series arc and storyline is so satisfying and powerful. There’s a number of interesting aspects to this facet of the series and it’s beautifully written. 

So is the many “historical poems “ or repeated quotes from the important texts that appear throughout this book and, I imagine the next.  They contain the clues to the story and the characters dramatic moments and quests. 

That said, it in no way lessens the impact of each scene and moment as it occurs.

These are fantastic characters and impactful storylines. They are filled with pain, horror, tragedy, and death.  While Gillig has included some very funny bits of conversation and humorous moments to lighten the tone, the main themes and plots are consistently dark and gothic.

The names the author has chosen are intriguing and greatly tied into the story. I always wonder what the author is thinking when creating the characters names and towns like Blunder. The main character of Ravyn Yew, a layered well defined character and great balance for Elspeth, is one who has a meaningful name that makes sense the more the story unfolds. I love this aspect of this book. 

There’s multiple points of view but it’s absolutely necessary and well written.  Three main ones to be exact.  Instead of being distracting, it becomes an integral component of the characters and their journey. 

I absolutely adore this cover and would have been drawn to it even if I didn’t love the description already. 

I love One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig even if it left me sobbing at the end of the book. Now I’m on to see how this aspect of the story is handled in Two Twisted Crowns, the finale. 

Highly recommended and thrilled to have found this author. 

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.

The Shepherd King Duology-complete:

🔹One Dark Window #1

🔹Two Twisted Crowns #2

Buy link:

        One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1)

    

Blurb 

For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn’t the only threat lurking.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. 

But nothing comes for free, especially magic. 

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason. 

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

  • Publication date: September 27, 2022
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 423 pages