Tag: @Samburns66

Review: Fluke and the Fantastic Finale (The Fantastic Fluke Book 5) by Sam Burns

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Arcane mage Sage McKinley and his familiar, Fluke’s journey comes to a rousing end in Fluke and the Fantastic Finale.

What a mind blowing, wildly imaginative, wholly entertaining journey it’s been since the first time we meet Sage, suffering until Fluke finds him.

We’ve watched him come into his arcane powers, find love with Gideon, a family with his Grandmother, Anson, cousin Freddy, Mal, Beez, their familiars and all the rest that became a sort of foundation to Sage’s path to power, self-knowledge, and ultimately happiness.

It starts on the same astonishing note Fluke and the Frontier Farce ended. With Sage “accidentally” time traveling all of the group into the waiting room of the California Aureum. One of the most magically secure places in California!

And the start of the revelations as Sage is questioned by the Aureum’s quaesitors. From the existence of arcane magic to the mad cultists, The Believers’ insane plotting that’s extended through the decades, it all comes out and also works as a refresher course for the series.

Of course there’s one last major dramatic event where Sage, Fluke, Gideon and company are needed to save Junction, California and magic from the cultists who have kidnapped, tortured, and in general, been the villains the entire series.

I won’t spoil who the final “villain “ of the series turned out to be. It was a revolving role after all. I’m not sure this one stood up to any of the others but perhaps that’s as it should be. True evil is often so mundane on the surface.

The Convergence plays a fascinating role, and leaves the reader wanting to know more about it as well.

As finales go, it wasn’t superlative but it was very satisfying. Other books in this series were more explosive, more complicated, even more villainous. But this one ties up all the loose ends and gives everyone a heartwarming ending. And a wedding.

That’s pretty wonderful. I’ll take it.

I’m highly recommending Fluke and the Fantastic Finale (The Fantastic Fluke Book 5) by Sam Burns. It was a fabulous series and this sends it off in style.

The Fantastic Fluke Series -5 of 5:

✓ The Fantastic Fluke #1

✓ Fluke and the Failthless Father #2

✓ Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco #3

✓ Fluke and the Frontier Farce #4

✓ Fluke and the Fantastic Finale #5

https://www.goodreads.com › showFluke and the Fantastic Finale by Sam Burns – Goodreads

https://www.amazon.com › Fantastic…The Fantastic Fluke – Kindle edition by Burns, Sam. Literature & Fiction … – Amazon.com

Synopsis:

For centuries, the Believer cult has preyed on arcane mages from their place in the shadows. Now, for better or worse, Sage has taken arcane magic public, and all eyes are on him. While he’s not comfortable in the spotlight, neither is the cult that wants him dead.

But the Believers aren’t quite ready to give up yet.

In this fifth and final book in The Fantastic Fluke series, they’ll take their shot at burning down Sage’s whole network of friends and associates, by whatever means necessary.

———-

Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Fluke and the Frontier Farce (Fantastic Fluke #4) by Sam Burns

Rating: 5🌈💫

You know when you read a book that’s so clever, so fantastically crafted, so beautifully ingenious that when the “aha” moments hit you , you’re both giggling AND gobsmacked because you love it so much , you appreciate the writer’s artistry, well, you just didn’t see it coming?

That’s the entire Fluke and the Frontier Farce (Fantastic Fluke #4) by Sam Burns! I’ve read it twice now and with each new reading, I’ve found different elements I missed and new aspects to admire and think about. In fact , this maybe my favorite Sam Burns series yet, and that’s saying a lot!

This novel has a main element of time travel, no surprise there as it’s in the description. But anything more should absolutely not be said. This is a book that must be read!

It’s the penultimate book in the series (yes I know I said that before) but the author starts tying up the series storylines in some of the most amazing and incredibly satisfying ways. Ones I didn’t even realize needed resolution get a finalization they needed and deserved. Truly wonderful and often emotional as well.

And that’s the other thing here that Burns never let’s go of, that her characters, their relationships and growth is the key to this series. Yes it’s about magic and mystery but it’s heart is it’s people. They are who we’ve come to love and they’re lives and loves are who we’re invested in.

That’s never more clear here that when it’s family and love that comes together to make things happen!

I’ll say no more!

Fluke and the Frontier Farce , the fourth novel in Sam Burns’ Fantastic Fluke series is magnificent! It’s one of the best fantasy stories this year in one of my favorite series! It’s so imaginative, the storylines are incredibly clever, and the characters are ones I’m well certain not to be ready to let go of by the end of the Finale.

Usually I might say a book is too short, or sometimes a tad longish. But Fluke and the Frontier Farce is exactly as long as it had to be!

I don’t need to tell you what that means do I?

Highly recommend this, the series, and the author! Binge read it in order before the finale comes out! I should be done rereading this by then!

The Fantastic Fluke Series -4 of 5:

✓ The Fantastic Fluke #1

✓ Fluke and the Failthless Father #2

✓ Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco #3

✓ Fluke and the Frontier Farce #4

◦ Fluke and the Fantastic Finale #5 – August 25, 2022 release date

https://www.goodreads.com › seriesThe Fantastic Fluke Series by Sam Burns – Goodreads

Synopsis:

It’s been a long year for Sage and his friends, and all of Junction, California, and it’s not over yet.

Freddy’s school of magic is still a mystery, and figuring it out would be enough work, but the investigation leads them to the mysterious coded notes of Junction’s long-dead first magical artist, and then to the last place any of them ever expected to end up: the nineteenth century. Worse yet, when they get there Fluke is missing, and Sage isn’t sure he can get back home without his best friend.

Now—or is it then?—they just need to find Fluke, decode the notes, avoid changing the past, dodge evil Uncle Jonathon and the shady French nobleman at his side, and maybe most importantly, find their way home.

But there’s more in the past than trouble, and Gideon might want to stay there with his wife. If Sage has to leave him behind, is it worth returning to his own time at all?