In My Goodreads Reviews Part 27, I present you five literary pearls from both respectable and new authors. These books you do not want to miss! Add them to your reading list and read them as soon as you can.
Creepy Sheen, Lesser Known Monsters, Hades Forest, The Great Centurion: Punic Wars 3, Weathering Old Souls
Creepy Sheen by Rebecca Gransden. A short story collection for readers hungry for intelligent, extraordinary literature. Horror elements will make your skin bud with creeps. Ten stories. Not enough.
This review will be short. Too short. Because I have a lack of superlatives. Ten stories. Ten stars. Ten out of ten.
Transmission completed.
They will suck you into their darkness, make you scream and shake with fear. They will defy the logic of the world you live in. They will make you listen with fear to the echoes of your footsteps in the cemetery or cringe away from a splashing from the river. They are lesser known monsters.
But not all of them are like that. Some of them will protect you. Some of them will watch over you. One of them will make you fall for him. And love him. And romance you to bed with him.
You think I lost my mind? Maybe. But I was there. In their wicked, sinister, dark fantasy world. I lived with them and the scared, brave, and humorous humans who fought them. I saw it all. And would stay with them even longer if the thrilling debut novel by Rory Michaelson didn’t end. But only for a while.
There is a promise of more darkness to come. And you may not even be able to scream when it sneaks up on you.
With justified dose of confidence and high hopes, a twenty-year-old author, Simon Elson, enters the dystopian fiction scene like a brave literary warrior and takes us into the suspenseful and memorable journey into Hades Forest.
“Cape Town had fallen, and Tambamba had taken its place.”
And the Holy State of Borea is the only authority that rules the planet.
The narrative quality of the young author proves to be a success already in his opening pages when he stirs in me the waves of negative emotions toward the Holy State of Borea which manipulates and brainwashes its citizens, turning them into the robot-like subordinated dolls and depriving them of the status of freely thinking, normal human beings.
Just when I start to plan my private rebellion against that cold, authoritarian system, the author takes a turn and throws his protagonist into the wilderness of Hades Forest, where he must fight for his life and survival.
If you are like me and love The Hunger Games, 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Dream of the Forest, Lord of the Flies or even The Stepford Wives, Hades Forest is the book for you. Sporadic images from these books were flashing before my eyes as the young author dragged me deeper and deeper into his capturing, dark story for which I have only one word: bravo!
Simon Elson can be proud of his first book. I wish him the warmest welcome into the literary world and to find there not only his well-deserved place but to also leave a significant mark.
The Second Punic War is here, bloody, and merciless as the one before it, if not even more. Because it is not only the war to conquer or defend Rome, but also a war of personal revenge.
Many things are at stake as Victor’s destiny unfolds toward his great enemy with whom he will clash in the cold embrace of the Alps far up north, shattered and broken by unexpected loss. What I love about this character is his humanity and vulnerability as opposed to him being a great army leader and fearless warrior. The greatest vulnerabilities can turn into the biggest strengths when you defend something you believe in and those who depend on you.
This action-packed, ruthless, and violent ancient Roman historical and LitRPG adventure series met all my expectations, but so did the book cover which is the best in the series so far.
The symbiosis of two respectable authors yielded a timeless literary work. James J. Cudney and Didi Oviatt have created a story that, like sand in an hourglass, seeps through time and never stops. Leaving the marks on the reader’s soul with the grains of history, mystery, suspense, metaphysics, and romance. I tried to recognize James’ writing, but it was difficult. Jay and Didi complement each other with perfect harmony in a symphony that will resonate through the corridors of history flowing from one life to another, indefinitely.
Happy reading,
BJ
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