Fantasy Books

 

The Chaos Weaver (The Chaos Chronicles #1)by Aubrey Winters
What is it about:A dragon took my brother.I’m going to get him back.
My entire world changes when a scheme-gone-wrong results in my brother being taken by a dragon.
I’ve followed them into a strange and dangerous world filled with magic and enemies, but its handsome king has promised to help me hone powers I never knew I had.
Can he help me find my brother, or will I lose my heart—and everything I ever knew—in the process?
What did I think of it:So on social media the author was giving people the opportunity to sign up for an Advance Reader Copy. At her mention of necromancy and a mysterious king, I immediately signed up. And I got an ARC!
This is a really cool read!
I loved Everly from the start. She and her twin brother had a bad start in life and are surviving by conning people and stealing. I didn't really like her brother, but to Everly he is the world. So I could understand she follows and wants to do anything to get him back when a dragon drags him off to another world.
I really enjoyed getting to know this other world together with Everly. She immediately lands in trouble, manages to get out of it, to fall in the next mess. At times she is a bit too trusting, but as the world she landed in has very different rules and she's on her own for the first time in her life, I could understand .
And then there's the mysterious king! 
Without giving away too much I can tell you he was my favorite character (although long time blog followers might be fearing for his life now, I know I do). 
The ending although not a complete cliffhanger was exciting, leaving lots of questions, and made me hungry for more!
I might need to get this in print when it releases (ebook releases January 31st, go preorder!), and I already got a book from another series by this author to try soon.
Why should you read it:Necromancy and a Mysterious King!Need I say more?!

 

Buy A Letter to the Luminous Deep

OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Sylvie Cathrall writes stories of hope and healing with healthy doses of wonder and whimsy. She holds a graduate degree in odd Victorian art and has handled more than a few nineteenth-century letters (with great care). Sylvie married her former pen pal and lives in the mountains, where she dresses impractically and dreams of the sea. 
FORMAT/INFO: A Letter to the Luminous Deep was published by Orbit Books on April 25th, 2024. It is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. 
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: One year ago, a disaster struck the underwater residence known as the Deep House, leaving its two inhabitants, E. and Henerey, presumed dead. After a year of grieving, E.'s sister Sophy and Henerey's brother Vyerin begin to investigate the events that led to their siblings' death. Sifting through correspondence between the many individuals involved, the two begin to uncover a much more ominous mystery than they expected.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a charming underwater tale that ultimately dragged too much to keep me hooked. This is a very slow-paced affair, told largely through letters written in the style of the late 1800s. This is certainly a difficult form of novel to pull off. For one, there are occasional moments where the author has to do some narrative contortions to explain why certain events or conversations were put to paper. While I understand the necessity in order to convey certain key information to the reader, it does strain the credulity a bit in some places.

That said, there were also numerous ways the narrative structure worked. I did enjoy the subtle ominous foreboding that builds up over the course of the story. Certain innocuous observations of things that are "off" in the world begin to create an unsettling pattern, especially as we have a rough idea of how events end. Several people each have a piece of the puzzle, but it's only in assembling those pieces by collecting these letters that they (and the audience) start to see the whole picture.

I also liked the slow romance between the two characters of E. and Henerey. Each is a shy or reticent person for various reasons. Through the letters, however, we can see two people being understood in a way they haven't before. The use of aborted "first drafts" of letters also lets us see a little glimpse of their respective nervousness as they try to fumble through how to address a person they've developed feelings for, even though they've never met in person.

The author has also built up a fascinating maritime culture. Some calamity 1000 years ago left this fantasy world with minimal inhabitable land. As a result, whole peoples live one boats or floating collectives. As our focus in this story is on the colleges and scholarly life of these people, most of the details do remain frustratingly out of sight, but perhaps not unreasonably. The people writing the letters are focused on their own narrow slice of life, not on the workings of society as a whole.

CONCLUSION: While I did enjoy my read of A Letter to the Luminous Deep overall, I found it struggled to hold my attention towards the end. The narrative structure of letters just dragged events out. We have a good idea of what happened some thirty pages or so before the ending, with the rest of the characters trying to catch up through their long-winded missives. As someone who struggles with slow books, ultimately this just didn't click for me. While the set up for part two of the duology is intriguing, this tale simply isn't my cup of tea.

  

Image by Ervin Gjata from Pixabay

Good afterevenmorn (or whenever you’re reading this)!

Welp, what a start to 2025. Personally, it hasn’t been great. I kicked off the year very ill (thanks, Covid), languishing in bed wondering if this was the moment I drown without ever touching water. ‘Twas not pretty. Looking wider, the world appears to be literally on fire, or underwater, or deliberately reduced to rubble. It’s not been a good time for a whole lot of folks. I have been taking care of myself by largely staying off social media (sorry if I was missed. But I was already overwhelmed and unable to cope with my own busy-ness, let alone the worries of the world at large), and engaging in art. Not creating physically, as I’ve been very unwell, but consuming, art. Okay, I’ve been watching lots of Chinese dramas (some of which I don’t remember because I was in a feverish haze). That still counts, though.

I’ve also been daydreaming a lot, which is usually the important first step in my creative process. I have a new book in my head. All I need to do is finish the book I’m working on now, and then sit down and draw out this story word by word. I expect that it will become my next free online serial.

Though I’m sick… again (not Covid this time, just an annoying flu)… I’m in a much better place, coping-wise. And I owe that to art.

Some art, to cheer up the page.

It has been a recent (or not so recent, depending on your perspective) trend toward denigrating the arts; removing funding for it, making absurd claims that those who provide it should not be properly compensated, or ignoring complete just how important the arts are and how much we rely upon them.

Think about it.

What usually happens when we’ve had a rough day? Most folks will go home, mix themselves a drink, and then turn on the television, or fire up that console or gaming PC. Those shows that you watch? Art. Those games you play? Art. Someone wrote, blocked, shot, and edited those episodes/games. Actors and voice actors stepped in to fill those roles. Composers created the score. This is also true for those of us who turn to films to make us feel better. I often watch movies that make me cry when I’ve had a rough time. It helps me get the angst out (as I usually struggle to feel at all. Yay, depression!). Sometimes, I’m not in the mood to cry, so I’ll put on a really dumb action flick because explosions and absurd situations make me happy. Sometimes it’s to laugh at the movie. Sometimes it’s to experience the catharsis of evil getting what it deserves. We so infrequently see that in the real world.

From the game Detroit Become Human – a fantastic exploration of AI what makes a person a person.

Television and film aren’t the only way we interact and lean on art.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have been struggling with, well, everything, and unable to find a way to express or clear it away. Then the right piece of music hits, and suddenly I’m a puddle on the floor, or my mind is hijacked and taken on a really impressive adventure. I lean on music a lot for coping with the world. It is even an incredibly important part of my writing process. I have crafted entire novels off a single song (the most recent example would be Skylark, which was written the moment I listened to a song, and then also with that one song on repeat for the three months it took to get that story out onto the page). I have listened to a song, and a critical scene plays out like a movie in my head, guided by the music. The most striking example is this song:

One day, if that story is ever published, I’ll let you all know which scene in particular this song engendered.

Books, of course, including audio books and comics, are other ways the arts create space for us. There are so many reasons and ways literature of all kinds can help. The simplest is a brief escape. I’m no longer me, sitting on the sofa, utterly destroyed by the state of the world. I’m a silent observer; part of adventuring party, or even the main character in another story. And in this story, however high the stakes may be, I am still safe on my sofa. It doesn’t matter what kind of escape. A low stakes, cozy read? Excellent escape. A dire, world-ending threat full of struggle and grief? Excellent escape (and also an opportunity to let those tears out at last). Escape is so important. It’s not forever. And it won’t solve the real-life problems for you.

Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay

But rest is important. If you don’t have a rest day in your workout regime, your muscles will have not time heal, recover and grow. If you do not get adequate sleep, your cognitive function will be severely impacted. It’s no different for your mind/heart. If you don’t take a break from what is causing you distress, you’ll collapse beneath the weight of it all. It’s important to escape. Do it, and don’t feel guilty for it.

Literature also helps navigate terrible situations and scenarios for those of us who struggle with doing so in the real world. It helps give voice, using someone else’s words, to our experiences with enough separation that we remain safe. And sometimes, sometimes it can unlock the tings we need released in order to move forward. I have often been struggling with a completely separate grief, read a particularly tragic incident in a story that has nothing to do with whatever is weighing on me, and then cried. And cried. And cried. Not about the events in the book. But about the situation I’m facing. It’s just that the book helped unlocked the emotions that were trapped behind a dam I didn’t know I had built. Visual media has also helped with this; more with videogames than television shows or films of late, admittedly.

It’s no mistake that nearly all of us turn to the arts when things start going wrong. The arts are important and necessary.

So this is how you survive these interesting times. Consume art.

Image by Jose Antonio Alba from Pixabay

And make it.

I know it’s incredibly difficult to create with the world literally on fire. Or if you’re sick in bed with all the energy of a sloth after a big meal. All the same, human beings are creators by nature. It doesn’t matter what art you create. Or if other people think that art is good. You don’t have to share it at all. It’s just for you. Just create.

That can mean something as simple as buying yourself a colouring book and going to town with crayons or pencils. Hell, even a ball-point pen will work if you’re in a pinch. Got some time between tasks at work? Doodle. Write a short poem. A piece of flash fiction. It doesn’t have to practical. It doesn’t have to be monetized. It does not have to appeal to anyone else. It’s just for you, unless you want otherwise.

If you want, share your art. But that is not required.

It is hard right now. It’s alright if you’re struggling to create. Lord knows, I am. Finding motivation is tough in the current clime. Sometimes I think that’s by design. If you’re too busy trying to stay afloat, how can you imagine anything better for yourself, your neighbours, or the world? So, if anger, frustration and rage is all you have left, use that. Create from that.

Create out of spite.

Create. Make it a giant middle finger to the people who are trying to hold you down, make it hard, steal your joy, stop you from imagining.

Create art. Consume art. It is good for your soul, and the world could use more soul, I feel.

And if you have the means, consider tossing a coin to your Witcher (artist), for their skills have kept the monsters at bay for a little while longer. And in a world full of monsters, that is not nothing.

When S.M. Carrière isn’t brutally killing your favorite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and cuddling her cat. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills, and a cuddling furry murderer. Her most recent titles include Daughters of Britain, Skylark and Human. Her serial The New Haven Incident is free and goes up every Friday on her blog.

Dive into Vanishing Treasures, by Katherine Rundell, exploring the delicate balance between cultural heritage and…

The post “Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary and Endangered Creatures” by Katherine Rundell appeared first on LitStack.

 

Our realm, splintered and broken, yearned to be united under a single ruler. The Witches may have won and put one of their own on the throne, but even they had suffered.

(page 1, The Queen's Blade by Evelyn Ward)
---------
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The finale to John Gwynne’s Bloodsworn, The Fury of the Gods, brings the Norse epic to a grand conclusion. The conflagration of warriors, wolf-gods, dragon-gods, rat-gods, and other various and sundry supernatural entities comes to a head as the dragon god, Lik-Rifa, seeks to take over the world and expunge her sibling gods while Varg,…

The Alchemist of Aleppo bends the space-time continuum and embodies our fascination with what science…

The post Spotlight on “The Alchemist of Aleppo” by Marie K. Savage appeared first on LitStack.

It’s been a whole month since I randomly shared my opinions on things I think How in the world have you made it through the start of this new year, without that????

So, I think that:

1) THE CITY OF MARBLE AND BLOOD IS TERRIFIC

If you follow me on Facebook – or even read my column here every Monday, you know I’ve been talking about my Black Gate buddy Howard Andrew Jones, who passed away earlier this month. Click on over to see what I had to say last week about a really great guy.

I had not yet read Howard’s most recent trilogy, the Chronicles of Hanuvar. Howard’s Arabian fantasy mystery short stories featuring Dabir and Asim have been my favorites of his work (even more so than the two novels featuring the duo).

But man – this first book in the trilogy is his best work. Incorporating several short stories previously published, it’s very episodic in nature, which I liked. They’re linked together, making up Hanuvar’s ongoing quest, and the format keeps things moving. There’s no padding here.

While I have Robert E. Howard and Fritz Lieber on my shelves, I’m more an epic fantasy fan, ala JRR Tolkien, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan. I feel like Howard’s trilogy is epic sword and sorcery – a hybrid of the two which would also include Glen Cook’s The Black Company. It contains the individual adventuring aspect of sword and sorcery (stakes are more focused on the hero, not nations or empires), with the epic story scope of high fantasy. Howard’s trilogy is Epic Sword and Sorcery.

I finished Lord of a Shattered Land, put it on the Shelf, and immediately sat down and began The City of Marble and Blood. And boy, does something big happen by page twenty-five!! The latter two books are in traditional novel form. So be it – I’m in.

2) D&D NOVELS ARE STILL ENJOYABLE

I used to own a bunch of the old D&D novels. Series’ such as Ravenloft, The Cleric Quintet, Dragon Lance, Forgotten Realms; dozens of them. I unloaded them during one of my periodic sell-offs over the years (I still have over 2,000 print books, but I’d love to have a lot of the ones which are gone. I still have the Gord the Rogue books, though!

I’ve written about The Temple of Elemental Evil and The Village of Hommlet more than once here at Black Gate. And right now, I’m listening to the audiobook of the ToEE. And it’s not bad.

If you’re looking for a quite D&D-like series, check out the Dhampir books by Rob and C.J. Hendee. They read a lot like a Dungeons and Dragons adventure.

3) JOHN MADDOX’ SPQR MYSTERIES ARE MY FAVES

I have now listened to the first ten (of thirteen) of these mystery novels set in Ancient Rome, and I’ve talked about them in What I’ve Been Listening To. I have enjoyed every single of one of these, and John Lee is a PERFECT match as narrator. I can’t imagine anyone else voicing Decius Caecilius Matellus the Younger. I talked about it a little bit, here.

The cover itself is blurry – that wasn’t me! 4) YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT QUINTILIAN TOO

So, if you like SPQR, and you’re looking for more in that vein, check out Michael Kurland’s The Trials of Qunitilain. I’m a fan of Kurland’s Professor Moriarty novels. The Trials of Quintilian contain three stories that use the real-life Marcus Fabius Quintilianus as the hero.

He was an orator, rhetorician, barrister and educator. Here, he’s also essentially a private eye, gathering evidence for the client he is representing as a lawyer. I like the mix of PI and law, set in Ancient Rome. I picked up the ebook at a real steal, and it’s a fun, quick read. More old world Roman mystery stuff for me, please!

5) TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II KEEPS DRAWING ME BACK

There are a few games I reinstall every so often (sometimes a couple years apart), dive deep into, then move on. This – and WarHammer I, because combining them lets me play any faction from either game – is far and away my favorite RTS strategy game (it’s properly a hybrid, I think).

But man, I can sink hours upon hours into this. Often having to go back to a prior save and try a different path. While frustrating, it’s still kind of fun to try and make it work out. The first 10 – 15 turns for any faction are always hard for me, and I have a lot of false starts. I don’t actually fight the battles; I auto-resolve them. I like the city and troop building, and the strategies and faction relations. The fantasy aspect of WH makes this far and away my favorite.

They REALLY need to buy the Tolkien license and do TW: Middle Earth. THAT would be fantastic!! I cut my teeth on TW: Rome, and I suspect any Total War game in your interest area (Attila the Hun, Brittania, Egypt – whatever) would work for you. I’m not into Warhammer, but I do like this game.

6) NO WRITING PROJECT IS EVER BEYOND RESUMPTION

I haven’t been writing much lately, beyond my weekly column here (Note to self – quit playing TW: Warhammer II, then!!).

But last week I dusted off a project I started in 2011, and hadn’t worked on for quite a few years, I’m certain. But some real-life downs put me in a frame of mind where it was exactly what I needed to dive into. So, I’m almost done with the first draft of a Companion/Study Guide to Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. It’s my favorite book of the Bible, and I plan on honing this guide to the sharpness of an obsidian blade.

I had to dig this off a recovered hard drive, it was so dusty. And though I abandoned it over a decade ago, it is thriving right now. No project – even no idea – is ‘dead’ unless you deem it so. And sometimes, an old one just might save you in more ways than one.

7) ANIMAL CONTROL AVOIDS BEING TOO DUMB FUNNY

I only watched a couple episodes of Community, though I know about it. Star Joel McHale is the lead on Animal Control, which manages to stay on the side of being good dumb funny. It’s not clever dumb funny, like Galaxy Quest. But it’s not beyond stupid dumb funny, like Dumb and Dumber.

It’s not a thinking-heavy sitcom, but I like it pretty well. I am enjoying it more than Dennis Leary’s Going Dutch, which I haven’t given up on yet. However, Going Dutch doesn’t have much of any any depth to it, so we’ll see how long I can last.

8) I FAILED ON MY ANNUAL CHRISTMAS POST IDEA

Every Christmas (often Christmas Eve), I re-watch Humphrey Bogart’s ‘dark’ comedy, We’re No Angels. And every year, I observe that I really should write a Black Gate post on it. I’m 0 for every year on that. But hey – it’s a new year!!!

A terrific cast and light-hearted dark humor, it’s just about my favorite Christmas movie. Every time I see Peter Ustinov in this, I think that he would have made a good Dr. Watson back then. There was a modern remake (sort-of) with Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn. If that’s the only version you’ve seen, you really should go check out Bogie, Rathbone, and company.

9) I KINDA HAVE A NEW CHRISTMAS FAVE AS WELL

Though it’s certainly not ‘new’ anymore, Jingle All the Way is about my favorite modern Christmas movie. It’s a silly (but not too dumb comedy with Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, and a deliciously creepy Phil Hartman.

I think I’ve added Red One alongside Jingle, after watching it this year. When a Rock movie works, I really enjoy it, and this is like a Marvel-lite Rock Christmas movie. And that’s exactly what I want.

10) I LIKE ONE-OFF CHRISTMAS EPISODES FOR BRITISH TV SHOWS

Some British mystery shows I watch, like The Cleaner, and Death in Paradise, air a new episode around Christmas day. I look forward to these now. I actually started a Death in Paradise re-watch after seeing the new Christmas episode (which featured ANOTHER cast change).

We’re talking 109 one-hour episodes, with multiple cast changes. We’re talking quite the investment. I’m almost through season five (of thirteen), and loving every episode. The ‘Christmas episode’ relit a fire. I wrote about the show some, here.

If you’ve seen episode one of season three (and you will absolutely know whether or not you have. A BIIIGGGG thing happened), I wrote an entire post on that one, earlier this month. Do NOT read it if you haven’t seen that episode. Trust me.

Prior Ten Things I Think I Think

Ten Things I Think I Think (December 2024)
Nine Things I Think I Think (October 2024)
Five More Things I Think: Marvel Edition (September 2024)
Ten Things I Think I Think: Marvel Edition ( September 2024)
Five Things I Think I Think (January 2024)
Seven Things I Think I Think (December 2023)
Talking Tolkien: TenThings I Think I Think (August 2023)
A (Black) Gat in the Hand: Ten Things I Think I think (August 2023)
5 More Things I Think (March 2023)
10 Things I Think I Think (March 2023)

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

Bonded in Death Series: In Death #60
on July 30, 2025

His passport read Giovanni Rossi. But decades ago, during the Urban Wars, he was part of a small, secret organization called The Twelve. Responding to an urgent summons from an old compatriot, he landed in New York and eased into the waiting car. And died within minutes…

Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds the Rossi case frustrating. She’s got an elderly victim who’d just arrived from Rome; a widow who knows nothing about why he’d left; an as-yet unidentifiable weapon; and zero results on facial recognition. But when she finds a connection to the Urban Wars of the 2020s, she thinks Summerset―fiercely loyal, if somewhat grouchy, major-domo and the man who’d rescued her husband from the Dublin streets―may know something from his stint as a medic in Europe back then.

When Summerset learns of the crime, his shock and grief are clear―because, as he eventually reveals, he himself was one of The Twelve. It’s not a part of his past he likes to revisit. But now he must―not only to assist Eve’s investigation, but because a cryptic message from the killer has boasted that others of The Twelve have also died. Summerset is one of those who remain―and the murderous mission is yet to be fully accomplished…

Goodreads
Pages: 400

Genres: Fiction / Crime, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
ISBN: 9780349443362



Also in this series: Obsession in Death, Devoted in Death (In Death, #41), Down the Rabbit Hole (includes In Death, #41.5), Brotherhood in Death (In Death, #42), Purity in Death (In Death, #15), Apprentice in Death (In Death, #43), Secrets in Death (In Death, #45)


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Another great novel from J. D. Robb.  These books are one of a few series that I can enjoy hearing and not reading myself.  You will miss much of the story if you haven’t read the previous books.   The author usually writes books that may have a little back story but this one has a lot of links to previous books and you would need the previous book to solve the murder mystery.

Paperback editions of the first six Elric books (DAW Books, 1972 – 1977). Covers by Michael Whelan

It may not seem like it, but this winter has given fans of fantasy plenty to celebrate. Less than a month ago, Michael Moorcock turned 84, his most recent Elric novel turned three, and the latest reprint of his vaunted Eternal Champion series hit store shelves in the US. Thanks to a boatload of new collections, there is no better time to be a fan of the pale emperor. Or, for that matter, to look into his legacy.

Suffice to say that Moorcock’s legendary career has been full of incredible characters. His influence can be seen among the finest rogues of the Sword Coast and in tales spun in the far-flung wine sinks of Essos. Nowhere is that more noticeable than with his most famous creation, Elric of Melnibone. When his early stories made their way into the hands readers in the 60s and 70s, the impact would prove seismic. Today those same readers are academics, authors, and gamers happy to see Elric influence another generation.

[Click the images for Champion versions.]

“It stuck out from any other fantasy book I’d read,” Derik Petrey shared the moment Elric of Melnibone was brought up.

The Chair of Humanities at Sinclair Community College recalls that first encounter with the emperor of dragon isle vividly. Like so many other readers in the 80s, Moorcock’s style and characters proved as addictive Imrryr’s dream couches.

The Elric Saga, Volume 2: Stormbringer , an omnibus containing the novels
Stormbringer (1965), The Vanishing Tower (1977), The Bane of the Black Sword (1977),
and The Revenge of the Rose (1991). Saga Press, April 12, 2022. Cover by Michael Whelan

“He was really the first antihero that I’d read and could wrap my head around. There was this sense that ‘oh this person has all sorts of flaws.’ He’s addicted to drugs, longs to marry his cousin, and keep her from her brother,” Petrey remembered.

The years 1983-1984 would see him read Elric of Melnibone and The Sailor on the Seas of Fate. In an age where the works of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were the example other authors followed, Moorcock became a patron saint of literary rebels.

“He (Elric) did not have the values of a Tolkien-esque character. You have his dependency on a sword, a living weapon, and also this love-hate relationship with Arioch that was really uncommon.”

Sci-fi fans of Petrey’s vintage look around and see a landscape transformed by the pale swordsman. Other Eternal Champions were great characters, but to Petrey, neither Corum, Dorion Hawkmoon, or any of the others held a candle to Elric.

“It was very much conveyed to me that this was a non-human civilization. It’s this idea of how you communicate how different a society would be,” Petrey said. “There were very few science fiction writers that treated aliens as truly alien. You had Jack Vance, Larry Niven, and Moorcock.”

Elric’s modern-day revival speaks to the enduring power of Moorcock’s writing. Recent years have seen entirely new generations of readers take to the original White Wolf of Fantasy.

Von Bek: The Eternal Champion omnibus, containing The Warhound and the World’s Pain
and The City in the Autumn Stars (Saga Press, December 3, 2024). Cover by Tom Canty

Reprints Galore

It wasn’t so long ago that simply finding certain editions of the Elric saga were a challenge. The number of anthologies, collections, and iterations of his stories can be staggering. Untangling the publication history of Elric for this article left me bewildered at times. Without the recent wave of reprints, reading those stories would be just as much of a challenge.

That would change in 2022. Starting in Feb. of that year, Saga Press announced they would be releasing new collections of Moorcock’s work starting with the Kinslayer himself. Last December, fellow Eternal Champion Von Bek received the same loving treatment when The Warhound and The World’s Pain returned to bookshelves. The well-made collections have made the jobs of Booktubers peddling the proverbial Book of Elric that much easier.

“I think Elric’s sustained popularity over more than 60 years owes much to Moorcock’s transgressive bent. He upended, or amplified beyond convention, traditional tropes of speculative fiction, including the monomyth (the hero’s journey),” Bridger, from the Library Ladder YouTube channel, shared by email.

The Elric Saga: Citadel of Forgotten Myths (Saga Press, December 6, 2022). Cover by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme

He is one of many helping introduce Elric and his fellow champions to readers online. His four Moorcock-specific videos alone have garnered over 160,000 views.

At just 12, he would begin his journey alongside Imrryr’s most famous citizen with the DAW paperback editions, with their beautiful Michael Whelan covers. Completing the first Thomas Covenant Trilogy —  Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War, and The Power That Preserves — would serve as good preparation for Elric.

“Elric and Covenant seemed almost like two sides of the same coin. Both were moody, morally ambiguous, endowed with awesome powers they feared, and prone to occasional outbursts of primal, uncontrolled violence. But I found Elric less abrasive, easier to identify with, and more willing to take decisive action when situations called for it. They were significant departures from any heroic characters I’d encountered up to then,” Bridger explained.

The Eternal Champion Sequence: The Eternal Champion, Phoenix in Obsidian, and
The Dragon in the Sword (Titan Books, November 2014). Covers uncredited

Like many readers, Bridger would return to the classic character time and again. Moorcock’s remarkable ability to churn out one story after another helped keep Elric current and fresh.

“In Elric, Moorcock took many of those qualities to extremes relative to typical fantasy heroes. His moods are darker. His weaknesses more debilitating. His impulses more consequential. His betrayals and revenges more bloody. And the stakes are higher, as he strives to save not just one world, but an entire multiverse of them,” Bridger shared.

He sees Elric’s legacy across the genre and beyond. And it is a legacy not just limited to books. His influence can be seen in video games, on tabletops, big and small screens.

Elric and House of the Dragon‘s Daemon Targaryen. Art by Jan Duursema, from The Michael Moorcock Library Vol. 5: Elric The Vanishing Tower (Titan Comics, August 8, 2017). Daemon Targaryen photo by Ollie Upton.

“There are some obvious parallels between Elric and later albino characters in fantasy fiction such as R.A. Salvatore’s drow elf Drizzt, Andrei Sapkowski’s Geralt the Witcher, and several members of George R.R. Martin’s Targaryen family tree, with their special abilities and complicated personalities,” Bridger detailed, explaining that the albino trope was itself borrowed from Sexton Blake’s Monsieur Zenith.

Roland Deschain of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series and Tyrion Lannister from A Song of Ice and Fire are two other characters that remind Bridger of the Eternal Champion. For Petrey, its Death from The Sandman that reminds him most of Elric. Both see the industry as being much richer due to the author’s influence.

“There’s an authenticity in Moorcock’s work. He himself is an iconoclast, he loves taking conventions and smashing them and I think that’s refreshing every once in awhile,” the professor stated.

Michael Moorcock’s Elric Volume 5: The Necromancer, written by by Julien Blondel and illustrated by Valentin Sécher (Titan Comics, December 31, 2024).

A six-decade run doesn’t happen by accident. If Elric proves anything, it’s that with the pale prince of ruins Moorcock was able to capture the magic that continues to enchant lovers of the genre.

“These are characters that have their own lives. I don’t want to be like Elric but his stories help me imagine what living that life, at that time, and in those societies would be like,” Petrey said.

As all readers know, sometimes a book just doesn’t click. Maybe it’s just not what you expected—or worse, maybe it’s just not working for you at all. Granted, it doesn’t happen to me too often, but when it does, that’s when DNF reviews come in. I’ve found that it greatly helps me process my reading experience to articulate why a book didn’t work for me, not to mention they also serve as a way to share my honest opinions with other readers who might feel the same—or who might actually enjoy the book for the very reasons I didn’t.

Here are the latest books that didn’t quite hit the mark for me and that I ultimately decided to put aside (a couple of these were actually from the tail end of last year).

I received review copies from the publisher(s). This does not affect the contents of my reviews and all opinions are my own.

All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper

Mogsy’s Rating: DNF

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Titan Books (October 15, 2024)

Length: 447 pages

From the start, this one felt off to me. The prose was overly flowery and purple, making the writing feel bloated with unnecessary words. It’s tough to explain, but the intro felt simultaneously drawn out and all over the place. It was also hard to care about the characters, and by the time I set the book down about a quarter of the way into the book, they still didn’t feel fully realized. Any message on solidarity and friendship was completely overshadowed by the book’s aimless structure. Simply put: too many POVs, too much chaos, and too much pointless rage made this one impossible to continue.

American Rapture by C.J. Leede

Mogsy’s Rating: DNF

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Nightfire (October 15, 2024)

Length: 384 pages

American Rapture had such an intriguing premise: as a new virus spreading across the country making the infected feral with lust, our protagonist braves the unknown to reunite with her family. Problem is, the author is not known for sublety. Really, she is not. Being over the top and shocking is part and parcel of the style and experience. But when you are dealing with such weighty topics like spiritual wounds, conflicted identities, and societal collapse, this treatment just feels so gratuitous and flippantly distasteful. This book didn’t feel like a story; the character felt more like Leede’s mouthpiece to deliver a one-sided and heavy-handed screed, and I abandoned ship early when I realized where things were headed.

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Mogsy’s Rating: DNF

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Del Rey (January 14, 2025)

Length: 384 pages

I really really wanted to like this book. That I didn’t DNF it until well after the 50% mark should tell you just how badly I tried, but ultimately it wasn’t to be. With all the comparisons to Studio Ghibli, I was originally all on board, but as any fan knows, their films are diverses in tone and not all of them resonate with everyone. Sadly, while Water Moon had the whimsy and mythological charm down pat, it fell short in the areas that matter most to me: character development and cohesive storytelling. Troubles began with the clunky and overwrought writing style, and further issues came to light when the plot made it more important to focus on the romance. It’s a shame because I wanted to be swept away by the magic but instead I was left disappointed, though Water Moon will undoubtedly be a favorite for many.

Book Description:

They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever.

And I’ve always believed them.

Until now.

Now everything has changed.

Now, I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.

Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.

Rating: 4 Stars

Favorite Quotes:

But it does not tell you this: that love will turn the whole world into something greater than itself.

Love, the deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.

This is a dystopian book that’s a little different from The Hunger Games & Divergent and the like.  The world isn’t ending, necessarily but the government has mandated that everyone over the age of 18 has a procedure that basically renders you incapable of love and most of the other strong emotions.  They literally cut a piece out of the brain to achieve this!  I cannot imagine a time when the majority of people would be pushing for this to happen, but here it does.  I guess I can see some appeal to not suffering through a broken heart but to cut out a piece of my brain to achieve this?  Uhhhh, no thank you!

The story follow Lena Haloway as she is preparing for her procedure.  She got about 3 months until it is scheduled and there are interviews that have to be done so that the government can pick a husband suitable for her (because if you don’t care, how could you choose for yourself?) and what she will do for a living (will she go to college or just get a job until she is married?).  They regulate the music that your allowed to listen to and the books that you can read.  Something that Oliver did that is really different from most dystopian stories is the fact that everything we once had still exists.  There are cell phones and cars and the internet.  They are all strictly monitored and not everyone has them but they are still in use.  So many times you read these types of books and its like living in the dark ages and I thought this was a nice touch.

One of my gripes about this book is that if you take away the portion of the brain that controls emotion, how does anything get done?  If you don’t care, how do you take care of your children or get up everyday and go to work and cook and clean?  Love guides almost all the things we do.  We work because we love our families and want to take care of them.   We love our children and so we play with them and discipline them and laugh with them.  If you remove all those things are you really still alive?  Aren’t other things in our lives determined by a type of love?  If you were a police man breaking up an illegal party with a bunch of teenagers involved, would you care enough to just send them home or would you release the dogs against them and beat them with clubs and would it matter either way?  Very confusing to me.  I guess if love was that simple and it could be removed without interfering with everything else, then maybe, but it simply affects too many things.

Anyway, the story drags on a bit for me once the world is set up and you get a grasp on what’s happening.  Lena and Hana (her best friend) start to break the rules and go to unauthorized parties after curfew.  Up until this point, they’ve had almost no contact with the opposite sex besides adult males (parents and teachers who have all had the procedure) and these parties are full of uncured boy their own age.  So in typical teenager fashion they are rebelling before they can’t anymore.  Then Lena meets a boy, Alex, who shows her that there is so much to be missed by having the procedure done and how much the cureds have been lying to everyone (particularly Lena).  As they get to know each other and fall in love Lena realizes that there’s no way she could ever willing have the procedure and she tries to come up with a way for them to escape.

Will they find a way or will Lena have to lose part of herself?

*SPOILERS BELOW*

First of all, I cannot believe that there wasn’t a love triangle in this book!  It was kind of nice  to not have to be vacillating between two love interests!

I was wondering throughout the whole beginning of the book if it wouldn’t turn out that Lena’s Mom was still alive.  Considering how long ago she supposedly killed herself she was still very present in Lena’s mind and that usually means something is coming up.  It’s too bad that she didn’t  get to see her before she escaped though.

I cannot BELIEVE that Alex doesn’t make it with Lena to the Wilds!  He sacrifices himself up to the regulators so that Lena can get away.  He got shot and captured but I’m not sure if he’s alive or not!  What will she do now in the Wilds all alone?  Being with Alex was the main reason she decided to run away in the first place!  Sheesh, I wonder what Oliver has planned for book 2?

Book Description:

tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it’s almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She’s finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam’s life.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Favorite Quotes:

My troubles have arrived fashionably late to this conversation, inconsiderate beasts that they are.

It’s the kind of kiss that makes you realize oxygen is overrated.

He’s standing right in front of me and I miss him like I haven’t seen him in years.

“I think there’s something about the impermanence of life these days that makes it necessary to etch ink into our skin,” he says.  “It reminds us that we’ve been marked by the world, that we’re still alive.  That we’ll never forget.”

Another heart wrenching book by Mafi.  She really is a wonderful writer.  I couldn’t put the book down.  I devoured it in a day and now I’m dying to know what happens next.  I’m not sure but I think this is a three book series so the next one should be the end.  I love the way your heart is practically in your throat the whole book.  There is so much emotion happening and Mafi writes in a way that you can’t help but experience everything along with the characters.

Book two picks up shortly after where book one ended.  Juliette, Adam and James have been at Omega Point for about a week and things are starting settle down.  Once the immediate danger is over Juliette has retreated back inside herself because she is now surrounded by people who know what she can do and some of them include children.  She doesn’t want to scare anyone and so she decides to just keep to herself and only really talk to and associate with Adam.  What a hard thing to have to experience at the age of 17, to try to make friends when you’ve never done something like that before.  She’s always been immediately ostracized when she was around other people and so she doesn’t know how to start getting to know people.  I thought this was a good road for Mafi to take with this story, it makes it more believable.  Because of this, she comes off even scarier than she would have if she even made some small attempt to interact with people.  The story about how she killed that little kid years ago gets out and now everyone is looking at her just like people always have.  So much for being with people who would understand her because she wasn’t the only one with some bizarre powers.  Castle thinks that there might be more to Adam being able to touch her than it just being some fluke and now he’s undergoing some test to see if there’s another reason he can touch her.  The results are devastating and now Juliette has to decide how she’s going to back away from him to keep him safe.  She learning more about her own abilities and now she’s not just worried about her touch being dangerous.  Her whole body is a weapon and she has no control over it.  On top of that monumental obstacle, she is still keeping secrets from Adam.  She hasn’t told him that Warner can touch her too and that she kissed him right before she shot him.  I don’t know why she doesn’t say anything.  She should have told him as soon as he was healed.  There was no real reason for her not to except for the part where she actually enjoyed it.  She could leave that part out of it as far as I’m concerned but the rest of it she should have told him.  You can’t keep secrets like that.  The fact is that if they really loved each other there would be no reason to keep these kinds of secrets.  Adam might be a little pissed but the fact is she did what she needed to do so that she could save him and I don’t think that he would be angry for long.

Kenji plays a much bigger role in this book and I’m so glad because I love him!  He’s like the only bright spot in the book; his personality is so bright and carefree that you can’t help but smile when he’s around.  This is not to say that he doesn’t have some serious moments and he does put Juliette in her place a few times but she really needed someone to kick her in the ass so she would quit moping around.  The reality is that she is the primary reason that The Reestablishment is hunting so fiercely for Omega Point.  Not that this wouldn’t have come to a head at some point in the future but the timetable’s been moved up and that is because of Juliette.  Warner can’t let her go and now that his father is involved he hasn’t got a choice but to find her.  After learning more about him in Destroy Me I was pretty sure he would be a big part of this book as well.  We learned even more about him and his past as him and Juliette spend some time together.

Kenji has been working with Juliette to help her figure out and hone her skills and she starts to get a little more control of it.  I was hoping this would naturally lend itself to help with her self-esteem but that doesn’t really happen.  If she should would just accept who and what she is life would start to become more manageable for her but she can’t stop seeing herself as a monster.  She’s come out of her shell a little bit and it starting to make some friends but everyone at Omega Point is preparing to battle Warner’s father and his men and they need Juliette to help them.  With the strength of her power she could be the edge that they need to win.

Will she be able to put her personal feelings aside and focus on the more important objective?  Will she be able to use her abilities against the “bad guys” to save the innocent citizens of sector 54?  How will she reconcile her feelings for Adam and Warner?

*SPOILERS BELOW*

Oh man this book was torture for me!  I’m still so unsure who I want Juliette to end up with!  Her and Adam have such an intense relationship and it’s been growing since they were kids.  Now that they have finally found each other and Adam can actually touch her things were looking up.  This was not to last, of course, and now Adam has discovered that he has an ability as well.  He’s a disruptor and that’s why he can touch her because he can cancel out her power. The problem with this is that he has to be constantly on guard in order for it to work and that can’t happen when they are getting physical with each other.  She nearly kills him at one point!  So she’s decided to stay away from him and it’s destroying both of them.  Then there’s Warner.  This is the first time that Juliette really gets to know him for who he is instead of the leader of sector 54.  When she was listening to his father tear him down and then again later when he was being held captive at Omega Point and she had to interrogate him.  He was so sweet to her and let her see a part of himself that I don’t think he’s ever shown anyone else.  The scars on his back, the way he really sees himself, the way he sees her and how she makes him feel.  It was breathtaking to witness.  Now she’s so confused about what to do and she hasn’t told Adam about any of this and she hasn’t told Warner that Adam is his brother (which shocked the hell out of me, by the way) and she’s somehow in the middle and unable to decides what to do.  She’s also hiding a lot of information about Warner.  She doesn’t tell anyone that she knows why he can touch her and what his ability is and I’m not sure why.  What could it harm?  It just makes her look worse for keeping it to herself.  I think she loves them both but who is the better choice?  Adam is so loving and caring and wants to take care of her and he loves her with a desperation that is a little frightening.  Warner can be gentle and caring and he doesn’t pull any punches.  He is who he is and he accept Juliette for who she is and what she is capable of.  He also loves her in an overwhelmingly obsessive way.  I wonder if this is something about Juliette or if it’s something in their DNA that she attracts?  Either way it’s a tough decision.

I wish that Kenji wouldn’t have stopped Juliette from killing Anderson.  That guy is a monster and someone needs to take care of him.  I understand why he did it but at the same time you don’t go to war with someone in his position if you don’t have his replacement ready to take over.  Then in the end when he just shot her in the chest and leaves!  This was the only real issue I had with the book.  Why would he have gone through the trouble of shooting her in front of Warner only to leave before he could witness what it did to him?  And, why would he have had “the girls” kidnapped to use to heal him only to leave them behind?  If anything, he should have at least taken them with him back to the capital.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how it all ends.

Book Description:

Perfect for the fans of Shatter Me who are desperately awaiting the release of Unravel Me, this novella-length digital original will bridge the gap between these two novels from the perspective of the villain we all love to hate, Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

In Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me, Juliette escaped from The Reestablishment by seducing Warner—and then putting a bullet in his shoulder. But as she’ll learn in Destroy Me, Warner is not that easy to get rid of. . .

Back at the base and recovering from his near-fatal wound, Warner must do everything in his power to keep his soldiers in check and suppress any mention of a rebellion in the sector. Still as obsessed with Juliette as ever, his first priority is to find her, bring her back, and dispose of Adam and Kenji, the two traitors who helped her escape. But when Warner’s father, The Supreme Commander of The Reestablishment, arrives to correct his son’s mistakes, it’s clear that he has much different plans for Juliette. Plans Warner simply cannot allow.

Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45

Rating: 5 Stars

Favorite Quotes:

It’s a strange thing, to never know peace.  To know that no matter where you go, there is no sanctuary.  That the threat of pain is always a whisper away.

Love is a heartless bastard.  I’m driving myself insane.

I’m at a loss for words with this novella.  At the end of Shatter Me I had already firmly decided that I didn’t like Warner.  I didn’t necessarily think he was a bad person, per se, but that he wasn’t a good person either.  Now I find myself saddened by his story.  Raised by a man who never had a nice thing to say to him and never receiving any kind of affection.  It’s very similar to Juliette’s story, really, only that in Warners situation it wasn’t because people couldn’t touch him but because no one did.  It makes a lot more sense now why he felt to connected to Juliette and now that he has her journal from when she was institutionalized he’s even more determined to find her and bring her back to be with him.  I’m not sure if he’s going to have much success with this due to the way he tried to get her affections the last time but I at least have a better feel for who he is and why he is the way he is.  I think that anyone can change, given the proper motivation.  The question is, will Warner want to change and is love enough of a motivator for him?  I think we’ll find out in book two which is next up on the list.

Book Description:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Rating: 4.5

Favorite Quotes:

Truth is a jealous, vicious mistress that never ever sleeps, is what I don’t tell him.  I’ll never be okay.

my cheek is pressed against his chest and he smells like strength and courage and the wold is drowning in rain.

I remember you every day forever in every single broken moment of my life.

His hands are shaking so slightly, his eyes brimming with feeling, his heart thrumming with pain and affection and I want to live here, in his arms, in his eyes for the rest of my life.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book when I first picked it up.  It was a recommendation from a friend and I thought, what the hell, I’d give it a shot.  It was surprisingly good!  The writing style took a little getting used to as most of what Juliette thinks is in run on sentences.  This makes a little more sense once you figure out that she has been locked up all alone for almost a year and hasn’t spoken to another living soul for that whole time.  I think I’d be a little nutty too.  Mafi is a very emotionally descriptive writer and because of this it doesn’t take very long for you to be attached to certain characters and to really despise others.  I only used four of my favorite lines from this book above but I think I highlighted around 10 or so which is really high for me in any book.  I think she’s an amazing writer and once I got used to her writing style, I really liked it.

I’m not sure what year the book is set in but basically we’ve destroyed the planet and there’s not enough food or clean water and The Reestablishment has taken over power of everyone. They’ve decided that in order to correct the problems that society has caused they need to make several changes.  Only the strong get to survive, they are getting rid of all the books they can find and trying to create a whole new language.  All the unhealthy, weak and old are gotten rid of.  It doesn’t specifically say how this happens maybe they are all killed or maybe they are just segregated from the rest of society?  Juliette has some sort of weird power where it is dangerous for her to touch anyone.  She had an incident in a grocery store and after that she was locked up in what she assumes is an insane asylum.  One day she gets a cell mate, Adam Kent, and then things start to change a little for her.  Can you imagine not speaking to anyone for a year?  Just as she’s starting to get used to the idea of him she’s taken out of her cell and introduced to the sector leader for The Reestablishment, Warner, who informs her that he’d like her to join their cause.  He thinks that her “talent” could be really useful to them.  Which means, of course, that he would like her to help him kill the rebels.  Warner takes her to their base and sets her up with a nice room and nice clothes and good meals and thinks that this is the way to get her to agree to join him.  He’s got more on his mind than just how she can help their cause too.  Luckily for her, people can’t touch her (at least not most people) so she seems to be relatively safe for the time being.

Adam has been assigned to guard her and as time goes on we learn a little about their past and get to see their relationship develop into something very sweet and intense.  Juliette’s got to escape from The Reestablishment, especially from Warner as he’s got some kind of weird obsession with her, and Adam is going to help her to this.  When they finally get free, it’s a mad dash to find their allies and get somewhere safe.  Then everything gets turned on its head when they do finally find safety.  Will this new group be the good guys?  Will they want to use Juliette for her “talents” as well?  With her suddenly being in a situation of acceptance, how will she handle it and will her and Adam be able to stay together?

*SPOILERS BELOW*

I love the relationship between Adam and Juliette.  I wasn’t sure how this would work out in the beginning, since she can’t be touched and was relieved that Adam was the exception to this rule.  The fact that they knew each other when they were younger went a long way with me to support the intensity of their feelings for each other.  You can’t just meet someone and all of a sudden be in love with them.  I liked that they each had formed feelings for the other growing up even though they had never had a conversation before now.  Adam is so sweet to her and the fact that he remembered all the small things she did growing up for the same people who treated her so terribly was a nice touch.  I’m not sure how this will all play out as Juliette has no experience with relationships of any kind.  How will she handle something so intense?

I was disappointed to learn that Adam wasn’t the only one immune to Juliette’s dangerous touch when Warner touched her right before they escaped.  I’m not sure exactly how I feel about Warner.  I think that he is a product of his upbringing.  Even though he can be ruthlessly cold and calculated, I’m not sure that he is a bad person.  I think this is all he knows.  He seems to have real feelings for Juliette although they way he got to know her was a little stalkerish with reading all about her history and then watching her in the asylum for the past year.  He’s obsessive though and he’s not going to just let her go without some sort of fight.

I actually really loved the ending to this book!  I totally didn’t see it coming.  A whole group of people who all have different abilities.  How wonderful for Juliette to finally feel like she belongs somewhere.  Adam made a little headway with her self-esteem over the course of the few months they got to spend together but think about how horrible her life would have been.  Can you imagine not being touched by anyone for almost your entire life?  It’s pretty incredible that she’s still such a good person.  The kind of power that she has would have been so dangerous in the wrong hands.  The way her parents made her feel like a monster especially pissed me off.  As a parent you love your children NO MATTER WHAT and how could you let her feel so alone her whole life?  They could have ruined her forever.  I’m excited to see what book two brings.  I’d like to know what other kind of gifts the people of Omega Point have and how they deal with Warner and the threat he represents.

Next up is Destroy Me, a novella before Unravel Me.