Weina Dai Randel's The Master Jeweler opens in 1925 when 15-year-old budding artist and Harbin local Anyu discovers an exquisitely made Faberge egg in the snow (which turns out to be The Winter Egg.) She soon after meets its owner, Russian master jeweler Isaac Mandelburg, who has been tasked with protecting the egg in the… Continue reading Review: The Master Jeweler
Blending historical, speculative, and supernatural genres, The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan is a cross between The Witcher series and Brotherhood of the Wolf, with a smattering of Baldur's Gate 3. TRW follows seemingly immortal Professor Sebastian Grave, the demon that inhabits him (and sometimes astral projects into corporeal form) Sarmodel, and the succubus Livia… Continue reading Review: The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan
Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi, not to be confused with the recently published I Am Cleopatra by Natasha Solomons, offers a humanized story of the famous Pharaoh while at that same time adding creative fantasy elements. The reader meets Cleo and her ever loyal handmaiden Charmian within the famous lighthouse of Alexandria. It, and the library,… Continue reading Review: Cleopatra by Saara El-Arifi
Burn Down Master's House by Clay Cane takes place over about thirty years stretching from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, with the overarching story's inciting event taking place in Goochland, Virginia. Author Clay Cane based these four interconnected stories off of his own ancestry, as well as real events in the 19th century American South pulled… Continue reading Review: Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane
After years of hearing about the epic story by Paullina Simons, I finally picked up The Bronze Horseman. Focusing on the siege of Leningrad during WWII (The Siege is one of my favorite books,) this was just up my alley. The book opens with just-turning-17-year-old Tatiana Metanova on the first day war is announced in… Continue reading Review: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
The Wandering Queen by Claire Heywood aligns with the author's previous works of ancient world legends re-framed from the woman's, or women's, perspective. Heywood's latest book follows Queen Dido, once known as Elissa in her native Tyre, as she founds Carthage and provides refuge to Trojan warrior, Prince Aeneas. Blending versions of Dido from the… Continue reading Review: The Wandering Queen by Claire Heywood
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