Tag: orbit books

Book Review: The Shadow of the Gods (Bloodsworn Saga #1) by John Gwynne

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 480 pages
Author: John Gwynne
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: May 6th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne.

After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið.

Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power for those brave – or desperate – enough to seek them out.

Now, as whispers of war echo across the mountains and fjords, fate follows in the footsteps of three people: a huntress on a dangerous quest, a noblewoman who has rejected privilege in pursuit of battle fame, and a thrall who seeks vengeance among the famed mercenaries known as the Bloodsworn.

All three will shape the fate of the world as it once more falls under the shadow of the gods . . .

NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING.

I fully went into this book thinking I would love it and I am now sitting here wondering if I read a different book than all of the great reviews I read of this one. It wasn’t BAD, truly wasn’t, but there were a few things that didn’t work for me.

And maybe this was an audio issue? All of the names sounded very similar and it took me a bit to recognized who was who and what was going on with each POV. I loved that it had multiple POV’s but with so many side characters within each POV I started to get a bit lost. Frankly, I feel like I still don’t have a good grasp on the world building or everything that’s happening.

I did like Orka and Elvar’s POV’s the most. I was the most interested and engaged in their quests and journeys. I think the cover gave me vibes for something more intense and while there are action scenes and battles and such, with the lack of character driven-ness, I wasn’t feeling any sort of way about anyone who died.

Right now I can’t say I want to continue the series. It would take some major convincing to do so.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: high

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Book Review: The Jasad Crown (The Scorched Throne #2) by Sara Hashem

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 688 pages
Author: Sara Hashem
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: July 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the thrilling conclusion to the Egyptian-inspired Scorched Throne duology, a fugitive queen may be the key to restoring her lost kingdom of Jasad, but it could cost her everything and everyone she loves.

Held deep in a mountain refuge, Sylvia has been captured by the Urabi, who believe she can return their homeland to its former power. But after years of denying her legacy and a forbidden alliance with Jasad’s greatest enemy, Sylvia must win the group’s trust while struggling to keep control of both her magic and her mind.

In the rival kingdom, Arin is caught between his father’s desire to put down the brewing rebellion and the sacred edicts he’s sworn to uphold. Arin must find Sylvia before his father’s army, but his search will call into question the very core of Arin’s beliefs about his family and the destruction of Jasad.

War is inevitable and Sylvia cannot abandon her people again. The Urabi plan to raise the Jasadi fortress, and it will either kill Sylvia or destroy the humanity she’s fought so hard to protect. For the first time in her life Sylvia doesn’t just want to survive. She wants to win.
The fugitive queen is ready to come home.

AHHHHHH.

No seriously, I almost gave this ONE STAR. And as you can see, THIS GOT FIVE STARS. That’s how much emotional turmoil I was in and I was ready to throw my headphones across the room. Which while that may all seem chaotic truly just shows how good of writing and story telling was present that kept me in such a chokehold waiting to see where everything would land.

I love these characters. It’s definitely a fantasy PLUS romance. And all of the fantasy elements are amazing. The politicking and betrayals and twists and turns and everything in between. I loved the world building and magic systems. THEN you add in this wonderful star crossed, actual enemies to lovers romance? STOP IT NOW. The banter and heat is incredible. If you’re someone who doesn’t like spice forward stories (hi, it’s me) this is the one you should pick up!!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: fade to black
  • Violence: high

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ARC Book Review: The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom #1) by Rachel Gillig

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy + Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Rachel Gillig
Publisher: Orbit Books
Release Date: May 20th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From BookTok sensation and NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig, comes the next big romantasy phenomenon: a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.

Thank you to Orbit Books for the gifted ARC and LibroFM for the audiobook.

OH WOW.

I loved the journey this book took. I admit it was a bit slow on the uptake for me but once the mystery started I was really invested. I love the way that Gillig writes and the torturous atmosphere created by the depths of the storytelling. It has the feeling of sitting in a medieval bar listening to a bard tell a tale.

The romance was filled with snarky banter and that slow burn vibe I often crave. I loved how the character arc for Sybil wove into the romance and how she grew to stand on her own. I love when characters take in new information and really DO something with it. There’s a lot of adventure with a traveling plot as the secrets of the cloister are ripped to shreds.

Honestly I could have seen this being an amazing standalone but I’m not upset that we get more books in this world. I loved the dark ambiance and characters. OH MY GOSH BARTHOLOMEW. I can’t forget about him. There’s seriously so many little aspects of this story that I can’t get out of my brain. The complicated craft of the world x magic system is like none other.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: open door (2-3 scenes)
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: drowning (repeatedly), murder, loss of loved ones

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ARC Book Review: The Ashfire King (The Sandsea Trilogy #2) by Chelsea Abdullah

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 544 pages
Author: Chelsea Abdullah
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: April 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy.

Neither here nor there, but long ago… After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.

The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. Amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion is on the rise. When Loulie assists a dissenter—one of her bodyguard’s old comrades—she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.

Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?

Thank you to Orbit Books for the gifted ARC.

WORTH THE WAIT…MAYBE?

I have been waiting for this book for a LONG TIME. I loved The Stardust Thief and have been waiting to see where all of my favorite characters are up to. Did I love this as much as I hoped? No, unfortunately I didn’t. Definitely enough to read book three, this one was just harder to move through.

Mazen and Loulie are my favorite POV’s and I liked the journey they went on the most. There’s some good turns and rising levels of action as another quest begins. I liked the expansion of the world and magic systems and seeing some of those character arcs really blossoming.

Aisha had a good journey too and it did help set up some of the plot lines for book three. I like that this has complicated antagonists and that it’s hard to trust every person who walks on page.

I think if you enjoyed book one you would still enjoy this book. I think the turn from more action driven rather than character driven took away from some of the moments I was hoping to see turn up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: AN ALMOST KISS
  • Violence: moderate – high

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