#fantasy

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Ulysses reviews "The Grimoire of Kings" by Blake R. Wolfe, The Tales of Bramoria book 1:

"Herein lies the twist that makes this story so interesting. Tyler is kind of a whiny bitch. We begin to understand him as a dutiful young man who looks out for others and does what he can to be a good friend and a good son... 4 stars."

https://www.queerscifi.com/review-the-grimoire-of-kings-blake-wolfe/

@MMbookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

QSFer Nita Round has a new lesbian fantasy book out: White Dragon Reborn.

Born an outcast. Forged by dragons. Chosen by destiny.

Kanastya has come a long way from being the outcast from the Haffen swamps. Now she’s the first dragon mage in generations. But power comes with a price.

She’s become the target of the black dragon himself. He can level ...

https://www.queerscifi.com/new-release-white-dragon-reborn-nita-round/

@LGBTQBookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

12

Yesterday, I finished the chapter begun the day before when I didn’t have a full day available.

And then (mostly) I read.

It’s almost insane how seldom I come across a book that grabs me heart, mind, & soul. Maybe every couple of years? It was a book where writer-self was in awe & reader-self unable to read fast enough.

And then it ended with no emotional denouement. Grrr…

Be everwell.

A homemade diagram showing traditional story structure with a colorful line that climbs to the climax, and then drops for the resolution. Along the way it shows the major plot points and where they fall on the line, including approximate percentages. These include the opening, inciting incident, first plot point, first pinch point, second plot point or midpoint, second pinch point, third plot point, climax, and resolution. There are also alternate names for those listed. In addition, below the line are some general pointers for what should be occurring in general in the story. All of this is considered flexible.

QSFer David Gray has a new MM fantasy romance out: The Fight for Dragon Isle.

Escape into a world of unlikely heroes and evil villains, of brave dragons and fairytale kisses.
Blaze is a dragon shifter, using his talents to find isolated dragons and introduce them to the world-spanning collective of secret dragon enclaves. ...

https://www.queerscifi.com/new-release-the-fight-for-dragon-isle-david-gray/

@MMbookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

I started reading Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines this weekend and will share what I thought of it after I finish it. So far I’m enjoying the fact that the three protagonists are all between the ages of about 56 and 99. That’s cool.

It reminds me a little of what Buffy the Vampire Slayer might have been like after Buffy retired from saving the world and grew old enough to have some health troubles.

If you’ve read it, did you like it?

@bookstodon

Book cover for Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines. Image on cover is of a drawing of a pale-skinned person who is gently leaning on a cane and is wearing yellow slacks and a black shirt. You can see their legs, torso, and arms, but their upper chest and face are not visible. At their feet is a black cat that has six yellow eyes arranged in a pyramid form and several tentacles curling around from its rear end.

11

Partial chapter headway yesterday owing to spending part of the day chasing grandchildren around a marvelous playground.

There are sacrifices you’re happy to make.

Regardless, I look at my targeted editing progress & am pleased, even content. There are days when I put too much pressure on myself. This isn’t one of those days.

I’ll finish that chapter this afternoon & smile.

Be everwell.

COLOR TREMJARA MAP The image is a color map of the continent of Tremjara on the world of Ontyre. The continent is roughly oval with notable exceptions, the oval tilted southwest to northeast. In the far north are the Frozen Lands, but otherwise the continent is surrounded by three oceans, the Para-Equa in the west, Terminus in the south, and Titania to the east. A long, slim peninsula, along with multiple islands, exists in the northwest. In the west and south are multiple, large islands. The southeastern peninsula is a barren wasteland with some volcanic islands off its coast. There are scattered islands up the eastern coast, most notably Pannulus, a roughly circular archipelago. The continent is roughly divided in half by mountain chains, some more extensive than others. Mountains also exist in other locations, especially the southwest. The west is heavily forested, the east a mix of forests and grasslands. The south desert. Some notable locations follow. Mythwyll in the southwest was the elfin homeland. In the west, Forstava is still the ora’ean homeland. In the east, Emprensa was once the home province of an empire. In the northeast, Draskrith is the realm of the shadow lords. Below that, and as noted, is Pannulus. At the continent’s center is nation of Carrdia. It’s surrounded by mountains, except in the west along its border with Forstava, and in the northeast. The continent’s biggest lake is located there, as is the mighty Key River.

11
what opening chapter reveals about the world

Currently, that’s Book5 of the Kovenlore Chronicles.

Visually, it’s a preindustrial society, but there are hints that some elements don’t fit that narrative.

There’s also, obviously, fear & caution exercised by the character, though their personality is influencing that attitude. Even so, it’s clear those in power harbor ill-will towards those with magic or sympathetic to it.

Chapter 51 of Stone Prophet is available to read on : https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/108234/jigsaw-city

While Nicole, Cha'da and The Seventh Sage work to defuse the explosive spell, the rest of Nicole's team search the blasted landscape for the painted witch...

@bookstodon

10

I’m through the majority of the most problematic chapters in Torment Surfacing (10 done, 6 to go).

It’s greatly rewarding to complete the draft of a novel, but I also find it rewarding when I polish a chapter each day. Too, seeing what’s possible each day inspires me to continue to the next chapter.

That’s target editing, my efforts paying me back daily with encouragement.

Be everwell.

KOVENLORE CHRONICLES SERIES STRUCTURE DIAGRAM The idea behind the Kovenlore Chronicles structure diagram is to show how each book fits in the bigger story. Each book has its own tale and structure, but there’s also the larger story. In the background is a faint image of a woman on a horse in the mountains. Over the top of that is a horizontal line that shows story structure. Atop the line are points like on a graph that show Opening, Inciting Event, First Plot Point, Midpoint, Third Plot Point, Climax, Denouement, and End. Below the line are the seven books. Book 1, Trust in the Forgotten, covers the Opening and Inciting Event. Book 2 covers the First Plot Point. Book 3 falls between First Plot Point and Midpoint, which would be the First Pinch Point, if shown. Book 4 spans the series Midpoint. Book 5 falls between the Midpoint and Third Plot Point, which would be the Second Pinch Point if shown. Book 5 also includes the novella, Trellis House. Book 6 includes the Third Plot Point and Climax, and also includes the novella, Memorized Darkness. Book 7 stretches from the Climax to the Denouement and End. At the bottom, it says, Riparia Dellbane Historical Fantasy Series, copyright 2024, Christina Anne Hawthorne

Ulysses reviews "Shadowcaller" by James Honaker:

"Honaker’s story is compelling and seasoned with wry humor... The book ends on a note of potential romance and not-quite-resolved resolution. It made me suspect that the author wants to come back to New Philadelphia. I would certainly be glad to join him there... 4 stars."

https://www.queerscifi.com/review-shadowcaller-james-honaker/

@MMbookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon @diversebooks @bookstodon

This week's Friday snippet comes from Wooing the Witch Queen, which is out now in ebook, paper, & audiobook:

https://stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen

And if you're in the UK or mainland Europe, you can snap up the ebook on sale right now:

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/stephanie-burgis/wooing-the-witch-queen/9781035063000

In one corner of this image is the British cover of Wooing the Witch Queen, by Stephanie Burgis. The illustration shows a man in a cloak riding headlong through the night towards an ominous castle with an illuminated, crowned female figure in its doorway and bats flying overhead in the moonlight. A potion vial surrounds that central image and is further framed by leaves and branches. Crows sit on the branches, and a tagline reads: Love can be a witch. A blurb from Sangu Mandanna reads: ‘Warm and lovely’. Above and around the cover is this snippet of text, with a drawing of four books piled underneath it: Carefully, he tucked those delicate, lost sheets back into their damaged casing, and gave the book a reassuring stroke. “Don’t worry,” he murmured as he rose to his feet. “You won’t be mistreated again. None of you will.” Already busy making notes in his head, he strode towards the ordinary, nonmagical satin bell pull that hung by the door, muscle weakness entirely forgotten. His attempts to sort out his own life might have gone catastrophically wrong, but with a fountain pen, a supply of black ink, and blank paper—a good deal of blank paper, he amended—he might just be able to sort out this broken library of magic after all.