FANTASY REVIEW: The Winnowing Flame 2: The Bitter Twins - Jen Williams

RELEASE DATE:  08/03/18

PUBLISHER:  Headline

SYNOPSIS:
The Ninth Rain has fallen. The Jure'lia are awake. Nothing can be the same again.
Tormalin the Oathless and the fell-witch Noon have their work cut out rallying the first war-beasts to be born in Ebora for three centuries. But these are not the great winged warriors of old. Hatched too soon and with no memory of their past incarnations, these onetime defenders of Sarn can barely stop bickering, let alone face an ancient enemy who grow stronger each day.
The key to uniting them, according to the scholar Vintage, may lie in a part of Sarn no one really believes exists - a distant island, mysteriously connected to the fate of two legendary Eborans who disappeared long ago.
But finding it will mean a perilous journey in a time of war, while new monsters lie in wait for those left behind.
Join the heroes of THE NINTH RAIN as they battle a terrible evil, the likes of which Sarn has never known.


REVIEW:
I love a fantasy book that takes me not only on a journey but also throws in self discovery for the characters about their own needs as well as desires and how they learn to live with the consequences of their choices and for me Jen is an author that has delivered on this time and again.

Starting not long after the first outing in this series (The Ninth Rain) we get to see how the characters have been changed alongside how they're coping now that they've seen exactly what lies in wait for them.

They're strong, they have flaws and for me, I just love it when new cast is added to help create new tensions as well as possible misdirection's within the series.  All round a cracking read with top notch prose and dialogue that just trips off the page.  Magic.

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: The Voices 2: Hunted - GX Todd

RELEASE DATE:  31/03/18

PUBLISHER:  Headline

SYNOPSIS:
Hunted by G X Todd is the second novel in the Voices series, highlighted as being 'of a piece with Stephen King's The Stand' in the Independent. The battle between Good and Evil continues to play out in a world where the Voice in your head can save or slaughter you. A must-read for fans of Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill.

'Compelling, suspenseful and altogether extraordinary' Lee Child

The birds are flying. The birds are flocking. The birds sense the red skies are coming.

One man is driven by an inner voice that isn't his - this Other is chewing at his sanity like a jackal with a bone and has one purpose.

To find the voice hiding in the girl.

She has no one to defend her now.

But in an inn by the sea, a boy with no tongue and no voice gathers his warriors. Albus must find the girl, Lacey . . . before the Other does.

And finish the work his sister Ruby began.

Hunted is the second book in the acclaimed Voices series, where the battle between Good and Evil holds you in its vice-like grip.

#HearTheVoices


REVIEW:
As with the first book in the series this story is hard hitting, fast paced and gives the reader a whole set of questions to ask not only of  the book but of themselves.

The characters are gripping, fresh and above all else relatable and when blended with a cracking story arc really helps to deliver something that will stay with you after the final page is turned.  All in, in my opinion this series could become a modern classic so get on board before the hype hits. 

Add to the mix, great use of dialogue alongside a solid understanding of pace and how to utilise it within the pages, all round make this a cracking offering.  I can't wait to see what happens next.