Keepers of Arden Book Review

Author: L.K.Evans
Date of Publication: June 27, 2013 (Kindle)
Publisher: Unleashed LLC
Pages: 465
Genre: Fantasy
Paperback or Kindle: Kindle


Fiery Fantasy Thoughts

The lands of Arden are being plagued by horrors from a vile darkness. One terrifying night, shadow and fire come together to spawn a child, granting Wilhelm’s wish for a sibling. His brother, Salvarias, is born with gifts of magic and a soul that can grant instant victory to the evil. But Wilhelm’s immunity to the darkness gives him the ability to thwart the evil’s scheme to poison Salvarias to its purpose. Will courage and the brothers’ bond keep Arden from falling into eternal darkness?

I really enjoyed this book as it was the first real adult fantasy book I had read for a while that wasn't in the YA genre.

Written from the third person perspective, we are introduced to young Wilhelm and the attack on his town by the shadow entities.

Clinging onto his mother as they tried to get back home, we see how innocent he is and how close he is to his mother as he witnesses these misty beasts killing individuals around him.

With very good descriptive skills, L.K. Evans was able to build an unique fantasy world, complete with strongly developed characters and good twists and turns to keep the reader interested until the end.

Although, heavily descriptive in the beginning as it set the scene about the 'Shadowfire's' killing people in the town and suspicions of witches conjuring them up, it did not distract me from the nicely described relationship between the brothers and sisters as the style of the writing makes you feel a number of emotions as she are taken on this magical ride with them.

I did feel that maybe if it was written from a first person point of view (in particular, Wilhelm) I might have felt like I was deeper in this fantasy world as at some points I did feel I was being told too much and not being able to let my imagination flow.

With all of these points, I give this book 4 wings out of 5 as I would recommend this book to ALL fantasy fans and look forward to more of L.K. Evan's books.

Check the Ratings Page to see what 4 wings means!


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Alana

The Black Elf of Seaward Isle Book Review

Author: Joni Parker
Date of Publication: July 17, 2012 (Kindle)
Publisher: Village Green Press LLC
Pages: 240
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Paperback or Kindle: Both


Fiery Fantasy Thoughts

The first volume in the extraordinary new fantasy trilogy from Joni L. Parker. Trapped on an island, shipwrecked time travellers struggle first to survive and then--to escape.

Elves, dwarves and mortals mingle in a world filled with pirates, political intrigue and magic. Their fates rest in the hands of one young woman, the orphan Lady Alexin.

Half Elf and sole descendant of a Titan ancestor, she trained as a warrior, to avenge her parents' deaths, unaware that only she has the power to save them all.

I love a Fantasy story, however this one fell a little short for me.

I enjoyed the background information, but I did feel a little overwhelmed at the amount of information that was thrown at me in parts.

There was a lot going on with a variety of characters and places and your imagination was always kept active by sub plots coming and going but I did think that due to all of these things going on I was a little confused at times.

Also, I found the grammatical and spelling errors a little distracting and thought if this book had an editor to deal with the grammatical errors and slim down some of the heavily detailed background information, it would be a fantastic read.

But due to these weaknesses, I can only give this fantasy book 2 wings out of 5 as it did not set my world on fire!

Check the Ratings Page to see what 2 wings means!


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Eva

What Hides Within Book Review

Author: Jason Parent
Date of Publication: 25 July, 2012 (Kindle)
Publisher: Double Dragon eBooks
Pages: 308
Genre: Horror, Crime
Paperback or Kindle: Both


Fiery Fantasy Thoughts

Inside all of us, there is darkness. Inside Clive, it's tangible, and it's aching to get out.

What Hides Within tells the story of a man held captive by an unknown evil. Clive Menard is a spineless slacker leading an ordinary existence. But when Chester enters his life, it becomes far from ordinary.

A disheveled Clive stands alone in a hospital waiting room. A series of incidences have led him to undergo unnecessary neurosurgery. A voice inside Clive's head nags him to kill the doctor.

Weeks prior, a murder investigation and an unrelated kayaking excursion set the story's interlocking events in motion. When a remorseful killer, a bomb-happy psychopath and a mysterious widow spider converge upon Clive, they bring with them destruction and death. Clive must discover who or what is steering his very existence before he, too, is consumed by the carnage around him.

With a driven detective following his every step and a vicious killer hiding within his circle of friends, Clive must walk a narrow and dangerous path, teetering between salvation and damnation. He must confront Chester and his own demons. But is he powerless to overcome them?

This story is one which I feel I have read a few elements of before (Frankenstein, The Exorcist and Tales from the Crypt).

The main character, Clive, is arrogant, dismissive and is not happy with his life however he does not seem to feel the need to make any changes to make him into a better person. 

This all changes when he begins to have trouble with his hearing, which develops into vivid dreams and progresses onto him getting brain surgery.

He thinks he's going crazy but we soon realise that there is something more to what is going on in his head...

I always enjoy a story about some type of entity taking over the host but I did find a few issues with this one.

I liked that Parent left a lot to the reader's imagination, however I personally felt that it would have been nice to know a little more in parts.

I also got a little confused when it changed point of views, so when I thought I was reading his thoughts, I was actually reading another character's without any warning.

And lastly, there were a few minor grammatical and spelling issues which I noticed but this did not distract my enjoyment throughout this dark and creepy story.

Overall I give this book a healthy 3 out of 5 wings as I enjoyed the concept of the story even though it did remind me of other books.

Check the Ratings Page to see what 3 wings means!


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Alana

Book Reviews On HOLD until December!

Hi Lovely Authors and Beautiful Bookworms,

Unfortunately, due to our commitments away from the Fiery Fantasy Book Reviews Site, we are unable to accept anymore Book Review requests until December!

We have had a fantastic response to our advertisements calling for authors to contact us but unfortunately, there are just not enough hours in the day for us to indulge in a great book!

The books we are currently reading will still get a review, however these may be slightly delayed by a week or two but so far, we are enjoying all of them and look forward to receiving more amazing books in December.

Hope you all understand!

Eva and Alana x