Chronicles of the Dawnblade, Book Four I have so much to say about this book and ALL of it is good!
If you’ve been following my reviews of this Epic Fantasy Adventure by Andrew Claydon, you’ll know that the beginning of Book 3 had left me a little unsteady about the tone the series was taking, but while ‘The Odd Sea’ recovered in the second half, ‘Wrath and Wraiths” has blown all of my concerns out of the water from Chapter One. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling, once again filled to the brim with Claydon’s unmistakeably humor. Dry, witty, and a joy to read, and even though the middle of November is the busiest time of my year, once I dipped a toe inside the front cover, I couldn’t stop myself from finishing the whole book.
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Chronicles of the Dawnblade, Book Two I've been looking forward to getting my hands on this book basically since the moment I finished the first one. To the point where I recently backed the author's Kickstarter for signed physical copies. I waited to read it until my paperback arrived, and it was most definitely worth the wait. We rejoin the main character, Nicolas, back at home after his adventures in the first book, and Nicolas is not handling the trauma of those events well. He sees danger in every small sound, he's scared of the dark, his hands shake when they shouldn't, and his compulsive tendency to remind himself that 'there are no monsters out there' every time he has to open a door after the sun goes down is almost painfully believable in its realism. When a chance encounter with old friends leads him on a new adventure, I'm not sure if it's Nicolas who is more shocked, or us! Throughout 'Strange Companions' we meet up once more with many familiar faces from the first book, like Auron and Garaz, and even Potter, whom instinct tells me may become an important character later in the series. Each of them, in their own way, help Nick to overcome what he's already been through, and face the current conundrums they're faced with. Like a chicken that won't stop following them around. Andrew Claydon's unique and delightful humour flavours 'Strange Companions' as thoroughly as the first book, and makes this epic adventure a sheer delight with every turn of the page. But the beauty of this series is that Nicolas isn't a reluctant hero of the stereotypical variety. He has a genuine streak of cowardice, yet also a deep reserve of genuine bravery to counter it, and that pushes him to do the good thing, the right thing, in spite of his fears. Being brave isn't a lack of fear, it's being afraid and acting despite that fear, and Nicolas fully embodies that goodness of heart. It also makes him the reluctant, but ideal, role model for a surprise re-occurring character who may or may not be searching for redemption. All Nick's weary heart wants at the end of this adventure is to return home, but his journey isn't over yet and I, for one, can't wait to see how he and his friends handle the events of Book 3! Strange Companions is scheduled for release on December 5th.
You can purchase a copy in E-book or Paperback form via; Amazon UK or Amazon US Barnes & Noble Googleplay Smashwords Kobo UK or Kobo US Greetings, and happy July! I thought I'd combine my monthly update, with my Camp Nano update this time, so this post might get a little longer than usual. Are we ready for an update? Oh good! Let's dig in... Since my last update...Honestly, this month being a Camp Nano month has been a relief, since my main PC decided to die on me, and the rebuild has been scattered with nothing but problems.
The RAM arrived damaged and I had to send it back. Then I discovered my Power Supply was too old, and didn't have the required connectors, so I had to wait on a delivery for that part. Then the build kept flagging up various errors, so the motherboard and cpu had to get sent back to the suppliers, and I'm now waiting on testing of those parts. Being able to sit in my living room on a chromebook and just write to avoid my troubles has been a life saver for my mental state this month. Happy June! How are we all doing so far this month?
Summer has officially arrived here in the UK. We went from mid-teen centigrade temperatures, to over 30 degrees yesterday. It's made writing this week a genuine chore, because I struggle to think straight in the heat, but I've managed to not fall behind on my word count. I'm calling that a success! Are we ready for an update? Oh good! Let's dig in... Chronicles of the Dawnblade, Book One A refreshingly fantastic adventure! When I read the blurb for Andrew Claydon's debut novel, The Simple Delivery, and he was able to make me laugh, twice, in less that 160 words, I knew I had to take a chance on this book. I have always enjoyed reading epic fantasy books. They're the first book genre I truly fell in love with, but The Simple Delivery is truly something special. It's not just the relateability of the main character, Nicholas, and his pure irritation at having his life meddled with by mystical forces. It's not just the beautiful and varied collection of companions he gathers throughout his journey. It's not even, just, the cleverly woven rivalry of the enemy factions that we're introduced to, indicating complex lore, and richly thought out layers of worldbuilding. What really makes this book stand out to me is the crisp, sharp, dry, and utterly hilarious voice of the narrator. The irreverent manner in which this epic fantasy tale is told. I don't think there was a single chapter that didn't have me at least grinning at my screen, and at best, laughing aloud. Andrew Claydon's writing is fresh, and enjoyable, and fun, and his tone is sometimes so amsusing as to almost be a parody of what I've come to expect from the fantasy genre. I will be buying a copy to sit proudly on my bookshelf, and am eagerly looking forward to reading more of this authors work in the future. You can purchase a copy of The Simple Delivery, in E-book or Paperback form via;
Amazon UK or Amazon US Smashwords Barnes & Noble Kobo |
Arista Holmes
I'm a writer in her thirties, who is based in the South East of England. Archives
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