SPFBO 10 Champions’ League: Reign & Ruin by J. D. Evans – Review
... blends romance, magic, and courtly intrigue into a story driven as much by emotion as by politics. Set in a richly imagined, Middle Eastern inspired world, it follows characters…
... blends romance, magic, and courtly intrigue into a story driven as much by emotion as by politics. Set in a richly imagined, Middle Eastern inspired world, it follows characters…
"It’s one of those rare books that transforms as you read it, and then transforms you in turn."
A wonderful mix of mystery, adventure and heart. It captures the spirit of old-school fantasy while keeping a modern warmth that makes it easy to love.
It is sharp without being flowery and keeps the focus where it belongs, on the characters and their choices.
French deserves credit for doing something original with grimdark genre and creating a setting quite different to what you will usually have read.
A beautiful book, beautifully written.
Do not read this book at 3am whilst suffering from insomnia and then discover there is NO chocolate in the house, in any form!!
A very well-written story with plenty of atmosphere, and the relationships—both new and old—being particularly well done.
...a clever, gritty little gem. A witty, tightly written fantasy adventure with a phenomenal lead, great humor, surprising emotional depth, and just enough chaos to keep things unpredictable.
It's June first. It's time for the third round of SPFBO X! It's the 10 year anniversary of SPFBO, and we’re celebrating it with a Champions League round. All 10…
This was my favourite of the SPFBO books by quite some distance. It’s a powerful story about outsiders, how they try to fit in, and how they are treated.
The plot starts with a classic fantasy trope but quickly deepens into something more complex, balancing humor, action, and reflective moments.