It’s been three years since Esa left her backwater planet to join the ranks of the Justified. Together, she and fellow agent Jane Kamali have been traveling across the known universe, searching for children who share Esa’s supernatural gifts.
On a visit to a particularly remote planet, they learn that they’re not the only ones searching for gifted children. They find themselves on the tail of a mysterious being with impossible powers who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the very children that Esa and Jane are trying to save.
With their latest recruit in tow—a young Wulf boy named Sho—Esa and Jane must track their strange foe across the galaxy in search of answers. But the more they learn, the clearer it becomes—their enemy may be harder to defeat than they ever could have imagined.

Initially, I was apprehensive about returning to this world as I sadly didn’t love book 1 as much as I had hoped, however, I have never been gladder to have taken the plunge again as this book is head and shoulders above what had come before in my view. Set a few years on from The Stars Now Unclaimed, it holds very much the same formula but just works so much better. A more developed Esa brings a balance to the crew and this books big bad felt more focused and genuinely petrifying at times!

I have to say I absolutely adore this cover, it has such an amazing retro feel to it and was what first drew me in to request a review copy. So why did this book work better for me? It just felt more accomplished, like the author had listened to feedback as pretty much all that had bothered me with book 1 was resolved. Esa was a much better choice as narrator than Jane, she is still learning all about her gifts and how to be her own person under the shadow of Jane. I found her easy going, humble at times and the battles felt well paced and well spaced out, giving time and opportunity for the characters to develop at a more natural pace. We got to see Esa very much come into her own as a character and this was a book where we grew with her throughout. Pretty much everyone met along the way gave her an extra piece of the puzzle as to either her background or how to find the things that will make her the best she can be. We also have characters that give Jane some much needed extra dimension too, this combined with the 3 years spent at Esa’s side allowed me to connect with her in a way I couldn’t before.

I really enjoyed the locations this time round which really showed the beauty of the universe and that not everywhere had been devastated by The Pulse. The author took the time to really paint a picture of the surroundings both in and out of space, which made me care all the more when some places ended up going to hell!

Huge props need to go out to creating a truly terrifying villain, I’m not going to name them as that’s part of the plot, but wow did I feel genuine anxiety whenever they turned up – a single being conveying far more dread and fear than a fleet of Pax ever could, I felt like I was back watching Terminator 2 at times! Belief in a religious cause above all else creating a formidable threat, in what could be read as a bit of veiled social commentary, or just someone who is crazy cakes.

I’m still not a fan of the section layout but the chapters this time around felt substantial and really served to make it a more enjoyable reading experience. I was a bit baffled as to why everyone had become 80% more sweary – not that I’m bothered by it, but it did feel that in the 3 year gap between books they had all learnt the F word and loved to use it.

With thanks to Darkroom Tours and Simon and Schuster for providing this advanced review copy. A Chain Across the Dawn, is everything that the series needed to become, epic in battles and thoughtful in character development – I’m now genuinely excited to see how the series continues where we’ll hopefully get to see a lot more of Sho!

4*

WANTED: Men and women willing to drive through the valley of the shadow of death.

The world’s population has been decimated by the Change, a chain reaction of events triggered by global warming. In Europe, governments have fallen, cities have crumbled and the wheels of production have ground to a halt. The Alps region, containing most of the continent’s remaining fresh water, has become a closed state with heavily fortified borders. Survivors cling on by trading through the Runners, truck drivers who deliver cargo and take a percentage. Amid the ruins of central Germany, two Runners, Cassady and Ghazi, are called on to deliver medical supplies to a research base deep in the Italian desert, where scientists claim to be building a machine that could reverse the effects of the Change. Joining the pair is a ragtag collection of drivers, all of whom have something to prove. Standing in their way are starving nomads, crumbling cities, hostile weather and a rogue state hell-bent on the convoy’s destruction. And there’s another problem: Cassady is close to losing his nerve.

A few months ago I took a step back from dystopian as I felt that there was nothing new to the genre for me, I’m so glad that the author reached out to me to review By the Feet of Men as this was certainly the book I had been waiting for to pull me out of that feeling. Fully immersive, thoughtful, gritty and as realistic an interpretation as you’re likely to get of a dystopian future in my view.

There were so many things that this book got right, the world, the characters and the premise. It was also really refreshing to have a dystopian set outside of the USA. What was left of Europe made a great setting, the diverse landscape and terrain making it easy to flip between conditions and as a European reader it was easier to visualise where they were travelling. It’s got a real road movie feel and plenty of Mad Max vibes for good measure. The real stand outs though are the characters, very much driven by them, (pun not intended) the story is somewhat introspective which is what really makes this book stand out from its peers. Rather than the cinematic writing style, all action fights and car chases often favoured by this genre, we have quiet contemplation, teamwork, and long forged friendships but also suspicion and the sense that it has all just become too much to bear. This makes fertile ground for the medical supply run that our runners are tasked with – a chance to make things a little better. By the Feet of Men really looks into the impact of living day to day in an established dystopian terrain. How the characters reconcile what they have to do and have done to survive, whilst retaining their humanity. It tells of a lonely life where friendships with travelling companions are often the only thing to keep runners going. There was also great female representation too, the women are just as tough as the men and I liked how the women present weren’t reduced to eye candy or damsels in distress, they are all runners. You may be thinking that this would make a dull read, but nothing could be further from the truth. There are fights and plenty of action, but only when necessary, there is a great parallel story running along the edge of our characters journey, which provides much of this and could be great scope for a sequel. The real page turning coming from the need as a reader to find out if the convoy makes it in time in the end and how they overcome each obstacle. This is without a doubt a page turner of a read and doesn’t rely on gimicky cliffhanger chapter endings to drive the story forward, it’s able to that under it’s own steam.

I really loved how the vehicles, the Pantechs, were characters in their own right too, they are very much the runners livelihood and it’s only right that were given the credit and care that they were due!

Were there any things that went wrong for me then? Very little in fact. Honestly, I didn’t really like the cover. It works well in the context of the story, by way of representation of the Pantechs, but it’s not one that jumps out to me and doesn’t really convey the great story underneath. It would actually work quite well as a movie poster though! I have to say I did on occasion feel a little confused about the characters that were speaking and being spoken too. For the most part all the team are referred to by surname, so when we’re given a first name as part of a round table discussion it wasn’t always clear to me. This is ultra ultra picky of me though but it did pull me out of the story a few times.

Truly though, this is an exceptional story with highly accomplished writing, I found it a timely reminder too of all that is currently wrong in the world with climate change. It’s totally a standalone but I would love to see a return to the world and one characters next steps as there are clearly plenty of opportunities to expand the world further!

5*

Jane Kamali is an agent for the Justified. Her mission: to recruit children with miraculous gifts in the hope that they might prevent the Pulse from once again sending countless worlds back to the dark ages.
Hot on her trail is the Pax–a collection of fascist zealots who believe they are the rightful rulers of the galaxy and who remain untouched by the Pulse.
Now Jane, a handful of comrades from her past, and a telekinetic girl called Esa must fight their way through a galaxy full of dangerous conflicts, remnants of ancient technology, and other hidden dangers.
And that’s just the beginning . . .

Firstly I would like to thank Simon and Schuster and Darkroom tours for providing me with a copy of this book to review in advance of the release of Book 2, A Chain Across the Dawn. I’m a huge fan of science fiction and space opera’s rank pretty highly for me. The Stars now Unclaimed reads like one giant space battle and the author is highly accomplished at writing battles both in space and on the ground. The story and premise was amazing, I got total Firefly vibes from it at times, because for the most part it read like an episode of that series which I love! This is mainly down to the planet on which Jane finds Esa, it’s very homestead centric but this time mainly unawares of technology of the world outside. We also have the presence of the Preacher, a Barious, who’s technological heritage has left them slowly becoming extinct as a result of the mysterious pulse, yet a handy person to have onside.  The space travel is great and I’m glad that the story moved around, the battles and endgame are epic in their lunacy and brilliance. The Pax, never quite cut it as villains for me though, I just don’t think enough time was allotted to making them feel like they were a big bad, I suppose they were meant to be a bit like the Borg, but just missed the mark.

The cover to me conveyed that it was likely to be a comedy of sorts (it gave off a bit of a Hitchhikers feel), and whilst there is some darker humour, it not to the degree that I thought it would be. There is some banter and many of the interactions are laced with sarcasm or with the type of jibes that you can only get away with when looking at long standing friendships! These were fun as it let us learn more about the secrets of some characters pasts. The real standout character was Shaz, the onboard AI of Jane’s ship – she reminded me a little of Iko from the Lunar Chronicles, she was utterly endearing and actually stole the show. Jane is our narrator but I found her a little one dimensional, this, i feel is by design for the most part with her battle hardened and solitary way, but it did make her harder to gel with.

I have to say though that I struggled with the layout of this paperback. The font is small, in a “do I need reading glasses?” kind of way, maybe i’m getting old but squinting isn’t my favourite book look. Also the book is divided into a number of parts (totally fine) but each part starts again at Chapter 1, which I know is technically acceptable but I didn’t enjoy not really knowing where I was. Each chapter lasts no more than 2-3 pages, which also makes for a strange reading experience. These are a real shame because they totally detracted from the book as a whole for me. Remember when I said It’s like one giant space battle? The downside of that is that its like fight after fight after fight with little room for character development unless it happened over comm during a fight.

The hardest part of this review is that I actually did enjoy what the story was trying to do and it did managed it in places I just needed fewer explosions and more interactions so I felt a connection with the characters.

3*

As the renowned granddaughter of Isabella Camherst (Lady Trent, of the riveting and daring Draconic adventure memoirs) Audrey Camherst has always known she, too, would want to make her scholarly mark upon a chosen field of study.
When Lord Gleinheigh recruits Audrey to decipher a series of ancient tablets holding the secrets of the ancient Draconean civilization, she has no idea that her research will plunge her into an intricate conspiracy, one meant to incite rebellion and invoke war. Alongside dearest childhood friend and fellow archeologist Kudshayn, must find proof of the conspiracy before it’s too late.

I was initially totally drawn into by the cover of this book, I’m usually trash for anything with dragons and the 4 dragons hatching from the single egg is amazing, beautifully illustrated and totally on point with the story. Whilst this is a standalone in the Lady Trent universe, I have to be honest and say I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it had read the books that had come before. Having that already established understanding of the world and those that inhabit it would have been a large bonus, I know that’s not a failing of the author though.

The story did take me a bit of time to get into, it’s compiled of a combination of news articles, diary entries, letters, and studies, which isn’t what I’m used to, but I did eventually get into the flow. I liked how the author appeared mindful of newcomers to the series though and we are drip fed information rather than one large infodump. This worked well in a couple of ways, firstly in that I didn’t feel overwhelmed and secondly in that the story is one of discovery and revelation in any event. Whilst a fictional fantasy world, this read very much as Victorianesque in terms of sensitivities, vocabulary, and surroundings, so great if you enjoy a historical feel. Things definitely picked up for me with the arrival of Kudshayn, as Audrey felt more at home when they started working together, their kinship making her more likeable and having someone to bounce off brought much needed colour to the story. Whilst the topic of translation is a dry one, there is a great deal of excitement as the translations take place and the story of the Epic begins to take shape. The book raises a lot of important questions about tolerance, inclusion and agenda’s, which gave the opportunity to expand into what became a great mystery to solve, with a race against time feel. I found myself wishing that more of the book read like the closing quarter as it really was exceptional.

There were, however, narrative and formatting choices which I found hard to get on with. Whilst I absolutely adored the passages containing the translations of the Epic (in fact these parts and Audrey’s diary were my favourite) I found the conversational footnotes difficult to find a flow with. This was a real shame as Audrey and Kudshayn’s discussions were fascinating, just not in tandem with the translation itself. I sadly found myself eventually ignoring the footnotes and just reading the translations as they were. I’d be interested to see how this would be laid out in ebook form as it may work better that way. I also struggled with the large amount of italicised text that appeared every time we were faced with correspondence, this often went on for many pages and it was hard going on my eyes.

Whilst by the very end I was fully immersed in the story and excitement I did struggle a lot to find my footing and perhaps the style just wasn’t for me. I’m sure established fans of the series will love this though!

3*

Fionn is the wielder of a legendary Tempest Blade, and he is blessed – or cursed – by the Gift. Though his days as a warrior are long over, his past leaves him full of guilt and regret. Life, however, has other plans for him, when he agrees to help a friend locate a missing person.
Gaby and Alex never expected to become heroes… until they met Fionn. As an ancient evil arises and consumes the land, Fionn must help them to master their own Gifts and Tempest Blades.
Together the three of them, and their friends, will chart a course aboard the flying ship Figaro to save the planet. Will Fionn’s past be an anchor, or will he overcome the one failure from his former life before time runs out?
In a world where magic and science intermingle, anything is possible.
Including second chances.

Straight off the bat, this is a whirlwind of a book, it’s colourful, imaginative, with great characters and world building. Personally, I found it just a little hectic at times. There are a ton of great things in this story and as a lover of high fantasy, the opening pages were by far my favourite. Great banter, confident characters that were awesome and they knew it, amazing battles with mystical weapons and magics. The violence has very much an anime/manga feel, ultra violent, with plenty of belief suspending moves and loss of limbs. These moments felt like I was watching a manga in my mind or back playing mortal kombat in my bedroom! For much of the book I was left feeling that it would work incredibly well as a graphic novel and the cover is far more suited to that than a fiction novel. I’m sorry to say that the cover didn’t really work for me in this context. The fights are very much the main focus of this book and what happens in between often feels a bit like a means of getting from one battle to another. I didn’t mind this though as the combat was incredibly well written and I loved it, however, if you’re sensitive to a lot of violence and killing then it may get too much.

The characters were just my favourite type of rag tag misfit brigade. The magics are known as “the Gift” and they are a great blend of those who’s gift is established, those who are coming into their gift and those who are not gifted at all, although all have their place. The Tempest Blades feel like characters themselves and I have to give a shout out to the great take on the tale of Excalibur! Gaby is by far my favourite of the team, I am a huge fan of the resident evil films and she had a real Alice feel, especially with the way she fought and her “lets do this” attitude. The monsters had an interesting feel to them, like inspiration had been drawn from a number of well loved fandoms and given the presence of the maze, I did give thought to the maze runner series too. I loved the school of the Freefolk it was so beautifully written giving it a dreamlike feel, I actually felt pretty awestruck as it began to take shape in my mind. The the author does description so well, really taking the time to paint a picture of the surroundings. These moments were needed as an antidote to the fighting, as it left me with a feeling that they actually had something to fight for. As well as the fantasy elements, there are times of social commentary which felt pertinent to today’s world and I liked how those moments were woven in.

I’m finding it really hard to settle on a rating because whilst I loved the characters, the battles and magic system, I found it a little hard going at times, there is a lot happening and I was often left wishing that it felt more grounded, some of the dialogue felt repetitive and at times I did feel a little blinded by the science. It’s also not a pick up and put down book, but when I had a good chunk of reading time, things fell into place far more neatly. The genres seemed to flip and change too, starting as high fantasy, moving to urban fantasy and then to a kind of low/high fantasy hybrid. When you’re in each section it works brilliantly but I did find each shift a little jarring.

In the scheme of things though these are really minor points and for the most part I did really enjoy it. My thanks to Ricardo Victoria for the review copy and I hope to see the Tempest Blades on another adventure in the future!

4*