Top Three New to Me Books (Lauricia)

I was recently invited to be a book reviewer for a book website called ReedsyDiscovery. I had never heard of this website before, but now that I’m occasionally reviewing books for them, I have found some new-to-me authors that I’m pretty impressed with. The top three stories I’ve read so far are:

The Star of Fate by David T. Myers

Lando Bailey is having a bad day.

He’s having a string of bad days, actually – six months of them. All he wants is a chance to turn his life around, to change his fate.

Which is exactly what he gets after witnessing the death of a girl he’s never seen before. This single event sparks an action that alters the course of Lando’s life forever. His sudden change in fortune would be a dream come true if it didn’t feel like a practical joke. When people start dying, however, Lando realizes that his reversal of fortune is a joke to no one except, maybe, the Fates, themselves. Even so, Lando is determined to be the master of his destiny – if he can only wrestle it from the hands of the Moirai and the cult that serves them.

Set in Melbourne, Australia, The Star of Fate is an urban fantasy thriller filled with ancient Greek goddesses, demigods, shamans, and shadowhounds. The equivalent of Percy Jackson for adult readers, this fast-paced story draws readers in with its constant action and leaves no chance to walk away until the end. There is some mild adult content, but it is minimal.

I enjoyed this novel immensely – so much so that I will look for more from this author – and I recommend this story highly.

Raven Thrall (Legends of the Ceo San #1) by J. Elizabeth Vincent

Mariah is Ceo San, touched by the gods and gifted with the ability to shape-shift into a hawk. It’s supposed to be a blessing, but for Mariah, it feels more like a curse. Stuck somewhere between Human and animal form, Mariah must hide the wings that betray her identity or else she will be conscripted into the king’s army, enslaved to live as nothing more than a weapon.

Betrayed by someone she thought she could trust, Mariah is forced to flee her home. She manages to create a life of safety, even if it does mean being alone, until she meets Xae, a raven shifter whose family has been captured. Mariah is forced to choose between her life of relative safety or helping Xae rescue his family. In the process she learns more about herself than she ever thought possible and receives a calling on her life that could change the fate of the Ceo San forever.

Raven Thrall is an epic fantasy novel that examines the impact one person can make. Mariah’s conflicts do not influence her world on a grand scale, but they represent the common battles each of us face on a regular basis. Mariah’s growth throughout the story is organic and realistic and speaks to the way each person’s life can make a difference. This book will be especially appealing to readers who like strong female characters with strengths that lie outside the realm of mastery in weapons.

The Magician’s Sin by Alexander Thomas

Anson Walker is a retired-wizard-turned-monster-hunter who can’t die.

It’s a curse, really. One that can only be reversed during the Aberration, a magic event that occurs once every seventy years. Exhausted by the centuries and jaded with life, Anson plans to take advantage of the upcoming Aberration and end his unnatural existence.

Until the disappearance of Dixie Dupree, Anson’s ex-wife. When Dixie’s daughter recruits him to find her mother, Anson can’t turn her away. And as he searches for his former love, he discovers that he’s not quite as ready to die as he thought.

The Magician’s Sin is a fantasy noir novel that combines the elements of a gumshoe detective story with splashes of superhero, classical mythology, and occult motifs. The story is well written, and the pacing and tension are nicely balanced. I enjoyed the story and recommend it to fans of the genre. The only reason I gave it three stars instead of four is because the copy I read contained frequent typographical errors.

As a hard-core fan of fantasy literature, I’m always on the look-out for a new, really great book, so I’d love to hear what you’ve come across. Who are some of your favorite new-to-you authors?