Tales from the Circle

    Miss Percy's Guide to the Restoration of Dragons is a wonderful conclusion to this trilogy. The ever-growing cast of excellent characters that feel so real continues to grow, bringing more great characters and also giving more depth to some of the characters that were already introduced in the previous two volumes. This book is full of adventure and difficult situations for Mildred and the others, so much so that I felt intense anger and stress for her future at times, but it's also full of that same cozy vibe that permeated the other two.  With this series the coziness stems from the character interactions and the fact that even though it's a book about dragons you can see similarities and connections to very real behaviours that a pet or child might display. The way Mildred cares for the dragons - and for everyone else around her, really - is so reminiscent of a mother or other caregiver worrying about and caring for their kids, which makes it all so believable in t...

Never by Ashley Capes is a great prequel story. It's got elements of fantasy in a well-built world, but leans a bit more towards sword and sorcery as it focuses on thieves and mercenaries. I've wanted to read something by Ashley Capes for a while and I'm glad I started with this one. It was a nice fast well-written tale that makes me want to learn more about the world and the character. Never is not only the name of the story, it's also the name of the main character, which, along with his "curse," drives him to learn more about his past/identity. I don't want to spoil anything, but the curse subplot is intriguing, little hints of it sprinkled in expertly throughout the story, allowing us to get a feel for the character's motivation.  The story might be short, but it packs in a lot of action, world-building, and characterization. And it's not just the main character that gets fleshed out, the other characters are also developed with care.  Check it...

The Prism Effect by J. Wint is set in a future post-apocalyptic Earth (or, rather, on some belt structures orbiting the now almost uninhabitable Earth) and it follows the main character Jet through the beginning of his university career. He's not a normal university student, though, he has a rare condition that makes his eyes glow and renders him an outcast - a condition about which not much is known, except that there is no cure. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the first 2/3 of it when it focused on the mystery of the condition and Jet dealing with it and making connections with others on campus. The slow pursuit of more information about this condition and the way that's woven in with his university life (which is mostly sport-focused) is well done. I'm not the biggest sports fan or anything, but I found the way that was done realistic and I never felt it overwhelmed the story. It allowed us to see some aspects of Jet's day to day without having to go too d...

I've never been one to get physical copies of books. From a very young age only the local libraries could support my extensive reading addiction. When I discovered how convenient ebooks are I switched almost completely away from physical books to ebooks, whether it's from the library or books I buy on kobo and amazon. So my physical collection is very tiny. It consists of a couple of copies of the Lord of the Rings, one of them very beat-up from the number of times I've read and re-read it, and the Harry Potter books from 3-7 because there was no way I was waiting until that came to the library and had to have them as soon as they came out. I've also got a handful of other books I somehow collected over the years.  Lately, though, I've found myself mentally shelving certain books into a future physical library. These are all books I loved so much that I know I definitely need to have a copy of them if I ever decide to get a bookshelf and start a physical collection....

 Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons is basically like a Jane Austen novel, but the main character inherits a dragon egg. The egg hatches. She has to deal with it while also dealing with her growing realization that the life she's settled into isn't exactly the life she wanted. Her inheritance changes her life, slowly but surely, but I loved that Mildred doesn't immediately become some hardened adventurer at the drop of a hat. She remains true to her character and reacts to the change in her life in realistic ways, making the book more charming than ever and adding another excellent thread of her personal growth into the plot.  It's a cozy book, but not one without excitement and adventure. The plot really comes together near the end and delivers a satisfying action-packed conclusion. That being said, this is book 1 in a series and the doors were definitely left open for even bigger adventures. I think it works well enough on its own...

    Cinnamon Bun by Ravens Dagger is described as "A Wholesome LitRPG" and that's really what it is. I don't think I've read any other LitRPG, but I found it a good introduction to the genre, so don't be afraid of that subtitle if you've never tried the genre or aren't much of a gamer. It's basically an adventure story where a young girl (high schooler, I think) is sitting in class when a little magical message pops up in front of her inviting her to accept a mission to purge the world of a great evil. When she accepts, she is transported to a different world, a fantasy videogame world.  She explores the world, excited for adventure, and discovers that she can gain skills (like you would in a videogame). But instead of being a warrior or mage or something her "class" is Cinnamon Bun and she gets skills like cleaning and friend-making. She also definitely doesn't want to kill anything, and I love the way that her morals were incorporat...

  The Lord of Stariel is a slow paced, almost slice of life, fantasy story with a period drama feel to it. I flew through this short, cozy tale of a young woman going back home after six years away to attend her father's funeral. She slowly gets accustomed to her old home and deals with her feelings towards her family and the lands of her estate.  I absolutely loved how slow paced it was. If you're looking for action or a fast-paced plot you might find yourself bored, but I personally loved how easy and comfortable it was for me to slowly sink into the Stariel Estate along with Hetta. Eventually dangers do intrude on this quiet world and the plot picks up the pace, but this doesn't happen until closer to the end so don't read this book expecting world-ending dangers or anything.  There is magic and it's almost steampunk-ish in the way it's embedded into this world, but there is also a kind of magic present within the land of Stariel itself and there's also a...

  Burning Bright was the story I didn't know I needed to get me out of this reading slump. It's like a period drama by Austen mixed with a naval adventure story (ala Horatio Hornblower) mixed with magical powers/superpowers. Very interesting combination and a well-written story.  Elinor Pembroke's power manifests one night while she's asleep... and she sets her room on fire. She's 21 and unmarried so her parents - mostly her father - decide that this Extraordinary power she has to control fire makes her a more eligible match and they try to find her some rich/powerful husband. This is the interesting thing about the worldbuilding that reminded me a little bit of Temeraire, the author has put these powers into this historical time period and they're being used within the society like in the army, in fire brigades, etc. Elinor is a noblewoman, so her family doesn't expect her to use her power for anything, especially since she manifested late/at an older age, ...

Hi everyone, For the past couple of months I've been collecting recommendations of beloved books and asking the authors of those books to put them on sale! The result:   - 53 awesome SFF books on sale for only $0.99 each  - Recommendations so you know why the book is awesome   - There are SPFBO and SPSFC books in here for those following those contests  Check it out:  https://www.talesfromthecircle.com/epicsale2021.html Last year I picked up Between the Shade and the Shadow based on Calvin Park's recommendation in this sale and it was one of the best books I read in 2020! I can't wait to find out what new gems I'll discover this year. And I'll be sure to share my thoughts here!  Hope you find something you enjoy reading!

It's only April, but I already know this book is going on my top reads of the year. Sarah Mensinga has written another excellent fantasy book with unique world-building, excellent character development, a wonderful exploration of systemic problems within a society, and lots of magic and adventure! Shimmerdark starts off in the claustrophobic environment of a cave where the main character Xylia is sheltering from vicious nocturnes with a few others during a month-long darkness. I wasn't necessarily hooked right from the start with this introductory chapter, but I've read another book by the author and I know she's got excellent world-building skill so I kept reading and was soon glued to the pages. The story and world became extremely interesting as Xylia and her friends got rescued from the island they'd been shipwrecked on and went back to their intriguing world. I particularly love how the steampunk-like technology is woven in with the magical powers that exist in...

Amari and the Night Brothers is an excellent middle-grade fantasy book that can be read and enjoyed by adults. It follows the adventures of a young girl named Amari who discovers that there is a supernatural world that exists right alongside and within the normal world she's so used to. Her brother, who is now missing, has left her a nomination for a tryout at the Department of Supernatural Affairs, so she has the opportunity to go to a summer camp and try out for a position in the Bureau. This not only open up a whole new world for her, it also allows her to find out more about why he's missing and to look for him.  What follows is an excellent adventure where Amari learns to deal with an navigate her role in the supernatural world while at the same time learning to deal with and understand the racism and prejudice she faces in the real world. From the very beginning of the book the author shines a light on the prejudice that Black children face in their schools and daily live...

QuaranCon 2021, a free, online fantasy and scifi convention is starting in less than 15 hours! I'm involved in the behind the scenes planning and I can tell you it's going to be awesome. There will be free to watch panels, workshops, and readings!  See the full schedule here:  https://www.quarancon2020.com/2021schedule And check out our sale of amazing SFF books:  storyoriginapp.com/to/qpUCuho There's so much awesome content planned! Here's tomorrow's program:  I'm very excited for the SPFBO panel, the magical systems panel, and the reading with Allan Batchelder. This is going to be awesome! Hope you can tune in and enjoy all the great content. 

Of Blood and Steel by Seymour Zeynalli is an easy to read, adventure story that I was happy to turn to whenever I had free time. It follows the adventures of a young woman who is trying to get herself and a baby safely through rough terrain and the hardened old assassin that she hired to escort them. I thoroughly enjoyed that traditional fantasy feel of these people going on a long journey and facing interesting new threats and creatures and situations along the way. And as they go on, they also discover more about each other and about themselves. There's a great story here, hints of great world-building, and clearly a lot of storytelling potential by this new author. I'm going to be keeping an eye on his later works, because I think with a bit more experience he's going to soon be telling some exceptional stories.  I mentioned that this has that traditional fantasy adventure feel that I enjoyed. I must also mention that the author set out to bring the unique flavour of the...

Child of the Daystar by Bryce O'Connor is another great book I picked up in the r/Fantasy megasale. I picked it up based on the cover, which featured a humanoid dragon figure, and even though I had not read the description and didn't really know what to expect I ended up enjoying this book a lot. In fact, it's been one of the few books I've been able to actually enjoy in the past few months.  The protagonist Raz, the "Child of the Daystar" from the title, is a toddler from the dragon-like race of Atherians, who starts off at the beginning of the book in chains, being transported through the desert by human slavers. The boy is very strong, though, and in his bid for freedom he ends up seriously injuring some of the slavers and killing two of them. In the struggle, one of them hits him over the head and he is presumed dead and left in the desert next to the bodies of the two dead slavers. He is found, and eventually taken in, by a family of desert dwelling nomad...

 Hi everyone,  I got together with a group of authors of SPFBO books past and present to put our books on sale. So if you've been meaning to check out some books that have been in the SPFBO you might find what you're looking for here. We've got some great books on offer, including finalists and semi-finalists of the competition.  I'm also currently participating in a couple of other great promos. Check them out:  And  I hope you find something you enjoy among all these great-looking titles! 

It's been a crazy month - a crazy fall semester - a crazy year. But I got some reading and writing done this year. As for the reading, I'm hoping to make a "Top 5 Books I read this year" post soon, so look out for that.  Writing-wise, I wrote a fantasy novella last weekend. It'll be a little while before it's ready to be published. I usually like to leave my stories alone for a while after I've written them so I can look back in a couple of months and see what I think of them later- the distance helps me decide if they're publishing worthy and see any flaws that need to be edited. And, of course, it'll also need a cover. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it and I'm very excited to eventually share it with you all. I can tell you it takes place in a couple of different locations in The Land of Sunsets including Red Fern City. I can also tell you that there's one little bit of a scene in the end of the novella that surprised me. Those are always t...

So now that I've finished that sci-fi WIP that fantasy story that was bothering me so much suddenly feels a lot less urgent/has left me alone. So nothing unusual, I guess, since that always tends to happen to me. Still, I'm slowly but surely working on planning it and excited to start writing soon. Right now it's looking like it's going to be a series of six stand-alone, but chronological novels.  I'm participating in a few free promos and sales that I thought I would share. There are so many books available here for free or for discounted prices!  Mid-November Miraculous Fantasy Giveaway  Fantasy and Adventure Novels Black Friday/Cyber Monday Book Sale $3.99 and Under or KU Books Paranormal/Fantasy/UF/Sci-Fi And finally, a promotion I've organized myself:  Uncover a Fantasy World I hope you find something among these titles that you enjoy! :)

My Short story Wandering Storm is in this great sale among some excellent fantasy books. Check it out:

I'm very excited to be able to announce and share a project I've been working on for the last little while. As you may know if you've ever visited this website before I've come across a few absolutely amazing fantasy books that don't seem to have a lot of hype (yet) - these are listed in my Hidden Gems section of the website. These are all excellent books that I would put on par with the best of the best and I'm going to keep shouting about them until they get super famous because they're just that good. But I also know there are many more such excellent books out there that I haven't necessarily found yet. So it occurred to me to ask the authors of my hidden gems books if they had recommendations of awesome books that they absolutely loved. After all, I've come to trust these authors to offer me excellent fiction, so of course the books they enjoy must also be awesome! So I asked those authors what their beloved books were and then I contacted ...