Tag Archives: giveaway

Book Review of Zoe Forward’s Forgotten in Darkness (Scimitar Magi #2)

I grabbed Zoe Forward‘s Forgotten in Darkness (Scimitar Magi #2) from the Amazon free list. I read and reviewed book one, Dawn of a Dark Knight last year.

Also of note is the giveaway currently running on Goodreads to win your own copy. Can’t really beat that.

Description from Goodreads:
After an unjustified two-century stint in purgatory, Scimitar Magus Dakar returns to the human realm, renewing his eons-old curse. Either he or the woman he loves must murder the other within days of meeting in each new lifetime. To break the vicious cycle, he must kill her before she strikes her deathblow, something he’s never done in the past.

Archaeology grad student Shay McGinnis suffers a near-death attack in pursuit of a piece of Scimitar Magi lore. But did the magnificent warrior who pinned her to the wall injure her or the daemon he fought? In her search for answers, she draws the attention of both an ancient evil sorcerer and the warrior Dakar. The attraction between her and Dakar is instant, and for Shay confusing. She wants to be with him, but intuition equates him with death. Not random death. Hers.

Will this be the lifetime they break the curse before they are murdered by an age-old enemy or worse kill each other yet again?

Review:
This is a fun continuation of the Scimitar Magi series. We meet up with all of our old friends from book one, see some change in a couple of them and then meet a few new ones.

Shay and Dakar make a fun couple. Shay is pretty much fearless and, though Dakar was supposed to smoulder what I enjoyed most were his lost-little-boy moments as he tried to acclimate to modern times. I also have to say ‘thank you’ to Ms. Forward for the formula-breaking new addition to the team. I can’t wait to see them interact with the crew in future books.

I did feel like everything was a little too easy for everyone though. The addition of Bochnori seemed to provide a boost that could solve any problem, the Gods popped in more than I would expect, and Shay’s final bluff worked a little too well to feel realistic. I can’t really imagine the big bad demon feeling enough affection about ANYTHING to compromise. But that might just be me.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. It was well written. I didn’t notice any editorial issues and the cover is a vast improvement on book one. Again, I’ll be looking forward to the next book.

Book Review of Joso Skarica’s From Within

Poet, Joso Skarica sent me a copy of his most recent collection, From Within. I’ve also seen it on the KDP free list at least once and those of you in US & GB can win a copy here.

Description:
This collection of poems was never meant to be read by anyone else but yours truly; let alone be published in a book format. They were created more than a decade ago by a young man who utilized poetry as a form of unconscious auto-psychotherapy. I have decided to unveil these poems as a testament of courage, boldness and brutal honesty that I was capable of at that particular time in my life. I am not sure whether that is the case today.

Review:
I find reviewing poetry really difficult. It’s often so personal that it can be hard to find the art in the emotional onslaught. But Joso asked me to give this collection a read, so I did. These are raw, often dark poems. But they have a good rhythm or meter and present their imagery in imaginative ways. I could really relate to some of them, but some went to dark places I’ve never visited. These were foreign landscapes that left me feeling a lot like a voyeur. Junkies, whores, rent boys, God, and sodomy (sometimes in the same poem) were not infrequent characters. Another Sun IS Rising was my favourite, For The Real People made me cringe, Jimmy Was a Teenage Hustler made me sad, Doors made me laugh, and Before the Rain left me breathless. But familiar or not, every single one of these poems made me FEEL, and in the grand scheme of poetry, isn’t that the point?

Some quick announcements

I know you haven’t heard much from me lately. I’m in the last few weeks of pulling my dissertation together and it’s pretty much Hell. But it will be finished soon (thank God(dess)) and I will be free again. In the mean time here are a few highlights of what has, is, or will be going on in the world of Sadie Forsythe and The Weeping Empress.

R.T. over at The Fraser Files posted a great 4.5 star review this morning, as well as an interview. I recommend checking it out. He writes about books, culture and the culturally deaf community. I know I learned something.

Mysti Parker over at Unwritten is having a, frankly, amazing giveaway that includes The Weeping Empress. I offered up 15 ecopies, thinking that was the normal range. Turns out most people only offered 1 0r 2, which left me looking like an outlier, but oh well. If you’re interested in a copy all you have to do is leave an email. Even if not after The Weeping Empress I would recommend heading over there. There are over 100 books up for grabs.

The July Smashwords sale was a raving success. The Weeping Empress was downloaded 250 times! I couldn’t be happier with that.