Author: hhbennett

The Ghosts of Sherwood was a really surprising read for me, but delightfully so. Published by Tor.com, I expected a fantasy-esque story with magic or something otherwise fantastical. However, The Ghosts of Sherwood is a quiet story, albeit a quiet story with its moments of action. It’s quiet in its setting, in its character building, and in its plot. There is no magic – at least no magic more than some characters being able to shoot a bow and arrow really, really well – but I didn’t miss it here.

This wonderful little novella, clocking in at only 112 pages, feels like childhood all grown up. It’s about Robin Hood and his family; it’s about duty and love and the surprising places that strength can hide. But mostly, it’s about family and found family, and the lengths we go to for those we love.

First of all, I must say, I unabashedly love Robert Jackson Bennett’s writing. I have only read two other books by him (Vigilance and Foundryside), but those books were both five stars for me and they solidly placed him on my favorite authors list. Though Vigilance was definitely my favorite of the two previous books of his that I read, I also really, really loved Foundryside – the first book in the Founders trilogy. Foundryside reminded me how much I actually do like fantasy novels – a feat that no other adult fantasy novel I’ve attempted to read has been able to do since Lord of the Rings.

Every so often I go through Goodreads and make lists of books I want to read or authors I want to try. For a really long time, Mark Lawrence has been at the very top of that list. I have heard such good things about his Book of the Ancestor trilogy from pretty much everyone in the SFF community, and I even picked up physical copies of both Red Sister and Grey Sister a while back (but of course never got around to reading them).

When I heard Lawrence had a new series coming out, I absolutely knew it was the right time to finally pick up a book of his. His new series, The Book of the Ice, starts with the recently released The Girl and the Stars, and is connected to his Book of the Ancestor trilogy. However, you don’t have to have read or be be familiar with his previous series to enjoy this new book. Honestly, after picking this one up, I don’t know why I ever waited so long to start one of Lawrence’s books! The Girl and the Stars is totally living up to the hype, and it’s been a super fun fantasy read.

I’m back again, guys! It’s been a crazy few weeks in my neck of the woods, and productivity has been difficult for me. But I’m finally back at this with a review of my newest and current read, The Heron Kings by Eric Lewis. This is actually Day 1 of the Blog Tour for The Heron Kings, and I am so thrilled to be a part of the journey! The Heron Kings is a fantasy story set in a world ravaged by the violence of war, and it’s told from an unlikely protagonist – a former nun who was previously devoted to caring for the battle-wounded soldiers from both sides of the war. If you like war-time fiction and epic fantasies, then I think you’ll love this book.