#fantasyreads

You yelped as your partner shot out of the window and flung himself onto the roof of your building.

He landed with annoying grace, leaned over the edge of the roof. “Come up!” Your Vampire Boyfriend whispered.

You rubbed your fingers on your sweaty palms. “How am I supposed to do what you do? I haven’t got the grip, nor the power, to do what you do!” You snapped back.

It also doesn’t help that all the building’s exterior was a smooth brick that you had no hope of climbing. But you kept that part to yourself.

Your Vampire had said that he had a surprise for you, and the last thing you wanted was to be nasty to him. Especially when he was trying to do something nice for you.

Your Vampire looked over his shoulder, up at the sky. “Then give me your hand.” He held his arm over the edge of the roof, fingers splayed.

Locking your hand over his wrist, you allowed him to pull you up and onto the roof. When you were stable on the rooftop, he tugged you closer, resting a hand on your waist.

He gave you a smug grin as you rolled your eyes. “If you wanted me to be close to you, you should have just asked.” You smiled.

“Yeah, but it’s not as romantic if I just ask, is it? I have to have an excuse for it.” And as if he summoned it, a shot flew into the sky, leaving a stream of orange glittering behind it. “And what perfect excuse than to watch the fireworks with you?”

The shot exploded into the shape of a star, before evaporating in a shower of green sparks and vanishing into the dark night sky.

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FALL INTO A NEW SERIES

🎶✨ THE SINGER OF TERANDRIA GIVEAWAY ✨🎶

YOUR BACKSTAGE PASS TO A WORLD OF SONG AND SHADOWS

This October, celebrate spooky season by stepping behind the curtain of The Singer of Terandria, the spellbinding fantasy series by pirateaba, featuring Gravesong, Huntsong, and Ghostsong. Now available in text and audiobook formats!

In celebration of ghostly [Knights], [Hunters] of the undead, and magic that sings louder than steel, we're inviting everyone to take their chance and enter to win VIP-themed prizes inspired by the Innverse's favorite [Singer] and the web she's found herself entangled in.

Enter now and get your chance at winning your VIP Backstage package!

First Prize: Ultimate Fan VIP Backstage Package!

1 x Gravesong Sweatshirt

1 x Gravesong Baseball Cap

3 x Concert Wrist Bands

1 x Concert Lanyard with Backstage Pass Print

1 x 4 Pack of Gravesong Stickers

Four Runner Ups: VIP Backstage Package!

1 x Gravesong Baseball Cap

3 x Concert Wrist Bands

1 x Concert Lanyard with Backstage Pass Print

1 x 4 Pack of Gravesong Stickers

Competition open until October 19th!

Stay warm out there, Rivers Peak! ❄️✨ The snow is officially on its way, and it looks like it’s going to be a big one! We are expecting a significant accumulation that will likely turn our town into a real-life winter wonderland (or a very cozy fortress) for the next few days.  As a fairy, I’ll be staying close to the fireplace—my wings definitely aren’t fans of the freezing temperatures! …

Mythical Beasts - John Cherry

This interesting book is a cross between a bestiary and something else altogether. While it is divided into creatures like a normal bestiary the chapters on each creature are very long. They focus on the historical origins of the creatures. These discussions are illustrated by fantastic images of paintings or artifacts that demonstrate the point Cherry is making.So not only do we get to see Cherry's tracking of the creatures through time, but we also get to see how their depiction changes. The changes and differences on display are both over time and cross-cultural.I liked this book so much because of the wealth of detail in the origins and stories around these creatures.I had originally purchased this to aid the development of a TV series I was writing on and the detail and historical accuracy was key for that purpose.

Caraway Auclair has devoted herself to protecting her brother, serving as the ship’s first mate and enforcer. Sacrificing nearly all she is to ensure that he becomes the most fearsome pirate Captain to ever sail the Carnelian Sea. She realizes too late, that the seas have only grown darker, and the waves more fearsome, they threaten to pull her under completely and mold her into something akin to a nightmare.

Caraway of the Sea, a new novel by Madeline Burget, is a new entry to the pirate fantasy/romance space. Billed as a ‘grim cozy pirate tale’, it promises slow-burn romance and lots of paranoia.

And boy does it deliver.

Caraway, our titular main character, is a young woman in a man’s world. Here, though she did hide herself as a man in events prior to the story, hiding as a man isn’t the main focus. People accept that she is a woman. But, that does not mean she is free from danger—far from it. Indeed, she is still the subject of violence, and in particular sexual violence. This is explored in some depth.

But Caraway is herself violent, and we get the sense that this is in some part because she is a woman. To keep herself safe, she has to present herself as someone not to be messed with. And this leads to many a brutal encounter. The action sequences are, indeed, brutal, and bloodthirsty readers will find enough swordplay and gore to satisfy. 

The main focus is on Caraway’s fracturing relationship with her brother. He, as captain of their crew, is becoming increasingly paranoid and insecure, and she, as his protector, tries to prevent him from following a deadly and ruinous path. But events soon turn for the worse as she becomes the latest subject of his dark suspicions. 

The story is interspersed with flashbacks, and this mostly works well, though there is one jarring revelation (which I won’t spoil) that made me question how it could take so long for Caraway to come to her eventual realisation. On reflection, it does speak to the nature of gaslighting and abuse in a fundamental way, and made me reevaluate Caraway as something of an unreliable narrator—she is slow to understand what becomes plain to the reader, and we watch her come around.

My one gripe is the overuse of Caraway recalling memories of things recently passed that the reader was not privy to. The emotional weight of such moments is underwhelming if we weren’t witness to the initial occurrence. This happens more at the start, and is in no way disruptive, but it is just one of those things that didn’t work for me. Perhaps things could have been sequenced differently, or some scenes added in place of others, that would have provided more coherence here.

Above all, the slow burn romance is done well. Enzo, the strong and handsome love interest, is a compelling counterpoint to Caraway, and his affection for her grows even as she is slow to understand her feelings towards him. We can empathise with her reluctance while still rooting for them—even if Enzo isn’t always trustworthy.