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    SERIES REVIEW: Necromancer Rising Books 1 & 2 by Richard Amos

    Necromancer Rising: Death Eternal – Richard Amos

    Death is supposed to be the end.
    Not in my world.

    The dead never move on, not since Death walked off the job and disappeared. As a necromancer, it’s my job to police the spirits while they remain stuck and, well, problematic a lot of the time.

    Death really needs to take his head out of his backside and get back to work, wherever he might be.

    After a horrible incident in the tunnels of the London Underground, my life takes a sharp turn. It’s all my fault and I’m sent off to a small town, a move to keep me out of sight and mind for the time being. Shamed, reputation dragged through the dirt.

    I’m not getting that promotion anytime soon.

    On my first day in the town, I get caught up in a strange murder case, and Death saves my life.
    Yes, the Death. The delectable, mysterious Death.

    Goodness, he is hotness personified. But what happened to make him walk away from his responsibilities? And why is he so deliciously tempting, my desire a raging inferno every time he looks at me with those incredible eyes?
    I shouldn’t be thinking of an immortal being like this, but with every passing hour I can’t stop myself from falling deeper into infatuation.

    I want him.

    Resistance is… impossible.

    Death Eternal is the first book in an M/M Paranormal Urban Fantasy Romance series packed with mystery, danger, a knitting necromancer, a delectable immortal being, plenty of sizzle, and rather disgusting liquid mushrooms.


    Rating:
    4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

    Soundtrack: Cosmic
    Artist: Benjamin Carter
    Album: Self_Portrait: Vol. 1


    Necromancer Rising: Death Enraptured – Richard Amos

    Follow my heart and make a mess…
    That’s putting it mildly.

    My life has really taken a complicated turn here in Oakthorne. I keep hoping some fairy godmother will show up and offer me a nice bit of time reversal. Not too much, just enough to ease this pain.

    Yeah. Right.

    Anyway, as much as there’s hurt, there’s also Death. He is the complication, but a beautiful one I can’t resist when I really, really should. He consumes my every waking moment, submerges me in raging desire I never want to break free of.

    Damn.

    On top of that messiness, there’s a mystery to solve, a bad guy to defeat, and other new developments within myself to deal with.

    So much to do.
    So much danger to face.

    Where the hell is that fairy godmother?

    Death Enraptured is the second book in an M/M Paranormal Urban Fantasy Romance series packed with mystery, danger, a knitting necromancer, a delectable immortal being, plenty of sizzle, and rather disgusting liquid mushrooms.


    Rating:
    4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

    Soundtrack: Enter The Mirror
    Artist: Everything Everything
    Album: Mountainhead


    In the graphic novel Sandman, Lucifer quit his job and handed the keys to Hell to Morpheus. Then, he went on to have fun. The world went on spinning.

    Necromancer Rising, an urban fantasy by Richard Amos, sets a world where Death quit. Which begs the question, WHY?

    Death hanging up his scythe means ghosts. Lots and lots of ghosts and people acquiring necromantic powers to handle them.

    Necromancers are easily identified by their silver hair. They have five threads of magic that can be used to bind or release ghosts to sanctuaries, a place made specially for them since without Death, they cannot move on to the afterlife.

    Marcel August is a London-based necromancer suddenly transferred to Oakthorne after a mission gone awry that left his bestfriend, Jenn, severely injured. On his way to the town, he encountered a ghost that led him to the famous caves, where there were some trouble. He got injured and was rescued by a mysterious man.

    Later, Marcel met his new boss, the High Warden, a friendly man named Nicholas West and his taciturn husband, Leon. Nick was a stark contrast to the stone cold High Warden of London, Emma. Marcel has the worst luck in bosses as it later turned out.

    Marcel is tasked to look for a missing ghost. Then the mysterious man who rescued him turned up his door bearing gifts.

    This is where things get dicey and hell of a lot swoonier.

    The overarching plot is to stop the lich from taking over the world. As an urban fantasy, this is a twisty-turn-y, action-packed necromancer procedural, a.k.a. murder mystery, with plenty of magic spells thrown about. I loved how the events of Death Eternal and Death Enraptured go from grim to complete clusterfuck to freakin’ catastrophic. No rest for our weary boy, Marcel.

    Marcel goes from dreaming of a promotion to pretty much exiled to a small town to being lulled into a false sense of security to being lich fodder, only to evolved into something more. Add to that his forbidden romance with Death that has apocalyptic consequences, this series has all the mellow drama and the epic awesomeness!

    So, Death. Hmm, I don’t know. The immortal is conflicting mix of drool-worthy and cringe. That he’s gorgeous is pretty much a given. But the fashion sense, ew!

    The lich is right in criticizing his lame style. Tight leather pants, satin shirt open at the chest with multiple piercings? That screams sleazy rather than sizzling. I’d rather he go the John Wick route in tailored suits or a 70s punk in plaid bondage pants with distressed sweater.

    But as a love interest, the immortal is a master of seduction and muffins. Death could be a cheesy mofo but mostly, he says the most romantic things.

    At first doing the hot/cold dance, then later a steadier presence in Marcel’s life, Death fights a secret battle against the forces that kept him and Marcel apart. Been doing so for centuries, he and Marcel are cursed to repeat the cycle of love and destruction.

    In Death Eternal, it took a while for the book to get to the meat of things, taking its time to establish the world and have Marcel interact with the secondary characters. Death lacked depth as a character since he was presented as a mysterious entity.

    In Death Enraptured, the lovers work to circumvent the curse. They make questionable decisions, suffer betrayals, and just plain suffer. High Warden Emma is the worst character here, absolutely heartless.

    The books in the series end in cliffhangers so they must be read in order.

    Necromancer Rising is an entertaining series I’ll be reading till the end. The romance is one for the ages, heartbreaking but so fun to root for. The characters are a mix of intriguing and abysmal. The fight scenes pulled no punches. Overall, a bit all over the place, but worth hanging up the death scythe.


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    REVIEW: The Assassin’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

    Fire and Valor: The Assassin’s Dragon – W.M. Fawkes & Sam Burns

    In Atheldinas, everyone’s secrets have been uncovered. Tristram is a half-dragon, Nicholas is a villain scheming to take the throne from his cousin Roland, and eternally sharp Bet is nothing less than a hero.

    The cost has been high, and now Tristram is forced to amass the armies of Llangard to save his king from Jarl Vidar, the mysterious figure who’s hellbent on tearing Llangard in two. To get his king back and defeat the impending Tornish invasion, Tris will need the help of not only all his Llangardian allies, but the dragons of the Mawrcraig Mountains. If he cannot bring his two peoples together, no other stands a chance.

    But one last secret remains hidden in the harsh north, and uncovering it might be the undoing of all that Tristram and his allies have fought to protect.


    It’s unfair to compare every high fantasy to LOTR, just like it’s unfair to associate every magical academy plot to Harry Potter. However, I couldn’t help imagining the scenes from Return of the King when reading the war scenes of The Assassin’s Dragon.

    The 3rd book of Fire and Valor pulled out all the stops in this series finale. Last we know, King Roland was captive of Jarl Vidar, and Bet and Tristram are setting out for a rescue mission.

    Meanwhile, Princess Gillian is at the helm and trying her best to work with the dragons. Sidone and Rhiannon, with child mages-in-training in tow, arrive at Atheldinas to warn them of feral beasts about to attack the city.

    The story continues to cycle through several POVs, and by this time, everything flowed seamlessly.

    Bet Kyston – still shadowy and surly and working overtime to keep the Lord Regent, his beloved Tristram, safe from yet another assassination attempt. Bet’s relationship with King Roland is one of my favorite parts in the entire series. Since the 1st Book, The King’s Dragon, the half-elf has been kind to the neglected boy, and he fought to protect the young king to the very end.

    Tristram Radcliffe – Tris is now more settled and more comfortable with his dragon self. Loving the dynamics between him and his newly discovered dragon brother and father. Like Bet, Tris was fond of Roland since the beginning, and they are the two people the young king fully trusts.

    Sidone – the fierce protector and honorable knight, along with her lady dragon, Rhiannon, is helping the city prepare for war. If I knew how to draw, I’d make a fanart of her astride her dragon. Most anime/game female knights are horribly, impractically dressed, so I’m loving the image of Sir Sidone in full proper armor with her lovely copper hair in braids. So cool!

    Rhiannon – She is back in fighting form! Also, standing side by side with her brother Maddox against Jarl Vidar’s army. Rhiannon plays city defender and mediator between the rather difficult Queen Halwen, her dragons, and Atheldinas.

    Maddox – this dragon prince took me a while to warm up to, but Maddox eventually won me over after he got along with Tristram. His mom, Queen Halwen, was a tough nut to crack, but Maddox was stubborn enough to break through her walls and strong enough to lead the dragons to war. It’s time for a dragon king!

    Princess Gillian – Girl gave me the high-level spells I’ve been dying to see! She not only saved the city, she saved the entire country! She could have been Queen of Llandgard. She’d rather be the Mother of Dragons.

    Bowen – the grizzled warrior continues his life mission to protect the young and the weak. Bowen is the definition of competence and strength. He is a close confidant of the dragon Queen Dorteia, who saw the warrior could use some spark of joy in his life. She helped him finally come to terms with his feelings for the young dragon, Hafgan.

    Hafgan – this twink has an old dragon wrapped around his little finger. Hafgan is protective of the dragon eggs they retrieved from the Jarl, having lost his entire clan previously. In Book 2, The Prince’s Dragon , he was forced to leave his brother, Dragon, behind. The much-awaited reunion between the two did not disappoint.

    Rhys – dragon daddy is the first to admit he’s not a warrior, but the mage scholar still fought fiercely in the final battle. Took Rhys a couple of decades, but I’m glad he finally has his entire family together.

    Roland – this king is only nine-years old but has seen things that would turn most adults’ stomach. Super amused with how this young boy could run circles around a centuries-old enemy. His POV, along with Dragon’s, is my favorite. I loved how it was written as a child’s perspective but with wisdom well beyond his age.

    Dragon – Dragon’s POV is my most anticipated of all! The most cinnamon roll of cinnamon rolls, this poor child has been held captive for years and purposefully underfed to keep him under control. Roland befriended him while the king was also a prisoner of the Jarl. Their scenes were the most moving, especially that feather quill, that thing hurt my chest!

    There were some parts, especially in the first chapters, where my attention waned. Past that hiccup, the story flowed smoothly and swiftly. It was also more action-packed. The multi-specie horde, with the feral dragon beasts, is why LOTR comes to mind.

    The battle scenes were short and to the point. I loved that it spared me the tedious details, but they were almost too short for me to savor the badassery of the characters. The fight scenes were over before I knew it. Still, it was a spectacular finale.

    The Assassin’s Dragon unites former enemies to fight against the real enemy of Llandgard. This heart-stopping conclusion to an epic series has the kind of thrilling scenes that would make every high fantasy geek swoon!

    Here be dragons, knights, assassins, mages, royals, and one clever boy king holding the fate of Llandgard in their hands!

    Rating:
    4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away

    Soundtrack: Freedom
    Artist: Ado
    Album: Kyougen

    Fire and Valor should be read in order.

    There’s something sinister brewing in Atheldinas in The King’s Dragon.

    Secrets are not so much as coming out, but more like, hurtled into the open in The Prince’s Dragon 


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