The Steel Queen by Karen Azinger

This is a magical mystical fantasy of the medieval "sword and sorcery" genre with multiple viewpoint characters. It feels OLD Disney like, but the darkness in this story feels evil right down to your bones.

I neither recommend or discourage reading this book. It's a good book, 3± stars.

That's all the important stuff.

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My tale of writing this review.
I wrote a review having 5 unread chapters to go. It was very a long and detailed draft. I included many of the characters: It mentions if they are Disney like heroes or heroines. I mention my pet nicknames of the darker characters: "The rat-mouse" and "The Ghoul", aka Danly and Steffan. Both those characters are quite dark and evil, something like — Clockwork Orange comes to mind..., but that's not quite right, — more like something from the dark corners of Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe's mind, but with dark ages flare. Maybe both actually, Danly out of Clockwork Orange, and Steffan out of Poe's twisted darkness.

I stopped writing the draft review after around 500 words on characters and other details. It was just a draft so I figured I should finish reading before doing more.

I deleted that review after reading chapter 82 where my notes mention WTF? two or three times -- along with mention of exploding a reader's trust and dissolution of my suspension of disbelief which had been in question since the prologue.

Forged in Blood by K. F. Breene

Forged in Fire by K. F. Breene is a short story prequel to the Warrior Chronicles series.

I recommend you skip this prequel, but then pick it up after you've read Invasion. It was Okay. I'm not sure I would have benefited from it much if I read it as a prequel. Perhaps that is a memory issue with me. Most of the characters in the prequel except Shanti aren't significant at least until Hunted.

The Goodreads blurb says:

Before Shanti was the most wanted woman in the land, she had yet to master her sword and the potent Gift with which she was both blessed and cursed. But the threat won't rest, and her people may pay the price.

The short story takes place when Shanti was still a child. A time after a Graygaul attack which devastated their village but before the time Shanti and her people are entirely decimated by the Graygual.

I think the joy of this book isn't as a prequel. It is actually kind of a dud as prequel. But it is a jewel if you've read Chosen and Hunted, and perhaps even after Shadow Lands and Invasion.

I think if you wait and read it after Invasion, it serves better as a flashback that gives some insight into why Shanti's childhood peers were so precious to her. I suspect I would have forgotten anything significant in the prequel by the time the characters are mentioned in the prequel show up in the series.

Read on Friday, September 13, 2019.

See my Goodreads reviews here.

Siege by K. F. Breene

Siege by K. F. Breene is book number five in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers. The Warrior Chronicles is not a Young Adult series. ^#suspense ^#adventure ^#thriller ^#quest ^#medieval war fantasy ^#supernatural ^#explicate sex ^#violence

The Sales Blurb from Goodreads:

The land has become unnaturally quiet. It’s as if everyone is waiting for some sign that Xandre can be beaten. That someone will stand up to him, and win.

With Shanti calling the shots, and Cayan’s battle know-how, it seems certain that the Chosen can be the catalyst. That they can lead the oppressed to freedom.

But Xandre didn’t become the Being Supreme by chance, and he doesn’t intend for his rule to be stripped away so easily. He has already started to gather his forces, and with the entire land under his control, gaining a foothold against him seems impossible.
The final battle is brewing, and the winner is anything but decided…

So far in this fantasy of medieval myth and magic we've been treated to four parts of a six part story, the story arc reaching one of its zenith points of increasing crescendo in Siege, our fifth book of the series.

At the beginning of the book we are in the quiet time of uneventful activity after having...

Invasion by K. F. Breene

Invasion by K. F. Breene is book number four in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers. If you loved Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series, odds are good you'll like this one.

If you've been following my reviews on this series, I've mentioned both Dean Koontz and Terry Goodkind in my reviews. If you have read either of those authors you know what I'm saying about K. F. Breene. If you haven't read those authors, I'm giving Ms. Breene the blue ribbon of excellence and hope they win some prestigious prize for their writing.

With multiple book series, good writers usually develop several minor characters. You know some or all of them are going to be fodder -- sacrificed to the reader's emotional roller coaster ride, but you hope it won't be one of your favorites like Shanti's Westwoods Honor Guard when the next one has to be sacrificed for the reader's emotional entrapment.

Ms. Breene has certainly taken lessons from the Star Trek writers as there often appears an appreciated supporter who makes a difference… but are wearing the proverbial doomed red shirt, so to speak. While that IS an emotional train wreck, Scotty and the Doctor remain live. Still, when the rookie character catches a Hail Mary to win a battle, you don't want to see them cut from the team before the next outing.

Ok, enough babble, time to spoil the book. Those of you wise enough to walk away, now's the time to move along. Those who have read the book. What do you care? You already know. And if you've just checking to see if I have it right, you need a hobby. Read the next book instead.

Shadow Lands by K. F. Breene

Shadow Lands by K. F. Breene is book number three in her Warrior Chronicles series. Loved it. 5 stars. Highly recommended for fantasy fans and woman warrior lovers.

The Sales Blurb from Goodreads:

***Book three in the bestselling series.***

In order to finally claim her title of Chosen and lead the Shadow People out of the Land of Mist, Shanti must make it through a century's old system to test her battle awareness, her fighting skill, and her ability to stay alive. She's about to enter The Trials, and she must do it alone.

Separated from Shanti on a dangerous island, Cayan must learn to use his mental skill while keeping his men safe from the people set out to kill them. But as more Inkna and Graygual flood the island, Cayan hears of a sinister force deep in the woods, rigging The Trials and killing any who venture too close.

It is now a race against time. The battle to become the Chosen has begun, and the victor is anything but decided.

It seems it has all been sprinting to this point from the beginning. They have arrived in the Shadow Lands. I had more than a few tense moments reading this one.

Well, if the blurb hasn't spoiled it, maybe I can!. Those of you wise enough to walk away, now's the time to move along. Those who have read the book. What do you care? You already know. And if you've just checking to see if I have it right, you need a hobby. Read the next book instead.

Hunted by K. F. Breene

It has been a long time since I've been very clear on 98% of the characters. Most stories get really deep in their Persona Dramatica, leaving my Swiss Cheese memory challenged.

Well let's do this.  4.5 Stars & highly recommended for fantasy fans and adventure lovers who are are excited to watch a high-octane, indefatigable women heroine. Shanti is not an Amazon Wonder Woman, more like the Hayden Panettiere/Claire of Heroes kind of maelstrom.

This mythic fantasy is set in some middle ages type setting. The anticipation and excitement make putting it down difficult at best. It reminds me quite a bit of Sword of Truth series as there are a number of similarities. The Graygual are analogous to the Imperial Order of the Old World and the Being Supreme sound's Jajang-like, with the Hunter being similar to some Jajang minion who Richard and Kahlan struggle with. The length of the "Warrior's Chronicles" would equal maybe one and a half — of the Sword of Truth books -- say the Blood of the Fold through Naked Empire books, tops.

I suspect if you liked Terry Goodkind's Richard and Kahlan you're going to like Shanti and Cayan, as long as you aren't expecting the series to be anything other than similar. Which reminds me. I have a couple of the Nicki Chronicles I haven't tasted yet - and just now learned Mr. Goodkind has returned to the Sword of Truth series with "Children of D'hara" series.

Now, if you prefer to skip the unavoidable spoilers, go pick up your copy of "Chosen" the first of the "Warrior Chronicles" and start enjoying the fun. I've loved these type stories since I first read The Swordswoman by Jessica Amanda Salmonson.