DB Books and Reviews

The fox and the wolf... After absolutely loving the ARCANE TV show and being decently entertained by the RUINATION novel (based on characters from LEAGUE OF LEGENDS who did not appear in the show), I was fairly curious to see what the second novel set in Runeterra would be like.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  Though it never quite reaches the heights of the show it's based upon, there's a lot to be enjoyed by fans of ARCANE or even just LEAGUE OF LEGENDS players in general.  CHARACTERS As you might expect, this is Ambessa's story. The character was an original creation for  ARCANE's cast, though both her and her daughter, Mel, have since made it into the game as well. In the show, Ambessa is not a particularly empathetic or heroic character, but there's a lot of subtlety and nuance surrounding her that make her a compelling antagonist. In this novel, we get to explore her back story in far more depth. We also get some insight into what shaped Mel into the character w...

God's Bounty... After falling in love with THE SWORD OF KAIGEN, I was very curious to see what Wang's next big novel would be like. The reviews for this one are pretty mixed, so I was curious to see what my own thoughts would be on it.   HOW I RATED IT  4/5  While I don't think this is quite on the same level as THE SWORD OF KAIGEN , I still found myself just as engrossed and, at times, just as heartbroken as when I read Wang's breakout hit.  CHARACTERS As with Wang's previous book, the main cast is fairly small, with us mainly following the perspective of Sciona, an up-and-coming mage who's trying to break through the glass ceiling - in both a literal and figurative sense it would seem. She's spent the better part of two decades training relentlessly to do what no other woman has done before her and enter the High Ministry - a role which women are commonly considered too soft for. Thomil is our second main character and although we occasionally will have a ...

War and Faith... I backed the Kickstarter for the whole first arc of The Kallatian Saga a while back and finally got around to finishing the fourth book. After the disappointment that was WIND AND TRUTH , I was really hoping the first arc of this series would fair far better.  HOW I RATED IT  4/5  While I ran into some challenges when reading the fourth and final book in the first arc of THE KALLATIAN SAGA , it delivered a far more satisfying experience than the conclusion to the first arc of a certain other epic fantasy series.  CHARACTERS At it's core, THE KALLATIAN SAGA has always been something of a slow burn, character-focused story. Although the stakes have been raised for this final entry of the series' first arc, the overall feel of it holds true to what's come before. I was also very glad that Meredith resisted the urge to balloon the number of POV characters we follow. Ophedia is really the most notable addition to the list of main characters, but she's ha...

The road to ruination... I've been mildly interested in this novel as someone who used to play LEAGUE OF LEGENDS , especially after having enjoyed ARCANE as much as I did. When I found that my library carried copies of it, I figured I should finally go ahead and give it a read.  HOW I RATED IT  3/5  This novel, set in the world of the LEAGUE OF LEGENDS online game, isn't quite as stirring and meaningful as the ARCANE animated show, but it still offers a fun adventure featuring a nice selection of characters (champions) from the game as well as a satisfying exploration of different parts of Runeterra.  CHARACTERS One of the main draws to this book for LEAGUE OF LEGENDS players is going to be getting deeper insights into the stories of about a half dozen or so of the game's champions. Those drawn in primarily by the ARCANE TV show should know that none of those characters are featured here, making the appeal more so about getting to see a different part of the worl...

An entire English class in a book... I'd been curious about Tolkien's rendition of the classic tale of Beowulf for quite some time now. The combination of an opportunity to buddy read it with someone and the timing of a readathon made this March the perfect time for me to finally check it out.   HOW I RATED IT  4/5  Make no mistake, this one is for the English nerds and die hard Tolkien fans only, but if you fall into one or both of those categories, then this might just be a real treasure to add to your collection.  CONTENT First and foremost, this is quite different from any version of Beowulf that you may have had to read in school. The most popular rendition is much more of an approximation or retelling of the story whereas Tolkien's version is closer to a word for word translation. The end result is a story/poem that is rather difficult to follow, at least initially. I think it's probably helpful to already be familiar with the tale in some form before divi...

Empires, immortals, and God... After the author kindly offered me an Audible code for this new release, I was excited to immediately work it into my listening schedule. Even though I really appreciate receiving a free copy of this book, my gratitude does not impact the honesty of my review. HOW I RATED IT  4/5  Though this sequel to VERMILLION FLAMES initially seems like it will be a fairly predictable yet chaotic, space adventure, it ultimately culminates into something far more layered and engaging with elements of military space fantasy, holy wars, space opera, and rebellion. NOTE : While I will aim to avoid spoilers for ASHEN DAWN , I will be mentioning characters and events from the prior book that could be considered spoilers for that story.  CHARACTERS The prior book ended with Kaya and Silas's stories converging and many of the major side characters from each perspective coming together to form one big party of rebels. Things pick up pretty much where they left o...