Rock trolls train for war from birth and are raised by a blade master in place of their parents. As they kill, they express their martial accomplishments through their sundering - the markings they put on their skin for every kill. Some trolls have thousands of markings all over their body, and it is the type of kill that determines the location. The face itself is reserved only for the biggest accomplishments and the most noteworthy of kills. Rock trolls are feared and hated across the land by all other races, and they are always in a perpetual state of war. It is within this bloody environment that Tryton is born with his inquisitive nature to question things. As he is taught to kill, he starts to wonder why. He bears a sense of honor that the rest of the rock trolls lack, and that makes him a bit of an outcast with his elders, but not with his peers. It also enables him to see that his race is facing extermination and that they need to change their ways if they want to continue to exist.

This new urban fantasy series by the author of the Alex Verus books stars a young Englishman struggling to balance earning a living, socializing with friends, and practicing his Drucraft magic. Stephen's progress is slow on all counts. His job is a boring temporary position but it's still the best job he's found and allows him to rent a shabby room near his friends. His father taught him the basics of Drucraft but vanished before he could impart many details on techniques or the magical society that must surely exist. Then an arrogant young woman claiming to be his cousin appears on his doorstep, spouts a lot of cryptic statements, offers to help him, and then sends in her thugs to kidnap him without explaining why. Although the premise is hardly groundbreaking, the unique magic system helps this book stand out in an overcrowded genre.

Serenity has a hold full of unknown cargo and is on the way to the planet Kerry, where Inara also happens to have a client waiting for her. The delivery is for an Alliance nobleman, not Mal's favorite kind of person, but when the coffers are low, one can't be too choosy about who they work for. For once though, the delivery goes without issue and the Duke turns out to be a pleasant man, despite being Alliance and all. He is even so kind as to extend his hospitality to the entire crew, offering them all good food, entertainment, and comfortable lodgings. It's a great opportunity for each of them to enjoy some time off the ship, and with the promise of more work, things seem to be looking up for everyone. That is, except for Zoe, who feels like something is off about the whole situation. Mal knows enough to trust Zoe's gut feelings, plus with everything going so well it is obvious the 'verse is getting ready to throw them a curve ball...

There's a lot happening in this installment of The Wandering Inn. A blind [Emperor] is forced to embrace his new class, Rags faces big decisions as Chieftain, and Erin adopts an orphaned Gnoll as well as five hobgoblins. Absolutely no one but Erin is happy about five hobgoblins in proximity to Liscor, including the hobs themselves. Pawn has an existential crisis, discovers religion and becomes an [Acolyte] but there's a very good reason that [Priests] no longer exist. There's never a dull moment in Liscor and with adventurers blundering around in its dungeon things are about to get more exciting than the residents would like!

It has been a while since the last Rogue Team International book, Relentless, and it is finally time to find out if Joe Ledger's psyche has found a state of equilibrium. Joe Ledger has always been one of the most dangerous people in the world, with his fractured mind enabling him to do what needs doing without losing himself to the evil within him. He has always fought on the right side of the war against evil, but now that The Darkness exists within him, he has becomes a threat to everyone, including his own team members. Any return to the field carries a lot of risk, but that isn't going to stop Mr. Church from using his best weapon when the stakes get high. Dr Sanchez thinks Joe should retire, and he isn't alone in his opinion, but Joe and Church don't see it that way. Then a discovery in Cave 13 falls into the wrong hands, and it raises the threat level enough to mark Joe's return to leading Havoc Team. To the peril of everyone on both sides of the war.

Everyone is talking about war. A [Goblin Lord] has arisen to the south of Liscor and Flos, The King of Destruction, is gearing up to reconquer his empire. The city of Liscor feels safe enough from the goblins behind their walls, but racial tensions are at an all time high thanks to the actions of Erin and Ryoka. Erin rescued a human girl who was exiled for not only stealing from the market but assaulting Kershia and burning down her shop. Ryoka saved a gnoll child who's tribe was wiped out by the goblins, but the cub is now seen as a doombringer by her people. Even the minions of Az'Kerash are on the move as they search for Ryoka to ensure she can't reveal that the [Necromancer] is still alive and the location of his lair. Since the Antinium "discovery" of a dungeon entrance near the city everyone with [Danger Sense] on the continent feels a sense of foreboding, but at least the adventurers are hoping for lots of new treasure.

This latest installment in the Aldoran Chronicles gets off to a slow start, but eventually finds its footing and delivers meaningful progression to the series. All the main PoV characters return, but for me they are not all created equal. Ayrion remains the most compelling of the bunch and he finally gets his chance to return to his homeland after he was banished as a child. For anyone who has read the Street Rats of Aramoor this is an interesting storyline, but sadly this is end loaded in the book and it can be a slog at times to get there. Especially in the Ty storyline where way too much time is spent recounting what has already occurred. Ty is the typical "chosen one" trope character and he is the least interesting of all of the PoV characters. At least Ferrin's storyline continues to be solid with him playing a role in some big events and Adarra's storyline also has its moment. All in all it's an uneven entry in the series that isn't the return to solid story telling I was hoping for.

Liscor is recovering from the overwhelming assault by the undead and the dungeon boss called Skinner. The city blames the four silver-ranked adventuring teams who went into the crypt for stirring up the undead, but only Yvlon survived and she's catatonic from what she saw. The citizens can hardly grasp that it was a combination of a crazy human innkeeper, Antinium workers, goblins, and a [skeleton warrior] with levels in [barmaid] that brought Skinner down. None of that group feels the same afterwards, except maybe Erin who isn't really a deep thinker. Torvand the skeleton is depressed because he and his crappy sword weren't more effective. The goblin Rags, who started out as a [scavenger] and then added [tactician] by learning chess from Erin, did finally gain [warrior] for dealing the killing blow to Skinner, but she's still a very small goblin with no real power to improve things for her tribe. And Erin is depressed because most of the Antinium defending her died, including her friend Klbkch, who was both the Prognugator of his hive and a guardsman of Liscor.

Erin Solstice walks into her bathroom one night and she's suddenly in a cave dodging dragon fire. Quickly followed by running from little green people, who can only be goblins, until she finds an abandoned inn to hide in. Erin's not the only one who suddenly finds themselves alone in a world populated by several intelligent races, lots of monsters, dungeons, and where people have classes and skills. Erin, for instance, promptly becomes an [Innkeeper]. The storylines mostly center on the old inn that Erin dubs The Wandering Inn and the nearby city of Liscor that is about to have a very exciting, strange, and sometimes horrifying year. The discovery of a new dungeon draws several groups of silver-ranked adventurers to Liscor in search of artifacts and treasure. A young goblin discovers that not all humans are the enemy, the insectoid Antinium discovers that playing chess with Erin allows them to develop individuality, and a homeless [Mage] turns out to be a brilliant [Necromancer]. Welcome to the soap opera that is The Wandering Inn.

Light Bringer is book six of the Red Rising series and it's a good one; however, if you were hoping this would finally lead to a resolution of the rebellion then you will be disappointed. After the last book, it felt like the series was set up to be resolved in a final battle for control of the solar system, but Pierce Brown decided that Darrow needed to go on one more side quest before that ultimate battle. I must admit that when I understood the direction this book was taking I was disappointed, but by the time it was over, I definitely felt differently. This was yet another solid book in the series and it delivers some meaningful events, even if it felt more like a side quest than progress in the main campaign. It does set things up for an even bigger finish in the next book, which I am definitely looking forward to.