A talented Artificer who helped Peter the Great solidify his empire and then gave his life in a final stand against an arcane enemy finds their soul in the body of a young Russian noble three hundred years later. The good news is it seems that the reincarnating aspect of his last Artifact worked and even made him a Universalist able to channel all types of magic energy, the bad news is his new identity, Aleksander, is a well known party boy who bankrupted his family. His first challenge is to save his new grandfather from debtors prison. The obvious solution is to craft an amazing Artifact and sell it, but with his reputation it's going to a be hard to convince anyone to hire him. Throw in a death-mage for hire, scheming nobles, plots against the Czar, and hints that their old enemy is back and you have an entertaining yet somewhat cozy fantasy with rare elements of LitRPG progression. I say somewhat cozy because Aleksander has a tendency to deal with his enemies in creatively violent ways without a qualm thanks to his battlefield experience in his past life.

The award winning novella Every Heart a Doorway introduced us to the School for Wayward Children which only accepts children who are apparently convinced that they not only belong in another world but that they have been there and if they can only find their Door again they can go back to their true home. The parents believe the boarding school will straighten out their children while the real goal of the school is to help them cope with being stuck in our reality after going on quests, saving worlds, and even falling in love. Some went to worlds made of candy and some to solemn underworlds so only their shared loss and constant hope their Doors will return binds them together.

I'm not really a fan of vampire movies and TV series and when I do choose to watch one, I am rarely impressed. So I was very surprised when I got into The Originals (back when it was on Netflix) and found myself eagerly looking forward to the next episode. I really enjoyed the series and especially liked when they got creative in the storytelling while staying true to their version of vampire lore. It's based in New Orleans and tells the story of the Mikaelson siblings, Elijah, Klaus, and Rebecca, the first 3 vampires ever created, (hence the name "originals.") This version of New Orleans is also home to werewolves, witches, and humans, although these factions are constantly vying for power and violating the terms of any peace agreements and killing each other off. So, does this 3 book series carry on with the interesting story telling, or is it just a cash grab that drops the name of the series to lure in suckers like me?

In honor of the 10th Anniversary of his first book, Starship's Mage, Glynn Stewart has gone through and updated the earlier titles according to all he's learned as a writer. The stories are unchanged but he's smoothed out the rough edges so the writing style matches the great storytelling. Since I originally reviewed this series, the focus has almost fully shifted to Roslyn Chambers, the young mage whose career took off during the battle with the UnArcana worlds. Mage Queen Kiera has entrusted Roslyn with hunting down Nemesis, the shadowy organization that has working to destabilize the Martian Protectorate in order to force them into better arming themselves against the aliens that first bred mages into humanity to harvest their brains. Now the leader of Nemesis is set out to find the aliens and prove that their terrorism and massacres were justified, but Roslyn fears that if he succeeds they will return their attention to humanity.

Wulfric is the son of the village's First Warrior, and in the northern societal structure that makes his father the leader of the village. Might makes right in the north, but Wulfric's father is still an honorable leader, in addition to being a fierce warrior. Everyone expects Wulfric to be much the same; however, that is not the case. Wulfric is overweight and rather timid, and he finds himself bullied by the sons of merchants, who have little standing in the village. The entire situation disgusts his father, who can't understand why Wulfric doesn't stick up for himself. Then one day the bullies choose to pick on Adalhaid, who Wulfric has had a crush on for his entire life, and he finally chooses to fight back. Of course, he goes too far, and that single act sets off a coming of age story that doesn't resolve itself until the very end of the trilogy. So is this a worthy take on the all too familiar coming of age trope or is this a series you should pass on?

I continued going after the first book of Defiance and the series keeps getting better. The writing has improved a bit but the real reason I keep going is that the further Zac progresses and learns about his unique heritage the deeper the story gets. The initial story of a thirty year old marketing exec being inducted into a System run universe and fighting alone to overcome an alien demon incursion isn't remarkable for the genre but we like rooting for the mortal underdog as he blunders his way along. Except it quickly becomes clear that Zac isn't exactly the underdog when it comes to his amazing luck and hints that his mother wasn't from Earth. His background is truly unique and it gradually appears that his cultivation and advancement will effect the entire multi-verse. Nope, no spoilers here, if you want an idea of what's going on you have to read book two.

Void Wraith Origins is a prequel series to the popular six book long Void Wraith Saga series, which is highly rated and well reviewed, so I figured why not start from the chronological beginning? The first book in this series, Dryker's Folly, details the event that starts a war that will put humanity on the brink of extinction. A strange signal originates from Pluto and the closest ship is a mining vessel under the command of a washed up ex-military man, Captain Dryker. But before he can even get there, a fleet of alien ships arrives in our solar system, The Tigris, show up because they are also interested in the signal from Pluto. They appear near our sun because they possess a technology that allows them to use stars like wormholes. Of course our space fleets jump them, but they are militarily superior to anything we can muster. Except, of course, conveniently for the discoveries being made by Dryker on Pluto, which might hold the key to victory against these Tigris invaders. Very few would pick Captain Dryker to be the one human to be in a position to defend us against the Tigris, but he might just turn out to be the right man for the job.

Unholy Island, the mostly forgotten neighbor of Holy Island, is a strange place that everyone quickly forgets, except the few granted sanctuary there. Esme Gray escaped an abusive marriage and found her way to the island because their previous Ward Witch had died, and ridiculous as it seems, it's now her job to run the guesthouse while she maintains the island's protections. Luke Taylor has been searching over a year for his missing twin brother and follows a rumor that leads him to Unholy Island, where a suspicious murder leaves the island in need of a Book Keeper, which he finds a strange term for someone who runs a bookshop. Then there is the kindly old mayor Tobias who was the island's first resident so long ago he barely recalls his true nature. All three of them are weaker than they should be, but together they form a tenuous bulwark against the end of the Earth.

They thought the planet was tidally locked to its sun, so they built mines on the dark side, and Nightside City to provide entertainment to the miners and part them from their hard earned pay. About a hundred years later, they realized it wasn't a tidal lock but rather an incredibly slow planetary rotation and suddenly the doomed Nightside City, with its showy casinos, became a popular tourist attraction. The lucky few got off-planet before the casinos realized their workforce was fleeing and they ensured only the wealthy escaped. P.I. Carlisle Hsing had hoped working for some of the larger casinos would be her ticket off-planet, but a rival framed her for some illegal hacking and she got blacklisted. Now she's stuck living and working in the part of town between the vibrant downtown and the abandoned sky scrapers up slope in the sun without the money to move further into the shade and forget about passage off-planet.

Welcome to the Weary Dragon Inn with its problem solving innkeeper Bev (that's short for Beverage Wench) and the quirky people of Pigsend. Shortly after a brutal civil war, a woman wandered into Pigsend with no memories and was taken in by the former innkeeper. He trained her first as a beverage wench, hence the name, and a few years later she inherited the inn. Pigsend is a dull seeming village that hides more than a few secrets, and keeps running afoul of the new Queen's investigators. Everyone in the village knows that one of the butchers can easily carry an entire cow and that the baker's mother made magically delicious muffins. Sadly, the new Queen uses those of magical blood that she finds useful and executes the rest. When mysterious sinkholes start appearing all over the village, including under Bev's front door, Bev finds herself volunteered to investigate despite having several guests at the inn. It's obvious that Bev's guests are rarely who they say they are, and that successfully solving one problem only gets her stuck dealing with every mystery that comes along. Oh and of course, most of the residents are going to complain about how she goes about it.