This month wasn’t one of my most productive months when it comes to reading. I was away on holiday for a week (which you’d think would result in more reading but it didn’t) and I was off work for two weeks which resulted in me doing a lot of gaming, lazing around and socialising with friends so I didn’t get any opportunities to read books. Therefore, I’ve only read three.
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Part of the reason I didn’t read quite as many books this month as well is that two of them were paperbacks, one of which was a long, epic fantasy and I didn’t have the audiobook so this always takes me far longer. In fact, two of the books I read this month were 600+ page fantasy epics – so there, there’s my excuse. Not that I need one, mind.
Anyway, here are the three books I read this month with, as always, a brief summary of my thoughts, an accompanying link to read my full review and a link if you’d like to go and purchase the book.
Illborn by Daniel T Jackson
Illborn was a fantasy novel I’d seen a lot of doing the rounds on some of my favourite fantasy Bookstagram accounts. It is a 600-page epic that tells you the initial story of four young adults who find out they’ve been endowed with different powers and it takes you through them realising these powers and their own personal struggles.
In my Illborn review, I wrote: “Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson is a simply brilliant fantasy book. It not only takes us on four genuinely fascinating character stories but also introduces us to a brand new developed world, an interesting magic/powers system and has us hooked to the story from the very first page.
If you’re a fantasy fan who isn’t intimidated by a 600+ page book – pick. this. up. It’s brilliant and quite possibly the best fantasy debut I’ve read in a while!”
Read my full review of Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson
Buy Illborn by Daniel T. Jackson from Amazon.
Atlas and the Multiverse by Chandon Siman
Atlas and the Multiverse was a book gifted to me by the author, Chandon Siman. It’s about a boy called Atlas, his two siblings and their finding of and then journey across the multiverse. It’s a book with imagination
I’ve not yet fully reviewed Atlas and the Multiverse but my initial reaction is that it was a very enjoyable book with suitable characters. Throughout the novel, I kept thinking of the Percy Jackson series as this had slightly similar undertones: three young people, a journey into the unknown and likely all written for the same audience.
I did think the book could have made use of its multiverse potential a little more by introducing us to even more worlds, showing the imagination of Siman but there’s potential for a sequel where this could be utilised anyway, so that’s fine.
Read my full review of Atlas and the Multiverse by Chandon Siman
Buy Atlas and the Multiverse by Chandon Siman here.
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
The Shadow of the God by John Gwynne is a book that I picked up after I saw a thread on Twitter stating the very best of the best current fantasy authors which stated Gwynne as one of those. The Shadow of the Gods is his most recent series and I found it on offer so treated myself to it.
As with Atlas and the Multiverse, I’ve not reviewed it properly yet but I can tell ou now I was very impressed. John Gwynne clearly has a natural talent for expanding personalities and worlds simply by writing the actions that take place in the book. What I mean is that actions essentially speak louder than information dumps.
The world John Gwynne has built clearly has some well throughout lore and has me intrigued as to what else there is more to explore. It will definitely be worth waiting and reading my review.
Read my full review of The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
Buy The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne here.
Summary
So there we have it. Not the most amount of books read this month but the two fantasy epics that were 100% worth my time. With these two fantastic fantasy books and a great young adult book from a brand new author, I’m very happy with my reading this month and I’ve picked up a couple of new book series that I’m looking forward to the sequels of.
What did you read this month? Have you read any of these books too? Which was your favourite? Do let me know via the social media channels below.