Fantasy Archives - Luke’s Blog

10Jul 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Powerless by Lauren Roberts book review

Quite regularly at the moment a book deemed to be in the “romantasy” genre will go viral on TikTok or Instagram (often both). Every single damn time, I try and stop myself from going to read it because I know that this genre isn’t for me - I can’t do the cheesy character interactions and therefore lack of real fantasy world building. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. However, with Powerless by Lauren Roberts the stars aligned as it was only £4 on Amazon, the audiobook became available on Libby and…

18May 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

Sometimes when you're reading books and decide what to pick up next, you're just wonderfully surprised by how genuinely enjoyable a book is. Iron Widow was exactly this for me. I'd just read a whole bunch of down-to-earth thrillers and so to go jump into a book about gigantic mecha-bots controlled by human's "Qi" fighting off aliens was so bloody fun! Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Iron Widow was incredibly kindly gifted to me by a follower on social media called Shali (@thereadingclub ok TikTok). So, thank you Shali! Iron…

11Mar 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

N.K. Jemisin is one of those author names that I think a lot of fantasy fans are beginning to really respect. Quite some time ago I did read The Fifth Season, it was before I started this blog so there's no review of it on here but I do remember really enjoying it and being really impressed by it. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small comission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinio of the products. Therefore, when I started The City We Became another series by N.K. Jemisin, I thought I would be equally impressed. However, having finished it and feeling…

11Feb 2024 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

Golden Son by Pierce Brown book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Golden Son is the second book in the Red Rising series which tells the story of a young man who belongs to the "Reds" who are the lowest tier of society and his attempts to infiltrate the "Golds" (the top) to then try and overthrow them. If you haven't yet read by review of Red Rising, make sure you read my review of that and then you can continue reading below as I don't want to spoil anything. After the events of the first book, I was hyped, I was pumped and ready for the sequel to take things to another level. I'd heard Golden Son was far superior and when the series was taken to another level. However, I just don't know if I could agree with this. Note…

16Jan 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Red Rising by Pierce Brown book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

I'd heard a lot about Red Rising on my social channels, especially on my TikTok where my algorithm has quickly ventured towards people giving me their best fantasy reads of 2023. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. It's received a lot of fans, with a strong note that the sequel Golden Son takes the series to a whole new level, so even if you weren't the biggest fan of Red Rising, you should definitely keep reading. Well, I was a huge fan of Red Rising - in fact, I tried…

13Jan 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Knight of the Moon by Gregory Kontaxis book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

The Knight of the Moon was kindly sent as an ebook to me by Kontaxis after I reviewed his debut novel The Return of the Knights last year. It's a prequel novella to The Return of the Knights following the story of John, The Long Arm, a bounty hunter who is given the task of hunting down a dangerous knight who turned their back on the Gaeldeath. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. This is a very short novella, totalling less than 100 pages, so I've tried to take this into…

11Jan 2024 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Battlefield Earth is quite the epic. Not only is it over 1,000 pages filled with lots of characters but the audiobook version I was kindly gifted was over 45 hours, which even at 2x speed was quite the time consumption. Was it worth my time and, more importantly, would it be worth yours? Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the products below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (as it's properly called) tells the story of Jonnie Goodboy Tyler and his incredible story as we meet him trapped by an alien called…

30Nov 2023 by Luke Harkness 1 Comment

Year One by Nora Roberts book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

About a week ago, I'd never heard of Nora Roberts and I definitely hadn't heard of her book Year One, however, when my partner went out to a Christmas Market and popped into some charity shops instead, she brought me in back as well as another book. When I posted the two books on social, nearly all of the responses said that I should read Year One and then finish off the trilogy. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. Year One by Nora Roberts is an apocalyptic book that was actually…

23Nov 2023 by Luke Harkness 1 Comment

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Romance

Iron Flame is one of the most hyped books of the last decade. The absolute storm that was Fourth Wing meant that when Iron Flame was announced and coming up to its release, a lot of the online bookish community was getting excited. It was the first book in a long time that had book shops across the country doing midnight launches for god sake! Please note that this article contains affiliate links, this means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. However, following up a book that so many people absolutely adored with a sequel that equals if not betters…

12Nov 2023 by Luke Harkness 4 Comments

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros book review

Book reviews, Fantasy, Romance

The Fourth Wing was one of the most talked-about books on the internet this year. It, for many, has been the entrance into fantasy that they finally needed. It features dragons, a sweeping landscape, a broadening world, different cultures and conflict - enough for me to consider it fantasy. Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products. I'm a huge fan of fantasy having bread Brandon Sanderson, John Gwynne, J.R.R. Tolkien, G.R.R. Martin and many more. I've also indulged in some YA fantasy such as Sarah J Maas, Leigh Bardugo and Liani…

Category: Fantasy