mythical creatures Archives - fundinmentalfundinmental

MY REVIEW

I love to read books that I can relate to real current events and An End To Kings by Ryan Schuette does that in a fantastical way. He includes things like political upheaval, civil liberty and climate change. Ryan Schuette’s master storytelling makes this an epic fantasy you won’t want to miss and I am excited to pick up where we left off in A Seat For The Rabble.

I love the illustrations. Illustrations always add something extra for me.

Political intrigue arises around every turn. No one can be trusted and some of the betrayals broke my heart for the characters that it happened to. One sticks out in a big way…

Sara is one of my favorite characters and her tragic life breaks my heart. She is a good person and too young for the horrors brought to her life. She is a child, struggling, facing things beyond her years. I have feared for her since I met her, especially when she lost the one person she could count on.

Zur had been kidnapped and Lorana was determined to find him. I thought there might be more to him than we see in the beginning. The same goes for Sara and the Mad Lady. I feel they will play a prominent role in what is to come for the Kingdom. What that role will be is yet to be determined.

Eden, what the hell?

Anyway, let’s get into the conflict that rages, as the rebels unite to get their Seat, but how can you band together when you can’t get along? When people are pushed into a corner with nothing to lose, they will fight back.

Because the king died without naming his successor.Jason must prove his right to wear the crown for the Kingdom of Loran and will have to face the Kingstrials. I love that the king’s daughter, Lorana was ruling the kingdom, though no one ever acknowledged it. After all, they cannot have a Queen as a leader…can they? For now, she is tasked with keeping the wolves at bay until a king is crowned.

The battles are savage, a brutal and bloody slaughter. The betrayals and cowardice allow tragic injustices to occur and more than one leaves me speechless. Ryan Schuette’s ability to pump up my emotions to a point where I want to throw my ereader against the wall makes me hesitate, putting the book down to pull myself together, then picking it up again….because I HAVE to know what happens next. On and on I read, wondering who will live and who will die.

An End To Kings by Ryan Schuette is intense. It has everything you can possibly want in an epic fantasy. And that ending, I can hardly wait to see what will become of my favorite characters in the next book. It is sure to be an amazing adventure.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of An End To Kings by Ryan Schuette.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

In the highly anticipated conclusion to A Seat for the Rabble, former NPR reporter Ryan Schuette returns to Odma, a richly detailed world not unlike our own. Riven by social injustice, wealth inequality, and ancient magic, the Kingdom of Loran stands on the brink of war . . . and the bastard prince, Jason Warchild, means to save it.

With an army of Cloudlanders at his back, Jason marches to the Kingstrials, where he must kill his rivals—including his zealot uncle, Shaddon—to claim his father’s crown and return peasants to power. But winning this deadly game will take more than martial skill and an army. If he fails to win all three Trials, he’ll need the fractious Worthy Assembly to crown him directly—or he’ll lose the kingdom, along with his head.

As class anger festers, Jason’s allies find themselves embattled. At the capital, Princess Lorana Eddenhold navigates her realm’s troubled politics to stamp out plots against her half-brother, even as she dreads Prieslenne Edenia’s return. In the west, Rathos Robswell risks his life to persuade the Loyal Company’s firebrands to cease their infighting and see the bastard prince—along with the dream of a just realm—through a crucible of swords, dragons, and griffons.

Only supernatural forces seem to see all ends. Accompanied by a sorcerer, Zuran races against time to confront the real evil . . . the one exploiting chaos in a kingless land.

Praise for A Seat for the Rabble and An End to Kings

“From its electric first pages, Schuette’s epic adult fantasy debut grips with a rich, tense, multi-perspective story of a kingdom in unrest. . . . A journalist, [he] writes crisp, compelling scenes that demonstrate an understanding of power, conflicted loyalties, and the ways that history—both ancient and recent, true and made up—powers contemporary conflicts.” —BookLife by Publishers Weekly (Grade: A)

“Schuette’s extensive world is an enticing one. Religion, class systems, and past events play large parts in the conflict. . . . Griffins fly; swords cleave; and the unsuspecting are sometimes slaughtered. . . . Yet the fighting and feuding are matched in such a way to keep the intriguing plot moving swiftly. The competing interests make for a curious, highly detailed, engrossing fantasy.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Masterful storytelling and epic worldbuilding make this a must-read for fans of political fantasy. Ryan Schuette weaves a complex world of political intrigue, class conflict, and the pursuit of power in this enthralling epic fantasy.” —ALEXANDRIA DUCKSWORTH, Independent Book Review

“If you like getting marooned in a book, so far removed from real life that there’s no need for rescue, then A Seat for the Rabble was made for you! . . . [It’s] a sumptuous feast for the mind.” —NICKY FLOWERS, Indies Today (Rating: ★★★★★)

“[A]n unputdownable story. . . .” —SHERRY FUNDIN, fundinmental.com

Genre: Dragons, Fantasy, Fiction, Mythical Creatures, Sword and Sorcery
554 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 9, 2024
Series: A King Without A Crown, Book II

ABOUT RYAN SHUETTE (from his website)

Schuette: Pronounced SHOO-tee

Hi there. I’m a writer, editor, illustrator, and resume consultant with past lives in politics, foreign aid, nonprofit management, and the lingerie industry. I’m also a reporter who’s written for National Public Radio, Al Jazeera America, and numerous other media outlets. In 2015, PBS’s NOVA recognized a feature of mine for NPR as one of its top 10 stories in science education that year.

Fun facts about me: I’ve met three presidents (including the one in the photo), written a novel, and lived and worked for a year in Uganda as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. While in Uganda, I freelanced as a reporter, bounced around several countries, and got malaria a few times (wouldn’t recommend it). I also took a short course in international law at the University of Oxford.

I’ve started and run both a nonprofit and company, and just recently decided to make good on a few life goals by writing an original fantasy fiction novel and drawing cartoons professionally. I’ve lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and hold a master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University.

Life is short, so make sure you spend it doing something you love. Bonus points if it improves our species.

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Threads: schuette.ryan

MY RYAN SCHUETTE REVIEWS

A Seat For The Rabble

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Moonflower: Vampires of Los Angeles
Heather Ewen-Foster
Publication date: November 7th 2023
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

Sonia, a 250-year-old Australian vampire, thought she had found peace in the quiet neighborhood of Whitley Heights, Hollywood. But when a mysterious creature starts slaughtering young vampires, Sonia is thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse.

With her friend Sunny targeted by an ancient monster, Sonia must uncover the truth behind these brutal attacks. Desperate to save her friend and end the bloodshed, Sonia navigates the treacherous politics of the vampire world. Along the way, she finds herself torn between her irresistible attraction to Alex, the enigmatic human journalist helping in her investigation, and her deep bond with sexy and charismatic Sunny, Alpha Vampire extraordinaire.

As the sinister plot unravels, Sonia’s race against time becomes a pulse-pounding battle against an impossibly powerful foe. Will she uncover the truth before more lives are lost? And what sacrifices will she have to make to protect those she loves?

Moon Flower is a spellbinding urban fantasy that will leave you breathless. Heather Ewen-Foster’s suspenseful tale immerses you in a world of danger, romance, and mythical creatures. Get ready for an electrifying adventure that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.

Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

Terror. Pain. Then darkness.

This is how it starts.

The only link to the world around you is the sound of your own heartbeat pounding in your ears. Your hearing seems to be the only sense still functioning, while sight, smell, touch, and taste seem oddly suspended.

You vaguely realize something is wrong with that pounding. You become aware that your pulse is slowing, beat by beat, which rapidly absorbs all of your attention.

Soon, far sooner than should be possible, you have reached that critical point where that little muscle—the strongest in the human body—struggles to keep you from crossing the threshold dividing the world of life from what awaits you at death.

But something else is terribly wrong: there is no warm light to dissolve into, there are no familiar faces waiting to usher you into paradise. There is only darkness and a failing heart that tries to pump what is no longer there. The terror within you surges as you realize that, should your heart fail, this great, dark oblivion of nothingness will become permanent. And all that is you—your very essence of self—will be gone.

And your heart, most assuredly, is failing.

It is at this crucial moment, when time seems to stand still, that you are offered a choice—a choice that is really no choice at all since the basic animal instinct to stay alive now dominates higher forms of reason.

You do not hesitate. You embrace the offer with a ferocity that speaks to the predatory nature once so close to the surface in humanity, though long since buried by generations of social, sedentary living and the trappings of “civilization.”

Then comes the oblivion, but not the one you expected—not the one which serves as the fate of everyone else. You are in limbo, with no beginning and no ending. No up and no down. But your sense of self is mercifully intact. You are still you.

Here, in this mental womb, you remain for days until— if you are one of the lucky ones—you open your eyes for the first time to a world utterly transformed. And, as you lay there staring into the brilliant colors of the night, you slowly realize that nothing will ever be the same.

This, dear readers, is what we call The Birth. My name is Sonia.
I am Vampire.

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

—