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Category Archives: sci fi/fantasy


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A Throne, a Prophecy, and a Twist We Didn’t See Coming

The Promised Queen

By Matthew Toss (Christian Faith Publishing, 2026)

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Pages (print): 381

Via: Author request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

A young girl sets out with her faithful bud to fulfill a prophecy and become the…

Kimber: Oh, wait. One of us is getting a wee bit ahead of herself. (Insert eye roll here). Cuz. You know Mom. So, let’s back up a bit for a bird’s eye view of this highly readable and eminently engaging novel by Matthew Toss.

Ready? Set? Let’s go!

The 4-1-1:

Who is the real queen of Anam?

Young Liberty dreams of a ship. (Kimber: I’m seeing The Dawn Treader. What?) High-spirited and adventurous, Liberty is the polar opposite of her quiet, demure twin sister, Eslanda. The girls will turn thirteen during the annual Harvest Festival and choose an “apprenticeship.” Let’s just say Liberty isn’t exactly turning handsprings at the prospect.

Liberty’s best friend is Cayden. The two kiddos slip into the country of Anam a week before the Festival – an event that will crown Anam’s long-lost princess. But the Viceroy, who has managed the nation through the interregnum, sets a perilous scheme in motion. He dispatches a bounty hunter on a desperate, near-impossible mission to fracture the transition of power before it can begin.

“May the winds of fortune blow you, the depths below not know you, never a tavern throw you, and true love a lass to show you.”

As Liberty and Cayden travel deeper into Anam, they cross paths with vibrant, magnetic figures who leap off the page, each with their own secrets and stakes. Their journeys drive them toward a volatile, unprecedented reckoning – one no one is ready to face, and from which the nation may never return unchanged.

And what’s up with all the fires in Trapper’s Woods?

We like, Totally Love-ified this book. It moves like greased lightning, with characters that practically jump off the page and land in your lap.  The epic sweep of The Promised Queen reminds us of Middle Earth. There’s even a battle scene reminiscent of Minas Tirith. Along with plenty of action and a boatload (literally) of adventure, there’s also plenty of fantastical creatures like kelpies and nixies and hippocerfs, oh my! It’s a little Narnia. A little Neverland. A little The Once and Future King. (Or in this case, queen.) With a dash of The Great Divorce.

“The history of Anam is not always one of peacetime. Surely you have learned the terrible stories over the years of the wars against magical creatures, the reign of the western giants, and even the king who went mad.”

Characters

Besides Liberty and Cayden, main characters include Archbishop Langthorne, Lorcan, captain of the guard, and Doran the bounty hunter. Fiadh. Captain Fox. Cordanyth, Guardian of Ancient Wisdom.  Much more! All so lively and quick, we knew in a moment they must be… oh, wait. Wrong story. Where were we?

“I have never sensed a war that didn’t come, nor have I sensed a war whose outcome I did not see. Until today. The future is obscure, hidden behind a veil.”

Oh yeah again. This book is a delightful read. It grabbed us in chapter one and reeled us in like a fish on a line. Saturated with intrigue, mystery, and adventure, the plot unfolds like a kaleidoscope, each shift revealing a new facet of the story as you join our dynamic duo on the adventure of a lifetime. Additionally, the author’s world-building skills are top-notch. The language is as lilting and lyrical as bird song, each word a note in a tune that lingers in the air and makes you want to hear more. A triumph from the start, this exceptionally well-written debut novel restored our faith in indie authors. It made one of us want to stand up and cheer.

“These people are my family. I plan to fight for my family.”

Brimming with wit, wisdom, and whimsy, The Promised Queen is as satisfying as a warm slice of chocolate cake, fresh from the oven. Drenched in chocolate fudge sauce and a nice big dollop of vanilla ice cream. With a banana split chaser. Kimber: Don’t forget a perfectly cooked filet mignon with a side of crispy bacon the size of Alaska.

Mom: You eat what you want and I’ll eat what I want, okay?

Wait. Is that Camelot? Where once it never rained till after sundown….

Our Rating: 4.0


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From Page to Power: Riding the Rieden Reece Rush

“Mom! Mom! Ya gotta meet my new BFF!” spake I, Kimber the Magnificent.

“You have a new BFF like, every day, Kimster.”

“What’s wrong with that? Cuz I love everybody! But this BFF is a major scene stealer in this new fantasy thingy for middle schoolers. It’s just your speed.”

“Tell me more!”

Kimber: “I knew Mom would say that. Cuz, ya know. Mom. (Insert eye roll here.) Anywho, that’s why I’m introducing you to my new BFF, Bess the pittie. From Matt Guzman’s seventh and final installment in the Rieden Reece series, Rieden Reece and the End Game. Let’s listen in, shall we?”

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Beowoof: Fantasy With Fur Charms in ‘Farm Pond’

Farm Pond

By Gordon Frisbie (TFL Stories, 2025)

Genre: Fiction – Fantasy

Pages: 311 (Print, with Afterword)

Via: Author Request

We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

“I don’t know what to think of this book,” spake Her Royal Momness the other day. “It’s not like anything we’ve ever read.”

“Welp,” says I, Kimber the Magnificent. “There you go again, Mom. Thinking on an empty stomach.” (You’d think she’d learn, right?)

Anyway. This book arrived in our mailbox last spring-ish. Or maybe it was summer? We were buried under a metric ton of other stuff and set it aside. It got buried under another ton of other stuff. And was recently excavated. So here’s the 4-1-1:

Peacemaker the Labradane is “black, lanky, and large.” He has one “Achilles’ heel”: Loyalty. He’s also the star of this show. So we like it a lot already, thank you very much.

Now. The’s an old In-Between Land prophecy about a fearless black dog and two “enablers.” (Aka: “Klutzes.” Aka: Humans Malcolm and his friend, Eve.) “Peace” and one other dog are the only ones with enough courage to face infinite evil and save everyone, everywhere.

Kimber: Peace is probably a cousin. I know we’re related. No doubt about it.

When Malcom, Eve, Peacemaker and Gruffy stumble upon a “farm pond”, everything goes sideways. Unleashed by the stout-hearted by impetuous Peacemaker, “whimsical forces” drag Malcolm and Eve away from Earth and into In-Between Land where the adventure unfolds. While traveling through a mountainous landscape of ancient lore, the Earthlings learn that the future of all worlds within the continuum depends on their ability to defeat the demonic evil that has invaded In-Between Land.

So. The future of pretty much everything and everyone is in the paws of one black, lanky, and large Labradane and his faithful friend, Phantom.

Kimber: Best place to be in the midst of an ‘epic conflict’!

Still not quite sure what to make of this book. It’s quirky. Witty. Clever. It also sags in the middle and feels overlong in places. It defies genre pigeon-holing. You might call it a “silly fantasy.” Or an “epic fairy tale.” An adventure story. A dog-ish book. Or a trip to Neverland via Narnia and Middle Earth. Add a chaser of Oz on the side. And a spur trail into Star Trek. The text includes nods to Germanic/Norse origin or mythology with chapter headings like Odin’s Day, Thor’s Day, Freya’s Day, etc. (Yeah. We noticed.)

Top-Notch

The writing is top-notch. With just the right amount of sass and spunk. Besides. Who can resist words like “globulous agglomeration”? “Mucilaginous.” Sentences like, “A stench of wickedness accompanied the silence.” Or “Beware of chicanery and desolation if you chose to proceed.” There’s also The Anthology of Erudition. The Compendium of Catastrophe. The Tenets of Antephsyics and Subliminal Simulacrums. World tunneling. A rift in the continuum. The Managerial Reserve and the Kingdom of Deletion. And that’s just for starters! Delish! Indeed, the clever word play and labyrinthian plot twists in this delightful fantasy adventure are so “out of the box,” they’re in a completely different world!

And that’s the whole point. Or at least part of it.

Clever

This imaginative, clever tale brims with originality and sparkles with rapier wit. Beautifully written with rich, robust language, the story features impressive world-building skills and an imagination that registers somewhere in the stratosphere. It’s a riotous romp through a dazzling fantasy world and a host of fantastic creatures. These include Weewuns (“gnomes” to you hoomans). Sasquatch. Evil Lizard Number One. A mouthy unicorn named Mr. Corny. A shape-shifting witch named Irene. Zinger the loquacious bunny. Seedub. The Weewuns who administrate In-Between Land. Villain extraordinaire, Ahrem. There’s even a “lazy gray cat” named Gruffy (nobody’s perfect.) Many more.

The story is metafictional. You’ll find the author popping in and out of the story here and there. Some readers will love this technique. Others may find it jarring or disruptive. Just sayin’.

The story takes some time to get rolling and the timeline can get bumpy. We got a little lost in the opening chapters. (Kimber: Mom had a hole in her breadcrumbs pocket. Silly Mom!)

Issues

A story synopsis or book blurb on the back cover or the inside jacket flap would be a big plus. Absent both, readers and potential readers don’t really get much on an idea of what they’re in for when opening page 1. Except for what can be deduced from the cover art. So a story synopsis would make a welcome addition.

On the whole, Farm Pond is a whole lotta fun, empty stomach or not. (Note: Sometimes raw mushrooms aren’t half-bad. Except when they need salt. “And cheese. And bacon.” Just ask Eve.)

Our Rating: 3.5


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‘More Than Conquerors’ Shows Promise

More Than Conquerors: On the Run

By D’Janee (Dreams and Vision Publishing, 2025)

Genre: Fiction – YA, Dystopian, Christan Speculative Fiction

Pages (print): 253

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book for honest review.

Three young adults have magical-ish gifts. There’s a mysterious Prophecy. Some really, really bad fiery dudes in serious need of chill pills. And some other equally nasty types with red skin, black clothes and murderous intent.

Blurb:

Sophie and her friends have been captured and held prisoner for the purpose of obtaining intelligence they do not have. They have been burned, tortured, and abused for days right after having everything that they have ever known destroyed and taken away from them. They discover from a prophecy that mysteriously appeared to them in the night that they are destined to escape. Motivated with determination and purpose, they must develop a plan for freedom. What they don’t know is that past all the dangerous guards and the unsurpassable escape route is a surprise that will change their lives forever.

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‘The Story She Left Behind’ & A Little Bit of Pixie Dust…

The Story She left Behind

By Patti Callahan Henry (Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2025)

Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction

Pages (print): 339

Via: Library

Talith: When the sky breaks open; transformation that changes you into who you are meant to be; into your very essence.

Kimber: I won’t grow up,
(I won’t grow up)
I don’t want to go to school.
(I don’t want to go to school)
Just to learn to be a parrot,
(Just to learn to be a parrot)
And recite a silly rule.
(And recite a silly rule)…

Mom: Kimmi, what in the world are you doing?

Kimber: I’m putting that book we just finished to music. You know. That one you said was – and I quote: “One of the most remarkable historical fiction/fantasy novels I’ve read in years.”

Mom: Oh. You mean Patti Callahan Henry’s The Story She Left Behind?

Kimber: Bingo! Now step away from the pixie dust and tell the peeps about this Totally PAWsome book already.

Mom: Roger that. Here goes:

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New MG Sci Fi a Kick in the Pants

Rieden Reece and the Dark Shadow

By Matt Guzman (Mindfast Publishing, July 2025)

Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy

Pages (Kindle): 257

Via: Author Request

“We’ve got a million things to do and ten seconds to do them.”

Rieden Reece is busy. He must save his big bro. His Mom. Himself. And rescue humanity from AI “integration” (think The Borg). As in, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. So no pressure, broseph in this delightful and uber absorbing sci fi adventure for middle grade readers and up.

Here’s the 4-1-1:

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‘Worst Hero Ever’ Has the Right Stuff – And Milk

Worst Hero Ever

By Archer Thorn (Blackstone Publishing, April 2025)

Genre: Fiction: Fantasy/Sci Fi/Humor/Action-Adventure

Pages (print): 211 + Glossary)

Via: Author Request

Riddles? Secret doors? Some faceless evil pulling the strings? A dead sister who may not be dead? Double-crosses? Betrayals? All kinds of techno gizmos and mechanical doodads with minds of their own? What could possibly go wrong?

Kimber: Wait! Wait! The first thing you need to know about this book is that it’s about me! Kimster the Amazing! Kimster the PAWsome! Kimster the marvelous wonder dog and stupendously splendiferous and seriously stunning super hero!

Mom: Dial it back a little, will ya Kimmi?

Kimber: What? Okay, okay. I s’pose we better go on with the book review?

Mom: Not much gets past you, does it?

Kimber: That’s what super heroes do. Nothing gets past us! Unlike that Jim Riven “worst” guy in this new fantasy book. So just remember. I’m the Real Deal, okay?

Since you asked Real Nice, here’s the 4-1-1 on the book:

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Why ‘Lair’ Lost Us

Vorodin’s Lair

Book Two in the Warminster Series

By J.V. Hillard

DragonMoon Press, 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages (print): 443

Via Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Basic Plot (The Microwaved Version):

The protagonist is Daemus Alaric, Keeper of knowledge. He has weird visions and stuff. He “sees” a sorcerer dude, Vorodin, who may be able to help. But the answers Daemus seeks may bring him—and the realm—to the brink of war.

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Middle Grade Fantasy is the Cat’s Meow

Two of these smell funny!

Note: We received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“I dunno, Mom. This book smells funny.. Methinks it’s a little too… feline.”

“Oh c’mon Kimster! Yeah, it has ‘cat’ in the title. But the summary says it has a dog, too. And a pig! Besides. I bet Fido the dog is the smartest, most dependable, loyal, heroic and magnificent character in the whole book. Kinda like… You!”

“Alright, alright, Mom. Flattery will get you … everywhere.”

Sniff, sniff.

And that’s how I, Kimber the Magnificent, got talked into a feline-ish book. Sort of. So as long as we’re here, might as well dive in. Like this:

Step into a magical world of talking animals, dastardly villains, high adventure, and daring rescues in Kevin Blakeslee’s eminently enjoyable middle grade fantasy, The Cat Half-Elven.

The three main characters are Fido the sheepdog, Bruno the orange cat, and Plato the barnyard pig. They spy strange hooded men lurking about, making inquiries about a cat with unusual abilities. But the hooded men don’t seem human. If they’re not human, then what are they? And why are the mysterious riders looking for a “cat half-elven”?  

Bruno, Fido, and Plato aren’t about to stick around to find out. They flee into the forest and embark upon an adventure into the unknown, with the hooded riders hot on their trail. Can “The Three Wayfarers” make it to Elven Island before they’re caught by the ruthless and murderous Bogles?

We soon learn that Bruno has the blood of both Elven and Mortal Worlds flowing through his veins. By examining it, the evil Bogles hope to discover how to give themselves the powers of Elves. Kindly note that the “elves” in this story are not the traditional North Pole type. Nor are they the tall and powerful type of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. They’re more like angelic or “semi-divine beings” who “more or less served in the role of ‘gods’ in Irish mythology.” This makes these characters particularly strong and unique.

Along the way, the trio encounters all sorts of adventures and dangers as well as friends and protectors. These include ogres and wizards. Great warriors. The Battle of Bluefoot. Pirates. The Chasm of Doom. Trolls. A shape-shifting dove. A Question Unanswerable. One-Eyed, One-Legged Dudes. Tree fairies. Goblins. A rabbit named “Rabbit.” “You may have the cat, but I have the umbrella.” (You will get that if you read the book.)

There’s lots of action and plenty of adventures as readers join The Three Wayfarers on their epic quest to Elven Island and The Secret Vale. Themes of loyalty, camaraderie and family percolate throughout this sturdy and beautifully written story. The three main characters are especially dynamic, as Bruno, Fido, and Plato all learn and grow throughout the story. I especially loved the character of Constantine the mouse. (Hi, Reepicheep.)

Told with a twinkle and rapier wit, it’s a hoot and a half! Besides. A title like “The Cat Half-Elven”? Well. Who can resist that?

This book is simply delicious! It’s a little Charlotte’s Web. A little The Hobbit. A little Puss in Boots. All heart. Bonus points: The illustrations at the start of each chapter are terrific. The chapter headings are hilarious!

Readers who love clever combinations of fantasy and animal-themed stories will enjoy The Cat Half Elven. It will certainly resonate with its target audience of middle grade readers and anyone who enjoys a crisp and creative story that’s fresh and original and includes a generous helping of sass and spunk. Fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia will also appreciate this warm and whimsical read. It’s just delightful! Mom LOVED it and didn’t want it to end!

One of us is already looking forward to more from this talented author – and hopes to see The Three Wayfarers in another adventure soon!

Our Rating: 4.5


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‘Here, There Be Dragons’ Ignites Imagination

The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica:

Here, There Be Dragons

Written and illustrated by James A. Owen

Simon & Schuster, 2006

Genre: Fiction: Fantasy/Young Adult

Pages: 324

“There’s a very strange man outside, said Jack…’

One of us is totally kicking herself for not finding this book sooner.

“Good thing one of my brothers sent this to Her Momness for Mother’s Day,” spake I, Kimber the Magnificent. “Otherwise, Mom would still be clueless. Cuz this book is a bibliophile’s treasure trove. It’s just Too. Much Fun! Ya know. Like me. So way to go, bro!”

Here’s more:

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