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T D Orel

Sigra’s Roost did exactly what you want a sequel to do: it expanded the characters, the world, & the lore.In this case, the world was the highlight. We got to experience more of Dazawrath & I was especially enchanted by Cy’ann. Darren had some incredible moments that really paid off on the two book buildup. The frustration of the journey made the destination all the sweeter. We got to experience the magic system in a much more intimate way. It is still so innovative & original! Once again, we could’ve used a few more rounds of line & copy editing, but I can look past that considering it’s the best indie series I’ve ever read! I will be preordering Verdour’s Throne & daydreaming about the entire trilogy on my shelf!

T.D. Orel

It felt like How to Train Your Dragon (movies) meets Big Hero 6 meets Pokémon/Digimon. The first ~11 chapters were a bit of a struggle, but that’s more on the industry than the author. Debut authors don’t have the luxury of starting a book slow. Once we hit the inciting incident, it was hard to put this one down! The positives: A really incredible magic system that made a dragon rider book feel original. The development & pacing of Darren’s character was wonderfully frustrating. The twist at the end. It made complete sense and I never saw it coming, which makes it a perfect twist! The other five bitten wards were all unique & enjoyable. I loved being one each of their heads for a chapter. The negatives:Ryker’s chapters did not have me nearly as invested. His story felt off with pacing & muddled character voices. A little more time would have done that arc some good, but I wouldn’t want to lose any Darren chapters for it. The book was riddled with typos and grammatical/tense issues. This book was just a few more rounds of editing away from possibly being a five star read. Verdict:Overall, I loved Darren & co so much that I couldn’t wait to pick the book back up. That makes a book good to me. 3.75⭐️ easy! I’ll be starting book 2 tonight!

Brent Weeks

This is why I don’t listen to edgy redditors on whether a book is worth reading or not. This is my favorite ending of any series I’ve ever read. Bittersweet. Hopefully hopeless. A hollow joy. The ending was so natural. I breathed a sigh of relief while simultaneously feeling a pit in my stomach. Laughing through tears. Crying through laughter. That’s all I can give you for the ending. As for the rest of the book? Twists on twists on twists on twists, each more shocking than the last. By the end of this ultimate entry in the Lightbringer Series, my jaw had relented to unhinging itself to remain in its rightful place on the floor. I said goodbye to some of my favorite characters of all time—some because I left their world, some because they did as well. The buildup—especially within the last two books—erupted in the last ~350 pages. I was honestly finding myself slightly bored around the 600 page mark before the pace put a brick on the gas pedal & I couldn’t stop my head from spinning until the dust settled in the epilogues. Kip: one of the greatest coming of age stories I’ve ever read. Gavin: one of the greatest redemption arcs I’ve ever read, not because he went from evil to good but because he went from false to true. Andross: can’t reveal what I loved without getting into spoilers. This is either my favorite or second favorite series ever written. I’m going to chew on it for a few weeks before I make that final decision. Goodbye, Seven Satrapies.

Brent Weeks

This series is defined by plot twists, but The Blood Mirror has the twistiest twists. I’ve seen the complaints: this book is just a prologue to book 5, Kip’s character development halts, the magic system gets too convoluted, blah blah blah. I disagree with all of it. This is probably my second favorite in the series thus far behind book 2. The camaraderie of The Mighty (including my favorite character, Cruxer) gives me that found family feeling that I need in my books. Teia’s story is reaching a point of suspense & thrill that I love in my favorite app stories. The heartbreak of Karris’ story is gut wrenching. My hatred for Andross grows deeper with every page that incudes him. The redemption of Tisis has felt more natural than I could have hoped. Lightbringer truly has everything I love about storytelling. Picking up book 5 immediately because I have to know how this ends.

Andy Weir

This book is exactly what sci-fi should be. Doesn’t have much readability for me? No. However, it made me feel too much to give it anything less than five stars. That is genuinely all I can say without giving spoilers. This is also the first time I’ve ever read a book exclusively on audiobook. I can’t believe I was actually able to pay attention to an audiobook. Wild!