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Book Review: The Gilded King (Sovereign 1) by Josie Jaffrey

9/26/2018

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In the Blue, the world’s last city, all is not well.

Julia is stuck within its walls. She serves the nobility from a distance until she meets Lucas, a boy who believes in fairytales that Julia’s world can’t accommodate. The Blue is her prison, not her castle, and she’d escape into the trees if she didn’t know that contamination and death awaited humanity outside.

But not everyone in the Blue is human, and not everyone can be contained.

Beyond the city’s boundaries, in the wild forests of the Red, Cameron has precious little humanity left to lose. As he searches for a lost queen, he finds an enemy rising that he thought long dead. An enemy that the humans have forgotten how to fight.

One way or another, the walls of the Blue are coming down. The only question is what side you’ll be on when they do.

Description taken from Goodreads


Review:

The Gilded King draws readers into the dystopian future of Jaffrey’s Solis Invicti series, a world where nature has reclaimed much of Europe. The remains of the Solis Invicti live in The Blue, a haven for the vampiric race known as the Silver, but not for the humans they keep.

Julia, an angry and somewhat bitter young woman living in the Blue, dreams of the leaving the city but dares not. The Blue is safe, but the forested wilderness of the Red is a place where creatures with toxic blood promise instant death to any humans who venture into it. Like all the cleverest lies, there is a modicum of truth to the cautionary tales the Blue’s humans are raised on, it just doesn’t apply to them.

The Blue is, in essence, a farm. Humans living here are free of the blood-borne contaminant lethal to the Silver. The bars of this prison are not built from stone and steel, but a rigid class system that places the Silver, known as Nobles, at the top. As with all social hierarchies, the power afforded to those of high status brings out the worst in some of the Nobles, allowing them to be cruel and wicked without repercussions.

But, Jaffrey has built a nuanced society. Through Cameron’s POV we see a more human side to the Blue’s Nobles while the basic desire to survive, their need for the humans in the Blue, also becomes more apparent. I could relate to the Nobles’ cause. I could even understand why they would establish the oppressive societal laws of the Blue.

From its killer opening to the surprising conclusion, The Gilded King is amazing. Jaffrey balances conflicting motives rather than presenting a rigid view of Right VS Wrong. Both the vampiric Silver and the zombie-like effects of the Weeper virus have just the right balance between originality and canon. The romance between Julia and Lucas is packed with sexual tension while eschewing the puerile sappiness that generally accompanies developing love interests. In essence, Jaffrey breaks the rules in all the right ways with The Gilded King.

Book provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review
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Book Review: Pathogen Protocol (Anghazi Book Two) by Darren Beyer

9/26/2018

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Pathogen Protocol is the second book in former Space Shuttle experiment engineer, Darren Beyer’s Anghazi series. Mandisa ‘Mandi’ Nkosi reunites with her mother, Gisela, on the Anghazi near Helios while Colonel Grae Raymus, alone and outnumbered, escapes from New Reykjavik to a secret base. Being inside an Anghazi begins to have a strange effect on Mandi, manifesting as vivid, recurring dreams of the ouroboros symbol: a snake biting its tail. Grae discovers a message left by Danny Dagan that reveals a startling truth. Jans Mikel can’t ignore this new information and travels to a moon near the Outer Sphere to meet a dangerous man who might become a powerful ally. Erik Hallerson’s battered and wounded body survives the vigour of Accelerated Regen Therapy and he returns to duty determined to find and destroy Grae.  
 
Pathogen Protocol continues from the events in Casimir Bridge and quickly immerses the reader in the corporate and government politics affecting human settlements on several worlds. Beyer weaves convincing scientific concepts into Pathogen Protocol alongside stunning visuals of distant solar systems, the organic Anghazi, and a seedy mining colony to create a vivid world. The characters are believable. Jans, Grae, Ivey, and Mandi complement and balance each other out well with their diverse backgrounds and skills. Erik is a convincingly formidable antagonist but lacks the humanity that would make him relatable. Fast pacing and plot momentum make Pathogen Protocol difficult to put down, although it will be challenging to follow for those who haven’t read the first book of Beyer’s Anghazi series.

Reviewed for Reader's Favorite
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Cover Reveal: The Silver Queen by Josie Jaffrey

9/17/2018

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The last city on Earth is contaminated. Now blood is the only thing that can wash it clean.
Julia is trapped inside the Blue as the Nobles fight over the few humans who are still alive. When the dust settles and she finds herself shackled to a new master, she knows she must escape or die.
Meanwhile, Cam has gathered a handful of comrades and is on his way into the Red to rescue his queen. But not all of his friends can be trusted, and not all of them will make it back alive.
The Silver Queen is the second book in Josie Jaffrey’s Sovereign trilogy, set in a dystopian Europe where vampiric Nobles control the last remnants of the human race.

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    Author

    Caitlin has loved fantasy from a young age. She started writing in earnest because she couldn’t find the book she needed to read.
     
    Caitlin enjoys listening to music, watching anime, researching random subjects so she can be a better know-it-all, and playing the odd game.   
     
    She lives in South Africa with her son.

    Her work received highest honours in the 2017 SAWC Short Story Competition.

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