Fantasy – Always Lost in Words

By G.A. Aiken. Pub Date August 27, 2019.

4 Stars. Best enjoyed when you need an adventure.

The Blacksmith Queen begins with a battle between brothers bent on slaying one another over the throne of their father. It’s a rather confusing, bloody scene with people getting slaughtered left and right. In the confusion, we find out that the kingdom’s witches, who are usually the ones to name the next king, have handed down an unlikely prophecy that states that the land will not be ruled by a king, but a queen. Not just any queen, but a peasant queen. Naturally, the brothers find it necessary to suss out the identity of this queen so that they can eliminate this threat to the throne that they are so willing to kill so many others for.

Of course, they think just because she’s a peasant it’s going to be easy. Spoiler Alert: it’s not. Especially not with Keeley, a talented, strong blacksmith and her scrappy family acting as a blockade to their success.

Without giving too much away–because there are plenty of unexpected twists and it would be SO EASY to spoil the heck out of this for you–there is a fantastic journey through Amichai lands (the mountainous area and home of dwarves, elves, centaurs, and barbarians which shares a border with the Hill Lands of the violent Old King), a bunch of fun characters and hilarity, as well as some visceral betrayal.

At first, I found it kind of hard to get into. I’m not usually into changing POVs, especially not ones that rapidly change like they did in this one which is why I gave it 3 stars initially, but I had to change that because the more I think about how much fun I had reading it, the less I felt confident that 3 was enough. The story gets so good that it starts to flow. Although I didn’t feel that happening until about 30% into it, it was worth sticking with it even with the few times when it seemed like editing was the last thought on the author’s mind. After that point I honestly could have read it in one sitting had I been given the chance. I literally laughed out loud a couple of times at some of the characters, like Keeley’s professional fighter cousin Keran, who was all about a good time and would have been 100% exasperating to actually travel with on this momentous adventure, but was definitely a point of comic relief for the reader. Plus, Kelley is so strong, good natured, and optimistic that I just wanted her to succeed in all of the things she did, which included the flirtations with the broody Caid. Also, the part with the dwarves? So great.

If you enjoy high fantasy, I strongly suggest you pick this one up. I can’t wait for the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for providing an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Heroines Are My Heroine

Dude. Life is hard. Being and adult is never what we think it is. The freedom is nice, but it truly only goes so far. When you’re a kid, the only people you’re really held accountable to are your parents, teachers, and some religious figures, but you always have your parents as a buffer to the most other authority. As an adult, the only people who can act as a buffer between us and other authority figures are called ‘lawyers’. As adults, we have to contend with our managers and coworkers at work, the IRS, the Law, our phone companies, the power company, landlords, mortgage brokers, and all other people who may want to open a vein in our bank account and drain away the funds that we trade our souls for at our nine-to-fives.

I love my job and some freedoms that come with being ‘of age’, but it’s an indisputable fact that being an adult really sucks most of the time–so many consequences.

This is why it’s nice to have some kind of escape from it all. Some people choose alcohol, some choose pot, some choose hard drugs, some choose to numb their bodies and minds with strenuous exercise that takes whatever energy they have left and throws it into barbells and treadmills. I choose books and the occasional whiskey. Podcasts are probably the only thing that get me through the day at work, keeping the office dementors at bay, but when I get home there’s nothing better than climbing into my hammock with some strong female who is fighting against all odds to get what she wants, whether that be the hot warrior who struts into her peripheral or to save her entire kingdom from the hands of some conquering patriarchy. Heroines are my heroine.

As much as I would love to get into realistic fiction and be one of those people with a history degree that likes to just read all the serious history material, my life has already been serious enough. I love the fantasy and creating a new world in my mind, guided by an author who is just as bent on escaping this time and place as I am. It’s like a friend who gets you, who understands that what you need isn’t a reminder of where you are, but that you need to be somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, I love my husband and my baby girl-dog, but sometimes I need to be able to travel to a completely new place and our budget does not constitute a trip around the world or a time machine. $10.00 for a brand new world and seeing through someone else’s eyes for a few hours is a pretty damn good deal.

I’m closing a chapter of my life right now, nearing the end of one thing that I’ve always wanted, getting my Bachelor’s. It’s in history with a minor in Gen Bus. I’ve been an accountant by trade for about 10 years, and I honestly all I have every wanted was to find a thing I’m passionate about and make it my bread and butter.

However: not how life works.

Most people end up doing something to put food on the table and find their passions through hobbies. What’s one thing I’ve always loved? Books. So now I’m going to take that love and put it toward something constructive. Even if my book blog doesn’t take off, it’ll help my writing–yeah, I kind of want to write a book. It’ll keep me going. It’s something I’ll have fun with. Plus, it’ll give me some place that I can refer people to when they want book recommendations, because that happens ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes I can’t even remember why I like a book, I just remember the amazing high that the story gave me and I want to share that experience. Books are a great drug in that way. They’re fully legal, people encourage you to share the habit, and they don’t cause physical dependency (though I have a book on me in some form at all times–just in case).

I’m heading into this rabbit hole and you’re all coming with me.