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Griffin Cooper

@griffincooperfantasy

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Fantasy & sci-fi nerd. Aspiring author. Lover and collector of books. 📚

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These are my personal top 5 casts of characters in fantasy! What book or series has your favorite characters?

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18

2

20 hours ago

Tides of Blood and War is the 4th book in A Time of Dragons by @philipcquaintrell.author Philip C. Quaintrell, which is a prequel series to The Echoes Saga.

First and foremost, I loved the extended worldbuilding in this book. Tides of Blood and War continued the epic story that has been building up throughout the A Time of Dragons series, but in this book, we got to see not one, but TWO substantial new realms in the world of Verda, one of which got really fleshed out with a lot of detail, as the story spent a whole lot of time there. I think Quaintrell does an awesome job of classic fantasy-esque worldbuilding, so I loved seeing Verda get further developed.

I also really enjoyed where the character arcs and major plot threads went in this book. We saw a lot of development for a couple of our main protagonists, our main antagonist, and a couple characters who I can no longer label. Both of those characters were firmly in the love-to-hate category until this book, and suddenly, I found myself starting to like both of them in Tides of Blood and War, and at least one of them seems headed for a big redemption arc.

In the first few books of this prequel series, there were a lot of compelling plot threads and character journeys kind of moving along on their own, doing their own thing. But now, as the series nears its end, they’re all starting to converge, and I cannot wait to see how everything explodes in the 5th and final book - especially after the massive reveal that took place at the end of book four.

Just so I don’t spend this whole review glazing this book, I will mention that it has become apparent to me that the main characters in this series have some serious plot armor, which does occasionally weaken the tension. But truthfully, I love these characters and don’t really want to see them die anyway, so whatever. It doesn’t really bother me.

Overall, if it’s not obvious from everything I’ve said, I absolutely loved this book, and I continue to DEMAND that any fans of epic fantasy give Philip C. Quaintrell’s books a try.

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#epicfantasy by @griffincooperfantasy

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2 days ago

If you love the Ana & Din Mysteries by @r.jackson.bennett, give these other #fantasyseries a read!

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#fantasyreader by @griffincooperfantasy

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4 days ago

A bit late, but this is my September Reading Roundup. It was a light month due to some health issues, but the books I managed to finish were really solid! What was your favorite read in September?

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#fantasyreader by @griffincooperfantasy

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6 days ago

Looking for a read that's consistently fast-paced and full of action? These are 5 #fantasyseries that NEVER slow down (Part 2!)

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7 days ago

Thinking of digging into The First Law by Joe Abercrombie? These are a few things I think you should know before you start reading.

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#fantasybookrecs by @griffincooperfantasy

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8 days ago

These are my spoiler-free thoughts about The Bone Shard War, which is the third and final book in the Drowning Empire Trilogy by Andrea Stewart.

Now one of my favorite aspects of this series has been the abundance of mysteries and fascinating lore reveals, and in that area, this book did not disappoint. We got a couple more huge reveals about this world, its history, and the bone shard magic system, and for like the 6th time in this story, my mind was blown. Absolutely did not see these revelations coming. So that was awesome.

There wasn’t as much cool, interesting use of the magic system as we got in earlier books, but that was mostly dictated by where the plot went, and it was understandable. I did, for the most part, really like where the character journeys went in The Bone Shard war for our main protagonists as well as how they concluded, though the characters did spend A LOT of time apart, and it would have been nice to see a bit more interaction between them throughout the book. Minor complaint, though, and once again, understandable for the plot.

The one more significant issue I had with The Bone Shard War was just that the pacing was pretty inconsistent. A large chunk of the book was spent on one little side quest, and by the end of that section, I was very ready for it to be over. Fortunately, the last couple hundred pages of the book were thrilling and paced really well, and that went a long way toward making up for the slow bits.

What I find most important with the final book of a series, though, is that I’m left satisfied with where the story and character arcs end up, and ultimately, I thought Stewart did a good job with the conclusion. I didn’t find The Bone Shard War as entertaining as the first two books in the series, but I still enjoyed it, and it left me feeling relatively pleased and satiated.

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#bookreview by @griffincooperfantasy

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9 days ago

Looking for a read that will help you fall back in love with the fantasy genre? Give these books and series a try!

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#fantasyreader by @griffincooperfantasy

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10 days ago

These are my personal top 5 *completed* #fantasyseries. What would be your number one?!

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#fantasyreader by @griffincooperfantasy

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11 days ago

If you love The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee, give these #fantasybooks and series a try!

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#fantasyreader by @griffincooperfantasy

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13 days ago

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride is the 6th book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman.

For me, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride continued several trends within the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. For one, it continued the trend of each book, since like, book two, being better than the last. And that’s a high bar at this point, as I’ve LOVED the last few books. Secondly, this book continued the trend of each book somehow getting even more insane, chaotic, and unhinged. Wasn’t sure that was even possible after The Butcher’s Masquerade, but here we are.

One thing I’ve loved about this series is the way Matt Dinniman manages to give each floor of the dungeon its own unique concept. In this book, I thought it was cool the way the floor integrated memories and real earth locations, and I also thought the deck-based combat was an unexpected and fascinating new element. The latter really allowed Donut to complete her evolution from sidekick to full-on badass not to be trifled with, which I’m loving.

As always, there was plenty of humor and silliness in this book—especially with some of the zany totem characters—but what makes this series special for me is the way it combines that irreverence with real emotional depth, and we got more of that in this book, particularly for Carl’s character. We got some major glimpses into his past, which really helped flesh out his motivations and perspective.

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride also provided a few significant chunks of worldbuilding, as we learn more and more about the context of the dungeon’s existence and the real powers of the universe. That epilogue in particular blew my mind - not gonna spoil it, but let’s just say Agatha continues to absolutely fascinate me.

Lastly, just wanna add that Jeff Hays’ audio narration was on point once again, and I LOVED hearing Patrick Warburton’s cameos. Thought he was a fantastic casting choice for that role.

Ultimately, despite the fact that Matt Dinniman has really set my expectations high at this point, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride did not disappoint.

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#mattdinniman by @griffincooperfantasy

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15 days ago

These are 5 fantasy books and series that made me feel smart... for a few minutes at lesst 😅

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#fantasybooks by @griffincooperfantasy

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17 days ago