The City Stained Red

I read this book as an Advance Reading Copy. I promise that I never review books that I have not read. When I first began reading SF and fantasy, back in the Dark Ages when I was a mere slip of a girl, one of the things I most loved about the genre was that often the tales simply engulfed the reader......more

Lenk and his crew were hired to fight for a priest named Miron Evenhands. When the time comes for them to collect their pay, Miron vanishes. In their attempt to find the priest and get their money, Lenk and his crew encounter more than they bargained for. The City Stained Red literally revolves aroun......more

If you’ve read Tome of the Undergates you will know roughly what to expect when you pick up a book by Sam Sykes. You take a step away from today’s ‘gritty’ fantasy, that type of fantasy that looks to be ‘like real life, but different’ – i.e. low magic, a couple of beasts that aren’t too far removed......more

What words even begin to describe Sam Sykes... enigma... charlatan... mystical hobgoblin? I could go on, but thankfully Sykes is also a bloody good writer, and in The City Stained Red he has produced an entertaining and subversive tale that the bards (or reviewers, if your feeling modern today) shal......more