#ADGIFTED I am given books in return for a review, I use my own thoughts and opinions on these.

Wrath of Olympus: Ships of Britannia, Book 1 by E. M. Kkoulla

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Book Details


Length: 237 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Date Published: 09 December 2020
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/5KjlkuN (Canada)
https://a.co/d/h8ANKUo (USA)
https://amzn.eu/d/3UecmE0 (UK)
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56287354-wrath-of-olympus
The StoryGraph Link: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/86c83d93-565a-4d6f-b3ae-97d25b9bc7db?redirect=true




The Roman Empire never fell. The Gods are real. Ships are alive.

In the Province of Britannia, ruled by descendants of King Arthur and on the brink of an industrial revolution, young Maia Abella is on the run.
Something unseen has murdered her cruel mistress and she’s being blamed. The streets and factories of Portus are no place for a friendless girl, trapped in events beyond her control.
The city authorities and the Royal Navy are both desperate to find her – one investigating a killer, the other to recruit her, while the deadly legacy of a tragic past stalks her every step.
Aided by Raven, an ancient, blind Mage with a terrible secret and Milo, Crown Agent and spy, Maia must discover and overcome the fatal consequences of her birth.
Meanwhile, the Gods are making their moves. Not all of them are friendly.

Author Bio
I’m of mixed British/Greek-Cypriot heritage and live with my husband and two feline overlords, Zeus and Hades, in County Durham, UK. After many years of teaching very small children, I decided to put my degree in Classical Studies and long involvement with 17thC re-enactment to good use by combining them in my fantasy adventure series. I love history, reading, gardening and anything with gods and monsters trashing the landscape. You can find me on fb on my Ships of Britannia page and on Twitter @EKkoulla.

My Review Ooooft what a first book, we are world building but the pace feels more like a second or third book, which is fabulous. As notoriously first books can feel super slow and lose the reader. This is bam bam bam with the characters and plot, we have real world issues like over bearing abusive bosses, situations and circumstances we can all relate to at times, so it’s great to see how things pan out. Never before have I ever had a book have living ships, that communicate with telepathy, so unique in its story I make this top of my list of books to read, the bonus of this being book one, means we can all be whisked away in this world more times as the books come out!!!

#ADGIFTED all thoughts and opinions are my own, I choose books and genres I enjoy.

Time Marked Warlock by

Shami Stovall

Book Info
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Length: 402 pages

Published: June 2024

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210597012-time-marked-warlock

Amazon:  Not available currently

Blurb
Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother.


So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything.


Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.


Reluctantly, Finch agrees to help, only to discover something sinister has been brewing in town while he ignored the world… He’ll need to dust off all his old skills and magic before it’s too late.

Author Bio – Shani Stovall
Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators.


If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:


Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAStovall/

Email: s.adelle.s@gmail.com

My Review As someone who identifies as a witch, we don’t use the word Warlock at all as it’s a slur. Male witches are simply witches. But that aside as this is a fantasy book, is a tale about a Powerful Warlock (I’m going to presume a male witch)  a young girl witch, finding the assassin of her mother. Knowing he needs to brush up his skills after losing a case and becoming a recluse as that case he also lost his brother. A pleasant supernatural and metaphysical story, good paced and well described characters, that warm your heart, or have you feeling the emotions with them. Great to make this into a whole series like the Dresden files I think. This was absolutely my cup of tea, a perfect dose of fantasy, whimsical, but with consequences as all magic comes with a consequence. Real life dilemmas and emotions explored and well thought out.

It’s Monday and we’ve decided to get away and visit Padley Gorge in the Peak District. It’s a romantic fairy style woodland walk, and we were hoping to have a nice autumnal walk.

Through the quarry we amble, it feels ancient, quiet and eerie in its energies. And we found lots of mushrooms however the leaves aren’t as orange as we had hoped, but that just means I’ll have to come back again. Spooky in places, but I would totally wild camp here.

Didn’t find any chicken in the woods mushroom though I certainly had a damn good look for it. But we did find many others and I can’t wait to cross reference them in my foraging book. Didn’t pick any as I’m unsure of what is safe.

Beautiful buildings and ruins of a chapel were along the way, the drizzle rain didn’t stop us from enjoying the sights too much.

Into the woods it is whimsical along the river, as you can watch the water cascade and run in various places, the sound is constant and comforting, very lord of the rings fairy tale feeling. It’s my favourite part of this very varied walk.

Leaving the woods behind it opens up into moorland again and we are at the end of our walk, only owler rock to end on near the car park. A nice easy stroll for the day as the back pain is forever present, and hip isn’t feeling it’s best.

What a fabulous end to an incredible walk, weather was changeable, but we didn’t get too wet at the start, so that was goo. We had blue skies in the end.