Magic of the Hidden Realms

Really enjoyed this action packed collection of exciting adventures filled with engaging charters, thrilling magic, witty dialog, heart racing twists and exciting turns. Great reading from beginning to end.

This is a huge anthology of stories from nine different authors in the supernatural fantasy realm. Each is the first in the series or a prequel to a series. They cover subjects such as dragons, mermaids, vampires, gods, witches and people with hidden magical powers. The many varied worlds that the characters inhabit are fantastic and well developed.

You have a captain sailing the seas of the humans and the dragon realm of Draconia, stealing souls and dealing in death and robbery, whilst he is on a quest for an ancient relic and an infamous red dragon. He has to team up with a half blood who has the gift of prophetic dreams that she keeps hidden and in getting the crown prince to fall with her, ends up accused of his murder. Just the usual fate of the world to deal with.

An older sister, looking after her four younger siblings after the accidental death of their parents, soon finds out it wasn’t an accident and the rest of them are all in danger. She gets to meet her dragon, but his orders are to take them to the king! She will do anything to protect the rest of her family and he wants to protect the bond his dragon has with her at any cost. Unfortunately it will place them in more danger than before.

A rogue half vampire, bounty hunting supernatural convicts and other bad guys. That leads to a chance to attend the sought after Moonlight Academy with the chance to prepare for admission to The Elite, the most prestigious academy there is. She is sent out on a mission once there, to save the daughter of a warlock, but she has a fellow student, a full vampire, who will do everything he can to make her fail and get expelled.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with a father and daughter team who like to build things. The father’s clockwork invention allows people to see briefly into the past. A very steampunk adventure with lots of inventions and a grand event in an upper class part of Albercadia. A magical grimoire and two men of means after the daughter, all raise the stakes of trying to do business in the expo of future inventions and devices. Add in mechanical limbs, seen by some as monstrous. One man with a bad reputation with the ladies and the other a general with a prosthetic leg. The daughter will soon meet another couple of women, like her, sisters of the realm and sisters of magic.

A tale of gods finding their places in Asgard, as one struggles to do so and refuses to be chained to their destiny and chases after his dream woman. He gets given the opportunity to communicate with his dream woman during his dreams, but every time he does this, he is bringing closer, the chance for war to begin, as the woman belongs to another pantheon and his actions are about to break a long held peace treaty. Keeping everything secret from his brother and father, who want him to just stay home and not cause any trouble, could bring about his very death and cause the start of Ragnarok.

The queen of the Shadows is visited by the god, Fate, who wants to save his realm from the approaching darkness. She allows him to bless her unborn daughter with his magical powers, to save her kingdom and to give her child the abilities to stand against the darkness. No shadows fear the dark, as the blurb states. The queen’s people will fall to the darkness unless she takes up the god’s offer, but the hope is that her child can defeat it in the future.

A woman is dead at the hands of her husband, but the Punishment Council agree with the man’s story in the absence of the complainant, the now dead woman! Her daughter, Sorren, was sent on an impossible quest for the so-called fabled elven dust. The village council are only interested in more power and are putting the very lives of the villagers at risk of discovery from the New Shadow Knights. Some of what the people can do, could be thought to be banned magic, placing all in danger. Sorren was the one, as well as her mother, who could help the villagers and developed many of the inventions used in the village.

Four divided races and magic long forgotten, have left people now with a dangerous event called The Choosing. One woman has already lost her brother to this brutal ritual. She ends up exiled with three other leaders, of different races. She will soon discover if she has the long thought lost magic of the Dragonstone and the Dragonsayer. A friendship begins between this unlikely foursome, as the power to tear apart their world draws ever closer. This is a reverse harem tale, so be warned if that’s not something you like to read.

Lastly, a Cinderella story set in the Kingdom of Fantasia, but in this one it is Cinderella that could destroy the Kingdom and the wicked step mother that could be the one to save it! The stepmother has to lock her stepdaughter in the tower when her magical abilities put her own daughters in danger. She then has to work with the king to save Fantasia from her stepdaughter.

A great mix of different types of characters and settings, each told in their own little storyline. Lots of genres for people to pick up on their favourites, whether that be dragons, magic abilities, complete fantasy, fairy tale retellings, or even steampunk. From short prequels to first in series, mostly around the two hundred page mark in length. I had already bought some of these individual books, so it was great to have the chance to buy so many different stories all in one volume. I also received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

Several full length stories and a few preques to series. A half-blood woman, part dragon and part human with no dragon abilities is part of a prophecy. A woman and her sisters are part of a Dragon prophecy, witches who could find the Dragon Ruby.A human girl is experimented on and she wakes up not knowing her past and is half vampire. But four years later she comes to the attention of an academy and after meeting one of the students starts remembering her past. A young woman, the daughter of an inventor, finds out she has magic, which is forbidden in this time of technology. She meets the love of her life, another magic wielder, and someone who wants to siphon all of their magic. Then she finds out she is the subject of a prophecy. A God has forseen the love of his life and his death but he must play out the life he will lead. But he will be betrayed by friends. A young princess, the subject of a prophecy, loses her parents and her promised beloved and has to begin a new life until she is ready to fullfil the prophecy. A woman tries to help her deranged evil step-daughter but will she help or will her actions have dire consequences? I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review

“Magic of the Hidden Realms” a compilation of eight books by some of the most interesting Fantasy authors of the moment. It is a fantastic set which is worth picking at any cost. It includes some of my favourite authors of all times and some new to me.

I’ve chosen the book for two primordial reasons: first and foremost, I have been waiting for D. Fisher’s “Woe of Shadow’s” since the very moment I finalized her “Rise of the Realms” series and was also very interested in Nicole Zoltack’s offering, being those the two authors, I knew beforehand. And secondly, I wanted to try the to me unknown authors “to test the waters” so to speak.

As all eight books are interesting and made for an enjoyable lecture, the set offers a fantastic overview into a variety of bestselling authors. Do yourself a favour and pick the set right now, you would hardly get a better offer and chances are that you’ll find your next favourite author among its pages! (should you – like me have been living under some rock). I will confess that Fisher and Zoltack continue to be my favourites, even if I am already flirting with picking some books by some of the remaining authors.

A quick review of each of the stories

Half-Blood Dragon by K.N. Lee
Living in Draconia a land ruled by dragons, half-blood Rowan is stuck into a life of servitude, but Rowen possess the gift prophecy, she can glimpse the future in her dreams. Thus, and under the cover of innocence, she works out a plan to gain the favour of the crown prince, the plan succeeds only to crash down on her as the crown prince is murdered and she is branded as the murderer. Now Rowan needs a new perspective, which will appear in the form of Captain Westin, together they embark in quest to unearth the secrets of the realm.

Violca’s Dragon by Leilani Love
Violca Grey has to raise her four sisters after the death of her parents, hiding from them their own magical power, they are in fact Earth witches. Their ignorance turns into liability as they are targeted by a demon and are unable to fight against. Fortunately, Dragon King Viktor sends allies to protect the girls, not so fortunately one of the saviours recognizes Violca as his true mate from the very moment he set eyes into her, while Violca cannot, want not, deal with the fact. Both eventually find a common ground, but not before a whole set of twisted turns.

Half-Blood Rising – Joanna Mazurkiewicz
Jaymin Clarence, a half-vampire with not whatsoever recollection oh here time before conversion works as a rogue hunter bringing to justice supernatural criminal at the orders of the High Council, until she is offered a place at the renombrated Moonlight Academy which could result in being eligible to joint the The Elite, a most exclusive Academy in Bucharest. Nevertheless, the opportunity comes with some strings attached, follow the rules and fulfill the assignments and the future shines bright but any so slightly mistake, could imply her expulsion and the lost of everything she holds dear.

Clockwork Magic by Cruz Asher
As Lily’s father present his last project, the Horologium, a Victorian bronze, copper and brass clock he has been working in for week, she is convinced that he finally has lost it…… he claims, imagine, that his construction allows the viewer to glimpse the events of the past twenty-four hours in time-lapse. The audience nevertheless is delighted; Lily’s father seems at least, ducked once more the ridicule of his clients. It is indeed a steampunk retelling of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ and one of the most imaginative ones. Cruz Asher does what knows best, construct (pun intended) tantalizing steampunk canopy that become themselves a character in the story.

The Woe of Shadows by D. Fisher
A story featuring the Shadow People, who were first introduced on the last chapters of the Rise of the Realms series, is a wonderful book, that manages to cater to both, the readers already familiar with Fisher verse and those who attend the read unaware of any of the settings and characters. Perfectly understandable and easy to follow for the newcomers, still manages to hide some gift thought the plot for those of us who have already fallen in love with the Realms and become adepts.

Search for Soren by Leona Bushman
A dark fantasy tale of Elves, Fae, Dark Knights living in a world were the Knights have become a threat to both magical and non-magical creatures.
Leona Bushman undoubtably has a fine gift to depict the macabre, finding the inherent beauty buried behind the layers of darkness.

Through a Dragon’s Eyes by Marissa Farrar
A high fantasy tale, set in Xantearos, populated by Elvish, Moerians, Norcs and humans, who have been living separated from each other for over 150 years since the end of the Great War as the Treaty was signed, now it is been broken and a long forgotten magic resurfaces again. Farrar has constructed a very complex world, which could feel overwhelming at first, there is multitude of fantasy creatures, quests to follow, challenges to overcome (The Choosing), and places to go. Once the first shock of information passes the plot develops and turns into a very enjoyable story.

Of Cinders and Madness by Nicole Zoltack
The book, a twisted retelling of Cinderella, told from the perspective of the stepmother is a very original take on this widely know story. It will force the reader to question everything we know, and who we trust, we even ended up asking “who is the real victim here”. And this in itself is a huge accomplishment.
A wonderful retelling that goes beyond just changing the setting and succeeds in creating a brand-new story.