Smorgasbord Bookshelf – Summer Book Fair 2022 – First in Series – #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, #Fantasy D.Wallace Peach

Over the course of the next three months I will be sharing the authors who feature in the Smorgasbord Bookshelf with the books that I have reviewed and can personally recommend.

In this first part of the summer fair, I am sharing books that are the first in a series in both adult and children’s books along with one of their five star reviews. I hope that this will encourage you to enjoy the series in full. I will feature every author on the shelves by the end of the summer. I hope you will enjoy.

The first book is Voyage of the Lanternfish (The Lanternfish Series Book 1) by C.S. Boyack. I have read the three books and can highly recommend… wonderful characters, action and an excellent example of well written fantasy.

About the book

An honorable man is mistaken for his disreputable father. Now he’s pushed into a political scheme to start a war that will spread across multiple kingdoms. James Cuttler’s fiancé is being held captive to ensure he goes through with the plan.

He soon decides his skills are at sea and procures a ship to wage war upon those who disrupted his simple life. He can’t do it alone, so he recruits a band of cutthroats to help him. But first, they need guns and munitions to outfit the ship properly. Deception and trickery will only get them so far. Eventually, they’re going to have to engage the enemy.

James’ goals aren’t necessarily the same as his crew. It’s a delicate balancing act to collect enough loot to keep his crew happy, while guiding them back to rescue the girl.

Voyage of the Lanternfish is filled with adventure, magic, and monsters. Lots of monsters. Hoist the colors and come along for the ride.

One of the excellent reviews for the book

Harmony Kent 5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Read  Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2019

I bought and read this book back in January and somehow managed to forget to review it until now, six months later, lol. So, here my review is, at last. It says a lot that even after all this time, I still remember this book and its characters clearly, which is one reason I mention my little episode of forgetfulness now.

I’ve read other books by this author and love his easy style, sense of humour, and vivid imagination. He has a way with words. And Voyage of the Lanternfish certainly didn’t disappoint. We have kidnapping, piracy on the high seas, swashbuckling adventure and mayhem, and unforgettable characters and creatures. By far my favourite from this book are the root monsters with their incredibly expressive ‘I,I,I,I’s’. (Trust me, once you read it, you’ll know what I mean.)

If you’re a fan of magical realism and/or fantasy fiction, you’re sure to love this book. According to my GoodReads record, I read this in 24 hours. It would have been in one sitting if not for life intruding. This book gives you excellent world building and characterisation, along with fast-paced action and a rip-roaring plot line. The story will stay with me for a long time, and this is one of those books I’ll find myself re-reading (and not just because of my poor memory, lol). I cannot recommend Voyage of the Lanternfish highly enough. It gets a solid five stars from me. 

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

A selection of other books by C.S. Boyack

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – and :Amazon UK – Follow Craig: Goodreads – blog:Cold Hand Boyack – Twitter: @Virgilante

About C.S. Boyack

I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.

I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.

I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.

The next book is the first in another great fantasy series I can highly recommend with amazing storyline, characters and fast paced action. Diana Wallace Peach with Liars and Thieves (Unraveling the Veil Book 1)

About the book

Behind the Veil, the hordes of Chaos gather, eager to savage the world. But Kalann il Drakk, First of Chaos, is untroubled by the shimmering wall that holds his beasts at bay. For if he cannot cleanse the land of life, the races will do it for him. All he needs is a spark to light the fire.

Three unlikely allies stand in his way.

A misfit elf plagued by failure—When Elanalue Windthorn abandons her soldiers to hunt a goblin, she strays into forbidden territory.

A changeling who betrays his home—Talin Raska is a talented liar, thief, and spy. He makes a fatal mistake—he falls for his mark.

A halfbreed goblin with deadly secrets—Naj’ar is a loner with a talent he doesn’t understand and cannot control, one that threatens all he holds dear.

When the spark of Chaos ignites, miners go missing. But they won’t be the last to vanish. As the cycles of blame whirl through the Borderland, old animosities flare, accusations break bonds, and war looms.

Three outcasts, thrust into an alliance by fate, by oaths, and the churning gears of calamity, must learn the truth. For they hold the future of their world in their hands.

One of the wonderful reviews for the book

Baker’s Dozen5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent original fantasy adventure with fine prose and complex character development.  Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2021

This is a fun fantasy story in the tradition of The Hobbit, but with excellent poetic prose occurring throughout, and a major re-think of some of the traditional denizens of the fantasy landscape. The author invented a very original view of the three major races in her fantasy tale, goblins, changelings, and elves. The author even took the time to work out a law of physics for how the characters behave and use some of their special abilities, and how they relate to one another on that same basis.

Three characters, a changeling, a goblin, and an elf, trade off the narrative as the book works through the interactions, life struggles, and geo-politics of the three kingdoms which all exist in close proximity and in economic interdependence to one another.

The writing is excellent, and very poetic, for example when approaching a city on the plains for the first time there is this line:

“The sprawling city of Ka Radiff neared, a low-roofed maze of clay blocks and fluttering laundry strung over its brick streets.”

This sort of evocative imagery is common throughout the whole book, and the author often presents readers with series of images with which they can see the fantasy world of the story for themselves.

The pacing is good, though perhaps as a side effect of alternating the narrative between three characters who continuously run into one another, I was left with a feeling that the world they live in was very small. This despite efforts made to describe high mountains, a large rail system, and vast rainforests. The characters did seem to go back and forth to the same places for the whole story, and sometimes it seemed too easy for characters with their low levels of technology to travel long distances whenever they wanted to. But this didn’t detract from the story at all, it just gave the story a sort of “small town” feel to it, at least to this reader.

The story line is interesting, as was the revealing of the different races and their various characteristics and needs. One quibble I had was that at an early part of the book a pair of Goblins, who in the story are specially evolved for subterranean living, barely avoid a danger, which turns out not to be as dangerous as it at first looked. I felt with their powers of living underground they should have seen through this obstacle immediately, so the set up for that moment of danger seemed a bit too strained for the effect it purported to have on the characters.

However, there is a seriously legit shock at a later part of the story which I defy anyone to claim they saw coming!

This is the first book in a trilogy, and it does an excellent job of introducing the characters, the world they live in, and the major races and political considerations which drive character behavior.

I’m definitely a fan of the author and her writing style, and I would recommend Liars and Thieves along with its two sister books in the trilogy, to any reader who enjoys finely crafted Hobbit-style fantasy tales which employ excellent language usage and intricate plot developments as well as original character concepts.

Head over read the reviews: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

A selection of other books by D.Wallace Peach

D. Wallace Peach, Buy: Amazon US – And : Amazon UK – Follow Diana: Goodreads – blog: Myths of the Mirror – Twitter: @Dwallacepeach

About Diana Wallace Peach

A long-time reader, best-selling author D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life after the kids were grown and a move left her with hours to fill. Years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books, and when she started writing, she was instantly hooked.

In addition to fantasy books, Peach’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of the arts in her local community, organizing and publishing annual anthologies of Oregon prose, poetry, and photography.

Peach lives in a log cabin amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon’s rainforest with her husband, two owls, a horde of bats, and the occasional family of coyotes.

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you will be leaving with some books… Sally.