Showing posts with label Black Sea Gods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Sea Gods. Show all posts

Monday, July 21, 2014

Marvelous, Mystical, Murderous

Black Sea Gods

(Book 1 of the Chronicles of Fu Xi) 

by Brian Braden

This epic fantasy raises the bar for Historical Fantasy to new heights.

I usually know after reading the first paragraph whether or not I will like a book. With Black Sea Gods, I knew after the first sentence that the writing itself would be good. Well, I was wrong. It is GREAT!

The story is pure fantasy that is not bogged down by still disputed ancient timelines, nor even real places. Yet I "smelled" the salt-water marshes, "saw" the homes tilting above the lagoon, "heard" the incoming tide rush against the pilings, and kept worrying about the fate of the Lo-tribe.

Interestingly, there are two different story-lines: One follows the arduous journey of an intrepid people; the other, the Chronicles of Fu Xi, tells of the birth, death and re-birthing of the gods. The marvel is how the two are fused into an "Aha-moment."

Black Sea Gods is a novel to be enjoyed on several levels: For the sensitivity and beauty of the writing itself (I still demand that in what I choose to read); for the astounding imagination it took to write a story of those early tribes and gods (with the initial unfamiliarity about names quickly being overcome); and lastly for the vivid descriptions.

Writing historical fiction myself, I often stopped to ask myself "how did the writer come up with this?" And then I had to check that, indeed, this is written by a male author (sorry guys, but it is that delicately sensitive in places, yet so vividly strong in others, with some brutal scenes thrown in).
A resounding "Highly Recommended."


Brian Braden is a founder and assistant editor for Underground Book Reviews www.undergroundbookreviews.com, an online magazine featuring the best new indie lit.

He is also the author of the novelette CARSON'S LOVE, and a contributor to FLYING TOASTERS, an anthology of short stories. 

He can be reached at brian_l_braden@yahoo.com 
or 
you can visit his website at www.blackseagods.com

Also,

Check out Brian's FB page for his plans of a grand launch of Book 2 of the Chronicles of Fu Xi: 


Tears of the Dead 

There will be games, prizes, and gift books by many participating writers.