The Forgotten Saga of the Lost Company

By Michael Maguire

A review by INFAMOUS🦀

If we take a look at the current fantasy/sword and sorcery genre, there are mainly two trends that dominate the marketplace: romantasy and epic/high fantasy.

Romantasy really just uses the elements of the fantasy genre to present an inherently romantic story or simply put—a love story.

Epic/high fantasy instead focuses more on ‘scope’: epic battles, large groups of characters, vast lands populated by a plethora of fantastic races.

Whether you enjoy either trend of fantasy, too much of anything after some time can get boring and exhausting, even. Sometimes it is more beneficial to turn down the heat some, dim the lights, and instead of throwing a huge party have a small get-together with only a few yet good friends, if you know where I’m going with my metaphor.

THE COVER:

When Maguire first invited me to review his book, The Forgotten Saga of the Lost Company, what first got my attention was its cover. In a AI-art age where most covers are filled with unrealistically beautiful women, with all the right curves and all the right ‘assets’, this  cover presented a subject that to me came across as unique, intriguing, and mysterious. Not your stereotypical book cover pin up girl but rather a female warrior that instantly makes you want to open the book and find out her story.

SELF-CONTAINED NARRATIVE:

Going back to my initial thoughts, as soon as we start reading the prologue and then dive into chapter 1, we quickly find out that this is not going to be a colossal epic story with scope, multiple settings, and multiple casts of characters. The story is very self-contained, beginning to end. We start our journey with the Company and we end our journey with the Company. 

This was a breath of fresh air because let’s face it, we can easily get burned out on reading epic fantasy books, all trying to be massive in scope. By focusing just on this group of men and women who form the Lost Company, everything feels more personal and more intimate, even. We get to know these characters in ways that otherwise we could never know and understand, and this creates a stronger emotional engagement on behalf of me and you—the readers. 

PLOT:

When a company of the army of Ethylund goes into battle to defend their country against the invaders known as the Aeneans (inspired certainly by the Romans), things don’t go as planned and they find themselves lost behind enemy lines. Captain Roma (the woman on the cover) is now tasked with bringing her men back home, but the problem is, the way back is now patrolled by enemy garrisons, so they must find another way to get back home, which entails marching straight into enemy territory.

MAGES AND THE MAGIC FACTOR:

It is interesting to notice how in this world, both armies make use of mages for military purposes. So while the Aeneans use mages to invade Ethylund and other countries, the defenders also use mages of their own to counter the magic of their invaders.

When our company gets lost within enemy territory, it is thanks to mage Mane and his incantations that they are able to avoid being spotted by the enemy for so long. A cat and mouse game will begin within the realm of magic between Mane and the mages who work for the enemy, while Captain Roma and her men try to figure out a way not to starve while finding a way home.

CAPTAIN ROMA/STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER:

Roma, to me, IS the story, period. My first sense of intrigue with the cover artwork was soon replaced with absolute love and admiration for this character once I read more about her. Do you want to know how to write a strong female character that works? Then read The Forgotten Saga! 

Roma is strong, but not in the sense that she could match a man twice her size in strength. Though a skilled fighter with the sword, her true strength is being a leader at heart, and knowing when to push her men at times and when to sacrifice herself for them, at other times. What makes her also so compelling is the fact that until the end, there is an aura of mystery around her past, about her background. Who was Roma before the war? Before becoming captain? With other characters such as Tuggs or Tris, we get to know who they were before joining the ranks. But with Roma, we never find out, which in this case works in a fantastic way because as a reader, I couldn’t stop thinking about her even after I closed the book.

PROSE:

I thought the prose overall was ‘just okay’ and felt like the writer could have chosen a more evocative style to match the setting. This is not to say that we encounter too much modern vernacular in the book, but lines like:

“But I won’t be able to relax until I see everyone is okay. So, just help me up, okay?”

To me, lines like the above full of ‘okays’ just don’t bode well, given the nature of the characters, the period, and the place.

INFO-DUMP:

As I said already, what I enjoyed about this story is how it is focused only on this company of soldiers and their efforts to get back home. We don’t need to know why there’s a war; knowing there’s one is good enough. We don’t need to know why the Aeneans want to invade Ethylund so bad; knowing that they want to invade is enough. However at some point Maguire decided that some of this stuff was important to know:

“Of course, Ethylund had once been part of the Empire only two hundred years ago. The many, leaderless tribes had been easily conquered by the Empire of the Fist and over time had been taught civility.”

And it goes on and on with more exposition dump that we really don’t care about, nor do we need. We want to know about this company and how the hell will they be able to make it home alive, that’s it!

CONCLUSIONS:

The Forgotten Saga of the Lost Company is exactly what I wanted to read right now in an oversaturated marketplace of epic fantasy stories. It achieved its goal in creating a smaller-scale, yet more intimate narrative, in which we establish a strong emotional attachment to several of the characters. I mentioned Captain Roma but honestly there are more than a handful of other characters who grabbed my attention: Sharp, the soldier who can never stop sharpening his knives; Danza, the giant woman with a heart of gold; Lash, who, though seriously wounded to the leg, kept on going without wavering… the list of memorable characters goes on and on. 

Oh, and folks die here too! All jokes aside, Maguire is not afraid of killing off characters when the story rightfully calls for it. Even main characters at times will be sacrificed for the greater good of the company, which might make some of us (myself included) even temporarily hate the author for doing so (thanks for making me shed a few tears, Michael!)

The prose is decent but I feel like with some more awareness Maguire could write in a style that feels more evocative. The use of ‘okay’ was a little too distracting for me at times. 

The unnecessary info-dump, albeit not too extensive, could have also been eliminated altogether. We don’t care why they are at war. Usually the motives of war never change anyway. If we are going to keep things self-contained let’s keep them self-contained all the way, shall we?

If you love fantasy but feel burned out on all the mega epic tales and long for a story that is more personable, more intimate, and with characters you will end up laughing with, crying with, even suffering with at some level, pick up a copy of The Forgotten Saga today!

And a note to Maguire: how about a novel focused exclusively on Roma? I think she deserves it and yours truly would certainly appreciate it!

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Legacy of Blood

By Jessica Barberi

A Review by INFAMOUS🦀

Legacy of Blood is the first book of a fantasy series called Son of the Flames written by Jessica Barberi which follows in the footsteps of her previous series called Fires of an Empire Saga. I never read any of the previous books but the pleasant surprise was that I was able to quickly find my footing into this world of dragons.

The main character is the oldest son of King Ciran, 17-year-old Ronan, whom this entire book was written around. His father was the main character of the previous book series – if I’m not mistaken – and now as a king, he finds himself in a difficult situation with a son who acts impulsively and does not listen to good advice when given to him. Ciran, too, in his own days, had to overcome challenges of his own, but now that he is older and has garnered priceless life experience, he looks out for his son and constantly warns him, as to not wanting him to make mistakes he might regret for the rest of his life. 

That right there really sets up the tone for the rest of the book, which is basically a look at the learning voyage Ronan embarks on, over a series of trials and life/death situations.

DRAGONS:

If it wasn’t obvious yet, this is fantasy big on dragons. The dragons we get to read about are the more animal-like ones, not the talking dragons a-la Tolkien. Ronan, in a foolish attempt to prove ‘something’ to his father Ciran, grabs a dragon egg from the lair of Ciran’s own dragon, Lorcan, and crosses the mountains to get away from his family. But the dragon egg makes him a target for dragon hunters, and once the egg hatches, it just doesn’t make for a smooth travel companion, let’s just say. 

FINN:

The character of Finn, a boy/fisherman Ronan meets in his adventure across the mountains, quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with in the narrative, and will certainly become a fan favorite. Initially, he is everything Ronan is not, due to his upbringing. He was not born with a silver spoon in his hand, and unlike Ronan, who at this stage is simply driven by impulses and by his baser instincts, is able to judge situations and people more wisely. The friendship that develops between the two boys is not exactly the smoothest due to their intrinsic differences, but what is compelling is that in the long run, Finn becomes the one single factor that will make Ronan face and admit to his faults and wrongdoings. This was really the highlight of this whole thing. The one remarkable factor, embodied by Finn and his relationship/partnership with Ronan. That alone was worth reading the book. Stellar job in capturing not just the humanity of Finn, but also the synergy between him and Ronan, as their personalities clash one against the other. That tension, that pulling back and forth, is where the author nails it.

PLOT/PACE:

Where I think the book struggles a bit is with the overall plot and pace. There is a lot of walking and a lot of talking, but much of it feels “uneventful” for lack of better terms. Yes, Ronan develops some sort of bond with the newborn dragon eventually, but there is really not much more to it. Everything feels transitional as the main character runs away from home with the dragon egg, makes friends with fisherboy Finn, and chases after pretty girls before being scared straight. 

Overall, it all just felt very slow. A whole lot of nothing happening with just a few exciting highlights here and there. Don’t get me wrong, I am not inferring that the plot should be action on top of action, but the way it’s written, though grammatically correct and well edited, feels very passive. For example, expressions like “he began to swim” instead of “he swum” or “he started to run” instead of “he ran”—though not directly quoted from the book, might help you better understand the type of not-so-engaging approach the author is using here.

In itself, it is not a bad thing, but I personally prefer a more active and engaging style that grabs me from beginning to end.

THE NON-EXISTENT ENDING:

I said this before and I say it again: it doesn’t matter whether your book series consists of 3, 10, or 20 books, you gotta offer your readers some sort of satisfying ending to each and every one of them. Your readers should walk away feeling like something got accomplished within the narrative, and that things moved forward in a meaningful and memorable way.

In LoB, there is no satisfying ending, in fact, it feels like we’re getting half of an entire book. It’s okay to leave doors open for a sequel, but also, we have to make sure to offer readers a complete story to some degree. When I reached the last page, I almost had to second guess that my digital copy wasn’t missing chapters. Our books shouldn’t feel like a long prologue to introduce us to the next book.

CONCLUSIONS:

If you enjoy dragon-based fantasy this book is for you. I tend to prefer THIS imagining of dragons that feel like actual beasts rather than the intellectually sophisticated, talking creatures other authors have written. 

The book is well-written and the editing is solid. The character of Finn and his exchanges with Ronan were ‘fire’. 

I had some issues with the not-so very active style and uneventful plot (interestingly, I read some other reviews on the previous series which also point this out). There was no ending to the story, as the last chapter only hints that basically we will have to read the next book to get something that resembles an ending. I think this approach can work when we put our stories up on Substack and RoyalRoad, but when we publish a finished book customers PAY to read, we must go above and beyond expectations, let alone provide a somewhat fulfilling ending.

Hope you will grab a copy when this comes out on June 1st, 2025, and let us know how your personal experience will be in this exciting world of dragons and dragon riders!

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Reflections of Lilje Damselfly by Natalie Kelda

A review by INFAMOUS🦀

What first earned my interest for this novel was the cover. This is perhaps one of the most gorgeous book covers I’ve seen in quite some time and it was drawn by hand – not AI – by the author herself, who told me she practiced for three years to draw like this. Absolutely beautiful cover, in my humble opinion. It immediately sets the mood for something with an ancient background, something legendary we are about to dive into.

Is the story just as mesmerizing as the cover is? Good question, and the answer is ‘Yes… for the most part’.

PLOT:

The story is set in (early?) 20th century England and centers around a real-life water nymph, Lilje, who has lived for many centuries in a forest pond, in perfect harmony with her surroundings, along with her father, also a nymph. Things escalate when she is taken against her will by a team of humans led by a woman named Victoria. Trapped like a fish and transported into a cistern on wheels carried by horses, Lilje is frightened at first, later confused about this whole affair until she finds out that her father is collaborating with Victoria. You see, Lilje – though immortal – has been feeling increasingly ill with unexplainable aches and pains. This woman, Victoria, thinks she knows a cure, but it involves treatment at her own spa miles away from Lilje’s forest pond. Lilje quickly finds out that her father and Victoria have been acquainted for quite some time, in fact they’ve had a relationship beyond the platonic.

Lilje’s time at the spa turns out to be not what readers may expect. Will the treatment offered by Victoria heal the nymph of her ailments? You will have to read the book to find out!

WHERE THE STORY SHINES:

I can tell you with confidence that the strongest element of this story, what makes this book so compelling, is the way the author conceptualized and put together the essence of ‘what it is to be a water nymph’. Lilje is not just some pretty girl swimming in water. The attention to details regarding what a nymph would be like, look like, act like, what she would think and feel, is where RoLD truly shines. The nymph doesn’t just live in water, rather, she has a symbiotic relationship with water itself and with all life that spurts out and around the pond. It is a thing of beauty reading how her life in the pond is a true perfect ecosystem, in a sense; a harmonious environment where Lilje is linked to water at a molecular level, even. Water is life to Lilje. Water nurtures her, keeps her radiant and immortal; but water is also her best friend. She can communicate with all flora and fauna in and around the pond: fish, insects, plants, flowers. Lilje is described as something that is more than human, one with her elements, and these descriptions are so vivid, readers won’t be able to stop flipping pages.

NEGATIVES:

I know this might divide some people but I don’t care (there’s a reason why I’m called INFAMOUS!). There were elements in the story that I felt were out of place and even annoying, most of the time. Specifically, Lilje’s sapphic relationship with one of the inn maids, Mel. I find the whole LGBTQ-whatever thing very tiring at this point in time. The story could avail of true friendship development without having to get ‘sensual’, necessarily. This reminds me of the overall trend we’re seeing in modern fantasy, whereas two characters of the same sex are seldom portrayed as just very good friends – like Frodo and Sam in Lord of Rings, for example. In a lot of modern fiction, it seems as though if two same-sex characters think of one another, care for one another, would give their lives for one another, then the relationship inevitably MUST be sexualized at some point and to some degree.

The truth is that Lilje and Mel could have become very good friends without the unnecessary sexual tension and the story would have gained an additional layer of depth, in actuality. This is just my opinion – love it or hate it.

CONCLUSIONS:

RoLD is a well written novel with elements that go from outstanding and exciting (the nymph’s life at the pond) to tiring and cringe (lesbian relationship). The description of the forest pond and the life it cradles is the peak of the book. The concept of what a water nymph would look like, how she would operate, think, and feel, was so well crafted I had to stop reading a couple of times to say to myself: “Wow, this is how you portray a nymph! Good job!”.

The relationship between Lilje and the pure element of water is what makes this book relevant. If anything, I wished the story had been more about exploring that side of it than Lilje’s infatuation with Mel.

If you want to read one of the best portrayals of a water nymph, this book might be for you. The struggles she goes through, as she finds out the reason why she keeps getting increasingly ill, will touch a lot of hearts, as it did mine. In the end, this story deals with the human struggle against mortality, and how different people will deal with it, truly.

(Reflections of Lilje Damselfly will release on June 23, 2025)

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The Fey of Castle Garden

by Naomi P. Cohen

A review by INFAMOUS🦀

This novel held much interest for me because it deals with a genre of fantasy filled with mythological characters which I’ve never been much acquainted with, other than by name—and some of them not even by name, even.

Irish lore is rich in feys, mysterious magical creatures who interact with humans in very peculiar ways. Feys are organized in groups or ‘courts’—each court with their own leader or queen. Sometimes these courts might have a conflict of interests but for the most part they handle their affairs with much diplomacy and old-fashioned common sense. 

PLOT:

In The Fey of Castle Garden some of the fey courts from the ‘old world’ migrate to 19th Century America, and particularly to the city of New York. These feys tend to recruit mages (humans who learn the use of magic and the making of magic potions) to serve them in exchange for protection and to further expand their knowledge and studies. Our protagonist, Sofia, is one such mage who relocates from Venice, Italy to NYC under the tutelage of Queen Triona. Things escalate real quick when a mage of another rival court is found dead—mysteriously murdered. Obviously this crime sparks a blame game between the two rival courts, The court of Hounds and Queen Triona’s Court, by which Sofia is trying to build a future for herself with a career as a mage and a violinist.

Sofia and her best friend Ciaran, a cait sidhe fey who has developed very strong feelings for her and is always very protective of her, will be tossed into a dark underworld of magic, deception, and cold opportunism, before they find out who the mysterious fey murderer is and how that will have profound consequences on the entire fey community.

Who is friend? Who is foe? Pick up a copy and find out.

SOFIA, THE PROTAGONIST:

I would be lying if I said that I liked the protagonist, Sofia. I didn’t. Many of the choices she makes in life to me are sad and heartbreaking. This does not mean that the character is not well-written, but she doesn’t gain my sympathy:

Music made Sofia’s life bearable. Her violin had provided comfort when her parents told her they couldn’t afford her dowry. She could take up a trade to make a living. If she wanted to continue her education, especially in music, her options were to join a convent or be a courtesan.

Guess what option she picked? You guessed it. She decides to become a courtesan. What was a courtesan? Cohen enlightens us:

“Courtesans were higher class than common prostitutes. One man at a time and for a full living”

 Sofia kind of reminds me of the college girl who goes into stripping to pay off her tuition fees,  because life is tough and she has ‘no other choice’. I understand being ambitious and goal-driven, but what is the point of even gaining the whole world in exchange for losing one’s soul? 

But I digress. I was personally left with a bitter taste in my mouth with this character. To balance things out, Queen Triona of the fey court was my favorite character, perhaps one of the few characters (along with Faolan, leader of the other fey court) with a hint of common sense. Triona to me was the one true protagonist and hero, in the way she loves and protects her people and particularly children. I love how she wears her heart on her sleeve but she is also a true leader, as she calls her shots from her lair in Central Park like a boss!

SOME INFAMOUS🦀 THOUGHTS:

1. The setting – TFOCG undoubtedly represents a gold mine of possibilities for vivid descriptions. The narrative takes us from 1800s Venetian upper social circles to the rough immigrant-filled neighborhoods of America, and everything in between. However, I felt like the author did not exploit that to its full potential. For example, the luxurious house of the Valentino family; the deplorable slums where Hannah and her son are forced to live; the period garments worn by the characters—the dresses, the suits, the hats, the shoes—in my opinion all of that could have used further descriptive exploration to really plunge readers into that world. 
2. Exposition – If the author used more exposition maybe some aspects of the story would have been better digested. For example, we learn that Sofia’s first patron lied to her by omission for two months, before finding out he was a married man. I find that very far fetched even by XIX century standards, but if I am wrong, why not write about those moments Sofia shared with this man? Perhaps showcase what they shared, their chemistry, to see how this smooth operator was able to keep the charade going for two months. Or even write some of her interactions with the other patrons, even in their intimate moments—if needed—to get a better idea of how exactly everything led to her becoming this mistress for the wealthy men of society.

CONCLUSIONS:

Overall, I found this an enjoyable story though with a lot of room for improvement. Some of it propelled me to frustration, through anger, confusion, to utter despair (the character of Hannah having to rely on magical contraceptives from Sofia, as she sells her body in order to provide for her son, was gut wrenching). I feel like settings and costumes could have been richer in details, along with just more overall exposition.

The highlight for me was learning more about what a ‘cait sidhe’ is, for example, along with much more in regards to the rich Irish lore featured in this story which is absolutely fascinating.

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The Blackfire Chronicles Volume I 

by Mark Sowers

A review by INFAMOUS🦀

Volume 1 of The Blackfire Chronicles was the debut novel of author Mark Sowers, and frankly, there are well-established ‘seasoned’ writers out there who fail to create stories this good and compelling. As a debut novel, TBC has its flaws, mainly due to ‘pace’, but at least we have a story and characters cohesive and captivating enough to make us want to flip pages. I am sure as Sowers keeps developing and improving as a writer those minor issues can be fixed. On the positive, if the story and/or characters were weak then we would have had bigger issues to deal with.

Like a few other fantasy writers I’ve covered recently, Sowers’ narrative departs a great deal from the typical tropes of the genre. Though ‘magic’ is actively involved in this world, the story doesn’t revolve around who wears a certain piece of magic jewelry, or who yields a certain magic sword, or who holds a certain magic staff. This magic system is more nuanced. The characters moving within the story take center stage, not some magic trinkets.

PLOT:

Everything begins with our two main characters, Reval and Arval, two boys forced into indentured labor at one of the four mysterious digging sites scattered to the four corners of the world. The enslaved laborers themselves do not even know what they are digging for, exactly, but whatever it is it must be of the highest priority since the monarch has been putting so much effort and so many resources into it. Reval has been working at the site for so long he has no knowledge of the world beyond his work environment. Even things like foods other than the slop he is fed by the guards are foreign subjects to him. Arval gets recruited (or rather forced) into working at the site at a later time, and it is through him that Reval’s curiosity for the world beyond the depressing digging site begins to grow. The two boys quickly become good friends and, one day, as they are digging they find access to a hidden abode where they come in contact with the spirit of a character from the past who enlightens Reval on what this digging site and three similar similar digging sites are all about and how the use of magic was  banished a long time ago, though the time for its return is now near.  In the process, Reval is also granted formidable magic powers and he and Arval manage to escape. Thus their real adventure begins.

Obviously there is more to this, but since we want to keep spoilers to a minimum, when you pick up a copy you will soon discover that there are many supporting characters and plot developments intelligently adopted into the story as to not bore us to death with yet another ‘same old same old’ fantasy book.

PACE:

Overall, my only negative statement would be in regards to the pace in some segments of the book. Sometimes it feels as though Sowers is trying to write too much about things that really have nothing to do with the story itself. Details about some characters that are quite superfluous or irrelevant, for example, do not make for a smooth reading flow. Make no mistake, TBC is not ‘slow’ overall, in fact, most of it moves quite briskly. But there are some descriptive paragraphs that could have been more succinct or omitted altogether, making the pace more uniform overall, rather than at times feeling like we are walking through a swamp.

CONCLUSIONS:

I get excited every time I read a book like TBC because it shows me that the over-saturated genre of fantasy still holds a few positive surprises every once in a while. I already bought Volume 2 because it is always interesting to watch an author (hopefully) improve from his debut novel to his follow-up novel. I am sure Sowers is a smart writer and he was able to use this first book as a learning experience to turn around and hit us with an even better sequel.

I know I look forward to it!

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