Bloodrush

This book came 2nd in my Self Published Fantasy Blog Off contest Read about the competition here.See the contest ratings and reviews for the finalists I can understand why the book was the favourite of 4 out of 10 judges in the contest and came 2nd from a field of 273.I have praise for and gripes with almost every aspect of the book, though the praise outweighs the gripes.Let s start with the cover, often a stumbling block for self published work It s a fine looking cover and wouldn t look out o [...]

The Review Can Also Be Found Here thefictionalhangout.c When Prime Lord Hark is found in a pool of his own blood on the steps of his halls, Tonmerion Hark finds his world not only turned upside down, but inside out His father s last will and testament forces him west across the Iron Ocean, to the very brink of the Endless Land and all civilisation They call it Wyoming.This is a story of murder and family.In the dusty frontier town of Fell Falls, there is no silverware, no servants, no plush velv [...]

As much as I liked the setting of Bloodrush, with a faerie infused old west frontier, I have a really hard time finding anything new or engaging in coming of age tales To Ben Galley s credit, there s enough violence, gore, and profanity here to counter the YA feel, but we re still talking about a story that s centered around a moody, obnoxious 13 year old kid who is just as often wise beyond his years as he is suitably foolish.Tonmerion Merion Hark is the son of the murdered Prime Lord Hark, for [...]

Much, much love and 4,5 for this one 2016 really has mostly great books in stock for me.It takes quite a while to really take off, but I was submerged right from the start anyway So I won t take a star for it If you are looking for a thrown right in the action start, you might mind it than me though It also has slower parts in the middle, where we just live day to day live in the desert town of Fell Falls with the main character not much action in there either, but I found it quite interesting [...]

Finalist of SPFBO Read the full list of finalists here mark lawrenceSummary When 13 year old Merion s father the Prime Lord of the Britan counterpart in this alternate reality world is killed, Merion is sent to America to live with his aunt, where he will learn about his magic and generally make a nuisance of himself, while trying to find out who killed his father.Thoughts This is not a bad book, mostly it is a not for me book The writing itself was quite good I found the mash of western and fan [...]

Bold, daring, fun and exciting I do loathe the rating system on here, what I would like to give this book is 4.5 stars, and so to hell with rules, it s getting 4.5 To elaborate on that, for me, if I give a book 3 stars it means I enjoyed it, if it gets 4 it means I really enjoyed it, if it gets 5 then it flat out knocked me on my arse This book is self published Why say that you ask Because it does not feel like it is You hold this book and you know you are holding a quality product While the co [...]

Mini review over at Fantasy Book Critic Overall rating 3 1 2 stars My original introduction to Ben s writing was via his debut Emaneska series With Blood Rush though, Ben takes an entirely new approach and gives us an alternate historical book that also acts strongly as a western The story focusses on Tonmerion Hark, a 13 year old who is sort of banished to a foreign frontier land called Wyoming Wanting to return to his British homeland, Tonmerion will have to try to fit in with his extended fam [...]

No story spoilers beyond what s on the back cover I accepted a review copy of this book because I ve long fantasized the idea of writing my own Western Fantasy mash up This first novel of The Scarlet Star trilogy mostly succeeds at combining the two, but it favors the fantasy aspect so than western When I think of a western I think of lone, quiet drifters and traversing wide majestic landscapes with the clash of nature and civilization All these points are hit upon within the story, but sort of [...]

bookwormblues 2015 05

This book is a coming of age tale of Merion Hark, a 13 year old boy who is forced to move to America during its famous era of cowboys, scalping native americans, railroads and saloons Add to that supernatural elements, like faeries, blood drinking people, shamans with real magic and guns and you have a very different mixture.The prose is very well written The editing and proofreading were also great The supernatural part adds a sense of mystery to the story The magic with guns part in Old West t [...]

I have to start off by saying that Bloodrush has one of the most original storylines that I have ever read Welcome to the wild west, he thought Last stop before Hell The story follows thirteen year old Tonmerion Hark, Merion for short The story begins in London, where we learn Merion s father has been murdered and Merion s life is again turned upside down as he learns he s to be sent to America to live with his aunt until he s old enough to take over his father s estate Tonmerion and his friend [...]

Originally posted at thebookplank 2015I few weeks ago I was looking at new books to read and just went browsing on the internet and stumbled upon the excerpt of Bloodrush the latest book of self published author Ben Galley After finishing it, I readily new that this is one of those books that lives up to my reading motto of that I like to read books where author don t go the distance but go the extra distance to produce something exciting, and this is precisely what Ben Galley does, he goes the [...]

It is hard to describe this book purely because it appears to try to do too much.It is set in an alternate universe where much is familiar but some things are very different.It is a western, mostly set in an frontier town in Wyoming with the usual cast of restless townspeople, lone prospectors and ruthless land owners.It is a fantasy involving faeries and magickYet in Galley s capable hands these elements are moulded into a seamless and thrilling story All the different aspects fit together neat [...]

it is hard to describe this book purely because it appears to try to do too much.It is set in an alternate universe where much is familiar but some things are very different.It is a western, mostly set in an frontier town in Wyoming with the usual cast of restless townspeople, lone prospectors and ruthless land owners.It is a fantasy involving faeries and magickYet in Galley s capable hands these elements are moulded into a seamless and thrilling story All the different aspects fit together neat [...]

From the start of the book it is clear the Tonmerion has a lot of mystery surrounding his life and especially with the events that lead him to having to travel to Fell Falls and it is intriguing how all the elements of the different characters in the book all flow back to his life directly through the friendships he has made It will definitely be interesting to see the direction that this will take over the trilogy.The mixture of 19th century America and the fantasy elements is so fluid and just [...]

Ben Galley sent me a copy of his ebook in exchange for an honest review.This is a YA, historical American Western , and fantasy book with a touch of mystery The protagonist s father is murdered and the protagonist is shipped off to America The protagonist brings his fae friend with him, who has some political issues in the fae world There s a lot going on, but it fits together well In my opinion, the best part of this book is the world building It s skillful and interesting.However, interesting [...]

So original.I am huge fan of Ben Galley and truly enjoy his creative magic systems In the Written books his mages had their magic tattooed on their bodies and in Bloodrush they drink blood Great first book in a new series I loved the interesting mix of western mixed with fantasy In Mr Galley s hands it work so well.

I have read alot of books and trying new series are always a hit and miss.However on this occasion Ben has come up trumps I loved his Emaneska series and now I think I love this series Its well written the characters are great, the magicK system is cool and disgusting and the western theme is awesome I would recommend this to anyone.

the whole idea of magick, bloodrushing, it perks me up i love the idea and willing to understand it deeper the author is kind enough to give the explanation of bloodrush in the last pages and i even love world building which takes place in western period good lord, i fall for Fell Falls even it is blasted hot, lol for these, it is worth for me to read.Merion, the main character, that i couldn t work with he was a childish, foolish, obnoxious, and whiny 13 year old boy heaven s mercy, i had tried [...]

This was a book that I d been looking forward to for a loooong time, and one that I didn t know what to expect of it I think sometimes when we make books genre specific there can be a bit of a stigma attached to it, so when I saw that it was a Western Fantasy I wasn t so much put off, as that thinking I wouldn t like it, because westerns aren t really my thing But I m going to be eating my words on this occasionAs ever, I just want to take a moment to appreciate the cover I ve always liked Ben s [...]

This was a book that I d been looking forward to for a loooong time, and one that I didn t know what to expect of it I think sometimes when we make books genre specific there can be a bit of a stigma attached to it, so when I saw that it was a Western Fantasy I wasn t so much put off, as that thinking I wouldn t like it because westerns aren t really my thing But I m going to be eating my words on this occasionAs ever, I just want to take a moment to appreciate the cover I ve always liked Ben s [...]

After his father s death, Tonmerion Hark finds himself packaged off to the frontier, to live with an aunt he didn t know existed, and to find the secrets in his blood.I got a free copy of this book from Galley s website.This is a great blend of two genres, with the tension and struggles of a Western, and all the creative goodness of Fantasy.I loved the world that Galley has created It s an alternative history, set in the 1860 s, with well thought out twists on names and histories that make it en [...]

Weird West is a Thing Though possibly not my Thing To my eye the West doesn t get much weird than Sergio Leone, and most westerns are jousts and mythic adventures dressed up in plaid shirts and buckskins, knights riding to save a damsel in distress from a fate worse than refried beans and a spitoon.Or so the story goes Which means that Ben Galley s mash up of coming of age adventure, Brave New World voyages, and murderous goldhunting fairies in a vaguely parallel hybridised world where the guns [...]

I loved the idea for this book The blurb got me interested right away An alternate world where violent faeries and dragons and mysterious railwraiths live alongside the steam and steel of the Old West How cool is that I immediately connected with the main character, 13 year old Merion, as he struggles to find his feet after his father s murder He s so confused and trying so hard to keep it together and act like an adult His whole world shifts when he is sent out to the middle of nowhere to live [...]

2.5There is a lot of potential in this story The world is interesting and the magic system, blood rushing, is awesome and unique Those with the ability essentially harness the powers of other creatures speed, strength etc by drinking samples of their blood There were many different people populating the frontier as well, which was nice and added depth to the world I enjoyed seeing the Shohari and Fae cultures, and the Railwraith monsters were fascinating and scary I really liked the journal entr [...]

Bloodrush has an interesting concept, combining fantasy with the western genre although the latter comes out mostly in the setting the feel of it is fantasy I think this book definitely shows promise, but I m not entirely happy with the execution It feels unfocused, untidy Somehow it was just too much of a jumble for me I had the feeling that it would have been better if it would have been compressed a bit There were bits that really pulled me in, but there were also transitions that pulled me o [...]

I admit I picked up this book thinking it was a western and really ended up with of a fantasy frontier tale.This is a very unique story not like anything I have picked up, it crosses genres of frontier western, steampunkish English aristocracy, magic vampire lore, and everything in between Oh ya, and faires Author, Ben Galley has created a unique talent for the protagonist Tonmerion Hark with a lot of history and backstory on how he came by this talent.I don t want to give spoilers to this stor [...]

During the middle of the book I planned on giving it only two stars, but by the end it was markedly better.What I liked about the book This book mixes two genres that I like quite a lot fantasy and western It reads quite easily.There are some nice, well thought put characters characters.And I did enjoy the time it was set in.By the end of the book I felt like I wanted to read the second book in the series.The fae element in the story.The shohari are quite interesting.What I did not like about th [...]

Made it to 50% I ve seen good reviews of this book and a western fantasy sounds cool to me However, this felt like a young adult book that was hastily made into an adult book by throwing in a few F bombs here and there, and it just feels Harry Potterish Could use better editing, too port is the left side of a ship, starboard the right I thought it was funny that the book makes it a point to say the opposite Also in one scene Lurker has a cigarette in his mouth and a couple sentences later, it s [...]

The author kindly provided me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.This book has everything awesome combined Fantasy, paranormal and Western It follows Tonmerion Hark, who s father is found dead in a pool of blood, and his last will leads Tonmerion to Wyoming It s terribly hot and dry, and Tonmerion has only one friend in his quest to unravel his father s murder a faerie who s been outcast by his own kind.I really enjoyed this book The world was really intriguing and the world build [...]