A Painted Goddess

A Painted Goddess by Victor Gischler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rina Veraiin's friends are scattered searching for more ink magic tattoos to protect Helva. The threats Helva is facing are more dire than initially believed and ink magic may be Helva's only chance at survival.

A Painted Goddess was a strong story. The entire A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy caught me by surprise. The story picks up directly after the cliffhangers in The Tattooed Duchess. The author Victor Gischler spent a lot of time setting the enormity of the events the protagonists faced. I had come to care about a lot of the characters and it was hard reading at times because not everyone survives their ordeals.

I'm still loving the idea of ink magic bestowed through tattoos. It presents one of my favorite story aspects of incredible powers in a way I've never witnessed before. Unlike The Tattooed Duchess, new tattoos emerge of incredible power. I'm floored by the creativity needed to envision such powers and how they'd be utilized.

My complaints, which in truth are minor, are that the booked wrapped up too quickly and chose not to explain what everything meant at the end. Perhaps it was simply left open for the potential of sequels and that's easier to swallow if that's the case. I hope there wasn't any other reason to leave the reader guessing.

A Painted Goddess and it's predecessors were truly a pleasant surprise. I hope the author Victor Gischler chooses to revisit the world in the form of prequels or sequels because I really enjoyed the A Fire Beneath the Skin series.

5 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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In the Field Marshall's Shadow

In the Field Marshal's Shadow: Stories from the Powder Mage Universe by Brian McClellan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the Field Marshall's Shadow is a collection of short stories from the Powder Mage Universe.

The stories are from varying times in the past and have different protagonists in each one. The Girl of Hrusch Avenue and Return to Honor revolve around Vlora, The Face in the Window is Taniel's story, Hope's End is told from Captain Verundish's perspective, and Green-Eyed Vipers is from Lady Petara's point of view. I have already read and reviewed Hope's End, The Girl of Hrusch Avenue, The Face in the Window, and Return to Honor so this review will revolve around Green-Eyed Vipers.

Green-Eyed Vipers tells a predator's tale, but not in the way you'd imagine. Lady Petara is on the hunt with one prey in mind and that's Field Marshall Tamas. This takes place after Erika's death so it's easy to imagine that it's good for Tamas to get some intense interest from an aggressive woman, I certainly had that thought. Unfortunately Petara attraction goes well beyond what any sane person would deem appropriate. The hunt is on and what is done is done.

I liked Green-Eyed Vipers and it was good seeing Tamas again in a new story. The story left a small smile on my face when I finished it.

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