A few months ago, I started reading indie books to review. I really love the whole concept, you know? Self publishing, being like an indie band, selling copies of books out of our trunks. Still flat broke but with some die hard fans. I mean, how cool would that be?
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to start posting reviews of books I read. Lots of things have prevented that. Time constraints were a big issue, of course. I just don’t have enough time to read as much as I want. And I read a lot that isn’t indie, of course.
Then there were the books themselves. I really didn’t want to write a review of an indie book that I really hated. That seemed cruel.
But then! I just finished an indie book that I truly enjoyed. Then I read some traditionally published stories that I wanted to share with you all, too. So I’m going to start reviewing books on Paper Beats World. My hope is that I’ll be able to do two a month, and I really hope a lot of them will be indie books. But I make no promises.
Anyway, the indie book that changed my mind is called NightBlade, by Garrett Robinson. It is the subject of Paper Beats World’s very first book review.
This was a really fast paced fantasy story about a girl named Loren. She’s a pretty miserable young woman. Her parents are horrible to her, seeing her only for what she can do for them. But she’s got little more than a fantasy of being a thief to sustain her until a mage stumbles into her village, tailed by lawmen.
Now,the book isn’t without it’s flaws. The secondary characters like the father and village boy who’s in love with Lauren are pretty one dimensional. Other characters, like Lauren herself, aren’t though. While I do question her desire to actually run off with some stranger, she’s interesting.
All in all, I liked Nightblade. It was a fun read, even if it didn’t do more than that.
Paper Beats World 