CSFF Blog Tour: "Venom and Song" Day One

To be perfectly honest, I was worried about this one.

When I received my free review copy of Venom and Song by Wayne Thomas Batson and Christopher Hopper, it dredged up some old memories. A little less than a year ago, the tour focused on Curse of the Spider King, and I remembered that while I thought the book was entertaining, I had some concerns. I wasn't too sure what I'd find this time around.

Thankfully, my fears proved unfounded. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The story picks up where the previous book left off. The Seven Lords of Berinfell, elves who have been raised on Earth, have returned to their besieged people. The time has come for the elves to fight against the evil Spider King. But first the lords must train in their unique abilities, such as throwing fire, walking through the air, and mind reading. But the Spider King is not going to wait idly while his hated enemies rally their forces. He has prepared his defenses well and he's not going down without a fight.

As I said, I was worried going into this story but thankfully, my fears proved unfounded. I really enjoyed this book almost from the beginning. It sucked me in completely. Hopper and Batson even addressed one of the issues I worried about in the first book and did so in a believable and satisfying way.

The only complaint I had (and it was minor) was the fact that I felt a little lost as the story started. There was no real introduction, no explanation of who the characters were. We were dumped into the heat of battle, characters running everywhere, with little chance to get back up to speed. It had been a year since I read the previous book, so I wasn't sure who was who or who could do what or anything like that. For a moment, I wished for a Star Wars-like roller text, giving me the whos and wheres and stuff like that. But like I said, it's a minor gripe.

Go and see what else the tourists have to say:

Angela
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Amy Browning
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
April Erwin
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Leighton
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Donita K. Paul
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Jason Waguespac
Dona Watson
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson