Kevin A. Davis

Meh. Interesting premise but didn't really deliver, characters felt stilted and the world-building descriptions overly precise presenting too much location information, that obscured the action.

Nick Chambers is a modern professional, working as a drone operator taking high-end photographs for exclusive property developers. He's mourning the loss of both his elder brother in a car accident, and his mum to cancer, leaving only his youngest sister, to whom he is somewhat estranged. However he show more has a good friendship network and is supported, life is going ok. He is somewhat surprised to receive a call from the sister asking to meet, and even more so that when he attends, he is attacked - only to have a giant flaming sword briefly appear in his hands, before the sister runs away.

Nick starts looking for answers, and several people emerge around him offering help in return for his allegiance with the sword. Nick's none to keen, and would rather trust his friends and some of the independent advisors who come without strings.

There are two ways of introducing urban fantasy, either your hero has always known about it, or that it is novel to them. I do prefer the latter, as it feels more natural with a modern setting, but it requires a very large degree of surprise and shock to the characters to be believable, and far too many authors, as here, just have characters accept such things. I liked that the world isn't too complicated, with only demons, the swords and a little magic. And a bonus point for keeping the interactions grounded in reality, flaming swords burn more than just demons.

Although the writing wasn't the most captivating, I'd perhaps try another in the series. show less

Wight’s Wrath by Kevin A Davis
The Khimmer Chronicles series book #1. Dark Urban fantasy.
Ahnjii fell through a gate to Earth where Fae, Nedjir, shifters and other crypids hide in plain site. She has the ability to tell truth from lies and gets a job with a lawyer to help with clients and investigations. A Wight, an old Fae, is enthralling humans, animals and crypids. Ahnjii will use her truthsense and her transformative Nightarmor to help hunt him down.

A lot of world building was needed show more to craft this story, some of which you get, but it’s obvious there is a lot to learn within this series. Ahnjii is not from Earth and longs to return to her home. Some of her learning is amusing such as her trying to figure out “proper” shoes for court appearances and assuming swimming in the buff is appropriate because it’s similar to bathing. She has made a couple of good friends on Earth which help her learn to blend in but it’s not an easy task, especially with her inbuilt armor and her new pet that is extremely good at camouflage. The book has an overall dark feel with investigating killings, continuous threats to Ahnjii, and people in thrall with no hope of ever going back to normal.

🎧 I listened to this book via audiobook. It’s narrated by Christine Mascott. The narration was intriguing with different voices for characters. One voice in particular sounded almost mechanical with no emotion behind the words. It was a bit jarring merged with conversation but I won’t forget it anytime soon so maybe that’s a good thing?
I listened to this at 1.5 which is my standard preferred speed.

I have a feeling this first book is only showing us a small piece of the world building yet to come.
3.5 show less

Slightly unusual steampunk pirate novel. The title is the name of the airship, a trader, which is stolen by pirates in the first couple of chapters, kidnapping the engineer. The captain escapes with some political bigwigs and spends most of the rest of the book trying to persuade politicians that there is a real pirate problem which should be dealt with, and can she have her ship and engineer back please. Whilst drinking.

She's completely out-manoeuvred by all the political byplays, and show more throughout remains a pawn in a greater game she doesn't understand or care about. Sadly the reader doesn't either because the background machinations of the neighbouring countries motivations aren't explained and don't have any sympathetic characters rooting for them. Quite a lot doesn't get explained including a random 'tribal' magician race/seer who only pops in for a couple of scenes.

An interesting experiment but it didn't work for me, and the captain wasn't likeable enough to pursue any further. show less

Death’s Contract by Kevin A Davis
The Khimmer Chronicles series #2. Fantasy, urban fantasy. Best read in order.
Ahnjii is still learning about Earth and all its complications. One of the more elusive species has set its goal on Ahnjii as its new symbiont host. Uh, no, even though he’s offering twenty million dollars. Not that she fully understands the currency, but that is probably a lot. So why is he fixated on her? When Tyler becomes a pawn in the negotiation, Ahnjii is ready to kill show more anyone who gets in the way of his rescue.

Ahnjii is intriguing to follow. She doesn’t quite understand earth, its creatures or commerce, but that’s her life for now. Her cryptid pet sounds like a cross between a cat and monkey, has clear emotional needs, and likes ramen noodles as much as Ahnjii.
And the Nightarmor is wicked! Changeable to whatever she needs from small knifes to outfits fit to the situation. I could use that! show less