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BLOG TOUR: The Shadow Watch Series by S.A. Klopfenstein

By Denise @ Life With No Plot on March 20, 2019 • ( 2 )

Welcome to my very first book tour! I’m so excited! Thank you so much to Rockstar Book Tours for letting me help showcase this amazing series!

Title: THE SHADOW WATCH (The Shadow Watch #1)

Author: S.A. Klopfenstein

Pub. Date: May 15, 2018

Publisher: Guardian Grey Publishing

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 420

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N

Blurb: For centuries, the Oshan Empire has ruled the New World with terror and blood. The Watchers have been eradicated, and their sorcery is but a whispered myth. But the heart of magic beats on, and as it surges back to life, three young people will determine the fate of the world…

Tori Burodai, a strong-willed slave girl. Her magic could ignite a revolution, but only if she resists the ruler who wants to use her powers to restore the empire to its former glory.

Darien Redvar, the idealistic soldier she loves. His rage leads him down a dark path to power that could turn him against the one person he cares for.

Kale Andovier, a lordling rebel with a torturous past. His quest for a weapon of dark sorcery will thrust him into a twisted game of power that could change the world forever.

Will the return of magic transform the New World, or bring it to ruin?

Review: This is my kind of fantasy! From the very first chapter, I knew I was going to love this story and these characters. It reminded me so much of the first classic fantasy authors I read, way back in the day. Far-reaching and epic in scope, this story keeps the adventure coming from beginning to end.

Let’s start with some specifics, beginning with Tori. She’s the unlikely, and sometimes unwilling, hero. Her life is hard, from coming up from a slave to finally coming into her power. I love when characters in fantasy stories have a wonderful sense of realness to them. This author is not afraid to make his characters tragically flawed (which you see especially in Darien and Kale), but that just draws you more into their stories and how they flow together.

I really loved the magic system, with the Watchers and the Morphs. None of it was completely original, but it all flowed so well together. And the villain, Chancellor Cyrus Maro is chilling. A complete sociopath and incredibly power hungry. This story had great pacing overall. It never lulled and always kept me turning the pages to find out what would happen next. I read it in literally a day and a half, and was very glad to get to jump to the next book immediately. Speaking of which . . .

Title: THE RAGE OF SAINTS (The Shadow Watch #2)

Author: S.A. Klopfenstein

Pub. Date: March 26, 2019

Publisher: Guardian Grey Publishing

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 507

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon

Blurb: The Shadow Watch has been undone. Their captain lies in the dungeons of the White Citadel, and the Gallows Girl has disappeared. Most of the surviving Watchers have joined the chancellor’s new magical army, the Sky Guard, led by Darien Redvar, but the Gallows Boy is shaken from the return of the monsters of the Old World, and he must soon choose, once and for all, where his loyalties lie.

Tori and Mischa trek to the Great White North with an Alyut shaman, who believes Tori is the one who will bring Restoration to his people. A resistance is growing in the North, but Tori may not be the god the people are looking for, and the price of revolution may cost Tori her heart as well as her life.

Meanwhile, another threat grows in strength. Old World monsters are rising up across the New World, and no one knows how they’ve returned. As nations ready themselves for a magical war, their return threatens to change everything.

New alliances are set in place, new friendships are forged, new loves kindled. But no one is safe, for there can be no war without betrayal.

Review: This book picks up right where book one left off, and thank goodness! I needed to know what was going to happen! I love when second books in a series are just as good, if not better, than the first, and that was the case with this one. I love how the world was expanded even more. We get to see the Great White North, the Southern Isles, and more of Osha. The cultures are all beautiful and rich; it’s wonderful to see how the characters we got to know in the first book navigate these new terrains.

I also loved how this book spent some time with Mischa as a main character, since she was one of my favorites from book #1.

Things with Tori and Darien are also wonderfully complicated. Starting off as friends, becoming enemies, and now . . . who knows? So many questions still to be answered. Is there a third book coming out? I sure hope so!

I’m not going to give specifics, because I don’t want to spoil it, but this story twists and turns and surprised me several times. The entire final act is one big roller coaster ride and you never know who exactly to trust or who is double crossing who. It kept me guessing the entire time, which I love.

Overall, these are two wonderful books to kick off this series. S.A. Klopfenstein is a great new author keeping with the traditions of fantasy, while at the same time adding his own unique spin to the genre. His writing is sharp, expressive, and very exciting. I would highly recommend both of these books for any fantasy fan!

Meet the Author!

stephen-low-q S.A. Klopfenstein grew up on a steady dose of Tolkien and Star Wars. As a child, he wrote his first story about a sleepwalking killer who was executed by lethal injection.

He lives in the American West with his wife and their dog, Iorek Byrnison. He can be found exploring the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, or daring the halls of the middle school where he teaches Language Arts.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Time!

Be sure to enter the giveaway, where one lucky winner will win copies of both THE SHADOW WATCH and THE RAGE OF SAINTS! You can enter through a Rafflecopter giveaway, just click on the link! Available to the U.S. only.