Well, life has been stressful but I am starting to get back into reading and reviewing unknown indie authors. And as is my pattern I am targeting what I hope to be hidden gems that have less than ten reviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Violins Played Before Junstan fit the bill perfectly. It was plucked randomly off Twitter as the first in a series. Right off the bat I was transported into a very detailed and robust world with a tinge of steampunky flair. Set in a historic time period the setting was as much of a mood setter and plot device as the characters were. It was very nice to see and gave me a cozy very British Agatha Christie type vibe… but with magicians, and vampires, and goblins… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set up like a traditional mystery novel it revolves around a rotating cast of eccentric characters that include but are not limited to a wizard-like magician with powers to bend the mind, an automaton so realistic people believe he’s human, a robotic parrot, a murderous shape shifter, two scrappy street urchins, a goblin, some vampires and witches, and the customary mad scientist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plot revolves around the magician being framed for murder several times as he’s on the run riding a train through exotic locals, all while gathering this merry band of misfits to help out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the characters are on the creative side they all serve a very traditionally paced slow but suspenseful plot. There is A LOT of dialgue but fortunately this large cast of characters are all vividly defined and easy to remember. It’s a well rounded and very polished piece with an action packed ending and the next in the series has already been published if you want to just keep going. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is everything I want to see in an independently published book. It’s professional, smoothly edited, and has a plot and characters the reader will really care about. I am very happy to have found it and wish it the best of luck in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you’d like to check it out for yourself you can purchase it in ebook, audio book, or paperback on Amazon<\/a> (and yes, I will get a small commission for making you click such a tantalizing link so buy away my pretties!) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, life has been stressful but I am starting to get back into reading and reviewing unknown indie authors. And as is my pattern I am targeting what I hope to be hidden gems that have less than ten reviews.<\/p>\n