Wonderful Anthology! (Engelstalige review - deel van blogtour)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨ (4.5/5 stars)

• Borkuls Bizarre Bazaar - Eva Linden
I loved the journey Yuza goes on throughout the story. From a young Elf who doesn't quite know where she belongs, to a hero confident in her own powers. It seemed to me Yuza had some low rolls during her story, even though in the frame story she mentioned often being lucky in dice games. Really liked how details of the tavern became clear through this first tale.

• Het Ultieme Wapen - Kenneth Baert
In the beginning I was a bit confused by the narrating character (Thora), since in the tavern, this was Albrecht's story, but it becomes clear why this is at the end. Discovering what Thora's masterpiece actually is, was very well executed and really changes the whole story.

• Het Lot van Lisorna - Thomas Danneels
So I have a thing for Tieflings in D&D and since this story's centered around them, I instantly loved it. Lisorna's lore is incredibly interesting and the character development of both Vatanis and Damien was great. However the writing style in this short story wasn't my favorite, but that didn't stop me from liking the story.

• De Helpende Hand - Jelle Spruyt
Trying to get a time travel amulet out of a booby trapped dungeon to stop a curse. That's the baseline of 'De Helpende Hand'. The main character Jesper learns to accept help from others and that during a great adventure full of interesting twists and turns.

• Het Verraad van Zilvertong - Bram Verlinden
Here you have proof that using the Noble background can be really interesting. The betrayal in this story - and how deep it runs - was great. What happened to Elizabeth, and how it's resolved, fits perfectly in the tale, and Naïlo's friends joining in was a nice addition, BUT I WANT TO KNOW NAÏLO'S BACKSTORY.

• De Machtige Magiër Marcus Malazan, Meester van het Macabere - Jelle De Smet
This one kept me on the edge of my seat with the mystery of what Marcus is running away from, the deity he made a deal with, and what the specifics of that deal are. I'm also still convinced that Marcus has at least a few levels of Bard in him, aside from the Warlock stuff. The descriptive writing drew me in from the start and didn't let me go until the end. Character development was once again great.

• De Ballade van Eladir - Nicolas De Clippere.
Heist stories are bound to be interesting, and this is no exception. As a reader, we get to see many sides of Eladir, who proves everyone who thinks he's useless wrong. And, true to his Wizard class, Eudoros shows up with a bunch of fireballs. The recurring element of the Dwarven salesmen with massive backpacks, who annoyed the characters throughout the story, made for a good inside joke.

• Het Raadsel van de Sfinx - Morgan Blade
This final story in the anthology was full of surprises. I was guessing the answers to the Sphinx's riddles with Lio and thought of her as a compelling character of whom I'd love to know more. There was some nice writing and descriptions in here.

• Overall review
Such a nice anthology! I loved all the stories in their own way. As a huge fan of both Books and Dungeons and Dragons, this was a must read for me and I'm so glad to be a part of the blogtour! Even though these are all unrelated stories, they still form one whole in the frame story and I can't wait to revisit the tavern in the future. I'll be on the lookout for more stories written by these eight amazing authors! ❤️