Tag: Adventure

Book Review: DragonFire and Other Nonsense by Bethany Meyer

Book Review: DragonFire and Other Nonsense by Bethany Meyer

I haven’t posted as many reviews this year as some other years, as a consequence of reducing the volume of books I read in order to take my time with books that I really enjoy. Let me start by saying, this book was definitely worth the time.

(Required disclaimer that though I received a free copy to review, the following opinions are my own.)

Since this book concludes the Scorch trilogy, here is the blurb from book one rather than DragonFire itself:

What is Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas about?

Wick the tree messenger is bound for success. His career as a messenger is better than it’s ever been, and he’s on the fast track to getting an even more important job as a councilor. But before he can succeed, word spreads that a thief is after the most powerful magic in Aro, the Heather Stone, and stealing it piece by piece. To be safe, Wick is entrusted with moving one of the stones to a safer location.

On his journey, Wick is overtaken by the thief himself, a seraph named Archer, but Archer’s plans as he explains them are nothing like what everyone thinks. Wick doesn’t know what to believe, but Archer seems so sure. Wick’s options are limited: ignore Archer and keep his piece of the Heather Stone out of potentially dangerous hands, or choose to trust this thief and the warning he brings.

Something is coming. An ancient scourge that could destroy all of Aro. All that stands in its way are an uncertain messenger and an untrustworthy thief.

If he chooses wrong, Wick could lose everything.

Prior to reading DragonFire and Other Nonsense, I went back and reread both Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas and World Saving and Other Disasters–and I’m quite happy to have done so, both because Continue reading “Book Review: DragonFire and Other Nonsense by Bethany Meyer”

Deep Worldbuild Project Part 1: Map Outlines

Deep Worldbuild Project Part 1: Map Outlines

Deep Worldbuild Project:

Part 2: Landscape and How it Affects Culture

Part 3: Wildlife

Part 4: Technology and Magic

Part 5: Religion

Part 6: History

Part 7: Culture

(The book link below is a BookShop affiliate link, meaning if you buy through the link I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. And BookShop is awesome because it supports local U.S. bookstores!)

For a newer and more practical post on this topic, click here.


The book I’m reading (Midnight Thief, by Livia Blackburne) has really inspired me in my own writing, not because of the characters or the plot, though those are incredible too, but because of the worldbuilding. I’m only seven chapters in, but I already feel immersed in the world.

I’ve wanted for years to do a deep worldbuild, which to me is to go into the nitpicky details of my story world and make it incredibly complex and amazing. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to accomplish complex and amazing, but we’ll see. Continue reading “Deep Worldbuild Project Part 1: Map Outlines”