January 2026 Indie Book Reviews

Buzzard’s Bowl by John Palladino

Very Violent Vendettas
An Indie Book Review by Joseph Poopinski
4 Stars

Overall, the quite unredeemable characters from the prequel seem ever so slightly less so here in book two of the Tragedy of Cedain series. Minus poor (previously neutral/good) Villic whose recent loss afflicts him greatly as though darkness or void swells within him. Battles, sieges, gladiatorial combat & an assassination maintain the theme of slaughtering thy enemies or sometimes more indiscriminately. Unfolding secrets reveal only further levels of intrigue & plenty of characters wear masks or helmets to conceal their identities.

Assorted perks: Prevalent grim humor pierces the superficial or tramples the optimistic throughout, bonking would-be changemakers with a harsh reality: Regardless of who’s calling the shots, it’s just rehashing the same daily disadvantages & dearth, unless you’re oppressively wealthy and/or powerful. Ultra-mega-awesome names, including “Atticus Crenshaw,” “Roachford & Singleton’s, a law office,” & “Jarvis Bean, otherwise known as Massacre!” Magic mutating & evolving past the constraints imposed by this or that esoteric society governing its practitioners. Lastly, this description of one of Cedain’s fine establishments: “the Dripping Bucket, a shady inn where the whiskey was cheap & the mugs weren’t clean…”

Obsidian: Revelation by Sienna Frost

Can Past Lives Salvage the Present or Will They Thwart It
An Indie Book Review by Joseph Poopinski
4 Stars

Obsidian Revelation continues this series, unpaused, from (book one) Awakening’s last moments. Many of the returning characters, we learn, have previously used various names or, surprisingly, even been the who’s who of those newly reemerged identities from days gone by. With fresh angles of personality or entirely different personas, our heroes grapple with impasse after impasse, love & lose, pursue or flee, and strive for perhaps unachievable goals. Especially impressive, Lasura challenges all factions for peace.

My favorite features: Intensity pulses throughout, like a boa constrictor squeezing the tale’s protagonists to act rashly. Uniquely flipping the script of several relationships reveals an astonishing exception or two to previously iron-clad, predetermined circumstances. Numerous memorable sentences encroach from this adventurous fantasy into external reality with irrefutable wisdom: “The hardest part was hearing the truth.” “Life was always a gamble no matter what you did. You wouldn’t get anything done if you waited for certainties.” “…realizing too late that time could never be turned back when you ran out of it.” Wonderful names like Ranveer Borkhan. Sharks & pirates.