Penny Lazarus has spent her entire life wishing she could escape from the real world. Through it all, she had exactly one friend - her twin sister, Dana - and now Dana's dead, drowned in the distant Pacific under mysterious circumstances. But she left something behind, meant only for her sister's eyes: a cryptic document that sends Penny off to the wilds of Appalachia...and then straight off I-64 and into a madcap alternate America.
Here, in the hidden world known as the Back Roads, every individual's deepest desire emerges as a powerful supernatural ability. In Penny's case, that means she's a Veil, capable of turning herself invisible, intangible, ghost-like. Stranger yet, this is a place Dana somehow knew about. Now Penny must fight her way across a nightmare landscape of cyborg bikers, man-eating mosquitoes, snake-handling zealots and warring Cherokee demigods in search of the truth. She's got help, too, for whatever it's worth: a fierce mountain-woman werewolf and a guitar-slinging thief who slowly but surely ensnares Penny's heart, entirely against her better instincts.
What she hoped to find were the answers behind her sister's death. But what awaits her at the end of the road is something even bigger - the dark secret of her own world-shattering destiny. BACK ROADS KINGDOM is the first volume in a thrilling new American fantasy saga that weaves together Appalachian folktales and modern urban legends into a dark and hilariously twisted coalpunk epic.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Every once in a while you come across a book so unique, it takes you a minute to digest it. That's Back Roads Kingdom. The title, when presented to me, made me hope this wasn't yet another Tolkien ripoff. The blurb assured me that it was not and intrigued me even more. The book itself left me breathless, and desperately wanting more from the author.
I had never heard of the "coalpunk" genre, and indeed this book had a steampunk element...minus the steam. So, steampunk fans, get on this! This is a whole new genre for you to love! And not just steampunk fans; this book will crossover to nearly everyone, from horror and paranormal fans, fantasy lovers and historical fiction aficionados.
A book with that much crossover appeal is rare, and one that truly entertains from beginning to end is even more of a rarity. The language is not simple, but it is easy for the mind to digest. I had a lot of fun reading this book. There is nothing like it out there. I loved the idea of an alternate world within our world, like crossing through a veil.
Back Roads Kingdom really made me think about all the fantastical things I have not yet discovered. I highly recommend it to everyone!
Here, in the hidden world known as the Back Roads, every individual's deepest desire emerges as a powerful supernatural ability. In Penny's case, that means she's a Veil, capable of turning herself invisible, intangible, ghost-like. Stranger yet, this is a place Dana somehow knew about. Now Penny must fight her way across a nightmare landscape of cyborg bikers, man-eating mosquitoes, snake-handling zealots and warring Cherokee demigods in search of the truth. She's got help, too, for whatever it's worth: a fierce mountain-woman werewolf and a guitar-slinging thief who slowly but surely ensnares Penny's heart, entirely against her better instincts.
What she hoped to find were the answers behind her sister's death. But what awaits her at the end of the road is something even bigger - the dark secret of her own world-shattering destiny. BACK ROADS KINGDOM is the first volume in a thrilling new American fantasy saga that weaves together Appalachian folktales and modern urban legends into a dark and hilariously twisted coalpunk epic.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Every once in a while you come across a book so unique, it takes you a minute to digest it. That's Back Roads Kingdom. The title, when presented to me, made me hope this wasn't yet another Tolkien ripoff. The blurb assured me that it was not and intrigued me even more. The book itself left me breathless, and desperately wanting more from the author.
I had never heard of the "coalpunk" genre, and indeed this book had a steampunk element...minus the steam. So, steampunk fans, get on this! This is a whole new genre for you to love! And not just steampunk fans; this book will crossover to nearly everyone, from horror and paranormal fans, fantasy lovers and historical fiction aficionados.
A book with that much crossover appeal is rare, and one that truly entertains from beginning to end is even more of a rarity. The language is not simple, but it is easy for the mind to digest. I had a lot of fun reading this book. There is nothing like it out there. I loved the idea of an alternate world within our world, like crossing through a veil.
Back Roads Kingdom really made me think about all the fantastical things I have not yet discovered. I highly recommend it to everyone!
5/5--excellent, unique work!
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