Other Worlds Ink has a new book out in the hopepunk cli-fi Writers Save the World anthology series: Save the World. And there's a giveaway.

Climate change is no longer a vague future threat. Forests are burning, currents are shifting, and massive storms dump staggering amounts of water in less than 24 hours. Sometimes it’s hard to look ahead and see a hopeful future.

Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This third installment to the Enchanted Forest series is told from the narrative perspective of the witch Morwen. This added an amusing dimension because she can speak to her cats, which were quite entertaining characters. Other than Morwen, the characters of Cimorene, Mendenbar, Telemain, and Kazul returned. They were joined by a rabbit named Killer who, due to a habit of eating things he shouldn't, was under a ridiculous number of enchantments that combined to turn him into a six-foot flying blue donkey with oversize wings. Killer's main character traits we're that he whined a lot about everything and was constantly hungry.

Droplets of Magic by Emily Bybee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Droplets of Magic is the forth book in the Unstable Magic series, but I didn't have any trouble diving right in and following along. There were references to events that clearly happened in earlier books, but those only added to the feeling of the story being set in a wider, more intricate world.

This book is a love-at-first-sight story--a trope that I don't tend to like because it often forces the characters into an emotional intimacy that I have trouble believing--but the character interactions in this book were still believable and the romance played second-fiddle to the main plot, so I won't hold that against it.

Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Angel Fire East is the third book in Terry Brooks' Word and Void series, and the conclusion of the trilogy. It is not a stand-alone book, so don't start here. Read Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word first.

This story picks up ten years after the second book (fifteen since the first). We're back in Hopewell, Illinois with Nest Freemark, and demons have come knocking. This story describes the third and final time she and John Ross cross paths.

The Last Kids on Earth and the Skeleton Road by Max Brallier
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Skeleton Road is book 6 in the Last Kids on Earth series. These books really need to be read in order, so I'm going to assume that if you've gotten this far you've already read the first five books and I don't need to cover things like basic character introductions in this review. The one character note that I will mention is that I enjoyed getting to know Dirk a little better and hearing some of his backstory.

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

I think Ms. Wrede really found her stride with this book. I liked it even better than its predecessor in the series, Dealing with Dragons.

The world building is convincing, though a little light on detail. With a setting as rich as the enchanted forest I would have liked to see a little bit more.

One detail that I did love was how much care Wrede put into the magic system. Specifically the way Mendanbar accesses magic, which seems to be unique. I loved the descriptions of how Mendanbar used the threads of magic that filled the enchanted forest to cast his spells, and the way those threads got twisted and tangled around the wizards' staffs. His locator spell was particularly fun. :)