The HighFire Crown: Blood Magic, Book 1

The book had me quite conflicted, on one side the world building and general concepts are great as well as the overall plot arch from a narrative standpoint. 5/5 right there. Then there is the execution, which sadly falls on its face way too often. Based on the intro/blurb one would expect a female Harry Dresden clone or close to it. What we get is sadly a mess, our heroine is apparently the one and only true wizard PI in the city, everyone, and I mean that literally, wants to recruit her services, at the same time she cannot afford her bills .. consistency as they say is in another story. One thing you should not expect is actual detective work, the various plots in the book fall into two categories, instantly solved by Jax and slowly fed to the audience or solved by deus ex machina - the progression/resolution falls into her lap out of the blue to progress the plot. Also.. not enough lies! Seriously, for a detective story the level of lies/deception is horrifically low from the various characters involved. Still there is enough potential for the next entry to be worth checking out.TLDR:More Action Adventure than Detective NoirOverall Ideas: 5/5World: 5/5Writing Style 4/5Characters: 4/5Humor 4/5Story execution 1/5

This book jumps in with a crash and stays there throughout the whole of the book. It is a riveting unique world in the seemingly unlikely setting of Johannesburg. All the usual fantasy creatures abound, but with a new twist that is entertaining and in some cases extremely funny. Travel from the Orc underground to the Goblin amusement park and the Fairies' fancy suburbs. I'm hooked and will be waiting anxiously for the next book in this series.

I loved this book. It's short, easily digestible chapters. The way the action carries you through from the first page to the last, with no time for breaths in between. In fact, there's barely a moment in this book where the main character - Jacqueline Denna Knight aka Jax aka Jinx - is able to catch her own breath before the next twist in the tale overtakes her. There's a Dresden Files vibe, but it doesn't take away from The Highfire Crown's originality. If you loved Jim Butcher's series, you WILL love this one.To readers considering this, I recommend you buy this book, make a cup of tea and sit yourself down in comfortable spot, because you aren't going to want to reading this until you (all too quicky) reach the end. And then there's book 2!

Though it took me ages to read this book, my favourite thing about it is that it's a fantasy novel based in Johannesburg, South Africa.I feel like South Africa is ripe for fantasy and this book just satisfies that craving deeply.It's a great book, super enjoyable, good action with a tiny bit of love which is refreshing.The main character, Jax is really a gem. I like how hard she is on the outside but inside she has a soft, beautiful heart.

A really enjoyable reading experience! I liked the characters, and the original spin on the supernatural, but most of all, I really liked that it was (loosely) happening in Johannesburg. It was funny reading about the snacks (Cheese Curls! Nik Naks!) and the Jozi streets.

This didn’t gel with me. Max never appealed so it was hard to care. None of the supporting cast become appealing either.

I'm usually not a fan of fantasy books, and when I started this I thought that I wouldn't like it. But once again Lawrence showed me I just haven't read the right book yet.The book kicks off fast paced and in the deep end of a thrilling story. Dragging you along on an adventure that just keeps you invested. Although the book ends on a cliffhanger (it is part of a series so it is expected) most of the story thread is brought together.I can't wait for the next book in the series

I have read many books on this genre, as well as ones with women mages/witches. And this one while it's pretty much like the others had just enough uniqueness to it to keep me reading until the end. I look forward to reading the next book.

I give this a rare 5 stars. It was non-stop action and I read it in one evening because I wanted tosee how Jax got herself out of the situations she landed herself in!Jax is a wizard who hates vampires. She is a private detective working in Jo'burg - though nothingin the book was any different from a USA, Australia or even a UK setting. She is trying to dealwith several cases at once - the murdered neighbour of her policewoman friend; a vampire killing people;a death threat to a "mafia" Orc boss; the stolen crown of the title and a missing wizard. Hence the non-stopaction as she attempts to keep "all the balls in the air".She rescues Gizmo, a white ferret, who proves very helpful in Jax's investigations. She has dealings withorcs, goblins, dwarves, elves, vampires, wizards, etc. There were some interesting magical artifacts. She wasbeaten up, kidnapped, knocked out, etc. so many times I wondered how she could survive! There was a hint ofromance, but no sex or foul language.I enjoyed the book and would read the next in the series sometime.

I had this sitting on my kindle for a while now, hesitant to start - I have been on a self-inflicted book buying ban this year to finally make a dent into my TBR pile and knowing the author, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from buying the rest in the series.This is of course exactly what happened - good thing I got some vouchers for my birthday and they absolutely don’t count as breaking the ban!This is an absolutely fabulous start to the series - if you like adult urban fantasy this is for you! No teenage angst, no insta love, just a kick ass heroine, a fabulous cast of side characters, the brilliant setting of Johannesburg and an author who knows how to combine humour, sass, originality, imagination and action into a fun fantasy page-turner.Off to spend my vouchers now!

What's not to love?There's wizards, goblins, dwarves, orc mafia, and vampires, awesome weapons and spectacular fights, and not forgetting Gizmo, the cool ferret and Ghost, the resident house trained, well Ghost.Set in Jo'burg, but with an added unseen dimension of magical beings, well unseen by plain old humans that is, this fast paced, comical story follows Jax, the tenacious, loyal and wily wizard detective solve many cases, whilst trying not to get evicted by her awfully smelly landlord, or killed.Very well written, and descriptive, ensuring you get sucked into Jax's world, and making this a must, must read!!

Fancy some action-packed sleuthing in a paranormal-infused Jo'berg? Buckle up, kiddo, Jax the Wizard's here to show you the ropes... Once she's solved a murder or two, found a stolen magical artifact, worked out just who wants the biggest orcish mobster dead, avoided death-by-vampire, and accidentally adopted an albino ferret which is more magical than it appears.It is indeed a long and convoluted narrative that has literally every fantasy thing thrown at it, and yet amazingly enough everything sticks. The underground magical world known as The Realm is so well meshed together it was hard not to believe in it. Selfish elves, sneaky goblins, thuggish orcs, scheming vampires, wizards, shifters... Pick a paranormal species and it's there somewhere, buried within the grit of the city. It could have had a bit more physical description of the locations rather than relying on assumptions of urban/suburban scenes, but that's being picky.Jax is your usual gruff hero- sorry, heroine - with an allergy to life admin and a habit of being a little too nice for her own good (unless your a vampire, naturally). Now while I liked her as a jokey narrative voice, most of the time I couldn't buy that she was, well, female. Apart from a few female-only incidents (do male PIs ever get sexually molested by a person who spikes their drink?) she seems more like a male author trying to logic out what a female butt-kicker would be thinking in those circumstances. On reflection, she reads very much like co-author M.J. Kraus' own hero from Death Magic; quirky, amused by and aware of their own failings while also reveling in their clever insights into magical life. Think also Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus or Tim Waggoner's Nekropolis hero Matt Richter. I guess I just didn't get how she shrugged off a lot of near-violent encounters as quickly as she did, nor how she suddenly starts thinking it'd be nice if a guy who's stalking her would just hold her close while she sleeps. She doesn't seem to do emotion much beyond telling us bluntly a feeling (or vomiting). She hasn't even gone semi-PNR by describing him as handsome in any way... Or describing him much at all to be honest, expect his deep voice and, erm, stalker tendencies. Don't get me wrong, she's amusing, but perhaps just not relatable in the way I expected her to be.There's plenty of mystery to go round, and of course you should never doubt the interconnectedness of all things. While I did enjoy it, I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't a mystery that a reader unfamiliar with the world could work out alongside Jax. It relies heavily on her asides of "oh yes, there's this thing about the magical underworld that I shall only now tell you" or that she just happened to know someone from her past who'd help/hinder her cause. Every now and then you could spot a tiny speck of foreshadowing, but until those asides there was no way of putting the pieces together. It's one of those "just roll with it" mysteries rather than one that allows you to play along. Again, think Alex Verus, only easier to follow.I do want to read more of Jax's story, mostly because this is one big setup for a series as much as anything else. The world building is nicely done, and those little loose threads about Jax's past, her mysterious stalker, her newfound friendships, and the underground war that's brewing, all look set to make this a more layered story than first meets the eye.

Wonderfully described characters,nonstop action and immersive storylines blend smoothly together in this book. Absolutely brilliant and so skilfully written that it is very difficult to put the book down. I can't wait to get and read the rest of this series.