Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments: First my requisite disclaimer that I like DJ, and read almost all his books.
When you pick up a Schinhofen book there are some things you can expect to find. You will find a protagonist that has some kind of trauma or issues. You will find Sally Love Interest with the some other kind of issue, and probably Betty Love Interest with no obvious problems, but they'll be there. You'll also find food. To quote City Slickers, it will be hot, brown, and plenty of it. In other words, the best kind of food. There will also be a magic system. Sometimes certain traits might be missing, or might show up later, but you'll find most of those things.
Dan, as they say "has a type." This is not a bad thing.
Heavenly Chaos, is quintessential Schinhofen. It's really a very good story, with and it brushes up against some of the "Cozy" genre stories in its stakes. Ben might be the most traumatized protagonist out of any of his books, but he gets some help with that. If I had one quibble with the story, it's that Ben's uncle's portion of the story is more truncated than I would have liked. That could have been drawn out more.
Bedroom Activities: None
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FTB/Explicit/None – Fade to black bedroom activities vs “Onscreen” vs No activities
Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: The return of the Greg and Yuki show. DJ tells me it's his best selling series and I am glad because that means he's going to keep writing it.
In this book Greg reunites with Yuki, Jenn, and Mindy, as well as other old friends and after some buildup from the last few books we actually get answers to some long-standing mysteries about the story. We also get a rather big curveball at the end which is not resolved. Definitely looking forward to seeing how that develops.
As the 8th book in the series, if you hated it before, I doubt this would change your mind, but the series maturing nicely, so maybe if you were just on the fence with it because you weren't sure it would have staying power, that is not a real concern at this point.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit - limited, mostly FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: This is the big finale for Binding Words. If you've made it this far, definitely read the finale. It's a satisfying if not really surprising wrap-up. A slow start but a good ending.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: This book went fast, and was much less slice of life than the typical DJS book. There were some surprises in the book, but nothing bad. We're at book 7 and I am still engaged and enjoying the series, that's pretty remarkable.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments:
Doc and the ladies are back for book 6. Doc's role has changed from itinerant card player to wealthy entrepreneur and philanthropist. Overall a good plot and story, but I felt the climactic battle had a little too much deus ex machina to get the win. If you have read the previous 5, there's certainly no reason to avoid this one.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments:
It's a DJS story, with Mechs. First off, it's a good book. DJS has a gift for making his characters relatable, and have some heft to them.
That being said, if I had started reading it and didn't know it was a DJS book, I would have figured it out before the half-way point. There's a lot of structural similarities between this book and his other book 1's. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your view. Based on it having over 1500 ratings on Amazon so far, I would say his fan base has established it's a good thing.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments: This, as I have said before, is my favorite series by Schinhofen. This one was another change of pace where Greg spends a lot less time with his wives, and is showing the correct way to be a stand-up guy. Really looking forward to the next one because training and play time are over, they're putting him to the test. Notably this book did not add any new love interests, nor did it have any explicit scenes.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments: This is book one of a new arc for Sean and Co. It's off to a good start and I look forward to finding how it develops.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.25/5
Comments:
This is the first book of the second arc of the Luck's Voice story and it's a good start. I really like the quasi-Western setting and the magic-tech industrial age. This story was enjoyable and I look forward to 6.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments: I'm not going to lie, I'm ambivalent about this series. It speaks more to the fans of Alpha World and while I read Alpha World, and I liked a lot of it, it's not a series I'm going to revisit. If you're a fan of Alpha World, and Dungeon Walkers, you will *LOVE* this book. Full on nerdgasm warning.
For the reasons the big fans will have a nerdgasm, it made me like the book. Some genuine emotional impact in a few different places. If Alpha World is in your top 10 favorites, go read this book if you haven't.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments: I really liked this installment of Aether's Revival. A common problem in long running series where the protagonist has multiple wives, and special friends is any problem can be solved by simply throwing bodies at it until it is gone. Most efforts to alleviate this issue are of limited effectiveness or they feel contrived. Schinhofen managed to solve the problem in this book quite effectively and have it blend into the narrative so seamlessly that you don't even really know if that was the plan, or just how it happened organically.
Beyond that the story branched out a good bit from what we've been doing the last 4 books and it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to the next book.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.5/5
Comments: Ok, when I get more than 5 books into a series I feel like reviews are kind of superfluous. I mean if you're 7 books into a series, you must like it, right? But I guess it's actually likely that people lose interest as a series goes on and the readership attrits and dwindles.
So if you made it through book 7, there's no reason to put off book 8. Sean and Co move to a new city, and find new friends, and Sean shows enough self-awareness to avoid some of his previous missteps.
If I have any quibbles with this series, it's that Sean is too unfailingly attentive to his ladies, I mean everyone has an off day, except Sean.
These books are slice of life, and the pace is deliberately and consciously ... measured. Some people call them slow, but that's the nature of the beast when you get into slice of life, you go through all the stuff between the big events. These books make a nice break from other more lean and mean narratives where every word, dot, and tittle move the action forward.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4/5
Comments: This is the big finale of the first arc of Doc's Weird West adventure, and it's good. All the big confrontations that have been building for the last 3 books erupt across the page like a herd of buffalo.
At this point it's book 4, so if you've made it this far, you should keep going. If you haven't tried it, give book one a shot.
Oh and if you like Posey, well you're going to love this one.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments: Ok, so Dungeon Walkers is DJS's slice of life dungeon delving gamelit series and it proceeds at a deliberate sauntering pace. This is deliberate as his intent is to spend more time getting to know the characters. Stern, our hero, is a Hero with a capital H. He rescues kittens, helps the elderly across the street, and has never turned down a quest when it might help someone. If he can't do it himself, he will pay someone else to do it.
Since it's slice of life there isn't an over-arching story arc, that may or may not be an issue for you. If it is, call the rating 4/5
Pick up the book, and enjoy the stroll with some nice people.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.25/5
Comments: To sum up my feelings, I liked this book but I didn't love it. I think this series is easily the best from Schinhofen, but this has the feel of a transition book. There is a lot of set up for things that will happen in later books, but there weren't a lot of surprises in this book as the narrative saunters along the path we expect with nary a hiccup or a stubbed toe. For some people this is going to be a problem because there's not a good deal of dramatic tension and our protagonist is deliberately sidelined during the conflicts. The over-arching story arc is advanced only minimally which is a bit disappointing. I fully expect the next book is going to be firing a lot the arrows that are prepped in this book. so I'm looking forward to that.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Author: Daniel J. Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
This felt like the end of an arc, and upon checking with Mr. Schinhofen it is indeed the end of the first arc of the Binding Words epic, and it was a very good finale. Epic crafting, duels, dastardly betrayals, and of course True Love. I suppose if you didn't like the first 6 books you might not want to read this, but if you're just on the fence, you owe it to yourself to see how things turn out. Sean didn't start the fight, but he's going to end it.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Title:Breaking the Bank (Luck's Voice Book 3)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B096X82K1X/
Author:Daniel Schinhofen
Rating:4/5
Comments:
Slice of life, Weird West, and Schinhofen, I think fans of the mix will like this installment a lot. Amazon currently has a 5 star rating with 334 reviews. I think this one had fewer "Wow" moments than the first two, which is why I brought it down a little.
I think DJ must have had a conundrum as he was writing it, which is when to end it. The ending snuck up on me and I was surprised to find myself there. We were on the cusp of important events! I'm sure he wanted to keep going, but was coming up against his size target, and perhaps a little wariness about ending on a cliffhanger based on previous experiences.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit
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Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 4.25/5
Comments:
Full disclosure, I'm a fan of DJ.
Ok, saying that, Dungeon Walkers, was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the Aether's Revival books. Mostly that's because I'm not a huge fan of the "Magic Dungeon" as a bottomless well of magical stuff trope, but the pacing did seem to drag a bit in the middle of the book.
That being said, I feel this is the spiritual successor to Alpha World, and anyone who is a big fan of that series will want to read it.
Bedroom Activities: FTB
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Title: Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XX8F5ZK
Author: Daniel Schinhofen
Rating: 5/5
Comments
I’m going to admit (again?) that I’m a fan of Daniel Schinhofen’s books, and I’ve talked to him via the interwebz fairly regularly. He’s a decent fellow and with apologies to Inigo Montoya, I’m glad I don’t have to kill him.
So if you haven’t read books one and two of this series, well, honestly you should because they’re great. If you have read books one and two, I can give my unequivocal endorsement of book 3. I think this is his best series out of all his work. This book specifically had some twists that I wasn’t expecting, and a focus on things other than the dastardly antagonist from books 1 and 2. I think this was a good tack to take, and allows the story to grow.
Now, if you haven’t read any of his books, he has his signature style, and he sticks to it. If you find the style difficult to get through, don’t expect it to change. You’ll get a lot of food details, and some homages to famous chefs. I found out recently that he used to work as a chef before becoming a world renowned author, so that really explained that tendency.
So in closing: 5/5, will read the next one.
Bedroom Activities: Explicit (limited)
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Title: The Lord of the Sword https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GNL57FDQ/ Author:Whiskey Flowers Rating:2/5 Did not finish Comments: ...
