 I decided to read Blood Skies after enthusiastic recommendations by Danielle Young of the Consuming Worlds blog. When she announced she was hosting a blog tour for the seventh and final book in the series, Vampire Down, I was intrigued. I've never been able to jump in at the end of a series, so I picked up a copy of Blood Skies and started reading. My first impression is that Steven Montano has an incredible imagination. My second is that the Blood Skies series definitely fits the dark fantasy genre in all its dramatic glory. Montano put serious effort into world building and character development, and expresses his knowledge of military small unit tactics. The story takes off quick and shows a world changed by a cataclysmic magical event called The Black resulting in humankind's struggle for survival. Wizards, warlocks, and military commandos battle against vampires and a host of undead  Photo credit: www.colt.com creatures using everything from assault rifles to more exotic devices powered with steam and necromancy. Magic, specifically human magic, is important to the finale. Montano describes the more important tools of the trade in some detail. Given the intensity of the battles Cross and his Southern Claw Alliance squad mates face, weapons and the soldiers who bear them have a short life expectancy. Before long, Cross is racing to save his sister Snow, and also the magical spirit that has lived with him since he was a child (the spirit doesn't have a name). Not everyone is going to make it home alive. It is hard to describe how many bad things happen to Cross and his companions. In the world of Blood Skies, little is remembered about the past, before The Black. The protagonist, Cross, a warlock assigned to an elite military squad, must find a traitor that has plans to betray humanity to The Old One and the vampire nation. In the end, Cross will determine the fate of mortals everywhere. I enjoyed this book and will be adding the rest of the series to my reading list. (Though I am reviewing this as part of a blog tour and could have obtained a free copy, I purchased the book because I wanted it on my Kindle & Kindle Phone app, and also because I don't mind spending money on books. The last time I checked, Blood Skies was available for free anyway.)  The Blood Skies seriesSteven Montano BLOOD SKIES Blood Skies, Book 1 In the time after The Black, human survivors of the Southern Claw Alliance clash with vampire legions of the Ebon Cities in a constant war for survival. Earth as we know it has been forever damaged by an arcane storm that fused our world with distant realms of madness and terror. Things that once existed only in our nightmares stalk the earth. Now, humanity is threatened by one of its own. Eric Cross, an enlisted warlock in the Southern Claw military, is part of an elite team of soldiers and mages in pursuit of a woman known as Red -- a witch whose stolen knowledge threatens the future of the human race. The members of Viper Squad will traverse haunted forests and blighted tundra in their search for the traitor, a journey that ultimately leads them to the necropolis of Koth. There, in that haven of renegade undead, Cross will discover the dark origins of magic, and the true meaning of sacrifice... Experience a dark and deadly new world in the debut novel of the "Blood Skies" series from author Steven Montano. Book 1, Blood Skies is currently FREE on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads  BLACK SCARS Blood Skies, Book 2 Something ancient has awoken. Primordial and wholly evil, a living shadow emerges from a prison made weak by the magical cataclysm called The Black. Now the Sleeper stalks the land in search of its old enemies, leaving a trail of madness and destruction in its wake. Eric Cross, a Southern Claw warlock, has been sent to find the Woman in the Ice, the only known means to stopping this evil. Aided by a grizzled ranger and a band of wardens and inmates from a sadistic prison, Cross' mission will bring him into conflict with an array of foes: the barbaric Gorgoloth, vampire shock troops out of the Ebon Cities, and a cadre of mercenary nihilists called the Black Circle. On a mission that will take him from a lost temple once ruled by insidious wolf sorcerers to the vicious gladiator games of the vampire city-state of Krul to the deadly ruins of an ice city, Cross will play a pivotal role in an ancient conflict whose outcome will determine the future of the world. Return to the world of Blood Skies in this exciting military fantasy adventure! Helpful Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble  SOULRAZOR Blood Skies, Book 3 The war continues… Eric Cross and his team of elite mercenaries are the bane of the Ebon Cities. Armed with the cutting-edge arcane weaponry of the Southern Claw, Cross and his crew – Black, Kane, Ronan, Maur, Grissom and Ash – have become a veritable thorn in the side of the vampire armies. Now the team is tasked with halting vampire activity near the remote city-state of Fane, where the Ebon Cities have teamed up with a former Revenger in search of a deadly weapon called Soulrazor. To make matters worse, something sinister has happened to Cross, and the key to his salvation is somehow directly tied to the Ebon Cities’ new soldiers: a host of necrotic angels who bear traces of divine power. Cross and his team must travel across a blighted wilderness and do battle with a vile array of enemies as they race not only to save the city of Thornn from total annihilation, but to rescue Cross’ very soul from an enemy more powerful than he could ever imagine…  CROWN OF ASH Blood Skies, Book 4 Eric Cross and his team have been to hell and back, but their journey isn’t over yet. Marooned in the remote criminal city of Blacksand, the only way for the mercenaries to get home is to help a local crime boss protect his territories from the Ebon Cities. To complicate matters, Danica Black is also being hunted by The Revengers, a powerful band of corrupt prison wardens, while Cross himself is trapped in the Whisperlands, a realm of darkness controlled by a cadre of evil mages known as the Shadow Lords. The team will battle their way through corroding wastelands and deadly vampire outposts, but even their considerable skills might not be enough to save them from the cruel machinations of the Shadow Lord’s mysterious master, a malevolent creature who has manipulated their destinies right from the beginning… Return to the world of The Black in Book 4 of the BLOOD SKIES saga! Helpful Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble  THE WITCH’S EYE Blood Skies, Book 5 A new evil is born. The Ebon Cities have created a deadly new breed of undead called the Witchborn, whose very existence spells doom for the entire continent. To make matters worse, a nihilist cult called the Black Circle has learned of the Witch’s Eye, the source of the Witchborn virus and an item capable of opening a portal to The Black. Eric Cross’s scattered and war-weary team must find the Eye before it’s too late. With the aid of some unlikely allies, the mercenaries will fight their way across the wastelands and challenge the horrors at the edge of oblivion. And before the battle is won Cross and his team will make the ultimate sacrifice, and face one of their own… Return to the world After The Black in Book 5 of the BLOOD SKIES saga! Helpful Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble  CHAIN OF SHADOWS Blood Skies, Book 6 The barrier between worlds has been broken, and the invasion is about to begin. Eric Cross, burdened by the loss of those who’ve died under his command, must lead his recently reunited mercenary team against the shadow wolf sorcerers known as the Maloj. Bound to dire artifact blades and charged with protecting the Kindred, Cross seeks help from the enigmatic White Mother, leader of the Southern Claw. But sinister forces bring his vessel down in a strange and distant land, and soon Cross and his allies are beset by undead armies vying for control of the deadly region called the Chain of Shadows. Trapped in a desert waste where wielding magic is dangerous and nothing is as it seems, Cross’s team will pay the ultimate price in their battle to finally get home... Return to the world After the Black in this pivotal 6th book of the BLOOD SKIES saga! Helpful Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble  VAMPIRE DOWN
Blood Skies, Book 7 Coming June 27th! Who ever knew the end would come so soon? In this final volume of the BLOOD SKIES series, Eric Cross and Danica Black find themselves facing impossible odds in the desolate ruins of the world they once knew. Hunted by the mercenary forces of the newly formed East Claw Coalition and desperate to find the elusive White Mother, the two refugees will be pushed to the limits of their abilities and sanity as they struggle to survive. Meanwhile, in the near future, the undead hunter called Reaver searches for the lost city of Bloodhollow, the place where humankind will make its final stand, while the undead of New Koth and the rebellious White Children make their push to end the reign of the Ebon Kingdoms once and for all. As timelines collide and the spider weaves her web, the battle for the fate of the riven world will come to its violent conclusion in the depths of a forgotten city, where unlikely heroes will emerge and hidden evils will finally be revealed... Helpful Links: Smashwords | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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Scott MoonLife is an adventure. I read to expand my horizons and write because I must. Books                
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This picture isn't about buying guitars, it is about shopping for guitars with my daughter; hence the reason it is one of my favorite selfies.
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