Review: Blood Skies by Steven Montano

Blood Skies by Steven Montano
Release Date: June 10, 2011
Publisher: Darker Sunset Press
Format: eBook
Pages: 316
Genre: Dystopian Military Dark Epic Fantasy
Series: Blood Skies #1

Source: Kobo

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Thoughts:
I have to say I was pretty excited going into this one. A Dystopian military dark epic fantasy where vampires don’t sparkle—no offence to anyone, but vampires aren’t sparkly! ‘Nuff said!

The plot to this story was absolutely everything I was hoping it would be and so much more. It moved along at a good clip, with lots of blood, guts and explosions. While it is a fantasy, the story is very engaging, the characters are believable, and the action is intense. The character descriptions are very well done, allowing you to see each individual character almost clearly in your mind as you are reading. Steven Montano’s imagination is amazing and his descriptions put you into the story. You feel like you are a member of Viper Squad, trudging through the mud and blood and destruction right beside Cross, Graves, Winter, and Morg. The way he describes some of the nightmares, like the necronaught, made me tremble, and pull my blankets up to my chin.

The story centers for the most part around Cross. While he has always felt like a freak, he is extremely protective of his sister Snow. As a member of Southern Claw military and a warlock, he has seen a lot of gruesome stuff. He will do whatever is asked of him to keep his sister safe and hopes that she will never have to do what he does.

I thought that the arcane magic and Cross’ spirit were simply genius and a very exciting twist to the story. They added elements that are typically not in apocalypse stories and I liked that the spirit wasn’t just a Jimney Cricket conscience type of thing, but could be used as a shield, weapon, or both.

Blood Skies was definitely a very entertaining, and unique blend of adventure and nightmare. I enjoyed every word and can’t wait to start the sequel Black Scars. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys dystopian, vampire, horror, adventure, or fantasy stories.