Castle Brave delivers a fast-paced, gripping plot

Castle Brave by Hawkings Austin is military Sci-fi/fantasy at its best. The plot follows a Vani Army’s Special Forces Team Forward Division. Trained to get behind enemy lines, they get the job done. They infiltrate, assassinate, and extract. And they never deal with civilians; until now. For this mission, the target is a civilian. The psychics see Dragons in the sky, armies buried by ancient weapons, and cities burning. Things feel rushed. Mistakes happen.

 

 

Book Review

 

Castle Brave includes well-known fantasy races like elves and dragons and offers new races like the Vanir, Numen, Aesir, and Jotuns. The plot is rich with magic and futuristic tech. Author Hawkings Austin rolls out the story from a first-person point of view, but not with a single narrator. The reader gets to hear from each member of the squad. Each chapter delivers the story from a single perspective. It feels like a first-person shooter game that lets you get into the heads of the team members, know and understand their tech, weapons, background, what they are up against, and how they feel about it. This first-hand information draws the reader in. Provides understanding of what motivates them. Know their strengths and weaknesses. It builds an emotional connection and makes you care.

 

 

The introduction to individuals in this group of men and women in the foundational chapters builds the world around the Team. Once they deploy, the military operation action builds and converges into an epic fantasy. Castle Brave delivers a fast-paced, gripping plot. Once I passed page 40, I couldn’t put the book down. I give it 5 stars and recommend Castle Brave to readers who enjoy military Sci-fi/fantasy thrillers like Forgotten Ruin by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole.

 

As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

  

About Author Hawkings Austin

Hawk’s current supervillain title is “Director of Radiation Effects.” In his quest to take over the world, Hawk has landed a series of jobs with NASA, DoD, and Missile Defense. Currently, he’s testing spacecraft for the rigors of the natural (and unnatural) environments that only he can conquer. The recent loss of his sidekick, Vlad (to a paying job) has been painful, but he’s managed to work through the loss to conquer large swaths of Colorado.

Hawk has a number of professional publications in engineering, science, history, and fantasy. He has been performing as a Mad Scientist for many years and is very close, at this point, to taking over (or destroying) the Earth. He can be found blogging on Urban-Fantasy.com, Madsci.us, and tweeting as @Sablehawk. He loves to speak at Science Fiction Conventions, such as Dragon Con, and will be happy – over a beer - to talk about any of these things for hours.

Hawk currently lives in Denver CO and is enjoying the heck out of spoiling his wife and current baby girl with all of his ill-gotten gains.