Sarah K. Balstrup

Dec 7, 2023 | fivebooks.com | Sarah K. Balstrup |Christopher Buehlman |J.T. Greathouse |Fonda Lee

High fantasy books tell epic stories in secondary worlds. The Lord of the Rings is of course the giant of the genre, but it still tops bestseller lists today, with authors like Brandon Sanderson and George R R Martin. Why do you think we love to read these often-harrowing tales? One of the things I love about fantasy is it’s such a wonderful way of holding a mirror up to modern society.

Oct 26, 2023 | beforewegoblog.com | Helen Rygh-Pedersen |Sarah K. Balstrup |Daniel Meyer |Palmer Pickering

As our team caught up with all of our semi-finalists, it became clear that two books rose to our favourites. Cold West by Clayton Snyder and Petition by Delilah Waan Feedback rolled in on how memorable, but how vastly different, each book is. Luke Winch summed it up beautifully:Hoookay. I have mulled this over in my head and here it is. Both authors display an awesome skill at writing, both books have a unique voice that makes it stand shoulders above the rest. In that respect, i can’t split them.

Feb 6, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Stephen King |Leigh Bardugo |Sarah K. Balstrup

by Sarah K. Balstrup ‧ Balstrup’s moody fantasy novel explores religion and power. Skalen Sybilla Ladain of Vaelnyr lives in an area of Velspar. The Seven Lands of Velspar place a lot of power in the hands of individuals known as Intercessors. These Intercessors make up a priest class that isn’t to be trifled with. For the average person, thinking “red thoughts,” which seem to be akin to “sinful” or violent thoughts, can result in execution.