Hidden Realm (Book Tour Review) by T.R. Slauf

     Thank you so much to Literary Bound Tours for having me on the tour for Hidden Realm by T.R. Slauf!  Pay attention my fairytale and dark fantasy loving friends because you don’t want to miss this one!

Quick Facts:

• Title: Hidden Realm
• Series: Legends of Lightning, #1
• Author: T.R. Slauf
• Publisher & Release: self published, October 6th 2020
• Length: 267 pages
• Rate & Recommend: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 yes for not fainthearted fans of the dark fantasy genre

Here is the synopsis:

     “The next Realm Walker will bring with them a storm. Lightning must fight the Crimson Shadow, or the lands will be cast into eternal darkness.”

     When she was a child, Esther was plagued with vivid nightmares. Now they have returned to haunt her. Bloodthirsty monsters chase her through a forest of dead trees while a mysterious hooded figure stalks her. After waking with fresh wounds from her dreams, Esther searches for the truth about who she is and the Hidden Realm she is destined to save.

     Join Esther on her journey of self-discovery as she travels into a world long forgotten. Unsure if she can trust her hooded guide, she is hunted by unknown enemies and smothered by expectations of grandeur. Deciphering friend from foe she travels the lands, trying to unite kingdoms torn by pride. 

Esther is a resident of modern day Earth who finds herself literally torn between two realms. After performing a ritual to enter the Hidden Realm, which is a mashup of dark fairy tales based off of the brothers Grimm, she must unite the kingdom against the elusive (but actually pretty tragic and complicated) enemy called the Crimson Shadow.

I really enjoyed the story itself, and reading all the gritty details found in a proper dark fantasy. Evil wolves, humans talking to animals, the stereotypical man of all men character, bandits, magic, dragons that hoard books, and the fairy tale queens like you’ve never seen them before, Hidden Realm has something for every lover of stories. The second half and especially last quarter also moved significantly faster than the first half, which was a nice treat that made the book hard to put down.

I was not such a fan of the main character, Esther, mainly due to a lack of back story that enabled her to step into her role of heroine. She was a timid librarian that managed to step into a world of danger and then hardly ever looked back. She never even mentioned her father after he passed away, and let Oison off the hook way too easily for being evasive. I really love the side characters and banter though. Davon was the perfect innocent boy chatting with birds who grew right into hiself, I also loved Winston, and so much of the dialogue in the book was just perfect.

Not sure they would have had the word fuck in fairytale land though. On that note I think Slauf did a great job with atmosphere and mood setting between characters. I would have liked a little more description of the physical settings in some places.

All in all this book had me rapt, and I fully recommend it but not for the easily offended or faint of heart. Content includes everything from bandits laughing about female and male rape to a house pet being sacrificed, to swearing, gore, parental death, pairings of many gender combinations in both hook ups and marriage, talk of sibling loss, STDs, and others. As I said – a dark fantasy gem.

Thank you again so much to Literary Bound Tours for having me on the tour for Hidden Realm!

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Here is the link so you can check out what the other hosts think!

https://literaryboundtours.com/2020/09/29/tour-schedule-hidden-realm-by-t-r-saluf/

Here is the author info and book links!

About T.R. Slauf

I have always been torn between two halves of myself; one half revels in all things scientific and longs to explore the secrets of the universe, while the other half finds solace and excitement within the arts. When it came time to choose a college degree, I put aside my creative hobbies and perused a career path in biochemistry. For me, college was an expensive privilege, thus I decided a degree within STEM was the most logical route for my costly investments. Through my years in college I still tried to enjoy the arts, reading novels and drawing in my sketchbooks when time permitted.

​Five long years later, I graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular biology. I immediately began working full time in an academic research lab, it was miserable. I quickly grew weary and depressed in the toxic and hostile work environment created by our supervisor. I begun interviewing for other jobs and exploring my creative hobbies again when my congenital heart condition required me to have another open-heart surgery.

​In the months before my operation, I became determined to finish my first novel; I had started and abandoned several over the years. Once I was well enough, I continued writing during my recovery. Nine months after my operation, I left my job at the research lab and invested more of myself in my novel. It wasn’t an easy transition and it did not happen over-night, but I decided to start a new career as a novelist.  

​Now, almost three years later I am proud to share with you my debut novel Legends of Lightning, Hidden Realm. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life. I am eager to hear your thoughts, please leave reviews or contact me directly. I look forward to sharing many more stories with you in the future.

Links:

Website: https://www.trslauf.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t.r.slauf

Blog: http://trslauf.com/sneak-peeks

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