Demon's Reign: A Progression Fantasy Epic (The Bloodwood Saga) Paperback – February 23, 2023

Wow! First of all, let me start out by saying that, as a rule, I read anything written by David Estes or Ben Galley. So, when I saw that they were collaborating on a series…. Obviously there was no chance I wasn’t going to pre-order and read this book immediately!The world building… mile high Bloodwood trees which are home to cities of people! A world where the loam or ground level is a scary taboo place. Then you add in the super unique magic system and a coming of age story! This is a must read!I loved the characters and again, the world building blew my mind! I can’t wait to read the next installment! If I could give this one more than 5 stars I would! Congratulations Ben and David!

It's a very slow start. The character interactions are spectacular no doubt but 100+ pages in and there has been no change to the MC. The start of this book is heavy on the world building. It seems as though the author was setting this volume as the setting setter for the rest of this series. Again, the author does a great job not just info dumping but it is a lot to take in and remember. They also dive pretty heavily into people's emotions when it comes to stressful situations and how most people will ignore issues until its too late or blame others because of fear. Also expect a lot of betrayal throughout this volume and the next as well. It take 25% or so before we finally get the MC getting some kind of power but it takes untill 35ish% before he starts to use magic and around 45ish% before he can start to learn the regular way they do magic. I can see where the author is going with him but you need Patience if you want action more than just the MC running away from things, getting manhandled by people or things , and or getting beat by random warriors. The later half around 70% and on is very action heavy which the author made the MC feel OP for a while but it doesn't last long.

Honestly, my brain did not work for the first chapter or so. It was hard to wrap around some of the terms being used because I had not heard them used that way but after all the in-depth world building I really enjoyed this book. The magic system was very cool and I enjoyed the characters. Very excited for the next book!

Very well written. Great characters come alive in the spellbinding narrative. I love demons almost as much as dragons and here you have one particularly likable. And a very nice main protagonist, a guy you will really sympathize with all the way. The story itself is so intense it's hard to put the book down until the very end.

The underlying world is rich and reasonably sophisticated (down to things like how the pressures of war can reinforce a caste-based society).The characters are varied, but sometimes shallow.And, unfortunately, one of the biggest drivers of underlying tension is a painfully trite "not revealing big secret" decision.

As the title says I think the world building was good but I found myself rooting for the demons to win. Most of the characters had no redeeming qualities so it was hard to feel invested in their survival.

I’ve read most of Ben Galley’s books and this is my 1st David Estes book. I absolutely loved the entire story and I can’t wait for the next installment. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys great characters.(Boston🇺🇸)

I really sense Estes influence in a lot of the story. That's never a bad thing. This coming of age story of a boy turned hero turned man is compelling. I wonder if we all don't have a little demon inside us.

I absolutely love this new series created by Ben Galley and David Estes.4.5/5 absolutely phenomenal!The is worldbuilding is absolutely *chefs kiss*The banter between Tarkosi and Serisi is really well done.I did the audiobook with TGR and the performance was fan-freaking-tastic that I had to purchase this book physically as well to display it's Beauty on the shelf.(The spine with it is absolutely stunning on the shelf)

I have really enjoyed this book. At first I thought it was slow going, then I got drawn in and could not put the book down. I have immediately gone on to read the second book in the series. Thank you, a great read.

Worth a read. Starts out great and holds it till most of the part 2. Nosedives a bit from part 2 and final fight with demon king was disappointing. Overall a decent book, and world building was really good.

A great new read from Ben and David. Tarko is someone who seems unable to stick at a job, whether his own doing or others, remains to be seen as the story unfolds. His world is lived out in the tree canopy, but these trees house whole cities within their branches, roads are high up and link one great tree to its neighbour. But the demons are coming and want to burn Tarko's home to gain the precious nektra and enable the devastation of the sward. How Tarko and his band of scions, as well as the demon Sisi do this is a fantastic read. The world building is just as we would expect from these 2 great authors. Their words meld seamlessly and I defy anyone to know who wrote what. Roll on book 2, as I definitely need to know what is going to happen next.If you've not read any of Ben's books before, you're in for a treat. I'd not heard of David Estes before, but I'll be looking out for his books too! Thanks for a great read.

What a setting!A forest-dwelling civilisation that lives in mile-high giant bloodwood trees, using its sap to fuel their magic and an entire society and ecosystem formed around living in these enormous trees. Clearly a whole lot of effort has been put into developing this forest world and how it might all work in practice.The story involves a down on his luck lad, Tarko, that doesn't fit into that strict social hierarchy - not all of it his own fault. The story clips along at a great pace, featuring, airborne knights, a demon invasion, magic, twists and turns betrayals and bravery!