'1100 BGW' & 'Demon Invasion' [Double Feature Short Stories Review]

These two individual short stories coincide with the 'Empire's Foundation' trilogy, written by Ryan Toxopeus.

My previous review was 'A Noble's Quest' (Book 1 of said trilogy).

Per the author, the recommended reading order of this series is as follows:

'A Noble's Quest' (Book 1)
'1100 BGW' (Short Story)
'Demon Invasion'  (Novella)
'A Wizard's Gambit' (Book 2)
'Dawn: A Dwarven Creation Story' (Short Story Collection)
'A Hero's Birth' (Book 3 - coming in 2017)

So, following the above order, here are my reviews of the two tales between Books 1 & 2:

1100 BGW [Before God's War]
Genre - Fantasy/Short Story
Year Published - 2015
Length - 21 (digital) pages
Written by Ryan Toxopeus

Rating: 3 Skulls

Plot Summary:
Amurtag and her fellow minotaur farmers are called away from the harvest by the priests. Margaff, their new chief, is making a play for power over all the minotaur tribes using a secret weapon. But when Amurtag questions him publicly, he shares his vision for the future. The question is, will everyone stand by and allow him to take control?

Review:
What I liked about this story is that it is centered around minotaurs. Margaff is named their new emperor, and it is his wish to unite all of the tribes and bring peace to all of the races...

Within this story, you also discover that the dwarves may not have been the 1st created race after all, as previously believed in Toxopeus' world. The 1st created race may in fact have been the Aeri - half man/half bird beings, created by the Titans, Air & Earth, to have dominion over the sky and the land.

While not tying in directly with anything that happened in Book 1, this is still an interesting read, taking place in the same world, well before the events in 'A Noble's Quest'.

Demon Invasion
Genre - Fantasy/Novella
Year Published - 2016
Length - 93 (digital) pages
Written by Ryan Toxopeus

Rating: 4 Skulls

Plot Summary:
The demon lord Zeracth has a plan to take an army to the world of Illuma. However, his spawn Glezxnodin has his own plans to save his people and create a demon nation.

Illuma at first appears ripe for the taking, but the world has changed since the demons fled ages ago and many new challenges await them.

Review:
I get that demon's true names are most definitely unpronouncable, however this makes for very distracting reading!
(A perfect example: Ffckookckck)
Fortunately, Toxopeus has included a glossary, at the back of this book, that makes the names much easier. (Still, I found myself skimming over the majority of the names, or just coming up with shorter versions.)

Once you become accustomed to the names, you realize that Toxopeus has actually created a really good, intriguing story. One that I believe to be tying in directly to the Empire's Foundation trilogy.

Stay tuned for my upcoming review of Book 2!

Jason

P. S. Google's Blogger App is still not allowing me to post pictures of the book covers. (I keep being told, "pictures not found") Unless this issue gets fixed, you will need to read these reviews on my Google+ profile, in order to see the cover art.