J.M. Topp’s review of The Magos

The Magos by Dan Abnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I have been hauntingly melancholic since I reached the middle section of the last short story in this book title The Magos. There is spoilers and I pretty much want to just get my thoughts on this page rather than give a review or recommendation. By the end of this, you will know what this story means to me.

Everytime Dan Abnett brings up Thracian Primaris, my heart breaks. Characters I’ve lost returned to speak with Eisenhorn close to the end of the story and each character, Titus Endor, Aemos, Midas were each lashings upon my soul. Oh, sweet Cherubael. I felt the punch in my gut when they spoke to Eisenhorn of regrets and longing as old friends would speak where they still alive. Gideon Ravenor and his promise to hunt Eisenhorn down is such a tragedy.

But the nail in my heart was Alizabeth Bequin. Since we came across her in the Eisenhorn trilogy she has been near and dear to me. When she was placed in stasis and then lost, I felt the loss as if she were a family member. I feel the heartache that Eisenhorn felt in this story as he speaks to her in a way he never did when she was alive. I feel the sorrow of the chasm between them in my soul as if it were my own.

I remember who I was when I read the very first Eisenhorn story and to finish reading this book now I feel as Eisenhorn does. Old. Beaten. Starving. Yet, with drive and determination to continue to move forward. I have grown with this series and this beautiful yet haunting end just makes me somber in the face of the end of the story. There is one final piece of the puzzle left in Pandemonium and I don’t know if I am ready for it. I cannot bear to think of losing Eisenhorn, or Beta Bequin, or the “angel”.

Final thoughts. This story is so close to my soul. I am at a crossroads in my life personally and this sentence on page 580 spoke volumes into me. “It takes balls for a man to go into a fight when he knows how to fight. It takes a damn sight more to go in when he doesn’t. Not to have a clue but to go for it anyway. Balls of steel.”
“Head full of stupid.”

This will be my light for the next few years as I venture onward. Anyway, this story and it’s wondrous arcs are my favorite, and it means so much to me.





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The Ashen Queen Cover Art

Finally it is time to unveil The Ashen Queen cover art!

In this climactic finale of the Harmony series, destinies converge in a world on the brink. Elymiah, chained and pregnant, faces the Hallowed Masters’ judgment in Aivaterra, her unborn child’s fate hanging by a thread. Banished and broken, Eymeg roams the wilderness, haunted by betrayal yet driven toward a fleeting hope of redemption. Ayda, trapped in the Hunting Grounds—a realm for damned souls—fights to escape a place where the living are forbidden. Meanwhile, Bhazorych, the human soul of Bendrick bound to a minotaur, and Irina, wielders of dark forgotten magic, journey to the underworld to heal the fractured divide between heavens and hells. As their paths collide, the choices they make will either save the world—or doom it forever.

The Ashen Queen is set to release late 2026! To catch up on the Harmony of the Apostles first two books click here.

The Ashen Queen cover sketch!

It’s time for The Ashen Queen dark fantasy novel cover art!!! This is the grand final book to the Harmony series. As always I do the sketch and send it to my dear friend Emilio Rodriguez for his beautiful work. He has never let me down but it always makes me giggle when I finish my kindergarten sketches. I’ll post the end result shortly and I cannot wait for you reactions!!

jmtopp.com

I Don’t Cater

RANT INCOMING: I just hit 50,000 words of the Ashen Queen book 3 of my dark fantasy series and am half-way through! I’ve incidentally also written the last paragraph of the novel to close out the series and I can’t believe the journey is almost over. Each character, each encounter, each scene is carefully crafted to complete the series as a whole in a fantastic and satisfying way but one thing has begun to itch at the back of my mind. So the concept of the series (and my writing style in general) is as follows:

I offer no political statement or call to action in my novels. Despite the fact some encounters or scenarios may be considered culturally or socially motivated, I promise our current 2020-2025 western climate has absolutely no bearing on my stories. I am no politician. You don’t care what I think and I don’t think you should.

I am an escape artist.

Not that I could get out of an escape room easily because I probably couldn’t, but more that I am the class of artist to provide an escape from reality into a world different than our own.

If I write a scene in The Ashen Queen or any of my other stories that you think is politically or socially motivated, trust me, it is just a coincidence. A lot of the concepts for this trilogy were planned out in 2016 and I haven’t deviated from them very much if at all.

What’s funny is most small artists like myself think this way. We prioritize our stories over our own personal bias or agendas. We are silent and work purely on our craft.

It’s part of sacrificing ourselves for our art. It’s the corporate artist that pushes a collective bias that processes a localized and potentially fantastic story through a cheese-grater that ends up as bullet points on a chart.

We hear from too many personalities and celebrities and by now, I think they’ve figured out that we don’t care what they think. I’m in that same camp. You shouldn’t look to what I or someone else thinks (or writes) especially if it doesn’t align with your lived experience or world-view. I’m not here to preach to you. I’m here to entertain you. (I guess right now may be the only exception but it is the last and only time. 🙂 )

I don’t cater. I write from the heart without compromise. I won’t engage with political commentary becuase that’s not me artistically. I probably don’t have to write this, but if it ever comes up, this is my official response. RANT OVER. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Also, if you made it this far, here is a treat for you. March I will be posting promo art for The Ashen Queen! Stay tuned!!!

If you wish to find out what I’m talking about or get caught up for the Ashen Queen book 3 in time for it’s worlwide release in 2026 check out the links to the first two novels below!

Knights without Kings (Book 1) – https://www.amazon.com/Knights-Without-Kings-Harmony-Apostles/dp/099970740X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1513607910&sr=8-1

The Twin Princes (Book 2) – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0999707426/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

The Ashen Queen (Book 3) – TBA late 2026

Author J.M. Topp

The Ashen Queen!!

I am pleased to reveal that the grand finale to the dark fantasy trilogy of the Harmony of the Apostles book 3; The Ashen Queen! This novel is scheduled to release in late 2026!

Storyboard for The Ashen Queen book 3

Several important details as for the current production of the novel are as follows:

  1. I am currently at 40,000 words so almost half the target word count (end up being around 700-800 pages.
  2. All questions will be answered and all character arcs will be concluded in a satisfactory way. No sudden ends or it was all a dream trope.
  3. No sequel baiting! Though there is a chance for a spinoff at some later date, this main story will be a complete journey.
  4. Beta will begin late 2025.
  5. I have in mind an omnibus for all three books to be under one book cover as a special edition. Keep an eye out for it!

If you’re not caught up you can check out books 1 & 2 on amazon!

Knights without Kings

The Twin Princes

My Jurassic Park book review

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is nothing like the movie and that’s something that I found so intriguing. The OG movie is great. Spielberg made it extremely palatable for the masses and it has an incredible visual style that has lasted the test of time. BUT! This novel has such incredible depth, I sometimes forgot it is fiction. It is entirely different from the movie and that had me filling in gaps making this a rounded event. Crichton did an incredible amount of speculative research, and his imagination and creativity was unparalleled when writing this novel.

What makes this novel so incredible is the horror aspects. Though the movie does have moments especially towards the end of the film that are horrific, the novel is waaaaay darker from beginning to end. I won’t spoil it but some of these scenes are nightmare fuel and its awesome.

Tried watching some of the Chris Pratt movies while reading this. I love the actor but damn the movies suck in comparison to the source material. I think if a director were to come out with a film more in spirit of this novel, a true horror rated R, I think we would have a gem on our hands. But so long as Jurassic Park is marketed to the masses, I don’t think we will be getting anything as in depth, creative, or horrific as the world Crichton brought to life. Also the characters in the book are entirely believable and don’t suffer from millennial garbage dialogue. (Thats just me ranting about the Pratt movies with flat characters and eye-rolling language of the movie. They’re so unserious and cringey it really takes the tension out of any potentially interesting scenes) Every scene in the book is interesting and glues your eyes to the page.

That being said, this novel is a must read for sci-fi horror lovers out there. These are just my opinions.



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