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Out of This World SFF Reviews is delighted to be just one of the many blogs participating in the Storytellers On Tour Book Tour featuring self-published sf/fantasy author Jon Auerbach and his urban fantasy book, GUILD OF TOKENS! Today marks Day #5 of the tour and I am really excited to be one of the stops. I will be providing you with a synopsis of Jon's book as well as my review, plus a sample from the audiobook. So you are not going to want to miss that.
Storytellers is also currently running an amazing giveaway in conjunction with this tour. One physical copy (available internationally) and one free audiobook code (US/CA/AU) of GUILD OF TOKENS is up for grabs!
To enter, just click this link. The giveaway ends this Sunday, June 28th at 11:59pm. So get those entries in now!
And now, here is a brief description of GUILD OF TOKENS followed by my review:
Book Blurb
She wants to level up her humdrum existence, but her next quest could spell life or death.....
Jen Jacobs's nights are spent traversing a strange city finding hidden objects, slaying dragons, and tangling with a host of fellow adventurers. And her days are spent counting down the seconds until she can return to the grind and continue racking up tokens and leveling up.
Except Jen isn't playing a video game.
It's all real and happening right in New York City.
After a particularly harrowing quest pairs her up with Beatrice Taylor, a no-nonsense and ambitious mentor, Jen hopes she's on the path to becoming a big-time player. But as she dives deeper into the game's hidden agenda, she realizes Beatrice has her sights set on the Guild, the centuries-old organization that runs the Questing game. And the quests Jen loves are about to put both of them in grave danger.
Will Jen survive the game before powerful forces cut her real life short?
Guild of Tokens is a thrilling new twist on conventional urban fantasy, if you like determined heroines, gritty cityscapes, and vampire-free adventures, then you'll love Jon Auerbach's rollercoaster tale.
My Review
I had a really fun time reading GUILD OF TOKENS. The synopsis gives a good overview of the plot, so I will stick to my feelings about the book as to avoid any potential spoilers. What I can say about this book though is it's an epic adventure and mystery story that will keep you glued to the pages 100% of the time and will cause some lack of sleep to occur. From the opening pages were we are introduced to Jen Jacobs as she is undertaking one of her special "quests" through the city of New York, until the very last page, Jon Auerbach treats us to a puzzle of a tale where every piece is slowly revealed through each successive chapter.
The strength of this book lies not only with the mystery behind the quests and what ultimately they are leading up to, but also with the deeply emotional connection that is made with the main characters. I found myself really caring about what happened to them as they embarked on their individual journeys and Jon does a great job of creating characters who are strong but at the same time have their own insecurities that they must overcome. It makes them even more real to the reader and it definitely got me invested in the ultimate outcome.
The secret society aspect behind GUILD OF TOKENS is also a very intriguing element of the story. What the motivations are behind them and the eventual goal remains a mystery for a large part of the book. And while this is a story that is rooted in reality, there is definitely a significant amount of the magical. enough to keep any fantasy fan more than satisfied.
This book was a very entertaining and engaging read that made me really want to investigate more of Jon Auerbach's work. I can't wait to pick up the second book in this series if book 1 is any indication of the tremendous story that still lies ahead. I recommend GUILD OF TOKENS to anyone looking for a fun and magical read to pass the lazy summer days with.
My Rating: 8/10
As an added treat, I'd like to present a clip from the GUILD OF TOKENS audiobook!
Simply click HERE to listen to an audio excerpt of Chapter 1, read by narrator Tavia Gilbert.
Author Bio
Jon Auerbach's love of fantasy began at the tender age of six, when his parents bought him the classic 1977 animated version of The Hobbit (the less said about the recent trilogy, the better). His passion for sci-fi developed from nights watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and from his dad's old paperback copies of Foundation and I, Robot.
Jon writes in both genres and hopes to pass on his stories to the next generation, including his kids, who have their own copy of The Hobbit that they lovingly call "The Bilbo book".
You can connect with author Jon Auerbach on these online platforms:
And that concludes my stop on the book tour! I'd like to send out a sincere thank you to the good people at Storytellers on Tour and also to author Jon Auerbach for letting me be a part of this incredible event. I hope that you all enjoyed finding out more about GUILD OF TOKENS. To catch up on all of the other stops on the tour and to see who is coming up next, check out the official schedule below:
And as always, thanks to everyone for continuing to visit and support the blog. It means a lot and I really appreciate it.
Happy Reading!
-Nick
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