Witchy Eye by D.J. Butler

D.J. Butler’s Witchy Eye (2017), the first book in his WITCHY EYE series, is an alternate history set in a 19th century United States that’s almost unrecognizable.

In Appalachia, a scrawny teenager named Sarah Calhoun is being raised by her grandfather. Her most notable features are her razor-sharp wit, her willingness to stand up for herself and others, and her eye which is swollen shut and looks gross. Sarah’s life is turned upside down when a priest and his minions attempt to kidnap her. She’s saved by a travelling monk who tells Sarah the secret of who she really is. To avoid the bad guys who are trying to capture her, she sets off with the monk and Calvin, her devoted cousin, to claim her destiny.

Butler’s alternate world is creative. Americans a... Read More

The Cunning Man by D.J. Butler & Aaron Michael Ritchey

Hiram Woolley, 44 years old, is a slightly melancholy widower who farms beets in Utah during the Great Depression. He and his adopted son, Michael, spend their free time taking food and supplies to people who are suffering more than they are. This includes the citizens, mostly immigrants, of a mining town where the mine has been closed due to a squabble between the members of the Kimball family who own it. The miners aren’t getting paid and they’re starving. They can’t get out of the situation because they rent their homes from the mining company. Some of the workers are scared because they think the mine is haunted. Hiram thinks the Kimballs are keeping a secret about the mine.

Hiram and Michael realize that it would be best for everyone if, rather than continuing to deliver food, they could help get the mine re-opened. That means someone needs to figure out what th... Read More

Editor's note: When Ruth reviewed this book in 2012, she reviewed the "first part" of CITY OF SAINTS called Liahona. Since then, the series has been released as one novel called City of Saints.

City of Saints by D.J. Butler

It’s the days leading up to the Civil War, and both the North and the South are desperate to bring the Kingdom of Deseret, with President Brigham Young, in on their side. Both forces send envoys to the remote kingdom, hoping to secure the allegiance of the Mormons and their rumored phlogiston weaponry. The British Empire is also seeking to secure the favor of Deseret, and Samuel Clemens, Edgar Allen Poe, and the famed British explorer Richard Burton all set out from Fort Bridger in a desperate race to the Salt Lake Valley. Throw in a dwarf, some Pinkerton detectives, a woman who may or may not be a spy, flesh devouring beetles, and giant steam-power... Read More

In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler

D.J. Butler tries his hand at the two-loveable-rogues-for-hire story and mostly succeeds.

Our two loveable rogues are Indrajit Twang and Fix. Indrajit is the poet of his very small clan of people. He has come to the great city of Kish to find (he hopes) an apprentice who can learn the epic poem of his race so it can be passed down to the next generation. If he does not succeed, all of the history and culture of these few hundred people will be lost.

But meanwhile, he’s in debt and needs to earn some money. When he hires on with a risk insurance merchant, he meets his new partner Fix, a curious and educated orphan who grew up in Kish. Indrajit and Fix’s job is to keep an eye on a famous opera star named Ilsa Without Peer. There’s been an insurance policy taken out on her and the risk merchant t... Read More