E. D. Ebeling

Wonderfully realized fantasy

This is the first fantasy book based on a traditional fairy tale that I have ever read, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Well, I loved it! There’s actually very little of the fairly tale left in this retelling, except maybe the general sense of timelessness.

The main thing that I loved in this book is the world it’s set in. It is magical and terrible at the same time, and impeccably described, rich and vivid. The characters, especially Reyna are fully realized, and I actually loved the modernity of this book, which is especially evident in the characters sometimes using quite foul language, as normal people would. It’s a tough thing Reyna has to do to save her brothers, and the author did a great job getting into her mind and making us feel like we are right there with her as she makes her difficult decision, which could lead to madness or terrible disease.

I’ve already bought the second book in the series, Wind Over Bone (love that title, by the way!) and can’t wait to start reading. If you love magical fantasy you will love this book, guaranteed!

… (altro)

I admit I picked up this book primarily due to the title. “Wind Over Bone” just sounds so whimsical and wistful, and I had high hopes for the rest of the book to be good. And it was! The author did a great job of pulling me into the story right from the first page, and maintaining my interest through out. Even though it’s a fairly long book, I still read it in a single day, even sacrificing some of my beauty sleep to get to the end. But I just had to know how it all ends!

I really liked the main heroine Sarid, who is strong and willful, and dealing with a challenging personal situation, which makes for great conflict. The author also did a great job of portraying this conflict, especially once the love interest in the form of the handsome Rischa, who could be her salvation or her complete downfall. I don’t give any spoilers in my reviews, but suffice it to say the ride to find out what happens is worth it.

Highly recommended to all fans of YA Fantasy, and I can’t wait to start reading the next book in the series!
… (altro)

Aloren. So, I received a copy of this novel from the author after having won the First Reads prize.

*SPOILERS*

The novel takes place in a fictional realm, one of many, and is told from the first person perspective of the daughter, Laurila, of the Lauriad King. The world is very much Epic Fantasy, but because the narrator protagonist is a child we are not able to entirely glimpse the full aspect of the history, magic and politics of the World Building. However, the people of whom the main character is a member are tied to the land, having a special flower that grows in a place hidden by their parents, and which, should they be pulled from the ground will eventually cause them to go insane and die.

The story opens with the Laurila, and her 4 brothers, have been sent to live in the countryside following the death of the mother and the remarriage of the king to a human woman. While there the daughter runs amok, and is a bit of a tomboy, getting herself and her whipping girl Floy into much trouble. However, after being particularly annoyed one day she wishes her brothers into birds, at the same time the Queen arrives and offers the brothers and Floy, who is mistaken for the protagonist magical flowers essentially cause them to die. However, because Floy is a human child the curse does not work correctly and they are all turned into birds. Meanwhile, brigands attack the household and the main character must escape.

Having escaped the assassination attempt Laurila comes across her father, who has been shot by an arrow, and is dying. As a result, he tells Laurila that in order to save her brothers and herself she must uproot her flowers, planting them, and eventually weaving them into shirts within 5 years or they shall all perish. In addition, in order to keep her sanity and complete her task she cannot act too much like a true individual, never telling anyone who she is, nor even speaking of herself in the first person. And so her quest begins.

During her quest she meets various individuals, has daring escapes, becomes embroiled in palace politics and in the end saves the realm. She is able to rescue her brothers, and all is well that ends well. Obviously, I do not wish to give away more of the plot than is necessary because I thought this was a brilliantly refreshing take on High Fantasy…, which leads me to my only problems.

My problems aren’t actually with the story. As one can see, I will have given this novel 5 stars, and I would love to read more from the author to get a broader understanding of the World that he has created. I thought the poetry was amazing, even the stuff that was in a language only in this Epic World. However, maybe a slightly more tradition Third Person, or even Third Person Omniscient, Perspective would be better. Something more LOTR or Dune, where we could truly sink our teeth into the vast World that has been set-up in this novel. Yet, this is a nitpicky detail.

Actually, my issue is with the advertising for this novel. Obviously, since I had tried to get a First Reads copy I was interested in the book, but that was more because I was curious about the “First Young Adult High Fantasy Romance” novel. Well, I’m here to tell you that Young Adult is totally wrong when labeling this book, as is Romance. I’ve read some YA novels, and I’m not really a fan because I feel authors dumb down material that would be harder hitting to get it to a youthful audience. Yet, very few YA’s that I’ve read have characters who curse like adults, or do some things that happen in this novel. In addition, there is nothing that can be called Romance that occurs in this book. It’s only in the very end that the protagonist realizes that she’s actually in love with one of the persons she spends half the book interacting with.

I have not read Six Swans, but I will take the author/publisher’s word that this is a retelling of that tale. Yet, this would be the only part of the advertisement that is accurate. Granted this is a High Fantasy novel, but it is a High Fantasy that is written more for adults then Young Adults, and because of it, it is absolutely brilliant.… (altro)