Loved: This was another romance/fantasy that came out of the blue and totally rocked my world! The first volume of the series is a bit shaky, but after that I was really impressed with Wilson’s ability to create a deep, unique fantasy world and wonderful secondary characters.
There are several romances throughout the series, and each one is intricately and purposefully connected with the overall plot. It was a delightful surprise to discover the Tairen Soul series!
Learned: Two things – C. L. Wilson’s language and her bad guy. For the series, she created a beautiful, flowing Fey language, which is something I always admire. She manages to do it with a lighter hand than Tolkien, and I’ve used her example while working on my own stuff.
She also is a fantastic model to follow for creating a smart bad guy. At any given point in the series, the bad guy is working on about five different nefarious plans to reach his end goal…and the MCs might only know about two of them. Several of his plans actually come to fruition, with disastrous consequences for our heroes, and that’s what drives the plot at such an intense level! There’s an honest question about whether or not the MCs will be smart enough to beat him in the end.
I write fantasy but I would never even attempt to create my own language. I salute those who do.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's a pretty awesome cover.
Yeah, I do love this cover!
DeleteI always admire someone capable of creating their own language. The intricacies of grammar and structure makes it quite a challenge!
ReplyDeleteJ.C. Martin
A to Z Blogger
You have to be an incredible world builder to create a language for your books. And a good bad guy can make the story. I think I need to work on mine and make him smarter. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed this fantasy book. Love the cover, and it sounds so good. Must go search for a sample. :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a great fantasy book! Interesting bad guys always add so much to a story.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion you have to allow your villain to succeed at some level, or else he/she will simply appear impotent! :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
DeleteI've never read this. I generally lean towards more hard sci-fi than fantasy, but this does sound intriguing, and what you cite as 'kearned' about the villain is great advice regardless of genre!
ReplyDeleteOops -- "LEARNED", not "kearned."
DeleteStupid fat-fingered typing again...
Seriously--you have the best book recommendations. Truth be told, I've only heard of a few this entire challenge, but you make them all sound so good!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you describe the villain, especially how he has so many plots that the MC might not realize. And creating your own language?! Holy crap. Out of my league!
It's a really fun series to read!
DeleteThis is a great book recommendation. I really liked this book.
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
Yay - glad to hear it!
DeleteSmart bad guys are sooo much more interesting than blockhead baddies.
ReplyDeleteSmart and powerful villains make a story for me. That and seemingly hopeless situations for the heroes to somehow conquer. This series sounds great! :)
ReplyDeleteI love it when heroes are faced with dire odds!
Deleteooh! So intriguing! I have got to read this book! Sounds like I could learn so much from it. :)
ReplyDelete