Helpful Score: 3
Great read! I had a bit of a tough time getting into the book at first but ended up not being able to put it down. Wonderful fantasy book.
Helpful Score: 1
Good story. I totally thought it was going one direction and was surprised how it turned out.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a greatly detailed book with many worlds and numerous characters in all three worlds. Figuring out what is going on is easier than figuring out all the characters, who is who, where they are and how everyone is related.
We have the Shadowlands where the mortals reside. This includes Cecily (one of the three important females), her husband, Donner, and her lover Kian...these are some of the good guys. So of course, we also have bad guys...Donner's heir, Cadwyr is the lone human one. On the other side of the land, we have Nessa (another of the important females), her father Dougal who is missing presumably in Faerie. Her friend Griffin who is a blacksmith and enslaved by Cadwyr.
The world of Sidhe is more complex and dangerous for all mortals. Delphinea (the last of the important females) thinks the land of Faerie is being poisoned by the Silver Caul and goes to court to try to get help. Queen Alemandine is pregnant and presumably dying. Her twin sister, Vinaver is a wicked woman and plotting the death (rebirth?) of Sidhe. Artimour is their half human half sibling who is involved in the defenses of Sidhe. Finuviel is Vinaver's son and a wicked man as well who is plotting to dethrone Alemandine and become King of Sidhe.
And last but not least, the Wastelands filled with treacherous and dangerous Goblins whose King is Xerruw who also is plotting the takeover of Sidhe for himself.
Because all that isn't quite enough going on, Samhain is coming. This is the time of year (halloween for us humans) when the veil between all worlds is so thin, being can cross over. The Silver Caul is supposed to keep the goblins from wreaking havoc on the mortals but it is failing. What happens to all the plots if the Caul fails completely?
It sounds complicated as hell and it is but well worth the read. The female characters are spectacular and the male consorts are great as well. Even the bad guys are portrayed well. Cadwyr is the only character that I hated on sight and I hope his plots fail.
We have the Shadowlands where the mortals reside. This includes Cecily (one of the three important females), her husband, Donner, and her lover Kian...these are some of the good guys. So of course, we also have bad guys...Donner's heir, Cadwyr is the lone human one. On the other side of the land, we have Nessa (another of the important females), her father Dougal who is missing presumably in Faerie. Her friend Griffin who is a blacksmith and enslaved by Cadwyr.
The world of Sidhe is more complex and dangerous for all mortals. Delphinea (the last of the important females) thinks the land of Faerie is being poisoned by the Silver Caul and goes to court to try to get help. Queen Alemandine is pregnant and presumably dying. Her twin sister, Vinaver is a wicked woman and plotting the death (rebirth?) of Sidhe. Artimour is their half human half sibling who is involved in the defenses of Sidhe. Finuviel is Vinaver's son and a wicked man as well who is plotting to dethrone Alemandine and become King of Sidhe.
And last but not least, the Wastelands filled with treacherous and dangerous Goblins whose King is Xerruw who also is plotting the takeover of Sidhe for himself.
Because all that isn't quite enough going on, Samhain is coming. This is the time of year (halloween for us humans) when the veil between all worlds is so thin, being can cross over. The Silver Caul is supposed to keep the goblins from wreaking havoc on the mortals but it is failing. What happens to all the plots if the Caul fails completely?
It sounds complicated as hell and it is but well worth the read. The female characters are spectacular and the male consorts are great as well. Even the bad guys are portrayed well. Cadwyr is the only character that I hated on sight and I hope his plots fail.
