A.E. MarlingBesprekingen

Remembering Celeste from [b:Brood of Bones|12834648|Brood of Bones|A.E. Marling|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1321805132s/12834648.jpg|17985045] I always thought she might have a fascinating back story. Hoping this will be as good as BoB was :)

I had no idea this was out. Actually I had no idea it even existed. What a great new year!

I read this captivating story at a time when I was stuck away from home and forced to eat meal after meal that is stored and cooked in sealed plastic sacks and it was the perfect distraction from the drudgery of my real life. Marling's descriptions made my mouth water and his storytelling once again does not fail to disappoint. Though eating mystery meat from the chow hall became more disappointing after reading the description of deep fried terror bird. Underneath the amazing descriptions of fanciful foods is a plot line woven with as much intricacy as the magic carpet the banquet takes place on. The main character is one of those rare main characters whose motives are not perfect all the time and is fallible, but learns throughout her adventure and becomes a character to admire. I wholeheartedly recommend this book for all ages of people who want to disappear from their mundane life for a bit.

Hiresha is visiting Oasis City, a place reminiscent of ancient Egypt, when she has the bad luck to be chosen as the Golden Scoundrel's next bride. True, the Golden Scoundrel is a god inhabiting the body of an incredibly adorable fennec fox, but no matter how adorable he is, Hiresha had always planned on one day marrying a human being. She refuses to agree to marry an animal, especially once she learns that the marriage is supposed to happen in the afterlife. She and the fox are scheduled to be entombed together in four days.

That just won't do, so Hiresha tries to escape with her maid and friend, Janny, and her bodyguard, Chandur. Unfortunately, the Golden Scoundrel disappears at around the same time. Chandur is accused of kidnapping her and stealing the fox and will be put to death in less than two days if Hiresha can't find both the true thief and the fox. And then she still has to figure out how to avoid her own scheduled death.

I read the first book in this series, Brood of Bones, over a year ago. The writing didn't quite work for me, and the premise and world were weird. I couldn't decide if it was weird-good or weird-bad, so I decided to give the series another shot, and I'm glad I did.

Marling wrote Brood of Bones in first person, from Hiresha's perspective. Her sleeping disorder gave the waking world a surreal quality that didn't really work for me, so I was thrilled when I realized that Fox's Bride was written in the third person limited, mostly with either Hiresha or Chandur as the focus. It freed the story up a lot, although it didn't entirely rid the world, which included sky rivers, jewel-based magic, and people riding on ostriches, of its surreal quality.

My favorite things about this book were probably the characters and the magical system. Hiresha was a fun and strange fantasy detective, barely able to function in the waking world because of her sleeping disorder but brilliant and sharp as a scalpel in her dreams. Sleep gave her access to her dream laboratory, a place where she could minutely examine the things she'd seen and heard in the waking world, analyze and enchant anything touching her body in the real world, and compartmentalize bothersome emotions by turning them into literal other selves she could consult as needed. In Brood of Bones, she ditched the immobilizing trappings of her station, her 27 dresses and golden hump. In Fox's Bride, she learned to question the assumption that an enchantress like her couldn't use her skills as a weapon in the waking world. She also began reevaluating her goals (although the events that led her to do that were painful to read – poor Hiresha). I look forward to seeing what other assumptions about herself and her world she questions in the next book.

Chandur was...a bit simpler. He'd once been told by a priest that it was his fate to have a bright future and marry a younger woman with “eyes a'glitter.” And he really, really believed that. His belief in his bright future made him fearless as he protected Hiresha and sustained him through most of his imprisonment. He came close to breaking down from time to time, but never truly did. It was impressive, but also extremely frustrating. Hiresha tried to tell him that he couldn't just wait for his bright future to fall in his lap, and he had no idea what she meant. I loved that he supported Hiresha and very clearly thought she was awesome, but there were times when he was such a fluff-brain it hurt.

There were some very light romantic aspects, in the form of a love triangle: Chandur, the man Hiresha saw as her best option if she could ever cure herself of her sleeping disorder, and Tethiel, the man (or monster) she secretly preferred (maybe). I wasn't entirely on board with either option, seeing as how Chandur was kind of silly and Tethiel was a fear-eating monster, but Tethiel at least had the advantage of being fun to read about. I loved his sarcasm and buckets of charm. Sadly, he wasn't in this book as much as I'd have liked – Hiresha tried to avoid him as much as possible.

Although this book was a huge improvement upon the first one, it still had problems. For one thing, I was very confused about the world. Brood of Bones seemed to take place in fantasy historical-ish Western world. However, Fox's Bride took place in a city that was very much influence by ancient Egypt, with pyramids, pharaohs, similar burial practices, and animal gods. In the process of writing this review, I've pieced together that Oasis City was probably a diplomatically important city between Hiresha's country and an ancient Egypt-like place. The maps included at the beginning of the book didn't really help, by the way – not only were the spidery lines and text hard to read on the sepia backgrounds, I couldn't really make sense of the info or how the two maps fit together. The way I understood it, the Sea of Fangs was supposed to be between the Dominion of the Sun and the Oasis Empire, with Oasis City near the Sea of Fangs, but Oasis City was actually near Dreamstorm Sea.

I was also bothered by Inannis, aka The Plot Device. At the start of the book, it looked like he was going to be the big bad villain. That didn't turn out to be the case – all he did was get the ball rolling, accomplish his goal (which wasn't really related to anything else in the story), and try to get away. He reappeared briefly so that Tethiel could make use of him and then disappeared again.

Complaints aside, I definitely plan on reading the next book. Hiresha is a fascinating heroine, and her magic is fun to read about.

Extras:

A couple maps and an illustration of Oasis City's sky rivers.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)½

Brood of Bones is a self published fantasy novel available for free on Amazon. In short, Brood of Bones is about Hiresha, a narcoleptic enchantress who’s returned to her hometown only to find that all the women there are mysteriously pregnant. It’s a fun story that combines fantasy and mystery with flashes of humor.

Enchantress Hiresha left her home city of Morimound many years ago when she first began her training as an enchantress. She had not wanted to return before finding a cure for her constant sleepiness. However, she has been called upon by the city’s Flawless due to a plague of pregnancies afflicting all woman older than twelve, including the city’s grandmothers. At first dubious as to whether or not some elaborate prank is being played upon her, Hiresha eventually begins to investigate the cause of the mysterious pregnancies. If she cannot find it, many women, especially the young and the old, will die in the coming months.

Hiresha’s probably my favorite thing about the book. She’s a powerful enchantress with good intentions, yet she is very flawed. She insists on following the rules of propriety but she is often unaware of when she has inadvertently offended someone, despite her skill at reading facial expressions. She constructs elaborate fantasies about a future life of marriage and children, to the point that she builds a mansion with specific rooms for all of her yet unborn children. She hates her constant sleepiness and believes that it prevents her from fulfilling her hopes for the future, but it is also what gives her such power as an enchantress, as enchantresses can work magic only in their dreams. She’s powerful, confident, intelligent, brave and flawed, a fascinating and different sort of protagonist.

While I didn’t find any of the other characters as intriguing as Hiresha, they were for the most part enjoyable. I particularly liked Hiresha’s banter with Maid Janny, her almost constant companion. Janny’s unafraid to voice criticism, and this leads to some funny exchanges.

“Maid Janny, it is well that you are unattractive, or you would be entirely insufferable.”

“It is well you’re rich. Or so would you.”

The world building of Brood of Bones was also impressive. When Hiresha sleeps, she enters her dream laboratory, where she feels awake and alert. In her laboratory are all the tools she needs to craft her spells, mostly in the form of multi-colored gems. There is never any lengthy exposition as to how the magic works, but you are able to deduce and understand it naturally.

Brood of Bones does have its flaws. The mystery section of the plot was a bit slow to take off, and I would have appreciated not having yet another rapey villain. On the whole however, I did enjoy Brood of Bones and would recommend it to people looking for a fun, different sort of fantasy novel.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.½

Newcomer A. E. Marling does a bang-up job with this novel about a magic-wielder afflicted with a sleeping disorder. Her drowsiness does not equate boredom for the reader. On the contrary, "Brood of Bones" is a fantasy whodunnit, with Enchantress Hiresha cast in the role of arcane detective. The setting and the magic are skillfully portrayed; the characters are complex and not always predictable. Hiresha struggles not only with her sleeping problem, but with the past that has formed her; her position is her armor and her purpose. Maid Janny is a gem of irreverence, while the Lord of the Feasts is both charming and terrible. The deposed arbiter of the city is exasperating at the same time she is delightful, and the two city leaders (a pair of priests representing different deities) are not what they might seem. I could wish the bodyguard were better developed, but it is a small complaint. The story is told from Hiresha's point of view, depicting her insecurities and fears in a very personal, very *human* way embroidered with the mores of her particular society. I'd have given this book 5 stars but for an unfortunate (though not crippling) tendency toward repetition of information, and I am looking forward to Marling's next book.

Enchantress Hiresha's intelligent fantasy/mystery story continues in the wonderful follow-up to "Brood of Bones." Marling's prose beautifully captures the flavor of the desert, creating richly painted scenes. The plot is full of expertly crafted twists and turns, and the characters are brought to you in vibrant technicolor. I loved seeing Hiresha thwarted, regrouping, stepping outside the bounds of what she knows, and growing as she does. She's not just a focused 'scientist,' she's whimsical, at times callous, and she has a habit of putting her foot in her mouth. Her new bodyguard, Chandur, strikes me as a good-hearted, wonderfully loyal and idealistic but frustratingly dense individual, but he too grows through his experiences, making for a more solid, engaging character. The doings of the Soultrapper antagonist are devious and woven expertly into the tapestry with threads of creepiness and dark humor. Well done! I would have liked Tethiel to figure a little more prominently; I missed his biting wit and dry humor, and the knife-edge relationship with Hiresha developed in "Brood of Bones" only received token attention after his reintroduction. "Fox's Bride" flows well, keeps a quick pace, and ends on a strong note. Again, I am looking forward to Marling's next book.

I have been a Marling fan since I first got my hands on the excellent Brood of Bones, the first book set in the Lands of Loam, and look forward with eager anticipation to each new release—and he is a remarkably prolific, chalking up four books in the space of two years. Lucky for us, he keeps getting better and better.

Gravity's Revenge is easily the most intense of Enchantress Hiresha’s three books. What begins as the innocuous introduction of a student to the Academy swiftly turns into white-knuckle reading. Hiresha is thrown into an untenable situation when the Bright Palms choose to hold her beloved Academy hostage—and their actions threaten to rip her entire world apart. The Bright Palms are a truly terrifying enemy. They are devoid of emotion and unaffected by physical duress. The leader in this foray, Sheamab, is frighteningly relentless, and learning more about Bright Palm magic was a treat. They're every bit as awful as Feasters.

Lord Tethiel is one of the most compelling supporting characters I’ve ever seen. A victim of tragedy and betrayal (though we’re only given hints about his past), he struggles with the burden of the power he holds. He can be at once charming and dreadful, and his relationship with Hiresha is never clear-cut. Is it a case of impossible romance, or is he masterfully manipulative? His slithery ambiguity keeps me guessing.

Hiresha herself remains a wonderful anti-hero. The tension and sheer speed of events seems to help her stay awake, but the constant fatigue brought on by her condition is another enemy she battles. While she is fiercely determined to save the Academy and its residents, things don’t always go the way she plans, and sometimes she makes mistakes. Those set-backs heighten the tension and increase the sense of jeopardy. I love the way her mindset—as seen from the beginning of her story in Brood of Bones—is inevitably altered by her experiences, and she has some doozies. It makes me wonder if all the other enchantresses at the Academy really lead the sedate, proper lives we’re led to believe.

In the midst of the intense action and drama, Marling finds time to paint vivid pictures of the truly unique setting that is the Mindvault Academy. Twisting towers, rotating buildings, tentacled structures, and gravity-defying walls and bridges… all in the middle of a blizzard, no less. Gravity’s Revenge is a rich tapestry of the senses sure to amaze and delight. If you haven’t yet paid a visit to the Lands of Loam, it’s just a short flight away, and the journey is well worth your time.

I found this while browsing through freebies. I liked the cover, but the description made the book sound like a train wreck. I admit, I downloaded it mostly out of morbid curiosity.

Hiresha is an Elder Enchantress, a woman who possesses powerful magic but can only use it in her sleep. Her sleeping disorder gives her great power as an enchantress but prevents her from achieving the life she most wants, that of a wife and mother. At the request of Sri the Flawless, she returns to Morimound, the city of her birth, only to discover that something awful has happened. Despite being in her eighties, Sri the Once Flawless is now pregnant. Not only that, so is every other woman and girl age 12 and up.

The city is in turmoil. Some, like Abwar, the Priest of the Ever Always, declare the pregnancies to be a divine gift. Others beat the women and girls, call them sluts, and feed them poisons to try to purge them of their pregnancies. As Hiresha begins her investigation, she learns horrifying things about the fetuses and finds herself having to make choices that could potentially bring even greater harm to the citizens of Morimound.

I wasn't sure, going in, how well the book's premise would work for me. It sounded incredibly bizarre. Marling managed to make it work, although I had to take breaks several times. The way people treated the women and girls was almost uniformly awful, the fetuses themselves were little abominations, and the villain was vile.

The things I turned out to dislike the most about this book were Marling's writing and Hiresha's drowsiness. I haven't been able to put into words what it is about Marling's writing that doesn't work for me, but Hiresha's drowsiness had a tendency to make her waking world feel surreal. She had trouble staying focused, and her clothing didn't help – in addition to wearing six dresses, she had 21 more trailing behind her, plus a golden hump strapped to her back. She moved with the aid of a cane, Janny, her maid, and Deepmand, her bodyguard. Even then, she was always one slight misstep away from landing on her face or one moment away from sweating herself into dehydration. The hump and gowns did turn out to be useful, but I'm not sure they were worth the 200+ pages they spent hampering her movements.

This book was at its best when Hiresha was asleep or in the presence of the Lord of the Feast. Sleep allowed Hiresha to enter her dream laboratory, where she could replay her memories and analyze them in the most minute detail, noting microexpressions and other things that her sluggish waking mind missed. Sleep also gave Hiresha access to her magic, which could heal terrible wounds, regrow limbs, and enchant objects and clothing. I thought that the benefits and drawbacks of her magic were well-balanced and nicely done.

Being with the Lord of the Feast had similar effects on Hiresha. Something about him (maybe instinctual self-preservation?) flooded Hiresha's system with adrenaline, which allowed her to observe the world at the same level as when she was asleep. Hiresha's conversations with him were usually a lot of fun. Unfortunately, he didn't show up until about halfway through the book. Also, he brought with him a discomfiting possible romantic subplot. He was way too obviously Hiresha's future tragic and dangerous vampire boyfriend (well, not a vampire in the traditional sense – he could create and feed upon fear – but close).

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to continue reading this series.

Rating Note:

During the first half of this book, I disliked Marling's writing so much that I thought this would be a 2-star read. The pace picked up in the second half, and the Lord of the Feast really did make things better, leaving me torn between 2.5 stars and 3. I settled on 3 because, in the end, I can't decide whether I liked or disliked Brood of Bones.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

After saving the academy in Gravity’s Revenge, Enchantress Hiresha expects to be lauded as a hero. Instead she is stripped of her titles, her jewels, and her gowns. Exiled to the edges of the empire, Hiresha vows to escape and make her own way in the world.

With the help of Innanis, the Jewel Duper, and Emesea the false novice, Hiresha escapes only to find herself trapped on a small boat in the dangerous sea with Emesea and Tethiel.

I loved the world of the sea. Its incredibly imaginative, and breathtakingly beautiful. Hiresha herself is layered and complex, a flawed hero in a flawed world.

I literally could not put this book down, reading it in its entirety over the course of a single day. The second half of the novel is a whirlwind of activity, made unreal by the fact that neither the reader nor Hiresha herself knows what is a dream and what is not. I won’t say more for fear of spoiling it, but I was on the edge of my seat till the very end.

Tethiel is in fine form, like always, offering seemingly contradictory advice and unconventional wisdom.

Of the three main characters, Emesea remained a bit of an enigma up to the bitter end. Although I was glad she had a chance to redeem herself after her actions in Gravity’s Revenge.

I was pleasantly surprised with this one. Reading the summary left some doubts but it was actually well written with a plausible story line and unique flaws in the main character. I was able to visualize locations, scenes, and characters easily without having to wade through endless descriptions or unnecessary dialogue. Nicely done easy read.


Thank you to the author for his generosity in providing a free ebook. This in no way affected my review.

Newcomer A. E. Marling does a bang-up job with this novel about a magic-wielder afflicted with a sleeping disorder. Her drowsiness does not equate boredom for the reader. On the contrary, "Brood of Bones" is a fantasy whodunnit, with Enchantress Hiresha cast in the role of arcane detective. The setting and the magic are skillfully portrayed; the characters are complex and not always predictable. Hiresha struggles not only with her sleeping problem, but with the past that has formed her; her position is her armor and her purpose. Maid Janny is a gem of irreverence, while the Lord of the Feasts is both charming and terrible. The deposed arbiter of the city is exasperating at the same time she is delightful, and the two city leaders (a pair of priests representing different deities) are not what they might seem. I could wish the bodyguard were better developed, but it is a small complaint. The story is told from Hiresha's point of view, depicting her insecurities and fears in a very personal, very *human* way embroidered with the mores of her particular society. I am looking forward to Marling's next book.

Enchantress Hiresha's intelligent fantasy/mystery story continues in the wonderful follow-up to "Brood of Bones." Marling's prose beautifully captures the flavor of the desert, creating richly painted scenes. The plot is full of expertly crafted twists and turns, and the characters are brought to you in vibrant technicolor. I loved seeing Hiresha thwarted, regrouping, stepping outside the bounds of what she knows, and growing as she does. She's not just a focused 'scientist,' she's whimsical, at times callous, and she has a habit of putting her foot in her mouth. Her new bodyguard, Chandur, strikes me as a good-hearted, wonderfully loyal and idealistic but frustratingly dense individual, but he too grows through his experiences, making for a more solid, engaging character. The doings of the Soultrapper antagonist are devious and woven expertly into the tapestry with threads of creepiness and dark humor. Well done! I would have liked Tethiel to figure a little more prominently; I missed his biting wit and dry humor, and the knife-edge relationship with Hiresha developed in "Brood of Bones" only received token attention after his reintroduction. "Fox's Bride" flows well, keeps a quick pace, and ends on a strong note. Again, I am looking forward to Marling's next book.

EPIC cover. Not only is it so Beautiful but it has a DRAGON on it¨

I am so excited to read this one. Even if it means its the last Hiresha book T_T

Just need to finish my review of [b:Magic Banquet|28673773|Magic Banquet|A.E. Marling|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1453475562s/28673773.jpg|48864581] before I can with good conscience dive into this.