BRT: The Song Caster by Danielle E. Shipley

Title: The Song Caster

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Number of Pages: e-book

Rating: 5/5

Released: June 24, 2014

Summary

The dull doom of impending marriage at his back and a reticent royal at his side, remarkable minstrel Gant-o’-the-Lute is off in search of adventure, and you can be sure he finds it – complete with much music, magicked maidens, and a dangerous power so great, Lute might for once find himself outmatched.

Review

Remember my little complaints regarding The Seventh Spell? They don't apply any longer. I doubted that I would have to worry for long! I admit upon starting this book I had my insecurities: I didn't know much about Gant-o'-the-Lute just yet, and I was not a fan of Benedeck in The Stone Kingdom.

As usual, however, my interests were captured and happily enslaved to the book's plot. Throughout this novella we learn a little more about the culture that is the world of the Wilderhark Tales, including some of the "myths" that pervade their culture and we get to witness another kingdom or two.

There are also cats. Lots and lots of cats. (The cat lady inside me squeals.)

The character exploration in this addition surpasses that of the previous books. In the first, Sula and Villem found themselves,  but when it came to their innermost traits, they didn't get into that as much. The same for Rosalba in The Stone Kingdom. The Seventh Spell spent much more time focusing on the major problem at hand (understandably). 

So to have a book that's perfectly paced while digging into the depths of the two protagonists is refreshing and fun to read! It ties up a loose end left behind from The Stone Kingdom and shows us so much more about Lute's conflicting desires - and, once again, love prevails over all in a wonderful twist.

Perhaps the one thing I'm unsure of in this addition is how a certain spell was cast in the first place. To prevent spoilers, all I'll say is that it's a spell Benedeck is sent to solve. Did Lute accidentally cast it?  I don't think it was ever confirmed. 

The only other thing I wondered about was Viralei's characterization - everyone else got plentiful development, but I didn't see as much from her, only a few tidbits about the culture of her kingdom. (I personally would love a book about her kingdom.)

Otherwise, I have no complaints about The Song Caster. Delicious plot twists, amazing characters, perfect pacing, a nice blend of conflict and resolution, in general a fantastic and worthy addition to The Wilderhark Tales.

***There is going to be another post today for The Sun's Rival! Stay tuned!!***

BRT: A Look Back at The Swan Prince and The Stone Kingdom

The Swan Prince review (click me!)

The Stone Kingdom review (click me!)

These wonderful novellas were reviewed by me in 2013. I wanted to bring these to the attention of readers since Danielle Shipley (over at Ever On Word) is gearing up for the release of The Surrogate Sea, the sixth book of The Wilderhark Tales. 

Since I'm about to do reviews for them all, I figured I'd include Sula's, Villem's, Rosalba's, and Edgwyn's introductory works!
The Swan Prince and The Stone Kingdom are available on Amazon, Createspace, and Barnes and Noble! [I only linked to The Swan Prince.]

I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't looked at these books yet to at least give them a look. "I don't want to read a fairytale," one might say. Well, these aren't fairytales. These are Wilderharks. (: 

If you're in the mood for amazing writing, prose, characters, plot, pace, and every other element involved in writing, this is a good place to start. I've said it before - the characters leap off of the pages, they grab you and pull you in, and they do not let go.

This next month is going to pretty much be Wilderhark Month here on Flame Writer! I'm starting it with this glance back at these two novellas, and the next few weeks up until March 28th, when I'm on the Blog Tour for The Surrogate Sea, each Thursday (and that Saturday) is going to feature a post about The Wilderhark Tales.

Check in next Thursday for my review of The Seventh Spell! I'm reading it right now, and OH MY GOD IT'S SO AMAZING!! 

Have a good Thursday, everyone! Let me know your thoughts in the comments - drop in on Danielle's blog if you have the chance too! 

Please excuse any typos. It was 12 AM when I typed this after cramming homework. If I spy any errors in the morning I shall correct them. 
Also, any comments on the new font are welcome. Too big? Just right? 

Thanks, everyone! See you next time!

BRT: The Stone Kingdom by Danielle E. Shipley [ARC]

 

Title: The Stone Kingdom

Author: Danielle E. Shipley

Number of Pages: 179

Rating: 5/5!

Date to-be Published: September 20, 2013

 

SUMMARY

“Love and prince,
Both true, wed rose of white in realm of stone;
For blood begins,
But naught can be put right by blood alone.”

One thoughtless act is all it takes to bring the curse threatened on Rosalba’s christening day to pass. Now the princess must combine her desperate determination with the service of benevolent tailor Edgwyn Wyle to find the second half of the key to her kingdom’s restoration.

<> ~ <> ~ <>

An enchantress’s curse turns a spoiled royal into a beast; a princess’s pricked finger places her under a hundred-year spell; bales of straw are spun as golden as the singing harp whisked down a giant beanstalk – all within sight of Wilderhark, the forest that’s seen it all.

You’ve heard the stories – of young men scaling rope-like braids to assist the tower-bound damsel; of gorgeous gowns appearing just in time for a midnight ball; of frog princes, and swan princes,and princes saved from drowning by maidens of the sea. Tales of magic. Tales of adventure. Most of all, tales of true love.

Once upon a time, you knew them as fairytales. Know them now as Wilderhark’s.

 

REVIEW

Ah, Danielle has done it again. *Slow claps* I swear, she must take classes on how to twist all of these words into clever incantations and riddles! Either that, or she is the teacher. Well-rounded characters, ingenious pace and plot, and twists at all the right turns are my favorite. The author excels in all of these areas, and her descriptions are beautifully vivid.

 

Something else I want to take into account is the cover. It's so much brighter than the cover of The Swan Prince, and for good reason. The debut book of this series had a dark, mysterious tone to it while this one was an adventure of soul-searching for open-minded, heart-on-her-wrist Princess Rosalba. Danielle has an incredible artist, to say the least.

 

Let's talk about Edgwyn for a second. A lot of research was put into this, I'm certain, regarding Edgwyn Wyle's love for fabric. His character is so lovable! He has a great love for animals and a heart of gold is the best thing Rosalba could have, given her standpoint for a majority of the book. He's completely selfless, clever, and kind. I definitely hope to see more of him in later books.

 

Another skill Danielle has is voice. She wrote from several different perspectives in this installment, and each one sang of its own independent feelings and thoughts. That's something all writers struggle with, and she makes it seem effortless.

 

She also takes real life experiences and morphs them into a fairytale, something I can see many readers learning from. At the same time, she weaves true, already-existing fairytale scenarios into the writing, and I LOVE IT. Every time I would spy such a happening, I had to stop for a minute just to absorb it.

 

The Wilderhark Tales are all about learning morals. How to be honest, to respect oneself, to be brave enough to face any threat for the ones you care about. It's beautiful, really. It makes you wish the Wilderhark Forest was a real pace, despite the anarchwitches!

 

Honestly, I can't find anything to rag on here. Perhaps a little bit more explanation was needed for a few minor details of the book, but it wasn't enough to detract from the story whatsoever. Being that I don't want to spoil anything, I'll leave the review off here. Please, get your hands on The Swan Prince as well as this when it's released.

 

Another thank you to Danielle for giving lucky-ol'-me an ARC for this amazing installment!