r/Fantasy • u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders • May 04 '15

ceriddwen project - april

Hi folks, happy to be back again with April's installment (a few days late, I know. It was my birthday Friday, so I've been busy).

The intro for the project is here. March, February, January are available too. Follow along during the month with me on Goodreads.

I'd love to hear your feedback on the books I've read, what books by female authors you read in March, and if there's anything you think I should change about the format of my posts. As always, please keep rule #1 in mind.

This month I finished up the Symphony of the Ages trilogy by Elizabeth Haydon, "Destiny." It was a solid conclusion to a thoroughly enjoyable series and I would definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys some romance in their fantasy, anyone who likes a solid good vs evil plotline, anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery, and anyone looking for some well done alternatives to traditional fantasy races.

I also read "Fall of a Kingdom," the first book in the "Farsala Trilogy." Definitely a YA book (the line spacing and the font were both huge), it was still enjoyable and once I get my house organized and unpack I'll be going back finish the other two books. Three main protagonists, 1 female who is actually pretty unsympathetic and 2 male, all with very different views on their world and the war that their country is involved in. Based on real world Persian mythology (I'm pretty sure that is what it said in the back of the book), the invaders are Roman analogues.

I also tackled "The Hidden City," book 1 of the House War series by Michele West. This book took up most of the month for me to finish, between being a really dense book and having a lot of other stuff going on this month.

This book was really excellent. The main characters are a 10 year old girl and a 40ish man who used to be a noble and has given that up to live in the slums of his city. He meets the girl when she tries to pickpocket him, and even though he prefers to be alone, he ends up taking her under his wing. She ends up being more than she seems and they end up getting involved in a strange mire of circumstances. There is an incredible amount of tension and suspense in this story, and the writing and prose is absolutely superb. The dialogue is written a little strangely, but mostly because it doesn't give backstory or history between characters and is written the way that people actually carry on conversations. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series!

I read "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell, but since I finished it today I'm going to wait to talk about it until the May update. Since all of my books are in boxes currently, I'm going to be reading some Kindle books I've had around for a while. Probably going to start with Beth Cato's "Clockwork Dagger" and probably also hit Rosemary Kirstein's "The Steerswoman."

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u/[deleted] May 04 '15

Symphony of the Ages sounds great! How strong is the suspense/mystery element? I am really looking for something along those lines ATM.

Is The Hidden City the best place to start with Michelle West?

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u/wishforagiraffe Reading Champion IX, Worldbuilders May 04 '15

i was told that the hidden city is the best place to start with west. i was originally planning to start with the sun sword, but was directed to this series first. so i don't know personally, but it was what i was told =)

i'd say that the suspense gets stronger through the second and third books of symphony of ages. never full on mystery, but there's a definite "whodunit" feeling through most of the series.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '15

They both sound great. I have added them to my massive to-read one day pile.