Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Duainfey (Duainfey #1)

by Sharon Lee (Goodreads Author), Steve Miller

2.76 of 5 stars 2.76 · rating details · 202 ratings · 30 reviews

"Rebecca Beauvelley is a ruined woman. In a moment of girlish folly, she allowed a high-flying young man to take her up in his phaeton, not realizing that he was drunk. When he dropped the ribbons, she recovered them, but not in time to avoid disaster. The young man was killed in the accident. Rebecca survived, with a withered arm to remind her of the wages of folly, and a...more

Mass Market Paperback, 496 pages

Published February 24th 2009 by Baen (first published September 2nd 2008)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 319)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 22, 2008 Colleen rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No one

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have a gift for lyrical prose, implication of formality, and understated descriptiveness that is in evidence here. Unfortunately, the story revolves around the removal of will, manipulation, and soul-staining actions of a main character who started out building to something clever. While I might forgive the authors their sensual lingering on the niceties the Fey offer, I cannot forgive their lingering on the torment of soul for sensual thrill. The second half of the s...more Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have a gift for lyrical prose, implication of formality, and understated descriptiveness that is in evidence here. Unfortunately, the story revolves around the removal of will, manipulation, and soul-staining actions of a main character who started out building to something clever. While I might forgive the authors their sensual lingering on the niceties the Fey offer, I cannot forgive their lingering on the torment of soul for sensual thrill. The second half of the story is nothing more than a series of assassinations and assignations made all the more horrifying by the main character's will-less participation in her own rape and abuse.

I have supported the Liaden series since it was introduced to me in 1988. I do not support this new series. I suppose I will now have to decide whether to continue to support the authors who choose to promote this kind of abuse as storytelling.

ETA: The book I finished just previous to picking up Duainfey was Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. In Iron Kissed, the heroine is forced to drink a "fairy potion" which causes her to completely believe anything the villain tells her... so he tells her that she wants him and loves him, etc. and ends up raping her on the floor of the garage. Yuck. Ok, so that scene is over and the story goes on to explain how sick and sickened the heroine was afterward, and how guilty she felt for having not fought her attacker. There is a very good discussion between two other people about how 'a person who does not physically resist' does somehow not make it 'not rape.' Briggs made some excellent points about manipulation and guilt as well as vulnerability and pain.

-- This entire conversation was lacking anywhere in Duainfey, and might - just might - have redeemed the book for me to some medium of okay-ness.

While I'm annoyed about this kind of debauched Kushiel-esque scenery, it's more that I am saddened by the lingering artistic love that Lee & Miller put into those scenes of rape and abuse. The authors lavished care on something I would just as soon not read, and certainly don't need to have repeated over and over. Lee & Miller have fabulous prose and an incredible talent for communicating deep emotions in a few choice words. It's a pity that they spent their time repeatedly graphically humiliating the heroine.(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Sep 29, 2008 Joni rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fifantasy, 2008

I am a huge fan of Lee and Miller. This book is darker than most of the Liaden novels, although some of the Liaden books do have their moments. It also ends on a big cliffhanger:( Or several big cliffhangers.

Rebecca DeBeuvelly (or however you spell her name) has a maimed arm and a spoiled reputation (although her virtue was never soiled). She's about to be married to some old man who is harsh and lives up in the cold north (and seems to care only for money and appearances), but she's whisked ou...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 13, 2013 Cait rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Spoiler alert: this review is for both books in the duology.

I'd like to first state that it seems that many of the negative reviews come from people who have first read and enjoyed the Liaden Universe by Lee and Miller, and then come to these books expecting more of the same. They are then appalled by the darker tone, sexual violence, and power imbalances in these books. (To be fair, awful things also happen in the Liaden Universe, but they usually occur off-camera). I think these books are pote...more Spoiler alert: this review is for both books in the duology.

I'd like to first state that it seems that many of the negative reviews come from people who have first read and enjoyed the Liaden Universe by Lee and Miller, and then come to these books expecting more of the same. They are then appalled by the darker tone, sexual violence, and power imbalances in these books. (To be fair, awful things also happen in the Liaden Universe, but they usually occur off-camera). I think these books are potentially getting more critical reviews than they would if people weren't expecting entirely different stories from these authors. The book is described inside the cover-flap as "dark fantasy", which seems fair. I do feel bad when authors with one successful series receive negative feedback, and even backlash, when they try to write a very different series. So I want to be clear that my criticism is not because I was expecting, or desiring, a series in the image of the Liaden Universe.

I'll mention here what I DID like about this series. I enjoyed the style. This recognizably is Lee and Miller's voice, which I enjoy a lot. The three narrators braided together well in the second book, and that can be a tricky thing to manage. Each narrator had a very different perspective, and different knowledge that they brought to the book. And it felt well-balanced to me. Well done. I liked the concept, too: two characters, both damaged from their experiences, come together, and in the course of their healing they help to heal their world.

There were a lot of details that seemed unsatisfactorily glossed-over to me, but I'm not sure that it is a bigger issue here than in the Liaden series. I remember thinking that there were a lot of holes or pieces missing after I read Agent of Change (the first book I read), but with other books in the series we had a better understanding of the world and the overarching plots. So my complaints may be secondary to there only being two books. Perhaps a third book might explain more. (What is the wind that swept over the land? What happened to the trapped Rangers? What, exactly, DOES happen after the last chapter? How DID the villagers manage to cross the keleigh? Where do the Newmen come from, and why? Whey was Meripen awoken early? Why the imprisonment in the mist?) I think there are details the readers never get because the narrators don't know the answers, and while occasionally frustrating, that seems fair.

What was most difficult for me about this story, and my primary criticism, is that Rebecca lacks agency for most of the first book. I know that the story needs to establish Meripen and Rebecca as both broken, damaged characters. However, Meripen is a much more sympathetic, likable character because we see him as taking steps, albeit small ones, from the first time that we see him. For most of the first book, Rebecca is a victim. She doesn't DO things, they just happen to her. For a chapter or two, you feel bad for her. After that, you, or at least I, became impatient for her to do something, anything. It's hard to emotionally bond with a character like that. She was much more enjoyable in the second book, where she may have been confused or ignorant, but at least had some agency. She made choices, dealt with consequences, learned, changed, grew. The trouble is, if I hadn't already been familiar with the authors, I'm not sure that I would have read the second book at all.

In ways (EXTRA SPOILERS!) Rebecca reminds me of Aelliana Caylon. They are both damaged, abused characters who need a chance to heal and are stronger in the second books. But while Aelliana is certainly more empowered in Mouse and Dragon than Scout's Progress, she is still enjoyable in the first book. But much of the plot of Scout's Progress is how she tries to find her way out her situation. Rebecca spends too much time enthralled in Duainfey for me to have sympathy, admiration, or respectful feelings for her. And her plan for escape? Suicide. I won't say that I don't UNDERSTAND her feelings of despair, but her suicidal impulse doesn't help me regain interest in her character, either. These are superficially similar characters, but Aelliana was portrayed in a way that readers, or at least THIS reader, wanted to pick up book two and find out what happened. Sadly, Rebecca did NOT inspire similar feelings.

I wish that more of Rebecca's experiences could be told in flashback, or taken less time to tell. I think the story suffers because of her lack of agency for so much of the first book. Otherwise, I thought that this was an interesting duology, which left enough plot threads unresolved that potentially many other stories could be told.(less)

like · see review

May 30, 2012 Hali Sowle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, elves, magic, dominion, kindle, sharon-lee, steve-miller, subjugation

The first in a duology by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller trying to understand the world that Duainfey is set in was a bit difficult. There was a world where the trees are sentient to the rangers and those who walk their paths and care for them, the same is true for the sea. And people had magic within themselves called Kest and the people who lived there could be called elves or Fey. At sometime in the past there was a war and the eldest of these Fey created a magical barrier to protect themselves....more

like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Laura (Kyahgirl) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-and-disturbing, fae-faery, fantasy, fantasy-alternate-history, favorite-authors, magic, part-of-a-series, sci-fi-fantasy

4.5/5; 5 stars; A

This review will apply to both Duainfey, book 1, and Longeye, book 2. I don't believe its accurate to view these two books as a duology but they are halves of the same whole. There is no point (IMO) in reading one if you don't also plan to read the other book.

Anyway, I found this duo of books to be captivating, disturbing, engrossing, and satisfying in the sense of traditional high fantasy. There are the Fey, there are humans, there are sentient trees and animals, there is an e...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 30, 2009 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've heard that Duainfey contains disturbing sexual content. I mention that as a word of warning, in case you're a reader who dislikes that sort of thing.

That said, I can't speak to that personally. I didn't get that far. Duainfey starts with an overly-confusing prologue set in the Fey realm. I was never quite sure what was actually going on in this scene. Then, the story shifts to the doings of a human family in Regency society. The plot is less confusing here, but this dialogue is just not for...more

like · see review

May 06, 2011 Jennifer rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookshelf-of-hatred, flights-of-fantasy

If you're looking up this book, it probably means that you've read through the available books about the Liaden Universe, are hungry for more....And like myself, thought that this would be more of the same style and stories but in a fantasy genre. And this is my cautionary tale.

This is a story A, and story B book, one chapter tells the story of the heroine, the other the story of Longeye. That's Story B, with a capital B, that stands for boring. But story A, is a horrifying tale of, well, rape....more

like · see review

Apr 06, 2009 C Watson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Duainfey starts with a fun concept of elves and humans living warily as neighbors. Two individuals a human woman and an elf man are each hurt horribly by the other race. And that is it. No real explanation of how humans and elves are different. Little charactarization. No explanation of human or elvish society. Many fantasy books are designed to leave you a little confused at the beginning, but new concepts are eventually explained. Lee and Miller just leave everything, including the characters,...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 11, 2010 Kiri rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I am finally taking on the challenge of reading this book that most Lee/Miller fans seemed to dislike! However, I tested it on my husband and he thought it was good. We shall see.

OK. So there's sex in this book. Plenty of it - and in that it is quite unlike all the previous work of the authors. I think a lot of the bad reviews/low ratings are based solely on this issue. The sex is a tool to the High Fey, and their wantonness, violence and manipulation is not presented as a positive, so if one i...more

like · see review

Aug 28, 2008 Sbuchler rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, read-in-2008

Genre: Regency-era fantasy involving the fae

Ummm.... not at all what I expected from a Miller & Lee novel. It's _very_ dark. I mean really icky dark. The book's engrossing, and has an interesting world set-up, with potentially interesting problems for the next book to deal with... but I felt like this book ended just when the protagonist had freed herself to START taking action...which made it a bit unsatisfying as a stand-alone book.

If you're looking for a fairy-as-cruel-and-alien this is...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2012 Brenda Kirton rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, hated

I did not like this book. With mind raping and raping. I think this is the only book I have ever returned to a store. I just did not want the unclean feel of it in my house. I have really loved books by this author but this book was totally different than the others. I have made sure I haven't read the sequel

like · see review

Feb 25, 2009 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-f-goodies, keepers

Toto, we're not on Liad anymore. Great fantasy from Lee and Miller. As others have mentioned, a regency/fey setting with a misfit heroine and her fey rescuer/seducer/manipulator. The writing shows the usual Lee&Miller wit and style. Even the minor characters are 3 dimensional.
Warning: There are some graphic sex scenes in this that are disquieting, to say the least, but they are not dwelled on or salivated over--they serve to show just how subservient poor Becca (our heroine) has become. And,...more

like · see review

Jul 26, 2010 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sffantasy

Elves in Generic Fantasyland (with no particular linguistic ancestry, which always annoys me) are MUCH less interesting than elves in space. That said, the first 50 pages (pre-elves) were quite fun, so I was considering two stars... but then all the noncon started. Which I had NO idea about from the blurb.

like · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Lynne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story caught my attention right off. I like Jane Austen and this seems to take place in a similar time period. It jumps between two characters/story lines. Some things are not explained so it left me wondering, but that put me in the place of the main character Becca. So you tend to learn along with her. There are some more risque parts, can skip over these.

like · see review

Mar 02, 2009 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this is paperback recently and discovered I had already bought and read it in hardcover. I don't know why it didn't get into the EXCEL files I've been keeping since 2003. Oh, well.
I hope the sequel, Longeye, won't be as dark.

like · see review

Apr 08, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Found it different from her other series-not sure what to make of it. It took me awhile to get into it, but finished it rather quickly once I started. I know who some of the very bad charactres are-not sure about some of the others.

like · see review

Feb 26, 2013 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lots of rape-y sex and this is only half a book. It totally ends halfway through the story with no real wrap up.
Not sure if I will be buying the sequel either. Definitely not a substitute for the Liaden books.

like · see review

Dec 17, 2011 Valerie rated it 1 of 5 stars

I skipped half of the story, vainly hoping that I would figure out what the elf dude's deal was. No such luck...as the book ends with that bit of knowledge still withheld. Must read better book now.

like · see review

Jul 18, 2008 Jane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is the first in a new series by the authors of the Liaden books (love those!). And as a first it takes a while to get going as we meet Rebecca Beauvalley who lives in a sort of new-world version of Regency England. Her land is bordered by the keleigh which is a mystical/magical border between the humans and the fey. When one of the fey visits her home, Rebecca is enchanted and the choices she makes will have lasting impacts (both on her and her world).

Very good, slow building tension in thi...more

like · see review

Aug 14, 2009 Jan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, magic, series

not the pleasant view of the fey but the tricksy, sly version. Rebecca is caught between not necessarily good options.

Will be interested to see where the series goes.

like · see review

Jan 06, 2010 Doranna Durgin added it · review of another edition

Although it's not packaged as such, this book is part one of two.

(I abstained from a rating because I don't think it's a story that can be assessed outside the whole.)

like · see review

Dec 03, 2008 Diane rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my, not quite what I was expecting from two wonderful authors! This was more like a Laurell K. Hamilton book...

like · see review

Oct 12, 2010 Samantha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would from the cover - don't say it! :) I am a sucker for the Victorian/Regency time periods so that along with the interesting twist on the "fey" made this a quick and satisfying read for me.

like · see review

May 20, 2010 B rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Didn't like the heroine.

like · see review

Jan 11, 2010 Writtenwyrdd rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: elves, female-protagonist, fantasy

I liked teh beginning of this book, but once we hit the middle I disliked the plot, the situation, the main character's idiocy and gullability. I wasn't pulled along by wanting to know what happened to the main character. Now, I do admit I always peek at endings. It usually makes no difference in my enjoyment or willingness to read the rest of the book. But this time, it made me feel I didn't miss anything to stop. And as I wasn't liking that book at that time, I quit reading.

1 like · like · see review

Sep 28, 2011 JoyfulK rated it 2 of 5 stars

Lee and Miller's writing is riveting as always, and it's refreshing to see them trying fantasy and creating a world outside their Liaden universe. Unfortunately, this book suffers from two big flaws: unnecessarily graphic violent scenes, and ending in the middle of the plot. I don't mean that it's just the first book in a series, with an endpoint that's also a midpoint, but that it stops without even resolving any subplots! Too bad.

Read their SF instead.

like · see review

Oct 09, 2008 Tina rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, fantasy, romance

I love Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden Universe books so I had high hopes for this series but I just couldn't get beyond all the porn scenes in this novel. It's pervasive since the main charater is repeatedly raped in various fashions. Additionally, this same character is told frequently "well, it's your own fault." I realize that the author is trying to put across the opposite message but it just doesn't break though.

like · see review

May 31, 2009 Cindy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009

I'm still trying to figure out if this book has any relation to any other book they've written. I'm also trying to figure out where they are going with the story. For the length of the book not much happened. This is definitely 1 book in a series. I kept wondering when something would happen. Don't know if I will buy any more in this series - definitely will wait for paperback, if I do.

like · see review

Apr 01, 2009 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So far this is a well writen book that mixes some of my favorite genre. sort of a victorian romance meets Faerie Lord. I am hoping already that this is the start of a series.

well i only gave it 4 stars because it was more sexual than their liaden books. however no that the girl has come into her own any further books should get better.

like · see review

Jul 25, 2011 Robyn D rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was not expecting this to be quite so rapey.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (1)

Genres

Fantasy

41 users

Romance

5 users

Fantasy > Magic

4 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Doc Sidhe
by Aaron Allston
Betrayal's Shadow
by K.H. LeMoyne
One Jump Ahead
by Mark L. Van Name
Better to Beg Forgiveness
by Michael Z. Williamson
Heris Serrano
by Elizabeth Moon

About Sharon Lee

Sharon Lee has been married to her first husband for more than half her lifetime; she is a friend to cats, a member of the National Carousel Association, and oversees the dubious investment schemes of an improbable number of stuffed animals.

Despite having been born in a year of the dragon, Sharon is an introvert. She lives in Maine because she likes it there. In fact, she likes it so much that she...more

More about Sharon Lee...

Books by Sharon Lee

Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe, #7)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Duainfey

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Duainfey
avg rating	preview: Duainfey Goodreads rating: 2.76 (202 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6357368-duainfey?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347596756l/6357368.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6357368-duainfey?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Duainfey by Sharon Lee[/url]

Duainfey (Duainfey #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website