Morgan L. Busse's Blog, page 15

Endings

There are good endings and there are bad endings.

For example: I was a huge fan of the TV series Merlin. I watched every episode, every season. In the series, Merlin was the servant of Arthur, but I knew who he would eventually become. As each season passed, I couldn’t wait for the final revelation: for Arthur to realize that it had been Merlin helping him all along and for both of them to lead Camelot together.

Spoilers (for anyone who hasn’t watched Merlin)…

They both died. Yep. Arthur found out who Merlin was, hated him (because Merlin possessed magic), but finally accepted him with his last breath. Merlin died too. And Guinevere lived on to rule Camelot alone.

WHAT?!?

That’s not what I was expecting. And that is not what I wanted! I was so upset that until this post, I have refused to talk about Merlin. Sigh.

Another example: LOST. Yes, I can see all of you shaking your heads. That’s right. LOST is another TV series I followed faithfully to the end. What was the island? Where did it’s power come from? Was it real or was it purgatory?

None of my questions were answered. Instead, the series ended with everyone in some kind of heaven looking back on their time on the island.

WHAT?!?

That was definitely not satisfying.

So now let me give you a good ending. I just finish Fullmetal Alchemist, a Japanese anime (yep, love anime). This story kept building and building up from the beginning. I was hanging on my seat. I knew the good guys had to win, but I didn’t see how it could happen. People were dying, making hard choices, losing loved ones.

It took all of season five to finish. But the ending was exactly as it should be (at least for me): gripping, bittersweet, and satisfying. It wrapped up all the threads. It was a happy ending, but that didn’t mean everyone lived, or were given their just reward. It ended just the way I was expecting (or perhaps hoping is a better word) and so much more.

As I turned off Fullmetal Alchemist, I knew I wanted to generate the feelings I was feeling right then in my readers when they finish Heir of Hope, the final book in my Follower of the Word series.

Friends, let me tell you this has been a difficult book to write. There is always darkness before the dawn, and there is a lot of darkness in this book. A lot of pain, a lot of sorrow.

But there is also hope, and a maturing of characters and relationships.

I am almost near the end, and I am tired (and so are my characters). I thought I would finish the rough draft next week, and that is not going to happen. Just a few days ago I wanted to throw my computer out the window and shout, “I’m never going to finish!”

But I will. I need to. I know what is going to happen, but I need to write it out and see it for myself.

So thank you for your patience. I don’t want an unsatisfying ending. I want one that grips you and stays with you, keeps you up at night thinking, and when you face something difficult in your everyday life, you think of Rowen, Lore, Caleb, and Nierne, and because they could go on, you can too.

I only have one chance to end Follower of the Word series and I want to end it well. I believe you will appreciate that when you open up Heir of Hope and read to the last page.

Giveaway Winner for Leap into Books Blog Hop

Thank you everyone who stopped by, said hi, and entered my giveaway for the Leap into Books Blog Hop. And now for the winner.

Drum roll please…

Elle! Congrats on winning the Amazon gift card! I will be sending you an email

Leap into Books Blog Hop

Hi! This week I am part of the Leap into Books Blog Hop. As part of this hop, each and every blog will be offering a giveaway, many that will involve books. So if you are a book lover, this is the blog hop for you!

As a book lover myself, I thought it would be fun to share a list of ten books (or series) that I love. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of my list for a $10 Amazon gift card so you can add to your own library

Now for my list. These books are like comfort food. When I want something to read and have nothing new, I grab one of these. I have read them over and over again. These books are old friends who live on my shelf (you know what I mean?).

1)   Anne of Green Gables. L. M. Montgomery’s books take me to a time and place filled with unique characters. If you haven’t read the series (past the first book), I would highly recommend you do.

2)   The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings/The Silmarillion. It was The Hobbit that first sparked my love for the fantasy genre. I also love The Silmarillion. Basically it’s the history book for anything Middle Earth.

3)   Pride and Prejudice. Personally I think this is the best romance written. Girl meets boy. Girl hates boy. Girl realizes she was wrong about boy. Boy does everything to win girl back. Love it!

4)   The Scarlet Pimpernel. I read this book for the first time a couple months ago and absolutely loved it. It takes place during the French Revolution (fascinating time period) and revolves around a mysterious man who, with the help of a group of young English noblemen, smuggles French nobility out of France.

5)   Jane Eyre. A darker tale of love, but beautiful as well. It is about a young woman who has to choose between the way of love and the way of virtue. She chooses to stand by her convictions. At the end of the book, she is finally free to marry the man she loves who by then has paid the price for his past wrongs. A wonderful book about enduring love.

6)   Mark of the Lion Series. Excellent three book series that takes place during the Roman time period right after the fall of Jerusalem. The story follows a young Jewish woman who is sold as a slave into a roman household. Great historical fiction.

7)   Star Wars: Heir to the Empire series. There are many Star Wars books out there written by many different authors, but my all time favorite is this first series written by Timothy Zahn. If you want to read Star Wars, start with this series.

8)   Harry Potter. I first began reading this series after the teens in my youth group were asking about Harry Potter. I love these books! J.K. Rowling has written an amazing world and deep characters.

9)   Sherlock Holmes. Yep, I love the man of deduction. It always fascinates me how Sherlock Holmes is able to solve each mystery by seeing what we all see, but in a different way. Classic mystery.

10)  Chronicles of Narnia. I could not end a post like this without mentioning C.S. Lewis and his stories about Narnia. I will say the books are better than the movies. So go read them.

So there’s my list. What are your favorite books, those whose covers are worn and pages are dirty, but you read time after time after time again? Please share in the comments. Maybe I’ll find a new love among your lists.

Now for my giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card: Rafflecopter Giveaway

And don’t forget to check out the rest of blogs along this hop! Click here.

Cover Reveal: Golden Daughter

Today I have the privilege of revealing the cover and giving you a sneak peak iinto Golden Daughter, the next book to be released by one of my favorite authors, Anne Elisabeth Stengl.

Back blurb:

Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life.

But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch?

For the Dragon is building an army of fire. And soon the heavens will burn.

And now the cover:

Beautiful cover, right?

Would you like to know more? Here is an excerpt from Golden Daughter:

Excerpt from Chapter 3

GOLDEN DAUGHTER

 

Sairu made her way from Princess Safiya’s chambers out to the walkways of the encircling gardens. The Masayi, abode of the Golden Daughters, was an intricate complex of buildings linked by blossom-shrouded walkways, calm with fountains and clear, lotus-filled pools where herons strutted and spotted fish swam.

Here she had lived all the life she could remember.

The Masayi was but a small part of Manusbau Palace, which comprised the whole of Sairu’s existence. She had never stepped beyond the palace walls. To do so would be to step into a world of corruption, corruption to which a Golden Daughter would not be impervious until she was safely chartered to a master and her life’s work was affixed in her heart and mind. Meanwhile, she must live securely embalmed in this tomb, waiting for life to begin.

Sairu’s mouth curved gently at the corners, and she took small steps as she had been trained—slow, dainty steps that disguised the swiftness with which she could move at need. Even in private she must maintain the illusion, even here within the Masayi.

A cat sat on the doorstep of her own building, grooming itself in the sunlight. She stepped around it and proceeded into the red-hung halls of the Daughter’s quarters and on to her private chambers. There she must gather what few things she would take with her—fewer things even than Jen-ling would take on her journey to Aja. For Jen-ling would be the wife of a prince, and she must give every impression of a bride on her wedding journey.

I wonder who my master will be? Sairu thought as she slid back the rattan door to her chamber and entered the quiet simplicity within. She removed her elaborate costume and exchanged it for a robe of simple red without embellishments. She washed the serving girl cosmetics from her face and painted on the daily mask she and her sisters wore—white with black spots beneath each eye and a red stripe down her chin. It was elegant and simple, and to the common eye it made her indistinguishable from her sisters.

The curtain moved behind her. She did not startle but turned quietly to see the same cat slipping into her room. Cats abounded throughout Manusbau Palace, kept on purpose near the storehouses to manage the vermin. But they did not often enter private chambers.

Sairu, kneeling near her window with her paint pots around her, watched the cat as it moved silkily across the room, stepped onto her sleeping cushions, and began kneading the soft fabric, purring all the while. Its claws pulled at the delicate threads. But it was a cat. As far as it was concerned, it had every right to enjoy or destroy what it willed.

At last it seemed to notice Sairu watching it. It turned sleepy eyes to her and blinked.

Sairu smiled. In a voice as sweet as honey, she asked, “Who are you?”

The cat twitched its tail softly and went on purring.

The next moment, Sairu was across the room, her hand latched onto the cat’s scruff. She pushed it down into the cushions and held it there as it yowled and snarled, trying to catch at her with its claws.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her voice fierce this time. “What are you? Are you an evil spirit sent to haunt me?”

“No, dragons eat it! I mean, rrrraww! Mreeeow! Yeeeowrl!”

The cat twisted and managed to lash out at her with its back feet, its claws catching in the fabric of her sleeve. One claw scratched her wrist, startling her just enough that she loosened her hold. The cat took advantage of the opportunity and, hissing like a fire demon, leapt free. It sprang across the room, knocking over several of her paint pots, and spun about, back-arched and snarling. Every hair stood on end, and its ears lay flat to its skull.

Sairu drew a dagger from her sleeve and crouched, prepared for anything. The smile lingered on her mouth, but her eyes flashed. “Who sent you?” she demanded. “Why have you come to me now? You know of my assignment, don’t you.”

“Meeeeowrl,” the cat said stubbornly and showed its fangs in another hiss.

“I see it in your face,” Sairu said, moving carefully to shift her weight and prepare to spring. “You are no animal. Who is your master, devil?”

The cat dodged her spring easily enough, which surprised her. Sairu was quick and rarely missed a target. Her knife sank into the floor and stuck there, but she released it and whipped another from the opposite sleeve even as she whirled about.

Any self-respecting cat would have made for the window or the door. This one sprang back onto the cushions and crouched there, tail lashing. Its eyes were all too sentient, but it said only “Meeeeow,” as though trying to convince itself.

Sairu chewed the inside of her cheek. Then, in a voice as smooth as butter, she said, “We have ways of dealing with devils in this country. Do you know what they are, demon-cat?”

The cat’s ears came up. “Prreeowl?” it said.

“Allow me to enlighten you.”

And Sairu put her free hand to her mouth and uttered a long, piercing whistle. The household erupted with the voices of a dozen and more lion dogs.

The little beasts, slipping and sliding and crashing into walls, their claws clicking and clattering on the tiles, careened down the corridor and poured into Sairu’s room. Fluffy tails wagging, pushed-in noses twitching, they roared like the lions they believed themselves to be and fell upon the cat with rapacious joy.

The cat uttered one long wail and the next moment vanished out the window. Sairu, dogs milling at her feet, leapt up and hurried to look out after it, expecting to see a tawny tail slipping from sight. But she saw nothing.

The devil was gone. For the moment at least.

Sairu sank down on her cushions, and her lap was soon filled with wriggling, snuffling hunters eager for praise. She petted them absently, but her mind was awhirl. She had heard of devils taking the form of animals and speaking with the tongues of men. But she had never before seen it. She couldn’t honestly say she’d even believed it.

“What danger is my new master in?” she wondered. “From what must I protect him?”

***

To celebrate the cover reveal, Anne is holding a giveaway for any two of the first six Goldstone Wood novels! Winner’s choice of:  Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower, Dragonwitch, or Shadow Hand.

Nice, right?

Here is the link to the giveaway: Rafflecopter Giveaway

More about the author:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale style. Her books include Christy Award-winning Heartless and Veiled Rose, and Clive Staples Award-winning Starflower. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration and English literature at Grace College and Campbell University.

Realm Makers Blog Voyage

Hi! Welcome to the Realm Makers Blog Voyage. I’m going to do something a little different. I know others along this blog hop have shared why they like Realm Makers and why you should go. I’m going to share my own experience at Realm Makers, but through pictures. Enjoy!

Me and Kathy Tyers

First reason to go to Realm Makers: all the people you get to meet. Authors, comic book writers, editors, publishers, friends. Last year was special to me because I met Kathy Tyers, one of my favorite authors, my editor Jeff Gerke, and many friends who I have only known online for years.

 

 

Swordfighting!

Second reason you should go to Realm Makers: the great classes. From worldviews and how they influence one’s writing to how to write a comic script to swordplay. I can guarantee you won’t see those kinds of classes at your typical conference

 

Third reason you should go: the banquet. Now this isn’t just any banquet, this is a dress up banquet with a sci-fi/fantasy twist. Some of the attendees spent months planning out their costume! Of course, you don’t have to dress up, but if you’ve secretly always wanted to wear that medieval dress or steampunk outfit, this is the place to do it

 

And the last reason? It is affordable ($250 plus room and food). You just can’t beat that!

Want to find out more? Check out the links: Realm Makers and Realm Makers Facebook Page. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway, which includes a Writer T.A.R.D.I.S. Basket full of goodies (including books by Tosca Lee, L.B. Graham, and yours truly).

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Christian Fantasy: A Life-Saving Genre

Hey everyone! I have a guest post today by Angie Brashear and the cover reveal for her debut novel, Never Let Go.

***

Christian Fantasy: A Life-Saving Genre

Definitions of literary genres can be…well, complex. Even tricky. Attempts to define Christian fantasy vary, though I’ve spent little time fretting over an official definition. I mean, Christian fiction typically illustrates a Christian world view within its plot, characters, or both. And the fantasy genre commonly uses myths and legends as a primary plot element, theme, or setting. So, in my opinion, Christian fantasy embodies fantastical elements in an internally consistent setting all the while reflecting aspects of the Christian world view.

But the debate (at least for some) surrounds who writes Christian fantasy. Writers who are Christians, writers who claim to be Christians, or writers who believe Christianity is a fantasy to begin with? It’s not a debate I choose to enter, for the truth lies outside the discussion: the genre influences nonbelievers. My path to salvation began with a classic fantasy, told to me in the midst of my secular world.

When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis aloud to my class. In doing so, she opened my eyes to adventure and possibilities, all the while helping me escape a world of darkness for a short time. At its conclusion, I wondered, Is God real? He couldn’t be, right? For if He existed, innocent young girls wouldn’t suffer the wrath of drunken addicts, or the torment of abandonment.

I continued to speculate. Each time God placed believers in my path—a high school teacher, a college friend, and a college coach—my fascination with the possibility grew stronger until the truth stunned me like a slap to the face. God indeed lives in the form of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He rescues. He saves. And He waited for me. Then He embraced me. It all started with a little seed, planted in the empty heart of the girl I once was. A love for reading expanded to a love for writing. A desire to know God became a desire to serve Him, to reach nonbelievers.

And Never Let Go was born.

In all things, I’m grateful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for embracing a lost, lonely girl. That He died for me…there is no greater gift. My prayer is that I’ll never let go of His truth.

 

Back Cover Blurb:

Captured by the Rendow Clan, who seek to slaughter those with faith in the Maker, Laila Pennedy awaits death. Moments before her execution, she is rescued from the gallows by Lars Landre and his dragon. Marked as The Chosen by his blue eyes, Lars is destined to lead the Faithful out of persecution.

 

Lars guides Laila on a harrowing race across The Woodlands to Tuveil, where the Faithful are preparing to fight a rebellion. But the secret location of the village is betrayed and the Rendow Clan’s army will soon be at the gates. Faced with this impeding peril, Laila trains for battle, but the struggles in her mind and heart may be as overwhelming as the war to come. Will she prove herself an asset or is she condemned to forever be a burden to those she loves?

 

Pre-order Never Let Go here.

 

Author Bio:

When Angie Brashear isn’t working or taking care of her family, she writes. Usually at night after her kids fall asleep. She’s an avid reader and runner, both of which perplex her husband. Saved in her early twenties, Angie is grateful for the Lord’s presence in all aspects of her life. She is originally from Rockland, Maine and currently resides in Cameron, Texas with her husband and three children. Follow her at http://facebook.com/AngieBrashearAuthor, https://twitter.com/AngieBrashear, and http://angiebrashear.com.

Amazon Giftcard Winner and Cover Reveal

Two weeks ago I was a part of the Love at 16 blog hop. As part of that hop, I had a rafflecopter giveaway for a $10 Amazon gift card. And now for the winner…

Drum roll please…

Emerald Barnes! Congratulations! I will be contacting you about your prize.

And now for the cover reveal for Thorns of Betrayal, the sequel to Lynn Donovan’s The Wishing Well Curse.

Here is the blurb:

His destiny brought them together, but will her past rip them apart? Ever since her father’s mysterious death, Rose Bauer has suffered with migraines. Visions and voices reach out to her from the intense pain. Is her father’s spirit trying to contact her? Or is she going crazy?

Now is not a good time to be crazy.

Zeke Clayton claims destiny led him to her door. But how strong can destiny bind two souls when one is as tainted as hers? Is his love for her and faith in God strong enough to survive all her secrets? Will justice ever be served against the one who has betrayed them all?

Right now the first book, The Wishing Well Curse, is free on the Kindle and Thorns of Betrayal is $0.99!

Lynn Donovan spends her days chasing after her muses, trying to get them to settle down and behave long enough to dictate their words and actions. Thank goodness her muses love Christ or she’d be in big trouble. The results have produced The Clockwork Dragon, a collection of nine short stories in which she wrote half (4.5 stories), The Wishing Well Curse, and Thorns of Betrayal. All published by Alt Wit Press. Astraea Press will release two more muse-inspired novels, Rocking Horse Shadows and Christmas Grace, Signing Seeds later this year. A speculative fiction called The Abraham Project is hovering out there for approval from a publisher. Lynn enjoys reading and writing Christian fiction, paranormal, and speculative fiction. But you never know what her muses will come up with for a story, so you could see a novel under any given genre. All we can tell you is keep your eyes open, cause these muses are not sitting still for long! Oops, there they go again…

Facebook: MLDonovan https://www.facebook.com/ml.donovan.10

Fan Page: Lynn Donovan https://www.facebook.com/LynnDonovanFGG

Twitter: MLynnDonovan https://twitter.com/MLynnDonovan

Amazon.com Lynn Donovan http://www.amazon.com/Lynn-Donovan/e/B009WQFVWK/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1391007573&sr=8-3-fkmr2

Website: http://lynndonovanauthor.webs.com/

Goodreads.com: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7025612.Lynn_Donovan

 

Should Opposites Attract?

Should opposites attract? Should they date? Marry? Can two people who are opposite in personality have any chance at a happy and successful marriage?

In J.K. Rowling’s latest interview, she revealed to the world that she believes Harry and Hermione should have gotten together and that Ron and Hermione would need counseling. In short, they are too different and she only put them together for the sake of the plot, but in real life, they would never have had a chance at a good relationship.

First, as a writer, I echo the thoughts of my friend: Author, stick to your guns. If this is how the story played out, and this is how you envisioned the end, stick with it. Don’t keep changing afterwards. As your readers we enjoy hearing how you came up with your ideas, but not your second thoughts years after the story is finished. There is a reason you ended it the way you did. It is a good ending. It is now time to move on.

Secondly, just because Ron and Hermione are different doesn’t mean they would need “relationship counseling”. Yes, people who are opposite have a greater predisposition for conflict, but they also have a greater propensity for becoming more than who they are alone.

Case in point: my husband and me. When we became engaged, we took the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis to see how we matched up. When we walked into the counselor’s office, he showed us Dan’s graph. Without even picking up mine, he simply flipped Dan’s and said that was mine.

Dan and I are complete opposites. In the DISC personality test I am a C, he is an I (“C” is slow paced, task oriented and “I” is fast paced, people oriented). Even in the Myers-Briggs we are complete opposites: I am an ISTJ and Dan is an ENFP. Yes, every letter is different

We had a lot of conflict at the beginning of our relationship and marriage. But we worked through it. We realized we each view the world differently, have different strengths, and have different weakness. We learned before reacting to sit back and look at each other’s perspective. Then to talk about it. Sometimes I had to walk away and calm down before I could talk about it.

Through the struggles brought on by our different personalities, we each grew as a person. I learned how to see people as more than projects. Dan learned how to be more responsible and why that was important to me. When I worry, I see his confidence and draw strength from that. When he doesn’t see a way to make the money stretch, I show him how we can save in small ways.

After twenty years of friendship and fourteen years of marriage, we have rubbed off the rough edges. Instead of letting our differences drive a wedge between us, we have let them bond us together like two puzzle pieces.

Do we still fight? Yes, just ask our kids. Do we still experience conflict from our different personalities? Yes. But really, who doesn’t? Even those couples with the same disposition still fight.

I believe I have become a better person by being married to Dan, and he has become a better person by being married to me. We have each been stretched beyond ourselves and learned to see the world differently, and that is a good thing.

So can opposites attract? They do all the time. Can they have a good relationship? Yes, and experience life a whole new way through their spouse.

 

Love at 16 Blog Hop

Since February is the month for Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fun to join a blog hop where we write a letter to our sixteen year old self.

It’s been a while since I was sixteen (and no, I won’t tell you how long ago ;). But if I wrote a letter to myself, here is what I would say:

1) Learn to be a good friend. Don’t worry about dating or finding the right guy. Just enjoy being yourself and be a good friend.

2) You know that leader from youth group, the good looking funny one? The one who you see just as a friend? He’s the one, and he’s worth waiting for.

3) Don’t take life so seriously. Yes, be responsible. Yes, get the grades. But learn to laugh at yourself and when you fail, get back up. Failing doesn’t mean the end of the world.

4) You’re going to go through a lot, but you will become a better person for it.

Teen years :)

I survived my teen years. I married my best friend. And I have become a better person. Makes me wonder what I’ll learn in the next thirty years and if I could write to myself from my sixtieth year, what I would tell myself now.

How about you? If you could write to your sixteenth self, what would you say?

As part of this hop, I am giving away a $10 gift card to Amazon. Click on the link to enter: Rafflecopter Giveaway

And click here to view other participating blogs.

Book Review: WayFarer

This month I had the privilege of reading WayFarer, the second book in the Tales of Faeraven series by Janalyn Voigt.

First, this is an epic fantasy, which means a world filled with magic, soul touching, winged horses (called wingabeasts), and kingdoms at war. The style of Janalyn’s writing reminds me a bit of Lord of the Rings. It has an old English feel to it that takes some time getting used to (at least it took me a while to get into the rhythm and cadence of the words and sentence structure). This writing style gives the story more of a medieval feel, which does add to the fantasy story.

Wayfarer centers around Lof Shraen Elcon (the high king) of the Kindren. We first meet him in DawnSinger (first book in Tales of Faeraven) where his mother dies and he becomes the new ruler. Wayfarer is about Elcon and his journey in what it means to be a ruler.

Elcon pursues his own passions and reaps the consequences for that. However, I want to add that he does not do it in an evil way, or even really in a selfish way. What I saw in this story was a naive young man who made choices without thinking about them.

Elcon chooses to marry a woman in haste (although from the story, they seem to really love each other, so I didn’t really have a problem with that). However, she is of a different race than him, so that causes conflict on both sides. Along with that, he had promised to court another woman, so he breaks her heart when he marries the princess of the Elder people.

I don’t want to give the plot away, but I will say this: every choice Elcon makes for just himself ends badly. But every choice he makes for others and for his kingdom ends well. And this was the only problem I had with the book.

SPOILERS:

I loved Aewen, Elcon’s wife. They loved each other, they were committed to each other. Sure, their people didn’t along, and yeah, Elcon shouldn’t have broken that other woman’s heart. But he loved Aewen with a pure love and rescued her from an arranged marriage to a man who showed signs of being an abuser.

I was rooting for Aewen (kudos to Janalyn for making me love her so much). But then Aewen dies in childbirth. Then their child dies, hardly even a thought toward that little baby. And the story ends with all of this happening because Elcon made a wrong choice in who he married because he choose passion over honor.

I didn’t really like that conclusion. Yes, the people around us do pay the price when we make selfish and wrong decisions. But good things can come from bad decisions. And I’m not really convinced the choice they made to marry each other was a “bad” choice. They were committed to each other and to their marriage. But even if it was, God can still use the bad for good. From ashes and brokenness God can make something new again.

I would have rather seen the baby live and Elcon raise his daughter. Or that Aewen lived and they forged a life together through grace and forgiveness.

Other than the conclusion, I loved WayFarer. I was captured by the story and loved the characters, especially Aewen. I loved the world Janalyn created. It is colorful and vibrant, everything a fantasy lover wants in a book.

So do I recommend WayFarer? Yes! Do you need to read DawnSinger before you read WayFarer? Yes and no. I think you will get more out of WayFarer if you start with DawnSinger. But it can work as a standalone.

Here is a link to Wayfarer.

And here is a link to author Janalyn Voigt.

*I was given a free copy of WayFarer for an unbiased review.