At Great Court on Zirrus, the King dies and his wife is delivered of a stillborn child—or so the World is told. Virrisian, the King’s half-sister, ascends the throne. Traders fly through the Lands on ships slung beneath enormous patterned balloons, and as the Wintering covers the Lands, the Fleet take shelter at Cave. Shaeli and her family of traders are heading to Cave. Her mother has delivered twins—or so the World is told. As Shaeli grows, she discovers she has a gift for stone-channeling, a gift usually given to elves. But when she is apprenticed, she must leave her family and live in the shadow of Great Court and Queen Virrisian. As Shaeli learns more about her gift, this shadow grows darker over the Land, and it is only a matter of time before it covers everyone and everything she loves. Fans of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings will be intrigued by Shaeli's story, and will look forward to the rest of this debut series by R.L.Aiken
I liked this well enough, but it is drawn out and not a lot happens. I really loved the background world though, so I didn't mind that so much in this case. Apparently it's what I was in the mood for. That said it lacked oomph overall even if I loved the world and the characters.
A wonderful fantasy with lively characters, vivid imagery, and a good storyline. Starts a little slow but then it takes off. I was quite enchanted with Shaeli and her tale, so much so, that as soon as I finished I immediately bought the next two in the series. I look forward to any more tales from R. L. Aiken!
I will be honest and admit I only bought this book because it was by a local author and I expected it to follow the typical themes of the average fantasy novel but I felt there was a lot of originality in this novel and the author writes very well and certainly takes her time to carefully construct her world and build her characters.