What do you think?
Rate this book
Wildflowers Part I: Allaha of the Mountain
Allaha is a knight of the Order of Aisha, Fallen of the Mountain. She – like her fellows – is stoic and reserved, trained to fight against demons and their ilk. When she triggers a vision that kills a renown oracle, she is set on a quest to complete the prophecy.
She becomes the protector of those mentioned in the prophecy.
Tamara is a young woman of the Menori – a migrant people that travel in caravans. She is also a hamalakh, able to sense the emotions of others as well as sense falsehoods. She is sometimes wise beyond her years, but at other times her youth can cause her to draw incorrect conclusions.
Hibu, a sorcerer, is from the country of Jeongwon – a land where the nobility are worshipped as gods. He was the personal sorcerer of Prince Ji – a testament to the strength of his powers. He is ever curious and seeking new knowledge, questioning all the people they meet on their journey. He is joined by his demon familiar, Goric.
Karejakal was orphaned by the death of his entire clan – but his mastak powers gave him the ability to keep their spirits close. Still a child, Karej is a Tibu – a race of cat people that walk upright. Learning of his people from the spirits of his clan, the child has adopted Allaha as his mother.
Together, they travel the land of Magdra, seeking answers to a broken prophecy wherein they only know two things – that a darkness is coming, and that they are meant to stop it. All they need to discover now is how to do it.
Content warnings: Bad language, implied sex, sexual language, molestation, descriptions of past abuse, graphic violence, references to slavery
She becomes the protector of those mentioned in the prophecy.
Tamara is a young woman of the Menori – a migrant people that travel in caravans. She is also a hamalakh, able to sense the emotions of others as well as sense falsehoods. She is sometimes wise beyond her years, but at other times her youth can cause her to draw incorrect conclusions.
Hibu, a sorcerer, is from the country of Jeongwon – a land where the nobility are worshipped as gods. He was the personal sorcerer of Prince Ji – a testament to the strength of his powers. He is ever curious and seeking new knowledge, questioning all the people they meet on their journey. He is joined by his demon familiar, Goric.
Karejakal was orphaned by the death of his entire clan – but his mastak powers gave him the ability to keep their spirits close. Still a child, Karej is a Tibu – a race of cat people that walk upright. Learning of his people from the spirits of his clan, the child has adopted Allaha as his mother.
Together, they travel the land of Magdra, seeking answers to a broken prophecy wherein they only know two things – that a darkness is coming, and that they are meant to stop it. All they need to discover now is how to do it.
Content warnings: Bad language, implied sex, sexual language, molestation, descriptions of past abuse, graphic violence, references to slavery
456 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2017
4 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Aurora Lee Thornton
4 books29 followersAurora is a nonbinary, asexual writer with a new goal in life: to write the queerest books possible. (And yes, xe means gay, but also weird is good too.)
Xe loves dragons and fantasy, and someday hopes to complete a (soft) science fiction novel as well. Currently, xe lives with xyr two cats.
Xe loves dragons and fantasy, and someday hopes to complete a (soft) science fiction novel as well. Currently, xe lives with xyr two cats.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 27, 2019
DNF at 3%.
The whole conceit and writing style of this one just didn't work for me.
The narrative starts off with a sort of meta-textual prologue - already a hard thing to pull off - where the main character is being interrogated and ostensibly giving her last testament. This failed to hook me, as it was literally all tell and no show. Even when this short section ended and the real story began, the writing just didn't grab me. We were introduced to four or five characters in quick succession and we get a huge infodump about each of their appearances and what that tells the reader about their nation and culture of origin - because of course we can tell all that from their appearance. Especially in a secondary world fantasy setting, it was just a lot, and it just didn't work for me.
The whole conceit and writing style of this one just didn't work for me.
The narrative starts off with a sort of meta-textual prologue - already a hard thing to pull off - where the main character is being interrogated and ostensibly giving her last testament. This failed to hook me, as it was literally all tell and no show. Even when this short section ended and the real story began, the writing just didn't grab me. We were introduced to four or five characters in quick succession and we get a huge infodump about each of their appearances and what that tells the reader about their nation and culture of origin - because of course we can tell all that from their appearance. Especially in a secondary world fantasy setting, it was just a lot, and it just didn't work for me.
April 15, 2017
I loved books like this when I was younger.
And I thought I still do, but... somehow I don't anymore. Which is sad, really. But I will try my best to give a good review anyway.
There are a lot of different characters in this story and I had some trouble because of this. It took way too long for me to be able to know that person a's name is this and their background is that... (that may be a personal problem though!). I would have needed some kind of glossar to be honest.
Anyway, once I did know who is who I came to like the different characters - especially a certain demon. He's by far the most interesting and funny one and I simply love his scenes. If there's ever a side story with him as the MC, count me in!
According to goodreads you're in for a 456 pages long ride. And at times... it felt even longer. I have to confess I skim read at times, because sometimes the story is a little bit slow and, well, boring.
But one thing is far from boring: The world-building itself. There are a lot of different cultures in this book and they are not your usual Tolkien-ones. But they are inspired by our world, I think.
Another thing that could (or should) be of interest to you is something the author told me about Allaha of the Mountain: There are a lot of LGBT characters in this story. A few you get to know now, but later on there will be an aro ace character! There are hints to them in this book, but I won't spoiler you.
I started this review along the lines of when I was younger... and I truly think I would have loved it when I was younger. But somehow... it was too much and not enough for me now. Maybe I just can't concentrate on fantasy this long anymore, who knows?
Disclaimer: I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
And I thought I still do, but... somehow I don't anymore. Which is sad, really. But I will try my best to give a good review anyway.
There are a lot of different characters in this story and I had some trouble because of this. It took way too long for me to be able to know that person a's name is this and their background is that... (that may be a personal problem though!). I would have needed some kind of glossar to be honest.
Anyway, once I did know who is who I came to like the different characters - especially a certain demon. He's by far the most interesting and funny one and I simply love his scenes. If there's ever a side story with him as the MC, count me in!
According to goodreads you're in for a 456 pages long ride. And at times... it felt even longer. I have to confess I skim read at times, because sometimes the story is a little bit slow and, well, boring.
But one thing is far from boring: The world-building itself. There are a lot of different cultures in this book and they are not your usual Tolkien-ones. But they are inspired by our world, I think.
Another thing that could (or should) be of interest to you is something the author told me about Allaha of the Mountain: There are a lot of LGBT characters in this story. A few you get to know now, but later on there will be an aro ace character! There are hints to them in this book, but I won't spoiler you.
I started this review along the lines of when I was younger... and I truly think I would have loved it when I was younger. But somehow... it was too much and not enough for me now. Maybe I just can't concentrate on fantasy this long anymore, who knows?
Disclaimer: I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
March 10, 2017
In general, I very much enjoyed reading this book. The author has created an incredibly interesting world with very likeable characters and (for lack of a better term) creatures. The story and setting played like a Miyazaki movie in my head while I read the book and I really could see this being a fun anime show.
Some of the reasons I did not rate it higher:
-There were quite a few typos/errors.
-I felt like the "romantic" aspects of the book were very out of place and seemed to have been included to either force the book away from being classed as YA, or to really try to make a point about pansexual/polyamorous relationships. They didn't feel natural within the story, for the characters (other than the demon, I suppose) and were, frankly, just unnecessary.
-There were a handful of incidents in the book that I did not understand. Characters made decisions that eventually drove the plot forward but there was very little explanation, most notably, at the ending.
I will probably read the rest of the series as they come out because I did enjoy it overall. I really think that with a good editor, these books could be something special.
Some of the reasons I did not rate it higher:
-There were quite a few typos/errors.
-I felt like the "romantic" aspects of the book were very out of place and seemed to have been included to either force the book away from being classed as YA, or to really try to make a point about pansexual/polyamorous relationships. They didn't feel natural within the story, for the characters (other than the demon, I suppose) and were, frankly, just unnecessary.
-There were a handful of incidents in the book that I did not understand. Characters made decisions that eventually drove the plot forward but there was very little explanation, most notably, at the ending.
I will probably read the rest of the series as they come out because I did enjoy it overall. I really think that with a good editor, these books could be something special.
June 29, 2017
In many ways, Allaha of the Mountain feels like the end of a series. Or perhaps a penultimate book. So much has gone on before we meet this characters that it’s a difficult novel to get into – not least because, even on kindle, I was aware of how long it was. All of our main characters have suffered tragedies, and travelled a significant way both together and apart before we even meet them. So it’s difficult to shake the idea that we’ve joined them mid-adventure. Given the interesting two-time structure of this novel, however, I wonder if the exact circumstances of their meeting will be narrated in flashbacks in later novels.
My biggest issue with Allaha of the Mountain is the pacing. The first half has little to no significance to the plot, besides building the relationships between the characters – in fact, it feels like we’ve missed the most significant event entirely, between Hibu and Tamara, which influences Hibu’s magical ability and feeds precisely into the climax of the novel. Allaha and her fate-destined charges travel across one of the best-built fictional worlds I’ve ever read, searching for a seer who can complete a doom-laden prophecy that killed its first teller.
Then we reach Allaha’s home, and my favourite section of the novel. Here, the hints that there’s something more going on build beautifully on the character work already done. The characters begin to really grow and guide one another at this point, and we spend enough time in one place to be able to really get to know it, and feel closer to this world.
The final section… I simultaneously loved and disliked it. Disliked, because for a second there we return to travelling without ever being told where we’re all going or why. (It turns out that there’s a seer. Which I should have guessed, I suppose.) Loved it, because all the passionate, committed character work pays off in the most sudden and heartbreaking way.
There’s a big cast in Allaha of the Mountain, in terms of both characters and species. Some people have four limbs, some have six, eight, or more (I forget how many extra arms the spider woman had). Some people have fur, or tails. There are people of all colours, from all across the world, with diverse life and relationship expectations. The polyamorous Jaspernians, Scorun and Desrae, were particular favourites, and I do hope that they make another appearance later on in the series.
I just want to talk a little bit about Allaha. Throughout the novel, Allaha makes it clear that she has no interest in sexual or romantic engagement. And this could be attributed to her vows of Knighthood, except that I don’t believe that she’s actively choosing to refuse such engagements. And I know that she is (Word of God) aromantic and asexual. Now, for most of the novel Goric, Hibu’s demon familiar, propositions Allaha with varying degrees of lewdness. By the end (mild spoilers) his behaviour has become much more respectful, but it takes a long time to get to that point. It did make me, as an ace-and-almost-aro person, feel uncomfortable with the amount that he was essentially trying to annoy/persuade her into sleeping with him. I dunno. I can really see myself loving their relationship in the second book, given where it ends. But I did not love how it began.
As you might perhaps be able to tell, I do feel conflicted about Allaha of the Mountain. The pacing was almost painfully slow in places, and I wasn’t entirely a fan of how Allaha’s as yet unspoken aroaceness was used in terms of her being unwillingly propositioned more than once – and once as a form of torture.
But. I completely loved the depth and commitment to the world-building – it’s one of the fullest and most interesting fantasy worlds I’ve ever read. I enjoyed watching Allaha, Tamara, Hibu, Goric and Karejakal grow as characters – not a single one of them goes without strong development. I loved (most of) Allaha’s family, the werewolf family, the Jaspernians, and I super loved Meyaya. I would read a whole novel of people having a good time at Meyaya. Only a little bit joking. Though I did struggle to keep reading at times, I came out of this novel having enjoyed it, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a diverse, stunningly imagined fantasy world.
Representation:
People of various skin colours. The Menori are clearly inspired by/representing Romani people, but I can’t myself speak to how well or not this was done. Allaha is aroace. A few of the main group are queer, but mostly the rep isn’t explicit on the page in this book – apparently there will be more on-the-page rep in the sequel. Own voices with respect to Allaha.
This review was originally posted at https://rustlingreads.wordpress.com/2...
My biggest issue with Allaha of the Mountain is the pacing. The first half has little to no significance to the plot, besides building the relationships between the characters – in fact, it feels like we’ve missed the most significant event entirely, between Hibu and Tamara, which influences Hibu’s magical ability and feeds precisely into the climax of the novel. Allaha and her fate-destined charges travel across one of the best-built fictional worlds I’ve ever read, searching for a seer who can complete a doom-laden prophecy that killed its first teller.
Then we reach Allaha’s home, and my favourite section of the novel. Here, the hints that there’s something more going on build beautifully on the character work already done. The characters begin to really grow and guide one another at this point, and we spend enough time in one place to be able to really get to know it, and feel closer to this world.
The final section… I simultaneously loved and disliked it. Disliked, because for a second there we return to travelling without ever being told where we’re all going or why. (It turns out that there’s a seer. Which I should have guessed, I suppose.) Loved it, because all the passionate, committed character work pays off in the most sudden and heartbreaking way.
There’s a big cast in Allaha of the Mountain, in terms of both characters and species. Some people have four limbs, some have six, eight, or more (I forget how many extra arms the spider woman had). Some people have fur, or tails. There are people of all colours, from all across the world, with diverse life and relationship expectations. The polyamorous Jaspernians, Scorun and Desrae, were particular favourites, and I do hope that they make another appearance later on in the series.
I just want to talk a little bit about Allaha. Throughout the novel, Allaha makes it clear that she has no interest in sexual or romantic engagement. And this could be attributed to her vows of Knighthood, except that I don’t believe that she’s actively choosing to refuse such engagements. And I know that she is (Word of God) aromantic and asexual. Now, for most of the novel Goric, Hibu’s demon familiar, propositions Allaha with varying degrees of lewdness. By the end (mild spoilers) his behaviour has become much more respectful, but it takes a long time to get to that point. It did make me, as an ace-and-almost-aro person, feel uncomfortable with the amount that he was essentially trying to annoy/persuade her into sleeping with him. I dunno. I can really see myself loving their relationship in the second book, given where it ends. But I did not love how it began.
As you might perhaps be able to tell, I do feel conflicted about Allaha of the Mountain. The pacing was almost painfully slow in places, and I wasn’t entirely a fan of how Allaha’s as yet unspoken aroaceness was used in terms of her being unwillingly propositioned more than once – and once as a form of torture.
But. I completely loved the depth and commitment to the world-building – it’s one of the fullest and most interesting fantasy worlds I’ve ever read. I enjoyed watching Allaha, Tamara, Hibu, Goric and Karejakal grow as characters – not a single one of them goes without strong development. I loved (most of) Allaha’s family, the werewolf family, the Jaspernians, and I super loved Meyaya. I would read a whole novel of people having a good time at Meyaya. Only a little bit joking. Though I did struggle to keep reading at times, I came out of this novel having enjoyed it, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a diverse, stunningly imagined fantasy world.
Representation:
People of various skin colours. The Menori are clearly inspired by/representing Romani people, but I can’t myself speak to how well or not this was done. Allaha is aroace. A few of the main group are queer, but mostly the rep isn’t explicit on the page in this book – apparently there will be more on-the-page rep in the sequel. Own voices with respect to Allaha.
This review was originally posted at https://rustlingreads.wordpress.com/2...
June 16, 2019
I recently read this book, as NetGalley had this book up for review and reading the synopsis, it sounded like a book totally my thing - and in moments this book truly was. The story of Allaha, told in reverse, Wildflowers Part I, certainly is an interesting start to a saga.
I feel this first book focuses on the world building and that's no bad thing. An intricate display of scenes and places weaves through this book brilliantly and really allows you to see the world Allaha is in and it makes for a good book for that reason. I love the diversity of cultures shown in the book and made clear by the first characters we see, this is not the same old boring world.
There are however a lot of characters, and though I love the array of representation in this book, including pansexuality and even hint towards an aro/ace character, I still feel like there's a lot to take in this book and plot wise there's very little explanation for why people do what they do leaving me a little frustrated as it's unclear what they are doing sometimes within the story - I do however feel like this is a series where I want to know what happens next.
I feel like this book is a great foundation for something greater to come, I really hope I'm right.
I feel this first book focuses on the world building and that's no bad thing. An intricate display of scenes and places weaves through this book brilliantly and really allows you to see the world Allaha is in and it makes for a good book for that reason. I love the diversity of cultures shown in the book and made clear by the first characters we see, this is not the same old boring world.
There are however a lot of characters, and though I love the array of representation in this book, including pansexuality and even hint towards an aro/ace character, I still feel like there's a lot to take in this book and plot wise there's very little explanation for why people do what they do leaving me a little frustrated as it's unclear what they are doing sometimes within the story - I do however feel like this is a series where I want to know what happens next.
I feel like this book is a great foundation for something greater to come, I really hope I'm right.
October 20, 2019
I received a free arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this -- I was intrigued by the cover and plot summary, but like others have mentioned, I found it difficult to get through. The writing is very tediously detailed, which makes it for rather slow, dry reading. Sometimes I do love books with lots of description, but this just didn't work for me. And, also, this may just be a personal thing, but I truly don't like phonetic spelling to mimic accents in dialogue. So I found that aspect grating.
I have to commend the author for including diversity, however. There's a wide set of representation here, including possibly an aro/ace character (which can be very rare indeed!). Unfortunately, the story itself was kind of middle of the road Middle Ages fantasy, so I wasn't very intrigued by the plot. I can see people liking this, but it feels like something I might have enjoyed more if I was a bit younger and if the writing was tightened up a bit.
2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this -- I was intrigued by the cover and plot summary, but like others have mentioned, I found it difficult to get through. The writing is very tediously detailed, which makes it for rather slow, dry reading. Sometimes I do love books with lots of description, but this just didn't work for me. And, also, this may just be a personal thing, but I truly don't like phonetic spelling to mimic accents in dialogue. So I found that aspect grating.
I have to commend the author for including diversity, however. There's a wide set of representation here, including possibly an aro/ace character (which can be very rare indeed!). Unfortunately, the story itself was kind of middle of the road Middle Ages fantasy, so I wasn't very intrigued by the plot. I can see people liking this, but it feels like something I might have enjoyed more if I was a bit younger and if the writing was tightened up a bit.
July 6, 2020
I always enjoy a good lady knight/warrior in a book and I feel that this book did a good job portraying this concept. However, the writing was a bit stilted for me. There were a lot of characters I felt were introduced too quickly that I would have liked to have been introduced a bit more slowly. The cultures were very interesting and I felt that the author could have utilized these with the characters they introduced more and would have made a very different and perhaps better book. I am glad there were some LGBT characters in the book and hope that in future books some of the people get more spotlight. Overall, a decent start to a book series that definitely has more potential to keep growing and hopefully, one day, setting permanent roots that will allow readers to fully appreciate and get to know the existing characters without having new ones constantly introduced that may or may not be central to the story.
July 6, 2020
I always enjoy a good lady knight/warrior in a book and I feel that this book did a good job portraying this concept. However, the writing was a bit stilted for me. There were a lot of characters I felt were introduced too quickly that I would have liked to have been introduced a bit more slowly. The cultures were very interesting and I felt that the author could have utilized these with the characters they introduced more and would have made a very different and perhaps better book. I am glad there were some LGBT characters in the book and hope that in future books some of the people get more spotlight. Overall, a decent start to a book series that definitely has more potential to keep growing and hopefully, one day, setting permanent roots that will allow readers to fully appreciate and get to know the existing characters without having new ones constantly introduced that may or may not be central to the story.
September 20, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It started off a little confusing feeling more like the second book in the series rather than the first but as you continue reading you get some of the missing story through Allaha's testimony. There are still a few things that I'm confused about (what spell did Hibu do that ended up with Tamara having scars and Karej blind in one eye? Why did he have to do the spell?). There are a few issues with switching from third person to first person especially in the final chapter but doesn't take away from the story as much as just being a distraction.
All-in-all I'm looking forward to the next book!
All-in-all I'm looking forward to the next book!
January 30, 2021
I found it really hard to get into this one. I'm not crazy about large info-dumps or the tell instead of show style. Furthermore, I would've liked more natural character development and introductions instead of here are the main characters and EVERYTHING you need to know about them all at once. (I do like the characters, just not how they were introduced to the reader). That said, I really liked the premise of this story. The world building has amazing depth, and I'd love to spend a day or three just exploring it. Overall, an enjoying read once you get past the initial info dump.
November 1, 2019
Disclaimer: I received a free copy through the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you
It was hard to get oi into this story. There are many characters with a lot of backstory to learn and remember. I felt lost in keeping track of everyone and their place in the plot.
I was tempted to skim a lot to get through sub plots.
The one thing I did enjoy was the world building. The detail is great.
It was hard to get oi into this story. There are many characters with a lot of backstory to learn and remember. I felt lost in keeping track of everyone and their place in the plot.
I was tempted to skim a lot to get through sub plots.
The one thing I did enjoy was the world building. The detail is great.
December 16, 2019
Like many others who tried to get through this book I just couldn't. This book had great potential with the plot and the description for this book, but everything drags on an on. The dialogue feels stilted to me with much of it being unnecessary in the first place. If you can slog through a really dull beginning to may enjoy this book at some point, but reading this book felt like pulling teeth. I need a hook or something interesting and there wasn't.
July 25, 2020
Phew. It took me A WHILE but not to be mistaken! I loved this book! I'm not usually a fan of fantasy, especially high fantasy but I was amazingly surprised by how quick i got into Wildflowers. Other works of fantasy with a universe as complete as this one might put me off. I loved all the main characters but my favorite has to be Alistair although I was saddened that he only was a side character. I hope to find him in the sequel that I will purchase in a hurry!
May 20, 2020
*free copy received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
DNF. I just couldn't with the writing style. I'm really sad about that, because the story has everything I usually like. I'll therefore put it in my ''try again at another mindset''-shelf, in hopes of some day wanting to read it.
DNF. I just couldn't with the writing style. I'm really sad about that, because the story has everything I usually like. I'll therefore put it in my ''try again at another mindset''-shelf, in hopes of some day wanting to read it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews