From the Bookshelf of Ask Nicua Afriqa Dazyl …

Sylvan Elf Tears: Dreamweaver Chronicles Book 1

Nicua Afriqa Daz L.

Discussion: Books I've Authored

Discussion leader: Nicua

Why we're reading this: It is the first book of the trilogy I am writing. Book 2 is in the works and I am so keen on hearing peop…more
[close] It is the first book of the trilogy I am writing. Book 2 is in the works and I am so keen on hearing people's thoughts about the first book as well as questions on the second!

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Mar 20, 2013 Danielle Morgan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-library, goodreads-first-reads

The first sentence was one of the longest oppening sentences I've ever seen. Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the writing style itself took me several attempts to get past. I think I have re-read the first 4 chapters 5 times before I could move on. It was more that it was different to what I'm used to in the general fantasy books I find that had me adjusting.

After a while, I had honestly felt the younger brother Elthenan had become more of a tag-a-long character with little purpose other ...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Jason Clark rated it it was amazing

This is a wonderful excursion through a fantastical land with elves, giants, and many of the other fey creatures found in this genre. However, the reader looking for a good book to read would naturally ask, “Why read this book instead of any other book about elves?” The answer, I believe, is a very curious one. She draws on much of the classic tales of this sort, Tolkien being the obvious one. Of course, the world described is completely out of Ms Dazyl’s imagination and the character’s are here This is a wonderful excursion through a fantastical land with elves, giants, and many of the other fey creatures found in this genre. However, the reader looking for a good book to read would naturally ask, “Why read this book instead of any other book about elves?” The answer, I believe, is a very curious one. She draws on much of the classic tales of this sort, Tolkien being the obvious one. Of course, the world described is completely out of Ms Dazyl’s imagination and the character’s are here own, which is true for many novels. She does not completely develop new fairy creatures, and admittedly borrows the concepts of mystical species from other traditional authors. I don’t find this negative, though. I personally prefer this classic portrayal of such legendary beings. I favor when an author keeps with the original description of elves or magical creatures because there is such a rich history of these apparitions, going back to centuries of cultural myths, folklore, and bygone superstitions. I personally find that several new authors have overly diluted these traditions by altering their characters, such as vampires, for example, and losing valuable connections to our past. Rather than drift into that conversation, I mention this to say that her adherence to tradition does not mark a lack of originality, but rather learned approach to her writing.
That being said, I believe that there are a lot of novel concepts in her writing. For instance, she develops Elvin sub cultures, or a sort of Tower of Babel for the Elves. Probably this has been done to some degree or another in other works, but she does it beautifully, giving further depth to the myths. Suggesting that she simply writes about elves would be akin to saying another author writes about humans, referring to only white people of eastern European descent. Instead, she creates a wonderful diversity within the fey creatures that parallels the richness found within our own earthly species (meaning Homo sapiens). She goes a step further to create her own flora, terms, and to some degree pronunciations. This, she seems to do not by randomly creating words, but intuitively connecting letters and symbols that flow and themselves create beautiful imagery before they are ever defined. Her writing style is the same, as she writes eloquently and transports the reader to an enchanting landscape.
Truly, though, what draws me to her writing is something much more innocent. I bought this book to read with my nine year old daughter. While this contains many of the elements of Tolkien, Ms Dazyl is much less cumbersome and much more palatable than Tolkien, and just as mesmerizing. My child probably would agree. The plot, while being intricate, flows quickly and is engaging. And I can’t discount the value of the horses in her story. My daughter cannot contain her love of these beasts, and Ms Dazyl’s four legged heroes are just as well developed and full of personality as her human protagonists. For my daughter and me, this magical world, which includes real life horses, could not be a better book! (or eventually a multi book saga?)
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Feb 10, 2013 Nicua added it

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