Monday 23 March 2015

Bookathonic: Stolen Songbird (1. The Malediction Trilogy) by Danielle L Jensen

Author: Danielle L Jensen

Blurb:

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

Review:


This ended up being a great tale. Initially, just before about a third of the way in it started to sag, then after that third and it really got going and from there maintained a pretty good pace keeping my attention fully engaged.

Through circumstances beyond her control, Cécile ends up in an atmosphere and a society that is way out of her comfort zone.
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In a society that is completely alien to her, she is subjected to new people that are defined by elitism and power. The lowest caste throws everything she has ever contemplated or believed, into a confusing realm of chaos.

Of course there is a significant love interest whom is far away from the type of character she would have chosen, even in her wildest dreams. This is an absolute challenge for her.
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As fate would have it, she is thrust into a situation that leaves her contemplating just where she should be going and where she is, in fact, going.

This novel creates a great alternative to the world as we know it, and has us questioning what is really out there, and do we know it? This tale is not too far of a step away from those who love authors such as C S Lewis (Narnia), Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast) and Lewis Carroll (so where did Alice go?) and George MacDonald (The Princess and the Goblin). I loosely use these comparisons, because, really, there is never going to be anything that comes close to the standards that have been set for readers who embrace alternative realms!
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