Lord of the Fading Lands

The Tairen, those great winged feline beasts of the Fading Lands are dying out and with them will go the Fey. The fates of both have always been intertwined. Rainier vel’En Daris Feyreisen, King of the Fey, is determined to save his soul-kin and his people. He is after all a Tairen Soul, a Fey who can enter the tairen’s lair, who can shape-shift into Tairen form and who can draw upon all of the elements of magic. His quest for answers leads him to act rashly in his use of the Eye of Truth but he is given the vision of a woman in Celieria...a city that he has had no wish to visit ever again.

In the Mage wars a thousand years ago, Rain lost his Heartmate. An Elden mage killed her on the battlefield and his anguish was so great that he succumbed to the Wilding Rage, shifting into Tairen form and breathing fire, nearly destroying the entire world. It took all of the remaining Tairen and Fey to cage his grief-induced madness. Seven hundred years passed before he came to himself again. In all of the time since the war had ended, the King of the Fading Lands had not ventured out of his realm.

Ellysetta Baristani is the daughter of a humble woodcarver. Since childhood, she has suffered from terrible seizures and nightmares. These troubles subsided somewhat as she has grown and she has developed from an awkward looking girl to a quietly beautiful young woman.

On hearing that the King of the Fey will be arriving in Celieria, accompanying the Truthspeaker, Marrisya v’En Solande on her annual visit with her guard of Fey warriors, Ellie is asked to take her sisters to watch their arrival. Shockingly, Rain Tairen Soul swoops down from the sky and claims her as his shei’ tani, his Truemate.

Never has one such as he claimed a Truemate. For a Fey warrior to do so and not be accepted by his mate means death to him...for Rain, the last Tairen Soul it could mean death to all of the Fey.

In this first book of a series, the author offers us a world where some hold magic with regard and others with suspicion. Previous experience and the results that have lingered from such during the wars feed the fears of many people. This is a great set-up for the clash between the Fey and the political interests of their allies, the Celierians. Petty jealousies and human nature are shown in as much detail as the weaving of magic in this story. Clever usage of language and terms allude to things that readers can recognize or associate with as familiar. All of it factors into what makes this book such a resounding success.

Rain is a sexy tormented hero who courts the woman who is the other half of his soul. He must come to terms with loving again after having suffered loss horrifically...and come to find closure enough not to feel as if it is an act of betrayal to his previous mate, Sariel. The staunch support that he gives to Ellie, both emotional and physical, as well as, all of the ways in which he courts her is plenty enough to win over the most hardened heart. The obstacles that he must deign to surmount in another suitor for his chosen and the sensitivities of her parents and all of Celieria makes one anxious and makes one laugh.

For her part, the heroine is not drawn to be at all priggish, prissy or overly naive. One can relate to Ellie in her dealings with people and we easily become fond of her as she makes the effort to grasp the changes in her life and master the intricacies of court manners. The small question of her lineage and glimpses of magic mildly tease. She is in some ways like a heroine in a fairytale with an added sensuality and without the mawkishness.

The undercurrent of evil makes itself visible in small scenes throughout the book as the long thought vanquished enemy prepares for confrontation. A decided chill to intersperse and round out the general feelings for happy romance and magical world.

LORD OF THE FADING LANDS makes a fabulously solid and lasting impression. A valiant dying race, magical and majestic tairen, and a touching romance between the two people one expects to be keys in future battle against encroaching darkness will keep readers entranced.

October 2007