| Title | : | Midnight's Blossom (The Queen of Ruin, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 316 |
| Publication | : | Published April 4, 2018 |
Lily Alcyone, the half-fey daughter of the highborn matriarch Juno Alcyone, has always known that possessing the latter does little to negate the former. Shortly before her twentieth birthday, she departs the Alcyone manor for the Imperial Academy of Magic in the hopes of awakening her latent magical talent. Bereft of the shimmering crystalline manashard, the mark of a Solarian mage of power, Lily finds herself isolated from her peers, viewed with distrust and even fear.
Rose Merope, the only daughter of wealthy Fiallan entrepreneur Cassius Merope, is discovered to possess magic's spark within her soul. Her innate affinity, stronger than any ever observed within the Merope family lineage, leads the headstrong young woman to study abroad in the Solarian Empire. As a foreigner alone in a land distrustful of all others, marked as inferior by her dark skin and common ancestry, Rose struggles to find her place within the archaic and xenophobic Empire.
Through happenstance or perhaps fate, the two meet... and the course of history will be forever altered. A chance encounter plunges Lily and Rose headlong into a dangerous world of forbidden magic, political intrigue and the ever-looming specter of war and a terrible calamity that threatens all People, human and fey alike.
MIDNIGHT'S BLOSSOM is the first chapter in the exciting tale of Lily, Rose, their friends and allies as they find themselves thrust into danger at the heart of the evil and corruption that threatens the entire world!
Midnight's Blossom (The Queen of Ruin, #1) Reviews
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6 stars for me. One of *the* best, if not the best book I've read this year for it's sub-genre. This is about a quarter steampunk and three quarters fantasy as I see it. With a very light sprinkling of rom which isn't the real driving force behind the main story but it was still nice to see.
I'm not even sure what to write about this book. It literally grabbed me by the shirt collar and would *not* let go. And that, to me at least, speaks very well for the book as a whole. There was no boredom in the slightest. There were many 'oh shit' that was so cool moments, lol. Loved it.
The politics, while normally make me grind my teeth (not our politics, but the books/world politics) was really really well done. It adds to the world building components to the story that just really sucks you in, lol at least for me it did.
I liked Heather's Dawn of a New Astral Age series, but this series here looks like it's going to outshine that one by a lot. Of course YMMV but it really worked for me. Cannot .... Cannot wait for the next book. Brilliant. Loved it. -
This is the third book I've read written by Heathers, and the one thing they have in common is terrific worldbuilding and great characters. Corinn Heathers is one of the few authors who manage to write, as she calls it, science fantasy and doing it right.
This book tells the story of Lily Alcyone, a half-breed, who is about to start her magical training at a prestigious academy. Problem is, her magical abilities are weak, but that is th eleast of her problems. In the Holy Solarian Empire, they don't take too kindly to half-breeds, and even more so when the other half is Fey.
She meets Rose Merope, from the country of Fallian, and the two hit it off right from the start. While Lily struggles with her training, it becomes clear that all kinds of trouble is brewing on the horizon and Lily and Rose find theirselves caught right in the middle of it.
As I said, the worldbuilding is fantastic, with all sorts of politics, Noble Houses, and factions. The Solarian Empire is built upon magic, while the rest of the world is more technological inclined. So expect magical transportation and cell phones, cars and airships and magical reinforced taverns,
So, you might be wondering, why only three stars then? Two reasons, one of which I admit is entirely personal. I will explain this later.
When Lily and Rose spend the weekend in the nearby town, they happen upon an ancient sword, which the shopkeeper tells them no one can touch it. Readers who have read
bound together will start to suspect something already. To be blunt: what happened with Karin Ashly in that book, happens with Lily as well. I did not understand why the author chose to use the exact same plot device, because she really doesn't lack in imagination and there are numerous ways to come up with something else. The only difference is that in Lily's case, the sword did not come with a cute fox-creature (although I suspect, Lily's sword will have a thing or two to say as well in due time). So I substract a star for re-using something from another book by the same author.
The reason why another star was substracted has to do with the fact that around the 60% mark, the author chose to have Lily another woman to fall in love with (with Rose's blessing). I simply do not like this trope. I will never understand it, although it is used as another plot device, to teach Lily about her other parent's heritage. I really lost much of my interest in the book by then, and skimmed a fair bit of pages towards the end. It also means I will probably not be reading the next volumes.
For readers who have not read bound together, or do not have a problem with polyamory, I can recommend this book if you like science fantasy. -
Great story
This was a really incredible fantasy story. I liked the epicness of the main characters. I can't wait for the next book. -
Couldn't finish it. There's too much telling, it takes too long for the inciting incident to arrive, and the central relationship has almost zero tension to it.
