I thought it was a very believable love triange (quadralateral? if you include Floria…) You can see that Bal and Telmaine have a deep love for one another. And Floria and Ish muddy those waters, with no malicious intent… it’s just complicated. How they work through that, and obviously that’s a storyline that will continue in future books, is very interesting.

I didn’t find Telmaine boring at all. I thought her journey was the meat of the story. For the most part, she *really* enjoys filling the role women play in the Darkborn society. When she is pushed to have to use her magic, it starts something rolling that can’t be undone. She really wishes it could be, though. It’s sort of a coming of age story. She has to grow out of the mold her society put her in – one that she doesn’t mind – in order to fulfil a bigger purpose.

This was a good read!

Unlike some of you, I didn’t like the cover much – and I didn’t think it reflected the story itself (was that supposed to be Telmaine? must be, because of the gloves, but she’s not at all like I pictured her). But I really did think the world building was excellent, the characters complicated and interesting, with lots of different kinds of relationships, and the mystery pretty good.

Not so much a romance (you were very on target there!), but that’s ok, sometimes. :-)

I am dismayed by the year long wait for “Lightborn” now.

@Erum, I had the same problem – if they are completely in the dark, the twins wouldn’t be able to see anything, so they couldn’t follow anything with their eyes.
But later there is a fire (or two) and the Darkborn aren’t affected by the light from the fire, so I have decided (in my mind) that they are only affected by UV light (as in sunlight). So maybe there was a fire, or some glowing embers, in the room where the babies were. This still leaves the problem of Floria’s light (was it a flashlight?) which I refuse to think about. :)

I can believe Telmaine’s attraction to “bad boy” Ish, but she would never leave Bal or her family, imo. But the temptation is for intimacy with a fellow touch-reader that she can never have with Bal.

It has a Melanie Rawn meets Anne Bishop feel to it for me. Not as sexy as Bishop; not as rich or bright as Rawn. Equally enjoyable as both, though.

And Sharon Shinn endorses it… she’s made of the coolio.

Sounds right up my alley… like a sexier Sister Light/Sister Dark. (Jane Yolen, anyone??)

And I have to agree that the cover is dynamite.

DROOOOOOOOOOOL

To bring this back to topic, Darkborn sounds like it could be really good. I’m off to look for an excerpt.

Of course, this isn’t really a good comparison since the two characters are nothing alike. (Aside from physical resemblances courtesy of a book cover, that is.)

I really hoped this book would get a lot of buzz, and am happy to see the review here.

This sounds pretty good. I'll put this on my very long “want to read” pile.

Ditto.