REVIEW & Giveaway: Queen of Song and Souls by CL Wilson
Notes: It is impossible for me to write this review without giving spoilers for the series so if you just want to enter the contest, skip to the comments and tell me your favorite soul mate story. We are giving away five copies of this book (and by we, I mean Dorchester and Dear Author).
Dear Ms. Wilson:
I can see you don’t hesitate in ripping out the reader heart and squeezing it until we are gasping. This is not a bad thing. ne thing that sets you apart from other authors (not all but some) is that you are willing to take chances with your characters. Rain and Ellysetta, the main protagonists, remain inviolate. Their love continues to flourish, but war is not without its casualties and the knife of the soulmate can create real tragedy.
Ellysetta Baristani is a Tairen Soul, one of the only female Tairen Souls in the land. She was found living amongst the humans in Celieria when a dangerous glimpse through time, aided by magic, revealed to Rain, a Tairen Soul and leader of the Fey, that she would somehow help to save his people. It was discovered that Elly is Rain’s truemate, destined by magic to be his other half.
The Fey people are in decline. Too few women to be truemates to the men. Too many men giving up hopes of finding a truemate and dying. Too few progeny and ultimately, too many enemies. The Fey are tottering on the edge of extinction and swept up in a true good versus evil battle with the Mages. The story continues with the increasingly fraught battle between the humans, Mages, Fey, and even an Elf or two.
The Mages, workers of Azhran, a black power, are increasing their control over humans and spreading the mage marks far and wide. Mage marks are magical marks on a person that puts them nearly completely under the control of the Mage who has marked them. Through these marks, humans act as puppets for the Mages.
There are humans who are working with the Fey to combat the Mages and their marked humans, but the battle is taking increasing tolls. I know, because this is a romance, that the Fey will ultimately win out but as I read the series, I begin to wonder at what cost. Oh, your readership isn’t full of fear at every turn of the page like a George RR Martin reader, but I do confess to trepidation at the end result.
Probably my biggest complaint is that while I do enjoy Rain and Ellysetta, their conflict is the least interesting to me at this point. Their romance has been consummated and the conflict, both emotional and external, does not really rest with them. For me, the storyline that continues to have the most power is that of Shan and Elfeya, the birth parents of Ellysetta.
The two are locked in the dungeons of the High Mage. One cannot live without the other and their love for each actually keeps each other alive when perhaps the truest mercy would be for them both to pass into the spirit world. Instead, they each keep funneling power to the weaker party, helpless to stop themselves because their mate bond means that they must be together.
Queen of Song and Souls also returns to the story of Adrial vel Arquinas, and Talisa Barrial. In book one, it was realized that the Fey had mates amongst the Celerians because the Celerians had all descended from Fey some long, long time ago. The problem is that the Celerians were intermarrying with the Elds to form political connections. One recently married Celerian, Talisa, found out that Adrial, a Fey, was her truemate. Talisa had dreamed of Adrial and refused marriage proposal after marriage proposal and then, when it seemed like she would never meet with Adrial, she agreed to a political marriage. Just one month after she married, Talisa and Adrial meet. Talisa had taken her vows and her husband refused to release her. Talisa initially wishes to leave her husband but her father reminds her of the importance of her marriage and honor is what makes a person worthy of love. He counsels her to act with honor.
Throughout the book, Rain is called upon to make decisions for the betterment of his people as a whole. He breaks Ellysetta’s heart again and again as his decisions leave some in peril and some in despair. Ellysetta has to deal with the horror that her existence was brought forth from immense pain and sorrow in order that prophecies may be fulfilled.
I was really impressed with how you’ve taken the soul mate concept and shown that it is not without its consequences and not every truemate instant ends in happiness. I thought the pacing of this book was a bit uneven but it ended with a bang. I look forward to the conclusion of this high fantasy romance and hope that there will be more to follow. B
Best regards
Jane
This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook format that I can find.
Had to skip, sorry. I love the soul mate storyline. I think my favorite is Jamie and Clare of Outlander fame. Talk about surviving adversity, and traveling through time more than once!
I have heard so much about Queen of Song and Souls and I am now dying to read it!
Thanks for the giveaway Jane!
~bella
The secondary story between Adrial and Talisa hit me hard. I was more interested in their story than Ellie and Rain for a change. But overall, CL writes an amazing world.
Skipping to the end to vote for Jennifer Roberson’s Tiger and Del.
Can’t wait to read the book so I’m avoiding the spoilers.
Wolf and Mary from Mackenzie’s Mountain.
I don’t want to be spoiled having waited for this book for what feels like forever since The King of Sword and Sky XD
I’ve got go with Clare and Jamie from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series :) You can’t get more epic than those two soul mates.
I really love Elena and Clay from Kelley Armstrongs Otherworld series. Definitely soul mates :)
Great review and giveaway…it was hard to read and skip over spoilers, but I think I managed :D
Had to skip the review, as I’m super excited to read this book. I’ll come back and read the review after I read the book, I promise!
I am so looking forward to this story. I love Sherrilyn Kenyon’s vane and Bride. That story rocked. It was beautiful.
GULP! CL Wilson always has me on tenderhooks…worrying. I’m loving the secondary story between Adrial and Talisa…and I also have a soft spot for Bel and Gaelen :)
As for soulmates….Lucas and Sasha from Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation, although I’m an international reader to feel free not to include my entry if the contest isn’t open to international readers :)
There’s a YouTube interview here with a segment on the making of this cover.
Soul Mates — if I get to be non-paranormal about it — Darcy and Elizabeth. Jamie and Claire.
Skipping to the end here too…
In terms of soulmates, I love Clay and Tally from Mine to Possess (Nalini Singh) Also Dawn and Seth from Dawn’s Awakening (Lora Leigh), and Kenny and Savannah from Gone too Far (Suzanne Brockmann) Those would be my top three…for now anyways:)
Skipped the review but put my name down for the contest, thanks!
As for soulmates, I love Sebastian & Evangeline from Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas and Conrad & Neomi from Dark Needs at Night’s Edge by Cresley Cole (can never remember any of the IAD book titles but love all of it anyway).
I love this series!! I won an ARC of the first book here….
I’ve already ordered…but annoyed that my amazon pre-order is not scheduled to ship til 11/9!!
When I picked the 1st 3 books up in a yard sale I didn’t realize the series wasn’t completed, so I’m waiting on pins and needles for this one :)
I liked Sean and Dawn by Lora Leigh and all of Nalini Singh soul mates (sigh–I’m waiting for her new one too).
I want, i want!
Fav soulmate story would have to be Thea and the Sheriff of Nottingham in Greenwood by Sue Wilson those two were made for each other!
The first romance novel I read was a Christine Feehan “Carpathian novel.” However, in the realm of paranormal/fantasy, I think CL Wilson handles the “soul mate” concept best. I’m totally hooked.
So I’ll vote for Elly and Rain. I like the idea of soul-mate with struggle.
But why did I think this was the conclusion of the series? It isn’t?!?!
Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth – their souls recognised each other after all that time.
Skipped the review, can’t wait to read the book.
I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!! And that is saying a lot, since I generally don’t like books where the main characters are 100 times more powerful and beautiful than every other character in the novel. But these books are amazing. I also thought it was the end of the series–not that I’m complaining! It’s just so hard to wait!!
Great review! This is one of my most anticipated books for 2009. I cannot wait to read it!
Hi :)
Thank you for the opportunity to win.
I love the cover for Queen of Song and Souls, don’t you?
Thanks again,
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
I need to go pick up the previous book! I had forgotten about this series. I’m so excited to see that I will have two new books to read soon.
Favorite soul mate story? I have to agree with several previous commenters: Claire and Jaime from Outlander.
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the book and have skipped directly to comments. It may seem uninspired since I saw others who have named them, but Diana Gabaldon’s Claire and Jamie, and Rain and Ellysetta of the Tairen Soul series are my favorite soul mate stories.
I had to skip over the review, but please count me in!
Skipping, skipping.
Even if I do love spoilers.
My fav soulmate story is Z and Bella from JR Wards books, mostly cos I just love Z and wanna hug him
Skipping the spoilers (for now)! :)
I really love Elizabeth and Jamie from Lynn Kurland’s A Dance Through Time. ♥
Can’t wait!
Favourite soul mates story? I think probably Lake of Dreams, by Linda Howard.
The first ones that come to mind are Clare and Jamie from Outlander.
Carol
I’ve heard great things about this series. Count me in, please! And do Roarke and Eve from the In Death series count as soul mates? If they don’t, they should. :)
How did I miss this series? Definitely making a note to look it up. I love soulmate story lines. My favorite is Night Embrace, Talon is just so…and Sunshine is the perfect foil for him. It deals with the whole reincarnation and reconnected love angle, which could be part of the reason I love it so much.
Love the cover!
Cathy and Heathcliff. Definitely.
Having read all the previous Tairen Soul books but this one, I have to agree that at the moment Shan and Elfeya’s bonding is what I want to read about…oh and Elly’s twin sisters…who are they going to get?
Please don’t enter me (I already have the book)
I know Jane mentioned that the pacing was uneven but did anyone have a problem with the ending? It felt to me more like a whimper. I felt like there was a lot of information and action happening and multiple small climaxes but no clear resolution ot a particular storyline. I am not sure if I was more disappointed because I waited so long for this book to come out.
I actually have the second book in this series but have been waiting to read it after I got book one. Have added it to my must buy list now so I can get started on the series. After reading this review I remember why I was so excited about the series.(so many great books and only 24 hours in the day to read) Would love to get a free copy of book four so throw my name in the hat.
One of my favorite soul mate storylines has been Jeaniene Frost’s “Cat & Bones”, oh and then there is Rachel Vincent’s “Faythe or Marc”. Actually, there are oodles of soul mates out there I love don’t get me started.
@Nikki: Just finished it last night, and yeah, I felt less satisfied than I did at the end of the previous three. This might be because I read the others long after they came out, so I always knew I had the next one lined up, and now I don’t and have to wait. Kind of like when I read the first four Harry Potter books in a week and then had to wait three years–though I don’t think it’ll be that long in this case!
There was a resolution to one of the subplots, but most of the climactic stuff has been deferred to book five, from what I can tell. I did enjoy it, but it felt like set-up.
It’s hard to choose just 1 couple, but I’ll go with Sascha and Lucas from Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation.
@Kelly L
I totally felt like it was a setup for the next book. It was kind of irritating because there is a need for closure. And she introduces some concepts and people and totally tears your guts out without you know, a full denouement and resolution, and she leaves things just hanging. I swear I saw tattered red flags listlessly waving in the breeze at the end. Of course, the other issue is I don’t know when exactly Tairen Soul comes out either. If she pulls another Queen, I might just give up.
Had to skip. My favorite soul mate story would be Erin and Jared in Touch a Dark Wolf by Jennifer St. Giles.
I was able to get this one a little early, but wasn’t asked for a review…and I still cannot finish it. I’m a little devastated. This has been one of my favorite romance series the past few years. But I really wish this would have been the last book, based on the slightly more than 100 pages I’ve read so far.
There’s so much filler. The angst and agony revolving around Rain and Elly is getting to be too much. And I loved it and thought it played out beautifully between them. Up till now. I’ll eventually press on and finish it, but my enthusiasm for the series has dimmed at this point.
Please don’t enter me – I will buy a copy when I get past this disappointment.
Glad it wasn’t just me who had issues with the ending. Truthfully, I read the endings first. This one was so upsetting that I think I may wait until I get the final book to read them together…
@Nikki: All I know is, I hope the next book comes out quickly. Being a George R.R. Martin addict, when someone says, the fourth book was too long, so now there are five, it strikes terror into my impatient little heart!
first comment got eaten, maybe?
Princess Buttercup and DreadPirateRoberts Wesley from ‘Princess Bride’. Love ’em.
My favorite soul mate story would have to be Alexander & Tatiana’s from The Bronze Horseman. I cannot wait to read this book. I love this series.
Thanks for the review and the giveaway offer of 5 copies of this book! My favourite soulmate story changes all the time. Currently, I am charmed by the new BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma – so it’s my favourite soulmate story now. Emma and Mr Knightley are the truest soulmates – friends who really know each other so well who fall in love, and whose families are intertwined.
I agree with Jane that I always found Shan and Elfreya’s story much more compelling than Elly and Rain’s. I hope we get a HEA for the parents too.
I’ve been re-reading the first two books in preparation for this one and I can’t wait to start it.
As for mates, I love Sascha and Lucas from the Psy/Changeling series. I devour any new tidbits on them.
Thank you, Jane, for such a thoughtful and honest review. As everyone probably knows, this book was a real challenge for me.
I don’t disagree with anything in your review (and I do always find it fascinating to hear what appeals to different people in my books- because it’s often different than what appeals to me), except that I do think Rain and Ellie’s conflict is the absolute core to the entire series. Their romantic conflict at this point, though, is less about them loving each other (because they already *do* love each other) than about Rain helping Ellysetta find the strength to accept herself and overcome her fear – and about both of them learning to balance the dictates of their truemate bond with the dangers and sacrifices they must accept as Defenders of the Fey. To some degree, I see every other romantic conflict in the series as a reflection of their own–cautionary tales, if you will, of couples who, when faced with doubt/fear/sacrifice, have let fear guide their choices.
For the poster who wondered why she thought QUEEN was supposed to be the conclusion of the series – you weren’t imagining things. It *was* supposed to be the conclusion. But time and page count forced my editor and I to make some hard decisions in April of this year. One of those decisions was to cut my manuscript in two. It wasn’t an even split – so I still have a bit of writing to do on TAIREN SOUL, which is what I’m working on now.
Thank you to all the readers who have been so supportive of this series. And thanks again, Jane, for your review.
Yeah, I definitely see some of the other conflicts as reflections of Rain’s and Ellie’s. Talisa and Adrial, for example, are very much an example of how it could all go differently. I won’t say more, for fear of spoilers, but yeah.
I’m also looking forward to seeing how Rain and Ellie connect with the couple they saw in their vision in the river. I have my theories, but you never know. ;)
Hard to choose just one but I will go with Lucas and Sasha from Nalini Singh’s psy/changeling series.
I love this series and can’t wait to read this book. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of Belinda and Robert from Gaelen Foley’s The Duke, and Cade and Holly from Dark Desires After Dusk by Kresley Cole. Demons are dreamy…
Are you guys sure about this? Im sorry but the more you learn about the Fey the more you know what assholes they are. Rain calling Elves “pointy eared tree rats” is about as charming as someone calling African Americans “monkeys”. Lets see; The Fey have women who all heal or tend the library. Not one that has ever tried to fight her biology and become a soldier, or an explorer, because they need constant protection. In fact they are not allowed to do much without five men constantly making sure they are safe. Id rather die, I don’t know ’bout you. Rain in particular went into a rage(oh, sorry a “Rage”) and committed genocide. But thats a good thing, cos all them Mages are workin’ for the Dark side. So Kill’em all! See, genocide is ok, as long as you feel bad about it, and the people weren’t practicing the wrong kind of magic. Got it. Sounds a whole lot like what certain religious extremists have said before killing innocent people. But thats all ok because its done in the name of true love. The Fey figure that killing anything, and anyone or a thousand anyones that upsets their Special Other is perfectly acceptable. Its not like you have to look too far to see ugly in this book.
@Maxine #50. I try to stay away from defending my work. I know there are people who will like it and I know there are people who will not. But I do want to clarify a few points, since you have essentially labelled the whole series a racist, sexist, religious extremist, pro genocide work.
One of the main themes of the book is about people out of balance, needing to find that balance again. Every single race in the book has become insular and fixated on looking for the bad in people outside of their “group”. They have let fear and prejudice become a primary motivator. The Church of Light thinks magic is evil. Growing numbers of Celierians believe Fey are evil and have begun to deny that Mages were ever any sort of threat to the world (ie, they have become historical revisionists and holocaust deniers). Many of the Fey (Rain chief among them at the outset) believe that Celierians and other mortal races are too weak and unworthy, and undserving of of their support and defense. They believe all dahl’reisen are evil, all weaving of Azrahn is bad, all Eld deserve death. And yet, here comes Gaelen, proving that dahl’reisen *can* still retain honor and goodness. Gaelen weaves Azrahn–as do Rain and Ellysetta–and it hasn’t automatically turned them evil. Selianne (Ellysetta’s friend) was born to an Eld mother–yet sacrificed her life to try to save Ellysetta and her mother. Melliandra, the little Eld umagi, has been risking her own life to help Shan and Elfeya (granted, she’s hoping Shan will kill the High Mage and set her free, but she’s still taking the risk). The “we’re good/they’re bad” mentality of insular, frightened, prejudicial minds is therefore proven WRONG.
As to the Fey’s treatment of their women: the Fey women are incapable of defending themselves. They are so empathic, they would die if they had to kill. They have become walking victims, defenseless and vulnerable. Yes, outside the Fading Lands, a quintet of warriors protects them–and would die to protect them. But they are not slaves or possessions. And forgive me for pointing this out so bluntly, Maxine, but you have absolutely no idea if any Fey woman has ever bucked the system–because I’ve never written about it! (Although I did drop a hint in that brief scene in KING, where the Eye of truth shows a long-distant past in which Fey and Elvish women participated on a hunt with men.) I didn’t dwell on the subject, however, as I didn’t consider it germaine to this particular story. Ellysetta is a Tairen Soul, and therefore a defacto defender/protector of the pride, and the first Fey woman in memory capable of killing anyone without dying herself. (LOLS-climax scene.) Other Fey women can’t, but she can. The Fey’s world is changing.
Re: The scorching of the world. Rain went insane. He did an unforgiveable thing. He suffered 700 years of insanity and torment — seven centuries, 3.5x more years than he’d been alive before he scorched the world — for what he’d done. But he can’t die, can’t take his own life, because he’s the last Tairen Soul. And for 300 more (lucid!) years, he continues to suffer, haunted day and night by the voices of the dead. At the outset of LORD, all he wants to do is wait until another Tairen Soul is born so he can die. And then Rain meets Ellysetta, and for the first time in 1,000 years, he begins to make peace with what he did. He has not forgiven himself–he never will. But he cannot change the past, he can only go forward.
In regards to Rain’s scorching of the world, you claim the book’s message is “So Kill'em all! See, genocide is ok, as long as you feel bad about it, and the people [were] (sic) practicing the wrong kind of magic.” This accusation doesn’t hold water. Rain is still a Tairen Soul. He is still capapable of scorching the world again. But he has never once suggested what he did was good–or even justified–and he is not out there scorching Eld again–not even to spare all the lives he knows will be lost in the coming wars. His entire civilization is heading towards extinction, but he will risk thousands of Fey lives (including his own, and Ellysetta’s) to fight the Eld in battle rather than scorch Eld again. Does he hate the Mages? With every fiber of his being. The Mages enslave, murder, rape, denigrate, dehumanize and torture men, women, and children without a qualm. Yet you compare Rain’s hatred and destruction of them to religious genocide and the murder of innocent people? Are you serious?
As for your remark that Rain calling Elves “Pointy-eared tree rats” is as charming as calling a black person a monkey? This analogy is so offensive to me it isn’t even worthy of a response.
There *is* ugly in the Tairen Soul books. There is a lot of ugly. Just as there is a lot of ugly in life. But there is good too. I’m sorry you can’t, don’t or simply won’t see it.
Thank you for the explanation. I have to say I misunderstood. I assumed Rain wasn’t out there torching Eld because he simply did not know if he could keep it to just Eld, without going crackers and killing his own allies again. But, if you say he is doing it because he is trying to avoid devastation, then he is a good man.
The rest of it Im certainly not sold on. The Mages want dominion? That isn’t unique. The Mages torture, and kill innocents? So do the Fey. The only Fey prisoner from Eld we have heard about was tortured to death. My guess is that if the Fey had a chance to get something they wanted by torturing a lot of Mages, they wouldn’t hesitate. The Mage Claimed are complete innocents, yet they become military threats if ordered to by the Eld, right? The Fey kill ’em from infants to granddads; Or at least allow them to be killed for their benefit.
But Rain is in fact controlling himself, so then obviously he is in fact better then his adversaries, because they wouldn’t hold back.
I must be wrong.
@Maxine:
I’m not sure where you’ve ever gotten the idea that Fey torture and kill innocents. Fey have never tortured an innocent. Not even the Elden Mage was tortured. Shei’dalins Truthspoke him. Any pain inflicted was inflicted by *him* upon himself as he fought to keep him thoughts closed to the shei’dalins.
As for the rest, if you really see no difference between the actions of the Fey (who are different than the dahl’reisen, by the way) and the Mages of Eld, I don’t think there’s anything I can say to change your mind.
VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT WAITING FOR THE BIG BATTLE THROUGH OUT THE BOOK, TO BE LEFT WITH NO ENDING. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE OF THIS AUTHORS BOOKS, BECAUSE IT MADE ME MAD THAT I SPENT THAT MUCH TIME AND LEFT HANGING. WHO KNOWS IF YOU WILL DO THE BATTLE IN THE NEXT BOOK. STORY WAS EXCITING AND INTERESTING , JUST NO ENDING.