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A review by angstypickles
Queen of Song and Souls by C.L. Wilson
4.0
*This review contains spoilers for all four books of the series.*
So this is the latest book in the Tairen Soul series. The fifth and final book should be coming out some time later this year. This series is more like one really long book. The main characters are all the same; the subsequent books start off exactly where the previous books left off. If you don’t start at the first one and read them consecutively, you’ll pretty much be clueless about what’s going on and who the secondary characters are.
I was hesitant to read this series at first. I’d heard good things about it and although I try not to judge a book by its cover (or its movie), I thought the artwork on the first cover was really cheesy. Despite that, I got the book from PaperBackSwap, but I did let it sit on my shelves for a while. Once I started, I got really into it, though! C.L. Wilson has done a great job with the world-building and her characters are awesome, even the bad ones. (Incidentally, I think all of the subsequent covers are lovely.)
This is fantasy-romance and it has the general coming-of-age fantasy premise. The overall plotline is very clichéd. The main character, Ellysetta, is found in the woods as an infant and adopted by a wood carver and his wife. Of course she comes from mysterious parentage and it’s revealed that she has immense power and the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. She’s the first truemate of a Tairen Soul in the history of the Fey and her husband is the most powerful warrior in all the Fey. She’s the first female Tairen Soul ever born. She started out as shy, awkward, and plain, but her appearance was later revealed to be a glamour that hid her overwhelming beauty. She can do things no other Fey woman can do. And the BAD GUY is her FATHER. (Well, technically, the father of her soul, not her flesh, but same difference.) AND THEN we discover that her real parents are the most legendary truemate pair ever and her biological father was the most fearsome warrior of all time, to the extent that he was given the ultra-cheesy nickname, “Lord Death.” She is very much a Mary Sue. I forgive it a bit because she‘s definitely not beloved by all, and, if you’ve read the books, you’d know that she was essentially created by the villain (Vadim Maur) to be supremely powerful and awesome because he plans on taking over her body the next time he incarnates. Still, there are times when I have to roll my eyes because she is just SO SPECIAL and hundreds of warriors would lay down their lives to defend her.
I do like Ellie in spite of all that, though. She’s a good character. Her truemate, Rain, is cool, too, but he’s not my favorite Fey. I actually think she would make a better couple with Gaelen or even Bel, but whatever. Rain isn’t bad and I’d probably be all hot and bothered for him, too. Although they’re fated, she can technically walk away from him, but why would she? He's gorgeous and powerful and honorable, and she knows that if she doesn’t complete their bond and allow him access to her soul, he’ll eventually start suffering from bond madness and die. Not many women would walk away from this beautiful Fey warrior’s eternal love, devotion, and protection. On top of that, she would never be able to have children with anyone but him because of the way their bond works.
The plot can be summed up by saying that Ellie is the key to saving the world...or destroying it. She has to figure out a way to tip the scales toward the Light, otherwise the world will be overtaken by the Dark. There are lots of other small things - Ellie has to complete her bond with Rain before his bond madness kills him, she has to accept her inner-Tairen so she can go through First Change and morph into a Tairen, she has to rescue her parents from the Eld, and the fates of dozens of secondary characters need to be resolved.
Out of other characters, I really, really love Gaelen. He was formerly known as the “Dark Lord,” but Ellie restored his soul and he’s an awesome character. After him, I love Bel most. Unfortunately, since Ellie saved both their souls, they made blood oaths to her, which means that they can’t find their own truemates in this life because their souls won’t recognize another bond while tied to hers. So there won’t be any romantic happy endings for them this time around, but they have a better chance of finding their truemates in their next lives. And from what I understand from C.L. Wilson's website, she's planning books for both of them.
I’m looking forward to the last book, [b:The Crown of Crystal Flame|7724257|The Crown of Crystal Flame (Tairen Soul Series, #5)|C.L. Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267480071s/7724257.jpg|7363726], which has a release date for October of this year. I want to know what happens to everyone and I’d like to see Rain and Ellie complete their bond. He is very much a tortured hero, the type I adore, so he does deserve his HEA. I wish the book was already out. I hate the waiting between books in a series, especially for the last book!
So this is the latest book in the Tairen Soul series. The fifth and final book should be coming out some time later this year. This series is more like one really long book. The main characters are all the same; the subsequent books start off exactly where the previous books left off. If you don’t start at the first one and read them consecutively, you’ll pretty much be clueless about what’s going on and who the secondary characters are.
I was hesitant to read this series at first. I’d heard good things about it and although I try not to judge a book by its cover (or its movie), I thought the artwork on the first cover was really cheesy. Despite that, I got the book from PaperBackSwap, but I did let it sit on my shelves for a while. Once I started, I got really into it, though! C.L. Wilson has done a great job with the world-building and her characters are awesome, even the bad ones. (Incidentally, I think all of the subsequent covers are lovely.)
This is fantasy-romance and it has the general coming-of-age fantasy premise. The overall plotline is very clichéd. The main character, Ellysetta, is found in the woods as an infant and adopted by a wood carver and his wife. Of course she comes from mysterious parentage and it’s revealed that she has immense power and the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. She’s the first truemate of a Tairen Soul in the history of the Fey and her husband is the most powerful warrior in all the Fey. She’s the first female Tairen Soul ever born. She started out as shy, awkward, and plain, but her appearance was later revealed to be a glamour that hid her overwhelming beauty. She can do things no other Fey woman can do. And the BAD GUY is her FATHER. (Well, technically, the father of her soul, not her flesh, but same difference.) AND THEN we discover that her real parents are the most legendary truemate pair ever and her biological father was the most fearsome warrior of all time, to the extent that he was given the ultra-cheesy nickname, “Lord Death.” She is very much a Mary Sue. I forgive it a bit because she‘s definitely not beloved by all, and, if you’ve read the books, you’d know that she was essentially created by the villain (Vadim Maur) to be supremely powerful and awesome because he plans on taking over her body the next time he incarnates. Still, there are times when I have to roll my eyes because she is just SO SPECIAL and hundreds of warriors would lay down their lives to defend her.
I do like Ellie in spite of all that, though. She’s a good character. Her truemate, Rain, is cool, too, but he’s not my favorite Fey. I actually think she would make a better couple with Gaelen or even Bel, but whatever. Rain isn’t bad and I’d probably be all hot and bothered for him, too. Although they’re fated, she can technically walk away from him, but why would she? He's gorgeous and powerful and honorable, and she knows that if she doesn’t complete their bond and allow him access to her soul, he’ll eventually start suffering from bond madness and die. Not many women would walk away from this beautiful Fey warrior’s eternal love, devotion, and protection. On top of that, she would never be able to have children with anyone but him because of the way their bond works.
The plot can be summed up by saying that Ellie is the key to saving the world...or destroying it. She has to figure out a way to tip the scales toward the Light, otherwise the world will be overtaken by the Dark. There are lots of other small things - Ellie has to complete her bond with Rain before his bond madness kills him, she has to accept her inner-Tairen so she can go through First Change and morph into a Tairen, she has to rescue her parents from the Eld, and the fates of dozens of secondary characters need to be resolved.
Out of other characters, I really, really love Gaelen. He was formerly known as the “Dark Lord,” but Ellie restored his soul and he’s an awesome character. After him, I love Bel most. Unfortunately, since Ellie saved both their souls, they made blood oaths to her, which means that they can’t find their own truemates in this life because their souls won’t recognize another bond while tied to hers. So there won’t be any romantic happy endings for them this time around, but they have a better chance of finding their truemates in their next lives. And from what I understand from C.L. Wilson's website, she's planning books for both of them.
I’m looking forward to the last book, [b:The Crown of Crystal Flame|7724257|The Crown of Crystal Flame (Tairen Soul Series, #5)|C.L. Wilson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267480071s/7724257.jpg|7363726], which has a release date for October of this year. I want to know what happens to everyone and I’d like to see Rain and Ellie complete their bond. He is very much a tortured hero, the type I adore, so he does deserve his HEA. I wish the book was already out. I hate the waiting between books in a series, especially for the last book!