Tagged: sebastien
Sworn to Defiance by Terah Edun
(Cover picture courtesy of Terah Edun via email.)
Ciardis Weathervane returned to the imperial court of Sandrin to unite her foes. But her efforts hit a stumbling block. The imperial kind. She never thought that before rallying an empire, she’d have to fight the emperor himself.
An imposter sits the throne and the court she turned to for help is in turmoil. Ciardis hasn’t survived assassination attempts, torture and really bad luck to be taken down by her own ruler. So she devises a plan. But first she needs to get Sebastian and Thanar to agree. Each seems to love her in their own way. But neither is listening to her. Pushing them to put aside their differences, in an effort to ward off catastrophe, might be harder than displacing an emperor who would do anything to keep his throne.
Butting heads at court isn’t Ciardis’s only problem. With the princess heir’s threat looming she is forced to travel to the mythical city of Kifar, where it is up to her small group to stop the destruction of the entire city while heading a rebellion that could foment a revolution. It wouldn’t be the first revolution that Algardis has ever known. But with Ciardis Weathervane at its head—it would certainly be the last.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
When I realized that this wasn’t the last book in the Courtlight series as I had believed it to be, I’ll admit I got a little nervous. After all, where could the story possibly go from here? It seemed like Terah Edun was wrapping things up already in Sworn to Secrecy, the fourth book. And when there were several pages of backstory right at the beginning I was even more skeptical about this fifth book.
As usual with Terah Edun, my skepticism and anxiousness was for nothing. After the initial info dump things quickly picked up and just wouldn’t let go. I had intended to only read a few chapters before bed but once I got past the exposition (which was important) I couldn’t stop and ended up finishing the book at one in the morning. Yes, the plot was that fast-paced and there were that many awesome twists. But first I’ll start with the thing that surprised me most: the characters.
Once again the characters surprised me. Ciardis is finally demanding respect from others and not caring what they think of her (unless they’re trying to kill her). She’s started to master the commanding air of her mother and is becoming knowledgeable about the intrigues of the Algardis court. And finally, finally she’s made up her mind about where she stands with Sebastien. I won’t tell you which way she decided, but let’s just say that I was both surprised and pleased with her stance until the little complication with Thanar was thrown in. Sebastien too has grown up, even though he’s only sixteen years old. He’s finally starting to take responsibility as the prince heir and is even more determined to save Algardis from the blutgott that’s threatening to destroy their entire world. He’ll do whatever it takes, even journey to a city that’s been sealed off from the rest of the world for 50 years.
Once again Terah Edun took the time to expand on her world-building just a little bit more. We finally learn more about the special connection Ciardis and Sebastien have as well as the rather unfortunate consequences of the Thanar complication coming into play. This is quite literally the most heart-wrenching, complicated and realistic love triangle you are ever going to see. I swear it’s not the typical love triangle, mainly because Ciardis is a woman that finally knows her mind but even she can’t control people like Thanar. I also liked how we finally learn that there may be a way to stop the blutgott but that it’s way more complicated and dangerous than you’d expect.
Basically, I got everything I could have wanted out of this fifth installment in the Courtlight series: romance, character development, a complicated plot and an expanded world. You really can’t ask for more in a series and after that insane cliffhanger I’m so anxious for Sworn to Ascension, book 6.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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Sworn to Secrecy by Terah Edun
(Cover picture courtesy of Terah Edun.)
In the heart of the Imperial Courts, Ciardis Weathervane knows that death is coming for the empire. With her friends by her side and the new triad of Weathervanes, she’s in a race against time to convince the courts of the same.
She must do her best to unite kith, mages, nobles and merchants under one cause – the fight to prevent a war. Soon she is forced to keep a secret that could exonerate her mother of the Empress’s death, and is always one move away from stepping into diplomatic chaos.
Throw in a daemoni prince who is showing interest in the youngest Weathervane, a jealous prince heir, and a irritated dragon with her own designs on Ciardis, and you have an imperial court in turmoil.
This fourth novel continues the story of Ciardis Weathervane from Sworn To Conflict.
[Full disclosure: I was given a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
You could argue that Sworn to Secrecy is just a big set up for the final book Sworn to Defiance but then you’d be wrong. There’s important stuff going on in this one and this fourth book is my favourite in the Courtlight series so far.
Let’s talk about the characters first. Ciardis has really grown up from the overwhelmed country girl in a city, although she does occasionally get overwhelmed. Her mother Lillian is absolutely fascinating and I love how she slowly reveals her backstory and the true events of the night the empress was killed.
I also like that Terah Edun didn’t make Ciardis and Lillian immediately fall into a happy-go-lucky mother-daughter relationship. There’s still some lingering resentments on Ciardis’ side because of her mother’s abandonment and Lillian is still kind of awkward around her children, as if she’s unsure how to be a mother after so many years. My favourite character other than Ciardis in this one was Thanar, the daemoni prince. He’s the snarky type of actual bad boy that I like rather than your stereotypical bad boys with pretty much nothing to angst about.
The plot was incredibly fast-paced but not at the price of world-building and character development. We learn so much about Ciardis’ world in this one and old plots are being slowly revealed. There’s conspiracies going on here and they reach all the way up to the highest authority in the land: the emperor. I was genuinely surprised at the plot twist about him but in hindsight it does make a lot of sense.
Another plot development I liked was, again surprisingly, the love triangle between Sebastien, Ciardis and Thanar. It felt organic and I love how Ciardis is genuinely confused about whether she really has feelings for Sebastien, who constantly seems to be pushing her away. I won’t give much more away but let’s just say it’s an interesting dynamic and it’s not your typical love triangle.
Basically, Sworn to Secrecy was a pretty awesome penultimate book to a series that keeps improving with each book. It’s going to be hard for Terah Edun to wrap things up in the final book but with the way her writing keeps improving I have faith in her.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Sworn to Transfer by Terah Edun
(Cover picture courtesy of Terah Edun.)
Companion trainee Ciardis Weathervane has won the friendship of the royal heir and saved his claim to the throne. Yet her interference in the inheritance rights leaves more harm done than good. With the death of the Princess Heir, the Ameles forest – the home of the kith, is dying. The inhabitants of the forest, magic-wielding non-humans, are defiant. They have not forgotten their long struggles nor are they content to watch as the last of their lands perish. As humans begin to die in gruesome deaths, the Emperor dispatches the royal heir to the forests with the solution to the kith concerns.
With enemies closing ranks in Sandrin, Ciardis can little afford to leave the city’s nest of vipers to take on a new task. But she’s given no choice when her loyalty to the crown and courts are called into question.
To keep the Companions’ Guild happy and the favor of the Imperial Court, Ciardis will be tested in frightening new ways, especially when she’s faced with an obstacle that could risk the lives of her friends and the family she never thought she had.
This second novel continues the story of Ciardis Weathervane from Sworn To Raise.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from Terah Edun in exchange for an honest review.]
Some authors never improve, but Terah Edun is not one of them. Instead, in Sworn to Transfer she fixed pretty much everything that was wrong with the last book. The pacing was much better because everything was slowed down to a manageable but interesting speed and the villain wasn’t such a caricature as in Sworn to Raise.
What I liked the most about Sworn to Transfer is how Ciardis’ character has developed over time. You can tell that although she keeps getting in trouble with the Companions’ Guild for breaking protocol, overall she’s far more sure of herself and her powers. At the same time, things are a little more awkward between Ciardis and Sebastien. You can tell they’re starting to develop feelings for each other, but they’re still not sure just how to express them. At least they’re not falling in Insta-Love, but rather their love is growing organically.
What I really liked were the plot twists. The huge jaw-dropping twist at the end was completely unexpected but made sense. In addition to that shocker, there were several little turns of events that kept me reading late into the night. I don’t want to give anything away so let’s just say that every character has their secrets and they aren’t exactly eager to share them with Ciardis, the wild card in the Imperial Court.
If you enjoyed Sworn to Raise you’ll love Sworn to Transfer even more. The extended world-building, the character development and the evenly paced plot make it a huge improvement over the last book. And although there are some moments where the plot drags, when you finish the book you’ll be begging for the next one to come out.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.