Gwen’s review of Lord of the Fading Lands (Tairen Soul Series, Book 1) and Lady of Light and Shadows (Tairen Soul Series, Book 2) by C.L. Wilson
Paranormal/fantasy romance published by Leisure 2 & 30 Oct 07

I wrestled with how to review these two books.  When I read one of Wilson’s interviews, I figured out why it was so difficult: she wrote these two books originally as one really large book and, presumably for publishing purposes, she had to split them. It is truly difficult to review these as two separate books, the story is just too vast. 

Well.  Vast and yet very narrow.  The pacing of the books is very deliberate and extraordinarily slow.  Both books take place over only about a three week period.  So imagine almost 800 pages of text discussing three weeks and you get an idea of to what level of detail Wilson discusses the characters’ daily events.  All that was missing was every fart and burp.  And I say that with only the utmost of admiration of the world Wilson has created.  Which takes me to the “vast” part of my statement.

Wilson has created an amazing world in these books.  It’s a world that is rich with history and atmosphere.  You can practically see the city where most of the books take place.  The secondary characters are complex people/beings and the villains are truly evil.  The level of detail is a bit astonishing.

You may wish for the books’ pace to pick up, but they’re still very fun to read.  In addition to rich detail, you have a wonderful love story with Rain and Ellie.  I’m really looking forward to the next installments, coming at the end of next year.

Grade (both books): B+

LofFL blurb:

Long ago, in the magical holocaust known as the Mage Wars, the immortal Fey and their allies fought to defeat the grasping evil of the Elden Mages and their dark-gifted supporters. During those wars, in a fit of grief-induced madness caused by the death of his mate, Fey shapeshifter Rain Tairen Soul nearly destroyed the world in a blaze of tairen fire.

Now, a thousand years later, the fierce Fey king must fight to save his race from the brink of extinction and once again stop the evil rising in the homeland of his enemies, the Eld. The key to his success lies in the mortal city of Celieria, where the Mage Wars began, and with a young woman whose soul sings to him in ways no woman ever has, whose presence reawakens the primal fury of the tairen within his soul, and whose vast, untapped power can either save or destroy him and his people.

LotFL excerpt.

LoLaS blurb:

Since her earliest memories, Ellysetta Baristani has feared magic, even as she has been inexorably drawn to all things Fey, especially the poetry and legends of Rain Tairen Soul. Now claimed as Rain’s truemate and no longer able to deny her own magic, Ellysetta is swept into the very center of a struggle filled with the magic and darkness she has always feared. The High Mage of Eld wants to capture her. The most murderous dahl-reisen who ever lived wants her dead. And her enemies will corrupt even the people she loves most in their quest to claim her magic for themselves.

LoLaS excerpt.

What’s next for this author:

Third and fourth books in the Tairen Soul Series, published by Dorchester Publishing.  Tentatively titled King of Sword and Sky (Oct ’08) and Queen of Song and Souls (Nov ’08), the books conclude the epic adventures of Rain Tairen Soul and his truemate Ellysetta Baristani.