Just Finished Reading .. Crown of Embers

If you're here for Bloggiesta -- welcome! Just click here to read about my mini-challenge -- or just scroll down one post.

Crown of Embers
By Rae Carson
Published by Greenwillow Books
on September 18, 2012

Source: ARC swapped with a friend





My summary: Since becoming a queen at age 17, Elisa has faced many trials and challenges. But there are even more to come. After repeated attempts on her life, Elisa must figure out whom to trust, how to rule, and where to learn about the special powers granted to her by her Godstone. She'll have to tread carefully, navigating court intrigue, enemies, and the perils of falling in love.

My take: If you read this blog regularly, you know that I'm not a big fantasy reader. My rule is this: if you're going to stick me in a strange place with a bunch of new stuff I have to keep straight, you better also offer me characters that win my heart and a strong plot with some exciting twists and turns. Yeah, I'm demanding like that.

So I always open fantasy books feeling a little bit grumbly. Crown of Embers starts with a dramatic bang, then I had to remember what had been going on in book one -- there isn't much recap, and it took me a few chapters to orient myself.

But then, WOW -- I was hooked. Suddenly, all the reasons I loved Girl of Fire and Thorns came rushing back to me, and I read through breakfast and forgot to take a shower.

One of my favorite things about Girl of Fire and Thorns was its character development. I love a kickbutt girl as much as anyone, but what I love even more is when a book shows us that a kickbutt girl is made, not born. In Girl of Fire and Thorns, Elisa starts out sheltered and naive. She's married off to a king who doesn't love her, is thrown into court life, and has a lot to figure out.

In Crown of Embers, she has to learn how to be not just a queen, but a ruler. She has to learn how to control the power in her Godstone. She has to decide with whom to ally herself. And she has to do this before mysterious assassins succeed in killing her.

I was surprised at the turn that the romance took in Girl of Fire and Thorns. Really surprised. As Crown of Embers started, I could see right away where the romance train was headed. Let's just say that having one character teach another to spar is getting them halfway to first base in my book. But then this nascent love story took on some very unexpected twists and turns, which is exactly what a good fictional romance should do. Well done!

The worldbuilding in these books is excellent. In my opinion, worldbuilding is the quicksand of fantasy writing. Give us too little detail and the story seems thin and confusing. Give us too much, and we're bogged down in unnecessary information.

If you've never read this series, I highly recommend you try Girl of Fire and Thorns. It's $2.99 right now on Kindle !

If you've read and loved Girl of Fire and Thorns, I think you'll love Crown of Embers!  If you're dying to read it, you might want to stop by Freebie Friday tomorrow. Just saying!

Tell me what you think in comments? Have you read either of these? How do you feel about reading fantasy?