New Release 1-2-2018

The first in a new series called The Folk of the Air, The Cruel Prince sets us up with a very bloody and intense beginning. Jude and her twin sister Taryn witness the death of their parents at the hand of Madoc, a military leader from the land of Faerie who has come to exact vengeance on his ex-wife (their mother) and bring his daughter Vivienne (their older sister) back to the faerie lands.

Jude and Taryn are raised as equals to Vivi on Madoc’s estate, and he sees their education and protection as something to which he is honor bound due to the necessity of the murder of their parents. This proves as a special privilege in a land that generally kidnaps mortals for use as servants and thrall.

Vivienne was old enough to remember the mortal world and miss it, and is a terror to Madoc to make him pay for stealing her back. Jude is the rougher twin, seeking acceptance into the Courts of the High King through knighthood. Taryn seeks to fall in love and find her place among the courts through marriage.

It is also time for the crowning of a new High King, and the rules for this are magical and very specific. This first installment in the series shows us the events that lead up to this crowning, the intrigues that exist between the Courts of Faerie, and how Jude, Taryn, and Vivienne come to be wrapped up in it all.

This book was absolutely gorgeous and unexpected. It was typical fairy fantasy in parts (think Maas – Court of Thorns and Roses), but in so many others it was a new world to take in with new rules, fresh dangers, and exciting characters to discover. The story never stopped, the descriptions were rich and compelling, and you had reason to believe that all of this world might be possible just parallel to our own, through the mists above and below our lands.

Go get this book and read it. Add it to your pile of fantasy/science fiction books I have heaped upon you. You will absolutely not be disappointed.