Review: Beautifully written novella
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 29, 2014
I'm not a great reader of novellas, but I LOVED this one!I was drawn right in from the opening lines, which lured me into thinking this was going to be a sweet story - a notion of which I was quickly disabused as the reality of Princess Leenaka's gilded cage was thrust violently into the foreground.One of a long line of royal daughters, she witnesses the first cruel step in the process of turning her innocent five-year-old brother into a vicious tyrant like their father. This is the catalyst for her plans to escape, for she has done the unthinkable and fallen in love with a common soldier.The inevitability of the coming tragedy in no way detracts from the exquisite build up of tension, leading me to harbour a fervent hope that Leena and Mikza really might escape, whilst at the same time knowing full well that there can be only one outcome.The writing is glorious, flowing seamlessly with only a couple of tiny glitches (homophones), and I was totally drawn into Leena's character and her sheltered and smothered existence. There is love here, and horror and violence also, in the vein of Game of Thrones, and I was captivated from start to finish.The end came far too soon, with a couple of unanswered questions (Leena's magical gift, for one, seemed to have little bearing on this story but will obviously be important later), meaning I just had to go right on and read The Shadow Soul - to which this is a short prequel - immediately.I am now waiting impatiently for the next book after that one