C. L. Wilson

Rainier vel'En Daris Feyreisen, the Tairen Soul, King of the Fading Lands, and Defender of the Fey has got to do something to save his people. There is only one fertile female Tairen, and her offspring are dying inside their eggs. His people are dying, his land is barren, and there is nothing he can do about it. Desperate for a cure, Rain seeks out one of the more powerful Fey objects, a magical crystal called the Eye of Truth. After punishing him for having the audacity to seek answers from show more such a holy object, the Eye tells Rain that she salvation of his people and himself lies in a land called Celieria and shows him the image of a red-haired, green-eyed girl. Though he hates that cursed land since it reminds him of love lost and battles fought long ago, Rain decides to accompany Marissya, the only remaining female Fey, on her trip to Celieria in the hopes of finding the girl and saving his people.

this is basically a romantic fantasy, much more relationship oriented than most fantasy, but it is too deeply steeped in the traditions and worldbuilding of fantasy for anyone to label it as purely romance with a few fantastic elements. Make no mistake about that. The whole plot is rife with mages, magical powers, non-human races, flying venemous fire-breathing dragon-cats, and is set in a world other than our own. It's fantasy, albeit one a bit heavy on the romance.

Ellysetta Baristani is the peasant daughter of a woodcarver in Celieria. She is not the biological child of this family, but they found her in the woods and raised her as their own. Ellie has never felt that she was anything but a full member of the Baristani family, even though there is a darkness inside her that she struggles to contain. When it is learned that the Tairen Soul is coming to Celieria, Ellie's younger twin sisters ask her to accompany them to the ceremony. No one has seen the King of the Fey in more than a thousand years, and Ellie acquiesces to her sister's demands. In the crowded mass of people gathered to see the visiting Fey, one of Ellie's sisters is injured. When she kisses her sister's wound to make it better, the spark of magic between them calls the Tairen Soul from the sky and changes Ellie's life forever.

The only way I can sum it up is to say that this book is insanely fun. show less

King of Sword and Sky is the third book in C. L. Wilson’s Tairen Soul series. As before, it picks up where the last book, Lady of Light and Shadow left off. Now certain that the Elden Mages have reawakened and are planning to attack, the Fey King, Rain, his Truemate, Ellysetta, and their entourage are making their way toward the relative safety of the Fading Lands. But first, they must pass through the Faering Mists that protect their land, and no one is sure how the Mists will react to show more Ellie who is Mage Marked or to her lu’tan, Gaelen, who was once a soulless dahl’reisen until Ellie healed him. Once they’re back in the Fading Lands, Rain must begin planning strategy for the war with Eld that he knows is imminent while still helping Ellie realize the full strength of her powers. Ellie continues her training, both with a chatok, someone who normally mentors soldiers, and with a shei’dalin, who helps her focus her healing abilities. Rain and Ellie also pay a visit to the Tairen lair where they join the pride in grieving a great loss and Ellie begins her search for a way to save the kitlings who are dying in the egg. Rain must also deal with political forces amongst the Fey who challenge his ability to lead and distrust his Truemate because of her Marks. Together, Rain and Ellie lift each other up and share their love and strength with one another through all the difficult times as they prepare for the worst they know is yet to come. But their greatest tests will be in their efforts to save the Tairen and to fend off the first attacks from Eld.

As always, I adore Rain, the King of the Fading Lands, Defender of the Fey, and the one and only Tairen Soul. He’s such a strong leader to his people even if some of them don’t see it or fully support him. He shows, not only strength, but wisdom and the power of the Tairen in all his dealings. He loves Ellysetta to distraction but is patient in waiting for the time when their Truemate bond will be complete and fully tie their souls together. In the meantime, he does everything he can to ensure that Ellie has what she needs to fulfill the prophecy foretold by the Eye of Truth that she would save both the Tairen and the Fey, and to prepare her for the war to come. He also makes sure she’s accepted by the Tairen pride as one of their own. We get to see him in so many different capacities in this chapter of the story, both as King and as Tairen Soul. His wisdom is on display in his willingness to buck tradition in order to give his people the greatest chance of survival, as well as in the way he supports Ellie’s efforts to save the Tairen. I love how he insists that all the big decisions they make will be done together and that they’ll share the burden of any fallout from them. The power he wields as the Tairen Soul is also on full display, both in his interactions with the Tairen and on the battlefield. Whether in the relative peace of the Fading Lands or in the chaos of war, Rain is unquestionably the leader the Fey need in order to make it through the coming crisis.

I still love Ellysetta, too. A part of her is the same sweet girl we met in the first book, but she’s been steadily growing into her new role as Rain’s Truemate. Her powers continue to develop as well, but she still must learn how to control them, so that she can use them more effectively. Ellie’s father chooses to honor her late mother’s request to raise her sisters in Celeria, so they remain on the human side of the border with the Fading Lands, which makes Ellie a little sad to leave them behind. But she still always has Rain with her through their bond, and she has her Fey guards, Bel and Gaelen, and gains many more loyal lu’tans when she exercises her healing powers to help them in the same way she did Bel. When Ellie and Rain face opposition to her presence in the Fading Lands, it’s difficult for her, but she handles it with grace and dignity. Ellie’s first meeting with the Tairen is a success and her connection with them proves strong. She senses the kitlings still in their eggs are dying, but no one knows why, so she tirelessly sets out to find a way to save them. It takes some thinking outside the box and doing things that could make the Fey Council even more upset, but she willingly takes that chance. She also doesn’t hesitate to risk her life and being Mage Marked again in order to ensure they’ll live. Ellie experiences a lot of growth in this part of the story, which only makes her an even more perfect mate for Rain.

King of Sword and Sky is a little slower paced than the first two books, what I’d call the calm before the storm. It mostly follows Rain and Ellie as they return to the Fading Lands and Ellie becomes acclimated to being the Fey Queen and Rain’s Truemate, as well as learning how to better control her powers. It also follows their quest to save both the Tairen and the Fey, with Rain preparing for the inevitable war with Eld and Ellie doing everything in her power to save the Tairen kitlings. However, despite the slower pace and there perhaps being a few less profound revelations in this part of the story, I was never bored at all. I just love inhabiting this world that is so imaginative. As always the world-building is superb, better than virtually any other paranormal or fantasy romance series I can recall reading. The plotting is excellent as well. Things may unfold more slowly but everything ties together into a beautiful cohesive whole that was a pleasure to read. It just takes a lot of build-up to get to the final chapters where most of the more exciting things occur. There are some tense, edge-of-your-seat moments as Ellie puts her plan to save the kitlings into action and Elden mages and their minions make their first incursions into Celeria. There’s also a confrontation between Rain and the Massan (Fey Council) that will undoubtedly have repercussions in future books. Since the beginning, I’ve loved how this series melds together the various races of this world, the creatures, magic, politics, and religion into a fascinating package that’s so much fun to read. It was exciting finally getting to see the Fading Lands alongside Rain and Ellie and to finally meet the powerful Tairen and learn more about their culture. This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger with the war having just begun, so it’s left me extremely eager to pick up the next one, Queen of Song and Souls. I loved every minute I spent reading this book and was sad to see it end. I can’t begin to express how wonderful this series is or praise it highly enough. show less

LORD OF THE FADING LANDS sounded so promising: sexy, soul-scarred Fey shifter who falls in love with a human woman, born into a culture hostile towards his kind? A fated romance beset by political intrigues and an evil dark lord? Awesome, I’m in.

The book gets started when Rain, the Fey shifter, consults an oracle that sends him to Celieria, the heroine Elysetta’s home town, just as her parents sign a betrothal agreement pledging her to a total creep, Den.

There are all sorts of show more undercurrents with the betrothal – Ellie is one of those “not traditionally pretty” girls who’d be a modern-day supermodel, tall and thin with “too wide,” “too red” lips, bright green eyes and curly red hair. She’s felt ugly and unwanted all her life, partly because of her looks but equally because she’s got a history of “seizures” that were cast as demon-possession and treated with horrific exorcisms.

Ellie’s seizures pushed her mother to extreme religious devotion, and – closely related – a strong dislike of the Fey. It’s really the mother’s idea to marry Ellie to Den, because even though Ellie hates the guy, her mom thinks Den is “normal” and that’s good enough.

The mom pretty much invites Den force himself on Ellie. Even though Ellie resists Den’s advances he’s able to take liberties which force her into the betrothal. I found the mother hard to understand; she seems to love Ellie and want the best for her, but mostly acts as though she hates Ellie and wants to make her miserable. I was hoping to dig deeper into the mother’s motivations, but it seems we're just supposed to accept the contradiction between her feelings and her actions.

Then Rain arrives on the scene, claims Ellie and announces that the betrothal is void. So that’s a pretty tangle, right? Seemed like the conflicting pressures of familial love, romantic love, legal complications, deep-dark-secrets and religious prejudice could brew up a heady conflict for Rain and Ellie. Add in some court intrigue and it should have been a thrilling ride. Unfortunately...not much happens. I found myself thinking, over and over again, “OK, that’s cool, now when’s the good stuff going to start?”

The answer? Never.

Instead we get pages and pages about planning Ellie’s wedding. Which…seriously? This is tedious enough to deal with in real life, I don’t want to read about it. Yet somehow, with the evil dark lord on the loose and the villains plotting and the prideful queen who thinks Ellie is an upstart, there’s still plenty of time to sit around unwrapping presents and debate bouquets. When Ellie isn’t preparing for her wedding she’s...preparing for other parties! Exciting, right? What will she wear? Can she learn to dance in time? If you think this sounds like a fun story rather than a tedious distraction, LORD OF THE FADING LANDS is the book for you.

The romance, too, had the potential to be interesting. Rain once scorched the world when his beloved died. He’s not certain whether he can – or wants to – love again. When he recognizes Ellie as his truemate, he’s not immediately thrilled. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the bond to change his mind. Soon he’s utterly devoted, so much so that his number one desire in the world is convincing Ellie to return his feelings.

For her part, Ellie's dreamed of the Fey and having a truemate of her own since she was a child. She puts up a token resistance but it’s not clear why, since (a) Rain is better than Den and (b) she really likes him and (c) he’s her dream man. So there’s no conflict to the romance – only Ellie’s prudery, which I found annoying. She’s twenty-four but acts like she’s fifteen, putting up a fuss every time Rain kisses her, bashful and ignorant about any kind of physical intimacy.

The crazy thing is that I got to the end of the book and I was still thinking, “Oh, man, after all this buildup, book two is probably full of all kinds of crazy stuff…” And then I remembered the old maxim, "fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me," and decided against continuing with this series. One book full of non-events is enough. show less

Lord of the Fading Lands is the first book in C. L. Wilson’s epic fantasy romance series, Tairen Soul. Rain is the king of the Fey and the Tairen Soul. But both the Fey and the Tairen are dying out and Rain is at a loss as to how to save them. When he asks the Eye of Truth what he can do, the answer he receives is the image of a young woman of Celieria, the human realm, so he begins the journey there to find her. Elysetta is the daughter of a woodcarver, who is fascinated by stories of the show more Fey. When they hear of Rain’s visit, the first time he’s come to Celieria in a thousand years, she’s eager to take her two little sisters to see the Tairen Soul in person. Before he ever reached Celieria, Rain heard Ellie’s soul cry out to him and now knows that she’s his truemate, so after seeing her in the crowd and saving her from being trampled, he claims her as his own. However, what he doesn’t know is that she’s already been betrothed to someone else, and getting that betrothal overturned could cause an international political incident. Even once he does, he’ll have to court Ellie and win her over so that she will accept their truemate bond. And then there are their enemies who are out to destroy them. Rain has sensed that the Elden Mages are once again rising in power and Ellie may not be as human as she seems. Together they will have to fight off the Mages’ dark sorcery, while Ellie battles the darkness inside her in order to find true happiness and peace.

Rainier is the Feyreisen, the King of the Fey, and the Tairen Soul, able to shape-shift into a Tairen, a great winged, fire-breathing cat. The Fey and the Tairen are dependent upon one another and both are dying out. Rain knows he must do something to save them, so when he receives the vision of Ellie in the Eye of Truth, he doesn’t hesitate to go looking for her. Rain’s exploits are legendary, but he’s also feared, for he once loved a woman with such great passion that when Sariel was murdered, he went mad with Fey Wilding Rage and scorched the entire land, killing thousands. However, Sariel was merely the mate of his heart and not a truemate. Every Tairen Soul before him has walked alone and none ever had a truemate until Rain senses Ellie. Once he claims her and discovers that she’s already betrothed, he won’t take no for an answer when it comes to breaking that betrothal. Although it’s difficult to rein in the beast within him, he uses diplomacy to get his way, but in doing so, he makes an enemy of the man who is set aside. Although Rain has sensed the rising power of the Elden Mages, he has no idea that one is in Celieria, manipulating people and trying to get to Ellie. Surrounded by foes, he’ll have his work cut out for him keeping his shei’tani safe until their wedding day while winning over her heart. Rain is just too cool for words! A hero who can shift into a giant cat dragon? Yes, please!;-) Not to mention, he’s an honorable man who takes his role as the Feyreisen very seriously, as well as protecting Ellie and everyone who is important to him. Although he dropped out of the sky, scooped Ellie up, and claimed her as his truemate, she still has a choice in the matter as to whether she’ll ultimately accept the truemate bond, which is more than I can say for her first betrothal. He also courts her very sweetly, and even though it’s difficult to keep the beast inside in check, he wouldn’t dream of breaking his oath to leave her physically untouched until their wedding, although he has some fun, magical ways of getting around it.;-) So overall, Rain was a hero I really fell for.

Elysetta was found abandoned in the woods as a baby and taken in by a simple woodcarver and his wife. Her parents are good and loving, but when they invite a young man over to court her—one she doesn’t care for at all—he takes advantage and marks her (a kind of love bite). According to (rather backwards, if you ask me) Celierian law, this automatically makes her his betrothed even if she didn’t consent. She prays to the Lord of Light to send her someone—anyone—else and gets Rain. At first, she isn’t sure what to make of his claiming her. She’s spent most of her life enthralled by the tales of the Fey and Rain himself, so on the one hand, it’s an honor that he would even want a plain, simple girl like herself, but on the other, it’s all rather overwhelming. Then there are the nightmares, seizures, and dark visions that have plagued her all her life to the point that her mother even once tried to have her exorcised. She’d gotten it under control through meditation, but the stress of suddenly being declared Rain’s shei’tani and planning the wedding starts to make these things crop up again, along with strange magical things that start to happen around her. Rain soon realizes his beloved isn’t entirely human, but when he learns the entire story of her background, Ellie fears he may no longer want her. Ellie is the epitome of sweetness, gentleness, and light, She loves her family deeply and tries to do what her parents say. But at the same time, she has a quiet strength and a fighting spirit within her that some don’t see. Aside from her fiery red hair, she believes herself to be quite ordinary, which is partly why she hasn’t had many suitors. When the handsome King of the Fey drops out of the sky and claims her as his truemate, she has a hard time understanding why he’d want her, but she embraces him nonetheless. I absolutely loved Ellie. She’s an intriguing character with many layers that I enjoyed peeling back and discovering.

I recall when Lord of the Fading Lands was first released, it was all the rage among romance readers. With so many glowing reviews, I didn’t hesitate to put it on my TBR list. However, it’s taken me a long time to get around to reading it. Part of that is because I have so many books I want to read that some just get lost in the shuffle. However, it might also have partly been because I’ve never felt strongly drawn to fey stories. I don’t know why, but boy am I glad that I put my reservations aside to give this one a try. It turned out to be an incredibly well-written story that grabbed me from the opening pages and didn’t let go. I can scarcely believe that it was C. L. Wilson’s first published book. I love the fantasy world that she’s built filled with romance, political intrigue, and spiritual elements, along with action and adventure. It’s part fairy-tale Cinderella story and part epic high fantasy. I loved Rain and Ellie together and think they’re only going to grow into an even more formidable couple than they were in this book. In fact, there are many characters in the book, all of whom add to the story with their own unique personalities, perhaps none more so than Ellie’s family and her handsome, brave Quintet of Fey warrior protectors. When I picked it up, I didn’t realize that the series follows the same couple throughout. So, this first book ends with much still unresolved. There are the Elden Mages who are out to do great evil, there’s Ellie’s background that has yet to be fully plumbed, the dahl’reisen, Fey warriors who’ve given themselves over to the darkness and are being blamed for a spate of murders, a wedding to celebrate, and a truemate bond yet to be accepted. I’m already dying to learn what happens next and can’t wait to continue the series as soon as I can fit the next book into my reading schedule, which will definitely be sooner rather than later. show less