Born of Defiance

Born of Defiance

Everyone knows that Sherrilyn Kenyon is my FAVORITE author of all time and I read everything she writes. I’m a huge fan but probably not as gung-ho as some of her other fans. Her Facebook page always has people dressing up as her characters (mainly Simi from the Dark Hunter series) and even getting tattoos…Now that is some sincere idol worship. I’m too fat to dress up as Simi and too poor to get a tattoo but I have drawn a few of the characters before. Maybe I’ll share them one day when I find them in my overstuffed garage.

This book is the 7th book in ‘The League’ series. Well, it is the 8th according to Goodreads but the 7th according to Amazon and the 9th according to Sherrilyn Kenyon's website. Since show more there are two timelines in the League Series which Sherrilyn describes and Gen 1 and Gen 2, the reading order could vary.

There is some complicated things going on in this book. It’s been just under a year since I’ve read the previous book in the series so I had to remember who some of the characters were and try to figure out when this book happened in the timeline of the story. Sherrilyn has built up a complex world here with many planets, humanoid species and governments. To govern it all, The League was formed when a tyrant tried to rule the solar system. The League became full of corruption though and became a tyrant in itself. It has trained assassins who work with various governments across the planets who go out and kill anyone who opposes them. Because of the corruption, a new alliance was formed to fight against the injustices of The League called the Sentella made up of various species and classes of people, most hide their identities and keep up their own lives outside of the Sentella.

The last book in this series was about Dancer Hauk, an Andarian. It went into the culture, society and politics of the Andarian race which is pretty messed up, mostly because of their corrupt royal family and their twisted rules and beliefs.

This book is about Talyn Batur. Talyn was born a bastard whose father is an outcast and like most societies, bastards get treated poorly but his father was from one of the greatest bloodlines of his people and if just one of his paternal family members would have stepped forward and claimed him, he would have high up in society. His mother is of a great bloodline, the Winged Blood Clan Batur, but that doesn’t help him much. Talyn has suffered the ridicule and rules of his people all of his life. He had to attend school with another race of people who hated Andarians. He entered the military but because of his low birth, the only way he could advance was to agree to fight in the public arena. He is the champion of that sport now but it doesn’t do him much good now that he has a new commanding officer who hates him. His C.O., Chrisen Anatole, is the great nephew of the queen and enjoys messing with Talyn and making his life hell.

It is illegal for Talyn to ever marry or have children. Most whore houses won’t even allow Talyn to enter because of his low status. Every relationship in Andaria requires a contract whether it be a couple living together or a marriage so when Talyn sees an ad with a beautiful woman on it for a companion agency, he contacts the agency for a contract with her.

Felicia is also a bastard but her father claimed her and she was born while her mother and father were in a legal contract. Her father is an advisor to the queen and has a high standing in society. He was married but contracted with Felicia’s mother as a legal companion. Felicia wants to be a physician and has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a companion in order to pay for her schooling and since there isn’t many other options open for a person of her caste.

She jumps at the chance to contract with Talyn because her agency is trying to force her to accept another contract with a male who, when interviewing her, treated her awful and refused most of her requests that she was asking for in her contract. Most males seeking a companion are either older married men or men with cruel steaks who can’t get anyone else. Talyn accepted all of her requests and was super nice, not to mention hot.

Talyn and Felicia have an immediate attraction and start to fall for one another but his C.O. starts making trouble for them. His C.O. already hates him. What Talyn doesn’t know is why. Chrisen knows who Talyn’s father is and knows that by right, if anyone from the great family of the War Hauks had claimed him, Talyn would be higher up on the food chain of society than he is and he is threatened by that. He messes with Talyn’s check-in times which makes Talyn late. Whenever he is late, he gets beaten and it goes on his record. He’s making Talyn look like a disciplinary nightmare. Talyn learns that Chrisen is abusing the females at the base. When Talyn sticks up for them, the females, who up until that moment had always sneered and looked down on him, all salute him and one of them even backs him up on a battle against an enemy but it pisses Chrisen off so bad that he shoots Talyn’s ship out of the air. Talyn ends up in the hospital. Everyone knows what happened but no one can do anything about it.

Now, Chrisen is trying to buy out Felicia’s contract with her agency. If he gets ahold of Felicia he will surely kill her or maim her. Chrisen also has had Talyn arrested and deported him to a planet that is practically uninhabitable. Some of the animals and humanoid species who live there are deformed from all the chemical warfare. Chrisen, his brother and the crown prince had Talyn’s legs broken and dropped him off on the planet to die.

I finished this book in a day because I just couldn’t put it down. It sounds so cliché to say, “I couldn’t put it down.” But it the truth.

The next book is about Fain, Talyn’s father, who we have seen in other books but don’t know a lot about him except that he is an outcast from Andarian society. He has always fought for the good guys and he just didn’t seem like the kind of man who would leave his son but that is what he did according to this book. Sherrilyn Kenyon is a master of making tortured heroes and making someone seem bad from another character’s viewpoint and then when their story is written, they are actually a hero….just look at Acheron and Styxx in the Dark Hunter series.

Anyway, I’m super excited for the next book, Born of Betrayal, which comes out in November. show less

Sherrilyn Kenyon has done it once more. Another great book in the League series with the promise of the flipside of it coming in a few months. I loved Talyn and Felicia, their story was sweet and wonderful. I especially liked finding out about Nero and Jayne's husband Hadarian. All very good stuff. I will, however, say that after the horrors inflicted on Darling Cruel, Styxx, and Acheron in their various books, I'm a little meh about the stories that have followed in both series. Don't get me wrong, I love the DH & League books to pieces! But, really, it's hard to look at the problems of all these other characters and not go, "yeah it's sad you're an outcast and you were treated shitty all your life, by the way, have you met Darling show more Cruel who underwent untold years of unbelievable torture as a child and later as an adult that ended with him going insane and strapping bombs to himself?" You see what I'm saying? I exempt CON from this criticism for the reason that Nick never seems to wallow longer than a minute in his shitty life. He usually meets it with sarcasm and fight. Not that these other characters aren't deserving of compassion, but after 200 and change pages of brutality heaped on Styxx, kind of hard to work up more than a there there your life is crappy for the rest. No, I don't want every character to suffer, especially like Darling, Ash, Styxx, or even Zarek, in fact, I don't think I could carry on reading either series if that were the case. But being an outcast, while shitty, is not the end of the world. Hell, she's made a living by giving us outcasts who form families of outcasts that are wonderful in their weirdness! I just think that lately, some of these characters are coming off as "poor me" I'm all alone, instead of "come and get some" and I hope she goes back to that type. I truly do. show less

It gets an extra half-star for keeping me up way past my bedtime, I should know better than telling myself that I'll just read a few pages of Sherrilyn Kenyon before I go to sleep, nope, whole book.

Talyn Batur is an outcast who fights to ensure that he and his mother retain their places in the fighting forces. He's good at what he does but as an outcaste he can't marry, when he sees a girl on a companion website he's attracted and he wants to do something. When she takes the contract she hears some things about him that scare her, but what she finds from him is different. He's embroiled in the mess that is the Andarion culture and struggle for the throne, and his life will never be the same again.

I really enjoyed it, but man that show more society is messed up. show less

This book is set along the same time as the first book Born of Night in Andaria. Talyn Batur, despised by everyone he meets for being a bastard and unable to claim his outcast father's paternity, has had to fight for his military rank...literally. He's a Ring champion, undefeated against some of his world's best fighters. Unloved by all but his mother, he decides to hire a companion. Felicia chooses to contract with him after meeting him but then is terrified when her friends tell her of his reputation in the Ring. But when they're in private, he is the gentlest and kindest man she's ever known and she can't help starting to fall in love with him.
I liked reading more about the Andarians, although some of their rules and customs seem show more cruel. Because Talyn can't claim his paternity, he's never allowed to marry or have children. I really thought someone from his father's family would step up to claim him in the end. I like how this story ties into Nykyrian's story and gives more information about his family. show less

Loved it! Talyn and Felicia's story is heart wrenching but at the same time beautiful. The love between the two came pretty fast, but it worked well. As many Kenyon books I've read I'm still in awe of the amazing characters she creates. Years ago when I picked up the first book Born of Night, I didn't think I would like it. But it was captivating and addicting. Haven't missed a book since. Born of Defiance is intense, sexy and many times sweet. A must read in my book.

Born of Defiance is narrated by Fred Berman. As ever he does an amazing job bring the story and characters alive.

Best of the series so far!!!

This story skates back and takes place at the same time as earlier tales. It brings in details and sets up backstory for some characters we already know and care about.

Not to lessen these new characters ... as usual the males and females of this literary universe are amazing and well worth the read.

Listened to audio narrated well by Fred Berman. This takes place before 'Born of Night'. Galene's son Talyn is considered a bastard with no parental lineage. He has to fight for every privilege, but all his gains are for nothing as his CO has it out for him and does everything within his power to harass and ruin Talyn's life. Talyn see's Felicia on an advertisement for a companion and he seeks her out as it's the only way he can have a female in their culture without going to jail or receiving a death sentence. Talyn, who is also a bastard, becomes a companion to help her pay for her schooling and training to become a physician. She sees who Talyn really is and their story is amazing and wonderful to read. I love how she stands by him show more and is outraged on his behalf for all the injustices he endures. Awesome story, couldn't put this down. show less