Hawksong

Hawksong is a high-fantasy YA novel with a slow-burn romance and political intrigue that manages to do more in a little over 200 pages than many 600 page novels. It focuses on two shapeshifter kingdoms and their war that has lasted so long no one even knows how it began. Danica Shardae, the last remaining heir to the avian throne, and Zane Cobriana, the heir to the serpiente throne, are desperate to end the war between their kingdoms. Both have lost many family members and loved ones over the years and there is no righteous side, only a cycle of revenge. When a third-party mediator suggests that Danica and Zane unite their warring kingdoms through marriage everyone is skeptical, but Danica and Zane’s love for their people make them show more consider the unimaginable.

This book is amazing in terms of character, plot, and world-building. Danica and Zane are steeped in their respective cultures and this creates complex and dynamic characters as they are challenged to overcome their prejudice and learn to live in each other’s world. Their successes and failures at adapting is what adds the tension to the plot—oh, and assassination attempts. Those cause tension too.

One aspect of the world building that I would critique is that Atwater-Rhodes decided to set this novel in our world without any explanation or connection. There is a Chinese pillow mentioned, then later we learn the origins of the shapeshifters are from Egypt, and they briefly mention the human world. Besides these puzzling moments, there’s no real explanation of how these large and complex kingdoms of animal shapeshifters exist inside the human world. That being said, it’s rarely mentioned and doesn’t affect anything, so while it is puzzling I choose not to let it bother me.

One reviewer remarked that since this book is pre-Twilight the way the romance is written perhaps wouldn’t feel as exciting to current YA readers. That may be true, but I’m fascinated how each era tells stories in a different way. We can’t tell a story like they did in the early 2000s just like they couldn’t tell a 2010s story. It’s not good or bad, it’s just the nature of storytelling. For better or worse, the publishing world today wouldn’t print such a short high fantasy novel. From my perspective, because pre-Twilight YA is so different from now, that makes this story even more refreshing.

One of the most astounding things about this novel is that it stands the test of time. There are books that I loved as a teen that just weren’t as good on a second read, but this book—the characters, the cultures, the plot—is still as addicting as it was when I first read it during the ice storm that hit the Midwest more than a decade ago. show less

Hawksong may look like a short book, but there is certainly nothing simple about it. I liked it best out of the series, but the others still captured my attention.

One hawk-shapeshifter, heiress to an avian race. One cobra-shapeshifter, prince of the serpents. One cool and aloof, the other sensual and sensitive. Both of them sick of the endless war between their people. Both willing to do anything to end it...even when it means becoming pair-bonded with each other.

Danica and Zane's emotional and political journey never fails to awe and move me. The lessons about love, emotion, race, and stereotype are there, but they are woven intricately into the characters and story. You travel right along with them, find yourself falling in love with show more both of them, and at the end, you leave with an enduring sense of inspiration and hope. Incredible fantasy, especially when you consider Atwater-Rhodes wrote it as a teen! show less

This book had so much potential! To be fair, it lived up to most of it, but the author seemed to refrain from delving too deeply into the characters. We still get a feel for them, they're anything but two-dimensional, but there's always the sense that there could have been more to it.

The plot is delightful and enthralling. A political marriage between warring factions is an instant read for me.

For the most part, it's well written. And yet... it seemed somewhat rushed at times. I understand that it's the first of a series, but we don't really get more in the next one than we did in this one. It's just as satisfying, but it left me wanting.

Recommended for anyone who's in the mood for a light, entertaining read.

This one was a reread. I think I read it when it first came out. For some reason, I never read any more of the series or any of the author's other books.

The avian shapeshifters and the serpiente have been at war for so long that no one can remember how the fighting started. Danica, soon to be named leader of the avian shapeshifters, is tired of all the killing. Zane, the leader of the serpiente, feels the same way. A political marriage between the two of them may be the solution they're looking for, if they can overcome generations of hatred and their own feelings of distrust.

This book had several things going for it. It was incredibly readable – I gobbled it up in a day. It featured a tense political marriage that eventually show more blossomed into affection and love – yay! And it had unusual shapeshifters (birds, serpents, and, briefly, tigers).

As smoothly as this story went down, it was not without its problems. The world-building was pretty weak. Some might be shocked by this statement. “But look at the family trees at the beginning of the book! Did you see all the avian and serpiente cultural details in the story? And, ooh, the acknowledgments were written both in English and the avian shapeshifter language! Or maybe the serpiente language.”

It's quite possible that the world is fleshed out more in later books, but, in this one, all readers learn is that there are at least three groups of shapeshifters – birds, serpents, and tigers. Humans existed in this world but were barely mentioned. I can't even tell you during which human time period this book was set - probably not modern day, because there was no mention of cars or planes. It was humans that prompted the tiger shifters to relocate to their current home, which seemed to indicate that they posed a threat to shapeshifters, but apparently not so great a threat that anyone needed to think about them much.

I assume all the various types of shapeshifters can interbreed, because, when the possibility of a political marriage between Danica and Zane was first brought up, no one said a thing about their future children and heirs. I was a little confused about how the marriage was supposed to work. What would their schedules be like? Would Danica and Zane spend a few weeks with the serpiente and then switch off and spend a few weeks with the avian shapeshifters? Would they appoint people who could make decisions in their place in case they were at one location or the other when an emergency arose? Nothing was said about any of this.

I got the impression that the author had created detailed notes on the bits of the world that interested her and chose to neglect the less interesting parts. Thus, we got a couple family trees, a language of some sort (which was used more in the acknowledgments than anywhere else in the book), and a few defining characteristics of the avian shapeshifters and the serpiente, while all kinds of practical details about the alliance were ignored.

The avian shapeshifters and the serpiente were set up as complete opposites. Avian shapeshifters believed in keeping their emotions tightly controlled, while the serpiente put their emotions on display for all to see, the good as well as the bad. Avian reserve unnerved the serpiente, while the serpiente habit of casual touching scandalized the avians.

I enjoyed reading about Danica trying to adjust to serpiente behavior and culture, and there were a few moments that were kind of sweet, like when she began learning serpiente dancing or when she made a conscious effort to be more physically affectionate. I did irk me a little that, although Danica learned about and even began to enjoy serpiente culture, there were no examples of Zane doing the same with avian culture.

It's weird. Although I sped through this book in a day and kind of want to read more, my feelings about a lot of it are lukewarm. Danica and Zane were both saintly leaders, willing to do whatever it took to achieve peace. Danica spent a lot of time fretting over her people, trying to convince her mother and her guards that the serpiente could be trusted, and fretting that she had trapped Zane in a loveless marriage that would bring him nothing but pain because she couldn't be open and affectionate like a serpiente woman. The assassination subplot was there, but Zane and Danica just let their own people handle it (because investigating it themselves would have ended things much sooner), so it was kind of easy to forget about.

I think this would make a great recommendation for a reluctant teenage reader looking for easy-to-digest fantasy mixed with romance and a bit of intrigue. As for myself, I'm not sure whether I'll continue on with this series, but it was incredibly refreshing to be able to plow through a book so quickly. I do kind of want to see how Zane and Danica's relationship develops now that they've finally said "I love you."

Extras:

At the beginning of the book, there are two family trees, one for the serpiente and one for the avian shapeshifters. The avian shapeshifter family tree is confusing. If you look closely, the bit dealing with Erica Silvermead and her family is included twice, once for a closer view of her father's side of the family and once for a closer view of her mother's side of the family. Erica, by the way, is a very minor character in this book, so a closer look at any side of her family was unnecessary. The very general way the dashed lines are defined makes it look like Erica could be a cousin of Danica's, but I don't think that was actually the case.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) show less

Out With the Old - Prejudices, That Is...

Although there was very little that was new in concept of this novel, and in many ways it was predictable, the treatment of the concepts, the way things were written and the honest realism of the storytelling was refreshing, engaging and entertaining. It was hard to put the book down.

Two young heirs of warring races, tired of war, make a marriage of 'convenience' between the two of them, to the horror' or their people - determined to make it work and bring lasting peace. The people they represent were well drawn and details such as history and mythology of the two races was not skimped upon. Descriptions were tight, real and made in such a way as to enhance the readers involvement in the plot, show more and the two main characters were given life in such a way that it was hard not to identify with one or other of them if not both, and become deeply invested in wanting it to work out between them, because - let's face it - you know it will some way along the line. As a young adult novel the romance element is subtle and that helps to enhance the experience, rather than to take away from it, as all too often such things do within a fantasy novel. Very well written, I will certainly be looking out for the other novels in the series. show less

This is a wonderful story. Two species are at war with each other, have almost annihilated one another in fact. For there to be peace a dangerous marriage is proposed. Zane and Danica must learn where their loyalties and their hearts lie before someone destroys the fragile peace their marriage has bought. I did notice the author heavily favor the Snake people in this book. I loved this book so much I made the horrible mistake of reading the others in the series. I read all of the author’s books, expecting the same magic and intensity in them that I found in Hawksong. I was sadly disappointed. Luckily, Hawksong can stand alone, and it has the pride of place on my shelf.

Atwater-Rhodes is perhaps best known for her first novel, “In the Forests of the Night,” published at a precocious age fourteen. But “Hawksong” marks her venture into the shapeshifter realm, and an excellent one it is.

Danica Shardae is the heir to the avian shapeshifter kingdom, which has long been at war with the royal serpent family, which is about to be inherited by Zane Cobriana. The royal families have been decimated by the wars, and both kingdoms have grown tired of the battles. In a peace meeting mediated by the royal cats, a treaty cemented by marriage is suggested, much to the horror of both royal houses. Still, both Danica and Zane cannot help but wonder what such a peace would be like, and after some under-the-table show more negotiation, decide to pledge to one another despite their natural antipathy.

Though the novel draws on familiar storylines — “Beauty and the Beast” and “Romeo and Juliet” are the most obvious — young Twilight fans will certainly enjoy this book, which also has several sequels of varying quality. Personally I find that this first book is the best of the series. It is a quick read and can easily be completed in one sitting. show less