Cast in Silence

This story sees Kaylin, Severn and Tiamaris traveling into the fiefs. We learn, in a series of flashbacks, about the six months Kaylin spent in the fief of Barren after leaving Nightshade but before she crossed the river into the City. We learn that she came to the City to assassinate the Hawklord at the orders of Barren. But the Hawklord made her an offer closer to her heart working for justice instead of revenge.

They are sent into the fiefs because the ferals and other monsters are becoming more common and there is fear that the towers that are supposed to protect against them are failing. They find monsters and they find a tower almost abandoned. They also learn that Barren isn't actually the fief lord because he hasn't been accepted show more by the tower.

A magical storm forces Kaylin, Severn and Tiamaris into the tower where they need to face tests before they can leave. They find themselves moved back in time before the fiefs were so overrun with ferals. There they meet a much younger Nightshade who has not yet taken over his fief. It is during Kaylin's tests that we learn the most about her time in Barren. But Tiamaris also faces a number of tests when he decides to claim the fief and has to defeat the current fieflord who is a Barrani who has given up his name.

This story had a lot of interesting things about the fiefs and how they are controlled. It has some things about Kaylin's magic as she gradually learns more about the marks on her body and even about the Ancient Ones who are now the only ones who can read those mysterious marks.

I enjoyed this new visit to the world of Elantra. It is always intriguing to see what problems Kaylin will have next. Watching her grow and become more self aware is always a pleasure. show less

One of my favorite installments to date! This one gets pretty meta and abstract, but in a way that lets the reader experience a whole new kind of character and POV. I love the idea of giving something sentience that normally wouldn't have it. (Probably why I loved Beauty and the Beast as a child), but this one is done with incredible care and finesse and enough tension to keep me turning pages late into the night.

Definitely read it!

This is the fifth book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Sagara. Originally Sagara was contracted for five books, but it looks like that's been extended to eight books total. This was definitely not the best book in the series. It was still a good read, but at times I was really bored.

In this book Kaylin is sent to investigate some strange goings on in the fiefs. For once her journey doesn't take her to the fief of Nightshade, but to the fief of Barren where Kaylin lived out 6 months of her life that she would rather forget and has never shared with anyone. Kaylin, Severn, and the dragon end up finding more about the dark heart of the fief than they had ever imagined.

There was a lot of good stuff in this book. You learn more about show more Kaylin's past and more about the fiefs. In fact the majority of the story takes place in the fiefs. I liked this a lot since the fiefs have kind of remained a mystery. You also learn more about the dark heart of the fiefs, about the dragons as a race, and about Nightshade's past. I really like Nightshade as a character so more info about him was a good thing. Overall the book was well-written, but there were quite a few things that bothered me.

So...on to the things I didn't like. Severn was mostly present as a place holder for most of the book. In fact there were many scenes where he was supposedly in the scene but he did so little I couldn't remember if he had left the scene or not. He talked rarely and mostly just stood there and let Kaylin do her thing. Kaylin spent a lot of the beginning on the book talking about how awful her past in Barren was, but when it all came down to it, most of the the people around her knew most of her past and didn't care. So, I had some trouble figuring out why Kaylin made such a big deal about all of that.

The story was going along okay until they got into the scene where they enter the Tower the first time. Then the book really starts to drag and get pretty darn boring. I had a lot of trouble enjoying the second half of the book because it just went too slow. I also get a little sick of the fact that Kaylin always seems to be exhausted and stressed out about everything. I was also a little surprised, that Kaylin doesn't even have a second of time to deal with her relationships with Severn and/or Nightshade. She kind of ignores them most of the time. I guess with Nightshade I can understand that since he has all the time in the world, but I was surprised Severn's role was so truncated.

Overall it was an okay read. I think all the things that we learn about the fiefs and the origins of the Empire outweigh the bad pacing and whiny Kaylin; but I really was bored the last half of the book. I am still interesting to see how things pan out in the next book, now that we know more about the heart of the fiefs. So, I will read the next book, but I will get it from the library. show less

**I wrote this post once and WordPress decided to eat it. Apologies if it's not super eloquent but I'm typing in a cloud of frustration right now.**

In Kaylin's fifth outing, she has to go back to the fiefs. Not Nightshade, but a new fief, at least to the readers. This time around, Kaylin and company are sent to Barren, a fief that neighbours Nightshade. They've been having problems with things emerging from the heart of the fiefs, which is never good, and so Kaylin and Severn are dispatched to investigate, along with one of my favourite characters, Tiamaris.

In Cast in Silence, Michelle Sagara finally reveals what Kaylin did after she fled Nightshade and how she became a Hawk. It's great to finally have this knowledge because it makes show more Kaylin more interesting, and more sympathetic, at least in my eyes. There's a lot of self-torture going on in her world, especially for someone who's supposed to be about twenty.

This book, like all of the others in the series, has a fast-moving plot line and great characters. There are also a couple of lines of dialogue that made me laugh out loud, especially the one about sweating. (You'll know it when you get there.) I think I'll get a lot more out of it when I re-read it, since I was in such a hurry to find out what was going to happen next, but I still loved the story and am very excited to read the next installment, which will hopefully deal with the ramifications of everyone's actions in this book.

Originally published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com show less

A lot of subtext between the characters in this that I didn’t have the patience to unravel, so I skimmed over most of the hands on shoulders and significant glances. I think the major failing is that the narrative is too closely tied to Kaylin’s point of view. She doesn’t understand, and so the message isn’t clear to the reader. At least not to me without investing more effort than I was willing to at this particular point in time!

This is the 5th book in the Chronicle of Elantra and it pains me to give this one 3 stars but it has to be done. It covers the period of 6 months after Kaylin left Nightshade and before she entered the city and began working fot the Hawks.

I found this novel to be much slower in pace than the others and reached an ending which I saw coming (but was still good). The slow pace is the result of a lot of psychological and philosophical discussion which sometimes left me a bit confused.

I admit that it took me longer to reach the end than normal and did seriously consider giving up on it. It felt more like an 'in-between' book rather than a full novel which sets the scene for the next one.

It also breaks with the general themes of the others show more in the series, the first focuses on the back story of the main characters whereas the others focus on the ins and outs of each of the races, one at a time, within the world Sagara has created. I expected this one to either be about the Aerians, some new race or the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately I was disappointed. Hopefully the next in the series, CAST IN CHAOS will be better. show less

Michelle Sagara's The Chronicles of Elantra series is one of my favorites and this title did not disappoint, A few of the books in this series have not been as strong in my opinion and this is one of those unfortunately but I still like it. The story was engaging and helped to move the plot along. I felt like I learned more about many of the characters including the protagonist in this volume. I recommend this book.