March’s Reads: Fantasy

Ah, fantasy. So much harder to get through than romances, no matter how interesting you may be. (If you haven’t seen my post from my February readings, click here.)

As I noted last month, I started Lord of the Rings. I haven’t finished it yet, and I’ve got quite a ways to go still. It’s just not a book you can rush. But it is, in my opinion, worth all the time it takes to read. If you’ve never actually read the book, I highly recommend it. It’s a classic for a reason.

As for what I actually started and finished in March, there are three books:

Songkeeper by Gillian Bronte Adams is the second book in her Songkeeper Chronicles series.

(From Gillian’s website)

WAR RAVAGES LEIRA AND THE SONG HAS FALLEN SILENT.

Freed from the hold of a slave ship, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, and Ky, a street-wise thief, emerge to a world at war. Hordes of dark soldiers march across Leira, shadowed by whispers of plague and massacres, prompting Ky to return to his besieged home city in hopes of leading his fellow runners to safety.

Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into the heart of the Takhran’s fortress. Legend speaks of a mythical spring buried within and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it to achieve victory. Everyone believes Birdie is the one, but the elusive nature of the Song and rumors of other gifted individuals lead her to doubt her role. Unleashing the spring could defeat the Takhran once and for all, but can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?

I definitely should have reread the first book, Orphan’s Song, before I got into this one. I remembered enough that I thought I’d be fine, but there were some details that I couldn’t quite place that would have helped. Despite that, though, I really enjoyed this book and the third one, Song of Leira. For the sake of spoilers, I won’t describe that one. But it’s a great series, full of interesting characters and deep conflicts. Highly recommend these books.

After finishing those two, I moved on to a book I own but wasn’t particularly familiar with, Fatemarked by David Estes.

(Adapted from the back cover)

Four Kingdoms. A century-old war. One prophecy that could change everything.

They’re called different things – tatooya, sinmarks, fatemarks. But for each of the few people born with these runes upon their skin, they are set apart. Some are worshipped, some hunted. All have powers, though some do not fully understand them. But as kings begin to die and an ancient prophecy looks to be coming true, four kingdoms constantly at war may be reborn in blood, and the fatemarked will have a role to play.

Overall, I did quite enjoy this book. The world Estes built is really interesting, the “magic” system he’s created with his fatemarks is intriguing, and he balances a diverse cast of characters who are all interesting to follow. However, there is some content that makes me a bit hesitant to continue with the series.

It’s got some really dark undertones that I can only imagine would get stronger throughout the series. And there is a brief homosexual moment that I'm concerned will be expanded upon in subsequent books. If my library had the series, I would probably get the next one to see if I enjoy the rest. But since it doesn’t, I don’t think I’m comfortable enough to buy any of the other books. So I will probably just have to be miserable without reading the rest.

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So, I ended up reading three books in March, and I’m still working through Lord of the Rings. April’s genre is Mystery, which is not something I read much of. So I’ll have to comb through my bookshelves and see what I’ve got.

What did you read in March? Let me know in the comments!