On why this author has been on my bookish radar:
Before I was a book blogger, I was an avid reader of book blogs – curated by readers & authors alike, wherein I would be actively seeking out blog posts, cover reveals, new release announcements and the old fashioned blog tour wherein it wasn’t organised by a touring company but rather a collective of book bloggers and/or group author blogs where authors who were releasing a new book would “visit, guest post and/or interact with readers” in the comment threads. It was a lovely introduction to how to become invested in this side of book world within the labyrinth of the ‘book blogosphere’.
As this pre-dates 2013 (the year I developed Jorie Loves A Story) – I had no foresight of expectation to recognise I would one day tackle book blogging myself! It became an organic transition because through my frequent visitations to those blogs & bloggers, I was developing a way to interact with fellow readers and writers. I wrote the same hearty commentary as book bloggers are familiar with nowadays and I loved communicating about all things bookish & geeky. I wasn’t even traversing the twitterverse at that point, as that came in November after launching Jorie Loves A Story live in August, 2013.
You might be curious – why the back-history about this journey?
Glad you’ve asked! During that period of exploration, my path crossed with a lot of INSPY authors who were co-blogging their writerly adventures. In that capacity, I first stumbled across today’s spotlighted novelist Janalyn Voigt. However, at the time, the key focus of the stories she was blogging about had to do with my personal favourite genre Historical Fiction as she’s a multi-genre writer (something I can personally relate too!) of whom delves into different branches of literary wandering.
When I came across this lovely blog tour for her series “Tales of Faeraven” – the timing felt like a good one. I’ve been appreciating reading more Fantasy & Speculative Fiction this year – especially anchoured through my co-hosted event @WyrdAndWonder. This was also the first year where I could delve directly into INSPY Fantasy novels – through my readings of Morgan L. Busse’s Ravenwood saga.
Today, I am spotlighting a series from a #newtomeauthor of INSPY Fantasy & Speculative High Fantasy I’ve been reading throughout September.
SoJourner (Spotlight)
by Janalyn Voigt
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours
Mara didn't know her parents were living a lie.
After learning a secret that causes Mara to question her heritage, she runs to Torindan, the High Hold of Faeraven, to seek the truth. What the innkeeper’s daughter doesn't know is that Rand, the mysterious tracker she’s hired to guide her through the wilderness, has been sent on an errand that puts her life at risk.
Helping Mara furthers Rand's purposes, but he doesn't count on his emotions interfering.
With Faeraven on the brink of war, Rand is faced with a life-altering choice, Mara is torn between escape and learning the truth, and the future hangs in the balance.
Will Mara be heir to the Faeraven throne? Can Rand escape the terrors of the dungeon?
As Torindan and Pilaer prepare for battle, anything can happen.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-1522302032
Also by this author: DawnSinger (Spotlight), DawnSinger, WayFarer
Also in this series: DawnSinger (Spotlight), DawnSinger, WayFarer
Published by Harbour Light Books
on 1st November, 2019
Format: Trade Paperback
Published By: Harbour Light Books
an imprint of Pelican Ventures, LLC (@pelicanbookgrp)
Tales of Faeraven Series:
DawnSinger (book one) (see also review)
WayFarer (book two) (see also review)
SoJourner (book three)
DawnKing (book four) ← *forthcoming!
Converse via: #INSPYFantasy + #Fantasy
as well as #INSPYbooks + #SpecLit
Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook
About Janalyn Voigt
Janalyn Voigt is a writer and professional speaker with a photography habit and a passion for travel. Her unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and fantasy creates worlds of beauty and danger for readers. Tales of Faeraven, her epic fantasy series beginning with DawnSinger, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams. She is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary.
Whenever I re-enter the Medieval era, I love when authors give their characters heavy cloaks to wear and how the elements of the natural world tend to plague them. It helps root you into the era itself as this is before too much was known about forecasting weather, which kinds of clothes were best for health and where you had to rely on your wits moreso than your knowledge, as knowledge was not just limited but the scope of it was not as openly available to everyone as it became in further generations. This is a world which sets itself against a Medieval background – where the style of their life here is a variant of the Medieval era we have in our own chronicles of History. What I was thankful for were those little touches of recognition to where the world of Faeraven was not entirely outside of a ‘known’ universe and had within it descriptions you could readily draw upon especially if you are a reader who appreciates dissolving inside the historical past via Historical Fiction.
Very early-on in the novel, Voigt mentions how Shae must ‘keep to the Light’ as told to her by a visiting WayFarer – their presence was not explained nor had their kind be described past what was messaged to Shae. I felt there was more to that visitor than meets the eye but I also knew their name was the title of the second novel in this series; perhaps, it would due well to keep patient and not to reflect too strongly on what is not yet known nor revealled. What I did appreciate though is this is a gently told INSPY Fantasy novel – wherein, despite the advance of trials and tribulations, there is a hopefulness which is underpinning the dramatic reveals in such a way, you feel the hope of where Voigt left a respite from the worries of this world to where you can tell how strongly faith and hope play a role in how this world evolves. There is definitely a layer of faithfulness and of religious belief – it is not readily spoken about openly but it is hinted towards and that felt like an organic move not to dive too critically into explaining everything in the opening bridge of DawnSinger.
There is no shortage of beasts and otherworldly creatures within the pages of DawnSinger – as Voigt introduces us to so many different animals, I wish we had a bit more detail in their passing. A few of them I know of from other writers – such as gryphons but some of the others are new to me and although part of the depictions were dearly accurate and fittingly representative of their natures, a few others were not as widely described and I was left curious about the details which were not yet threading into the timeline.
-quoted from my review of DawnSinger
When I first started my journey into the Faeraven world, I hadn’t realised what I would find inside the stories themselves. As reading INSPY Speculative Fiction is a new interest of curiosity – I was thankful to be included on this lovely blog tour if only to continue to discover how writers within this sphere of SpecLit are approaching how to conceive their world(s) and how they want to bridge into the INSPY side of the genre.
What I found most compelling about how the series is being written is that Voigt gives you a world which is not exclusively brokering itself good or evil but rather it walks a line between the two wherein the reader has to determine where the alliances lie for the characters and of course, who is going to transcend closer to the darkness in deference to the Light!
Kai and Shae are on a collision course with their own destinies which you can notice quite early-on in your readings – I didn’t gather the fact either of them realised how radically different their lives would be once this journey of theirs began – as each of them were going to be tried and tested multiple times until they reached their own destinations within the sphere of their predestined paths.
When it comes to reading SoJourner – there is a question mark of ascension in power inasmuch as the building climax towards war. This isn’t a world which is experiencing a lot of peace – each of the key characters being featured within the chapters of the installments have a lot to shoulder as Voigt holds them to a high level of expectations. They each have to determine what they will believe and how far they will endeavour to achieve what they must for the greater good of not just their society but for the world at large.
This is a large scale Fantasy drama – each new installment brings us a step closer to understanding who the DawnKing is and why this person is the most important person of the realm(s). The Faeraven cycle of stories isn’t for the faint of heart because Voigt has written a very dramatic INSPY Speculative series. I didn’t see the overtures towards traditional INSPY Lit as i had in Busse’s novels but what I am appreciating about Voigt is she is letting each reader discern for themselves how Faeraven fits into the INSPY side of Fantasy.
One of the ways Voigt helps you align yourself alongside Kai is by fusing his journey with a tucking in awareness towards his introspective and internal journey towards acceptance of destiny. Kai (like Shae) are walking on a path they never knew would lead to the places they journeyed but this is where Voigt shows how sometimes the quests you undertake in life lead you to where you are meant to be rather than to the places you desire to journey.
Her series is an evolution of time, thinking and the the magnitude of attempting to bridge a society of questioners into an age of epiphany and enlightenment. She paints the story alive through descriptive narrative where you gather glimpses of how this society is rooted into the Medieval setting it thrives inside but with the added bonuses of having the fantastical emerging forward into the narrative as well. My favourite creatures are the wingabeasts – being a horse lover and the fact, it isn’t hard to imagine what it would feel like to ride in the wind with their wing span helping you to soar through the clouds.
She brings you the magic you seek out of a wicked good Speculative novel but with a firm grounding in seeking to discuss what is Darkness and what is Light; how do the two battle for dominance and what is the destined path of a soul who is meant to free their people?
-quoted from my review of WayFarer
This blog tour is courtesy of:
{SOURCES: Book covers for “Dawnsinger” and “Wayfarer”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Janalyn Voigt, the tour host badge and Prism Book Tours badges were all provided by Prism Book Tours and used with permission. Post dividers and My Thoughts badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Stories in the Spotlight and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2019.
Thanks for this well-considered review of Sojourner. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.