Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. I am unsure how many books I’ll review for them as most are offered digitally rather than in print but this happily marks one of the blog tours where I could receive a print book for review purposes. Oft-times you’ll find Prism Book Tours alighting on my blog through the series of guest features and spotlights with notes I’ll be hosting on behalf of their authors.

I received a complimentary copy of “WayFarer” direct from the author Janalyn Voigt in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

On what I found inside “DawnSinger” which begins Faeraven:

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.

Kai is attempting the impossible at the behest of his Queen – Maeven – whilst riding a wingabeast – as this is the first encounter I’ve had of a creature of this description, I was most enthralled to know more of its origins than I was momentarily to know of his Royal duties and loyalty. Whenever I find a new creature in a Speculative novel, I love to learn as much as I can about their species, their quirks and what their habits are – inasmuch as the descriptive details which give you as stronger impression on their behalf moreso than the ‘straight facts’ sometimes can limit your understanding of their nature.

Counter to Kai’s flight, we find Shae is also traversing the storm whilst questioning why she instead of her twin is the one who causes the most strife in their family. She doesn’t like to be confined and constricted (who would?) but it felt like there was a duty and sense of loyalty underlining her thoughts – almost as if due to those reasons, she has caught herself in a cycle of obedience as she knows no other way forward. Her sojourn to find stillness and contemplation in the garden amongst the greenery and the species who called this place home was beautifully visualised by Voigt. Any reader who loves walking in the natural world will hug this section due to the simplicity of the joy in Shae’s heart for what she observes and how she internally feels more ‘still’ rather than rattled for being there.

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.

It was not a journey for the faint nor the weak of will or spirit – as Kai and Shae had multiple trials to face both together and separately. Despite coming this far forward there are many questions I still personally have and especially in regards to where Shae is at the end of the novel. I had a few recollective thoughts stemming from my readings of The Clan Chronicles in regards to how Sira’s life and Shae’s had a bit of an overlap in responsibilities and how they were both gifted in a way that is not easily understood nor readily known. They each share a personal destiny which neither of them could have predicted and yet, in this world, I was curious about that ‘other space’ and the realm in which we have not yet traversed. Off then, with I, into WayFarer to seek the answers I need.

-quoted from my review of DawnSinger

WayFarer
Subtitle: Tales of Faeraven
by Janalyn Voigt
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

Trouble stirs between nations and rebellion threatens Faeraven.

When Kai returns with the supposed DawnKing, Lof Shraen Elcon cannot trust that the Elder youth truly is the prophesied deliverer. Driven to prove himself, Elcon banishes the boy and embarks on a peace-keeping campaign into the Elder lands, where he falls in love with an Elder princess betrothed to another.

Sometimes the deliverance of a nation comes only through the humility of one.

Declaring his love would shame the nations, but Elcon is torn. As war approaches, Elcon's choices lead him on a journey of discovery that will either settle the lands or leave them mired in conflict. Can his kingdom ever be united, or will the consequences of his decisions forever tear asunder the fabric of Faeraven?

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781611162929

Also by this author: DawnSinger (Spotlight), DawnSinger, SoJourner (Spotlight)

Also in this series: DawnSinger (Spotlight), DawnSinger, SoJourner (Spotlight)

Published by Harbour Light Books

on 3rd January, 2014

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 296

Published By: Harbour Light Books
an imprint of Pelican Ventures, LLC (@pelicanbookgrp)

Tales of Faeraven Series:

DawnSinger (book one)

WayFarer (book two)

→ SoJourner (book three) *releasing soon! (11th October, 2019)

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.

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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• #BeatTheBacklist 2019