I'm so excited to share this new release with you guys, today! Song of Leira is the third and final book in The Songkeeper Chronicles by Gillian Bronte Adams, an epic fantasy adventure about a place where music is magic and one girl's song can shape or break the entire world.
The Song bids her rise to battle.
Reeling from her disastrous foray into the Pit, Birdie, the young Songkeeper, retreats into the mountains. But in the war-torn north, kneeling on bloodstained battlefields to sing the souls of the dying to rest, her resolve to accept her calling is strengthened. Such evil cannot go unchallenged.
Torn between oaths to protect the Underground runners and to rescue his friend from the slave camps, Ky Huntyr enlists Birdie's aid. Their mission to free the captives unravels the horrifying thread connecting the legendary spring, Artair's sword, and the slave camps. But the Takhran's schemes are already in motion. Powerful singers have arisen to lead his army - singers who can shake the earth and master the sea - and monsters rampage across the land.
As Leira falters on the verge of defeat, the Song bids her rise to battle, and the Songkeeper must answer.
NEED TO CATCH UP ON THE SERIES?
Orphan's Song (Book 1) Her solo is a death sentence. When Birdie first hears the Song coming from her mouth, her world shatters. She is no longer simply an orphan but the last of a hunted people. Forced on the run, she must decide who to trust: a traveling peddler, a streetwise thief, or the mysterious creature who claims to know her past. With war threatening to tear her homeland apart, Birdie discovers an overwhelming truth: the fate of Leira may hinge on her song.
Songkeeper (Book 2) War ravages Leira & the Song has fallen silent. Desperate to end the fighting, Birdie embarks on a dangerous mission into enemy territory, while Ky returns to his besieged city to save the Underground runners. Legend speaks of a mythical spring beneath the Takhran's fortress and the Songkeeper who will one day unleash it. Everyone believes Birdie is the one. But can she truly be the Songkeeper when the Song no longer answers her call?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gillian Bronte Adams is a sword-wielding, horse-riding, wander-loving fantasy author, rarely found without a coffee in hand and rumored to pack books before clothes when she hits the road. Working in youth ministry left her with a passion for journeying alongside children and teens. (It also enhanced her love of coffee.) Now, she writes novels that follow outcast characters down broken roads, through epic battles, and onward to adventure. And at the end of a long day of typing, she can be found saddling her wild thing and riding off into the sunset, seeking adventures of her own (and more coffee).
She loves to connect with fellow readers and wanderers online through her blog, Facebook page, newsletter, and Instagram.
Review
After the dark, gruesome ending of Songkeeper, I was not sure where Song of Leira would pick up. While the cover speaks of victory, the ending of the last book was so disheartened that I did not know what to hope for in this. From the beginning it seems that the characters feel the discouragement of the last book as well. Most of them are defeated and broken, unsure of how to go on.
Honestly, I was not a fan of those first few chapters. The characters wallowed for some time and, though I recognized that they had all lost much, I am used to characters who spring back with far more determination than these did. Ky, my favorite character from the last book, was particularly frustrating in that he seemed unable to put his foot down in regards to the Underground. He was unprepared for sudden leadership, unwilling to fight for it despite being unwilling to relinquish it. Though, in that regard, it was probably his challenger who bothered me more, insisting on taking over but then never going through with it.
However, somewhere around the hundred page mark, the characters changed. Finally, they picked themselves out of their fear and self pity, taking strides to learn from mistakes and forage on where there was no blazed trail. Neither Birdie or Ky knew where they were going, but they still pulled through and took up the roles they were meant to play.
The Song Keeper Chronicles is not the fantasy I am used to. The characters are not as dogged, or as apt to unwittingly fulfilling their purpose. Everything is a learning moment or a else a decision come to after much wavering. Though frustrating for a take action sort of person like myself, it is also more honest and in that way more encouraging. Perhaps a reminder that no matter how much we drag our heels, God's will will still be served. Which made the end all the more victorious.
I have provided an honest review after having received a copy of the book from the author.
Honestly, I was not a fan of those first few chapters. The characters wallowed for some time and, though I recognized that they had all lost much, I am used to characters who spring back with far more determination than these did. Ky, my favorite character from the last book, was particularly frustrating in that he seemed unable to put his foot down in regards to the Underground. He was unprepared for sudden leadership, unwilling to fight for it despite being unwilling to relinquish it. Though, in that regard, it was probably his challenger who bothered me more, insisting on taking over but then never going through with it.
However, somewhere around the hundred page mark, the characters changed. Finally, they picked themselves out of their fear and self pity, taking strides to learn from mistakes and forage on where there was no blazed trail. Neither Birdie or Ky knew where they were going, but they still pulled through and took up the roles they were meant to play.
The Song Keeper Chronicles is not the fantasy I am used to. The characters are not as dogged, or as apt to unwittingly fulfilling their purpose. Everything is a learning moment or a else a decision come to after much wavering. Though frustrating for a take action sort of person like myself, it is also more honest and in that way more encouraging. Perhaps a reminder that no matter how much we drag our heels, God's will will still be served. Which made the end all the more victorious.
I have provided an honest review after having received a copy of the book from the author.
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