Book Review: 'Fox's Bride' by A E Marling...

Title: Fox's Bride

Author: A. E. Marling

Publisher: AEther Publishing

Pages: 269 (Print), File size: 1004 kb

ASIN: B009JDN2L8

Purchase: Amazon

Summary from Amazon:

A desert fox. An enchantress. And a sacrificial marriage.

Everyone in Oasis City worships the fennec fox as a sacred animal, except for the one woman forced to marry him. Enchantress Hiresha believes her fiancé is possessed by nothing more divine than fleas, and she also objects to the wedding venue: the afterlife. Priests will trap her in an airless sarcophagus with the fox. She has only four days of engagement left to live.

Her escape attempt ends in disaster, leaving her at the mercy of the city's vizier as well as her own pathological sleepiness. She wishes she could trust help from the Lord of the Feast, a past acquaintance with forbidden magic. He warns her that a sorcerer with even fewer scruples than himself may have arranged her marriage, to murder her. To find the truth before it's too late for her and the fox, she must slip off her silk gloves and break into pyramid tombs.

My thoughts:

A. E. Marling and Hiresha continue to capture my heart! The stories I have read by this author (this book and 'Brood of Bones') keep me coming back for more. Marling's writing is clean, well defined and cut as exquisitely as any of Hiresha's best gems.

When Hiresha arrives in Oasis City, she thinks her time spent there will be a bore as everyone scampers to do the fennec's bidding, believing that it is possessed by one of their gods known as 'The Golden Scoundrel'. But when the furry little avatar circles her feet three times, everyone is delighted that he has chosen his bride! While the details are a bit fuzzy, (no pun intended) Hiresha is certain she does not want to marry a fox.

While we get to meet some new faces, a few old ones return as well. Hiresha's maid, Janny and the dark one himself, the Lord of the Feast, Tethiel.

This time, the Lord of the Feast is not as prominent and the story focuses more on Hiresha and her Spellsword, Chandur. Because Hiresha does not want to rely on Tethiel as much as she did before, she discovers some new strengths of her own. Going against the wishes of the priest's, Hiresha makes her choice: Save the city or asphyxiate with a furry spouse.

Once again, Marling captivated me and Hiresha charmed me. I have to give this book a 5 star review.

Five out of five skull and crossbones.

Book Review: Brood of Bones by A. E. Marling...

Title: Brood of Bones

Author: A. E. Marling

Publisher: Aether Publishing

Pages: 364 (Print), File size: 1,417 kb

Page Number Source ISBN 10: 0984022317 ISBN 13: 978-0984022311  ASIN: B005QQ3H7G

Purchase: Amazon

Summary from Amazon.com:

One unexpected pregnancy is a drama; fifty thousand is citywide hysteria.

Cursed with endless drowsiness, Enchantress Hiresha sleeps more than she lives. Since she never has had a chance to raise a family, she sometimes feels like every woman is pregnant except for her.  This time, she is right.

From virgin to grandmother, all the women in her city have conceived.

A lurking sorcerer drains power from the unnatural pregnancies, and Hiresha must track him by his magic.  Unfortunately, her cultured education in enchantment ill equips her to understand his spellcraft, which is decidedly less than proper.  The only person uncivilized enough to help is the Lord of the Feast, a dangerous yet charming illusionist.  Associating with him may imperil Hiresha's city, yet refusing his help will allow the sorcerer to leech godlike power from the mass births.

My thoughts:

This is a well crafted, intellectual piece of High Fantasy. I feel that my review might clash with the intellect level with which it was written. A. E. Marling has created a very unique fantasy world, at least from my viewpoint, and well thought out characters.

Elder Enchantress Hiresha is a powerful magic user, but with many flaws. The largest being her inability to live in the waking world. She has been gifted twelve gowns and her station requires she wears them all. That alone would make me exhausted, but what causes her drowsiness is not the physical activity, but the magic.

The Lord of the Feast is a very interesting chap and I could see he and Hiresha marrying. (If he were not a damned being.) His cryptic humor as he aids the Elder Enchantress helped keep the story moving forward.

I really enjoyed this book. I can't give too many details without giving the entire story away, as much as I would like to prattle on about it. The world was well thought out, the characters were well rounded and flawed deeply. The story itself flowed well and progressed at a decent pace. Most stories you read where a lot of sleep is involved are usually boring, but Marling presents Hiresha's problem with wakefulness in an interesting manner without putting the reader to sleep as well.

Did I mention I LOVE the cover?

Very clean, well written, highly intellectual... I have to give it:

5 out of 5 skull and crossbones.