by R.A. Sandpiper, The Bride of Eavenfold Duology Book 1
Summary:
She rides to claim her fate, he flies to burn it down.
As the only woman in the Moontouched Brotherhood, Tani studies on the haughty island of Eavenfold surrounded by men who see her as an ill omen at best. Her Fate Ceremony is only days away, offering five possible escapes from the storm-locked island, but each with their own consequences.
Lang, an insubordinate Crown Prince, holds the reins to one of the few true dragons left in the world. Sent to Eavenfold on a diplomatic mission by his warmongering father, he watches as the Brothers bestow a rare and unwanted Marriage Fate on Tani. Already her touch magic alarms him, but if she succeeds and marries the victor of the upcoming tournament, her power could topple empires.
They both arrive at the games. Her, to claim her Fate. Him, to destroy it by any means possible.
Review:
Every once in a while, a book falls into my lap and once I get going, it usually takes a bit to see how I’m gonna end up feeling about it. Which I feel like is a pretty normal thing after all. But this one?
I don’t know the last time I crushed a book this quickly. And I knew almost immediately that would be the case.
To Touch a Silent Fury is an absolutely awesome book, and I really loved it. I was a tiny bit apprehensive, since I saw it in some other posts with the romantasy tag; I’m not a romantasy hater, just more unfamiliar with the genre but I do know Sandpiper’s reputation among other people I trust, plus I have her first trilogy so I knew whatever the genre, it was bound to be good. I’m glad my intuition was right about that, because this was better than good; it was fantastic.
The biggest positive for me was the world building and backstory that she gave the characters before any major plot shifts occured. Lots of times, stories can be “this happened, and this THIS, and holy crap NOW THIS” and I’m left going “….who the hell are these people?” TTASF was a slow-burn, that took its time in getting us familiar with the characters, their backgrounds, their motives, everything. And it made the payoff of the book that much more hard hitting since we’re very much fully integrated into the story by then.
As far as the story goes, I generally try to keep plot points out of reviews; no spoilers here. But the gist of it, Tani is a moontouched girl who is sent to an island where she trains with all the other moontouched, who are boys. Along the way she is given her Fate; one of five different outcomes for her once she comes of age, and only by exploring that Fate can she fully grasp her abilities. Unfortunately for her, the Fate she’s given isn’t what she had hoped for and that sets the story off and running. As far as characters go, I thought she was incredible. We get to see her journey and watch how she progresses; a far cry from immediately seeing a character knowing how to do everything, this was a nice change of pace to see the obstacles that she overcame along the way.
I had my wish; I was off the island. But, as in every fable I had ever read, wishes were a terrible thing. Once you got your heart’s desire, it rarely turned out the way one hoped.
The other POV is Lang, a dragon-riding Prince who is sent to watch Tani’s final testing before being given the Fate. Along the way, we do dive a lot more into his mind and find out how not only he views himself, but how his father and family relationships have impacted his beliefs, and the ways in which he’s trying to both appease them and also make his own mark.
What is loyalty, really, but a lack of choice?
As the story continued, there are twists and turns aplenty. Especially the last 80-100 pages; I don’t think I put it down until I was done, and as soon as I was, frantically googled “to touch a silent fury book 2?”
Overall, like I said, I loved this book. I think it’s perfect for people who are fans of not just romantasy (of which there really wasn’t much spice and more importantly the relationships and love stories that were in the book were very well done), but for fantasy fans in general. This book is a perfect example of why it’s so important to not just have a cool idea, but beautiful words to go along with it and Sandpiper has just that. The prose is fantastic, the descriptive language masterful. It felt like I was living in a fully fleshed out world by the time the story got up and running, and I think that is a testament to her talent; I can’t recommend going out and getting this fast enough.
Find out more about To Touch a Silent Fury!
Pete Barnable
Pete loves all things sci-fi and fantasy; whether it’s epic, dystopian, or grimdark, he’ll devour them all. Especially grimdark; pretty sure after a lifetime of being a die-hard New York Jets fan, he’s pretty well conditioned for anything a story may throw his way. At least those aren’t real and can’t hurt him.
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