Between Starfalls By S. Kaeth – (Book One of Children of the Nexus)

Day Two – Blog Tour Presented by WriteHive

Click or touch your fancy phone or other electronic device here for WriteHive Tour Info page, including the list of awesome people also participating in the tour.

Housekeeping Items next – What is this book about, and where should I buy a copy?

BOOK BLURB

Never leave the path.
It’s sacred law, punishable by exile.
When her son goes missing in the perilous mountains, Kaemada defies the law to search for
him. She enlists the help of her hero brother, a priestess berserker, and a fire-wielding friend.
But the law exists for a reason.
When the search party is captured by the mythical Kamalti, they learn that Kaemada’s son was
sent to an ancient prison city. As they battle for freedom, they discover a horrible truth that
will change the future of both races forever.
With their world in upheaval, Kaemada must find a way to peace if she’s to save her son—but
tensions between the two races are leading to war.

Purchase and Reviews

My Review

Firstly, although I was given an electronic copy of this book with the hopes that I would enjoy it and write a review, it was clearly expressed that I be honest if I did not enjoy the book. There was no pressure, and another example of why I love Sci-fi and fantasy books, but the people that write them and enjoy them.

Welcome to my stop on the tour, and thanks for swinging on by! I loved this story, took down way too many quotes, learned about something called Conlang, and will do my best to keep this review from being an hour long. There was too much to love, and appreciate, in this fantasy world, and the people in it.

I have a number of impressions, and thoughts on this book.

To begin with, and one thing that really left an impression on me, was the chapter intro’s. Each one was a highlight for me. There was a time in my life when I really thought I would become a globe trotting, trail blazing anthropologist. The perspective I got reading this, really made me nostalgic for those days, as the intro to each chapter read like the journal entry of someone outside the story, and outside the lives of the Kamlti, and Rinaryn. Being so different from Earth’s history, I felt like a witness to the events happening in this marvelously, and meticulously created world.

She took the cup and forced a smile, mostly to make him go away. But his words persisted even as he left the hut. Shoving away her sorrow and pain, she snatched for more hopeful notes for her song. Yes, they had suffered grievous losses, just like Tanelwith, but they were Rinaryn. Nothing could stop their song.

The Rinaryn people live in tribal, and close knit groups, scattered in seperate areas that could move as a whole, if the need arises, and would all join together as one people, to conduct, and partake of beautiful ceremony’s, rituals, and games once a year. Some of the people have unique and special powers, called psions, that would inevitably put them in the position of being a protector of the group. They also have their own language, created by the writer (more on that to come on the tour!) as do their ancient relatives, the Kamlti. The writer has gone to extreme heights to give these cultures, and the people, an authenticity that is rarely found. Which only help me to feel more immersed in this book.

The people are attempting the journey to the Starfall gathering when the story arc really hits. By now, we’ve been introduced to the main characters, each a unique and interesting world into themselves. And when Kaemada, who is travelling with her telepathic wolf, and son Eian, encounters one of the most intriguing, and freaky, things in the book to me, the Angels. This excerpt does a better job than I could, in getting that these Angels are not what we would normally mean, when talking about Angels.

The sky was cloudless, ideal for the Angels. And here they were, without the support of the kaetal to join their voices for protection. She pushed her worries away. It would only be one night. “Do you not remember from the last journey? They hunt with song, weaving a tune that entices the prey to look for them. Any who look at an Angel will be frozen in place and eaten. That’s why we sing the counter-song and stay behind a barrier for safety.

As they try to sleep, being only a days Pegasus ride from the destination, the angels sing their song that begs you to follow, and look, it seems they are safe. But when Eian is gone in the morning, with footprints that lead right into a rock wall, the excitement takes off.

We find that there is more going on in this world, right underneath them, and because I don’t want to spoiler the heck out of this, I’ll say that this series will be a Must read for me. There is much more to explore, people’s, magical creatures, elves, trolls, cities in the water. And all introduced through the fascinating lives, and events that unfold in Between Starfalls.

With the world itself growing as the story goes on, woven in the experiences of the characters, it really grew on me, and my interest in the book only continued to increase the further I read. I will stop here for now. In a world where ratings exist, I will give this 4 out of 5 stars, as I look forward to what comes next.

Thank you to SK for giving me that anthropological, nostalgic experience as well as an exciting and really interesting series to look forward to.

Thank you to Kriti from _armed with a book, and WriteHive- #HiveReadsOnTour- for giving me the opportunity to participate. The most exciting part of doing a book review blog is getting to meet cool people. Kriti reads tons of books and has a really cool system for rating books, check out Kriti’s site here.

AUTHOR BIO

S. Kaeth is an author of sci-fi/fantasy stories, as well as a dreamer, reader, writer,
character interviewer, and worldbuilder.
She was raised in the gorgeous Driftless area of the Midwest United States on a steady
diet of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, mythology, legends of King Arthur, superheroes, and Doctor Who.
As a child, she told stories constantly to family and friends, and she wrote some of the worst
fan fiction and short stories that no one will ever get to see. As S got older, she was inspired a
great deal by Andre Norton’s Janus novels, the Foundation series, the Ender’s Game series,
Wheel of Time, Ursula K LeGuin, and Ringworld.
She’s an avid reader, and has been serious about honing her craft for about ten years,
now. She finds writing necessary; it’s an integral part of who she is. Creative expression in
some way helps her to get through the dark times and celebrate the bright times, making
sense of the world and dealing with life in general. S has always been, and always will be, a storyteller.