Book Review: Edgelanders

Edgelanders

By:  Jennifer Melzer

Publish Date:  February 11, 2014

Format:  ebook

Genre:  Fantasy

Series:  1st in Serpent of Time series

First Glance Feel:  A light fantasy weaved around a Celtic feel of three characters coming into their own.

Synopsis:
When Princess Lorelei of Leithe overhears Trystay, her fiance, plotting to have her murdered on the way to their wedding, she does the only smart thing: she runs.

Into the Edgelands, a savage, wooded country along the western coast of Leithe said to contain the legendary U'lfer, a race of fierce wolves who walk as men, she knows she is as good as dead, but she'd rather be torn apart by werewolves than die by Trystay's hand.

Finn, a young U'lfer warrior, catches her scent on the wind and finds himself possessed by an unnatural desire to protect her from that which hunts her. From the moment he first lays eyes on her, Finn knows: she is his. He feels her heartbeat, knows her soul as well as he knows her own, and he will do anything, even suffer exile from the Edgelands, to be with her.

But there is more to Lorelei than meets the eye. She is like Finn, there is U'lfer in her blood, a beast beneath her skin she never knew was there. The answers she seeks about her origin and her purpose lie south, in the frozen tundra of Rimian, where a village of people just like her have been waiting for Lorelei to come since before she was even born.

First Sentence:
Transfixed by the streams of color that flagged the market stalls, Lorelei watched them ripple against the white-cloud dappled sky.

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My Thoughts and Summary:
Lorelie runs into the Edgelands, determined to have a say in how she will die. She'd rather be torn apart by the wolf U'lfer people than at the hand of her betrothed. To Lorelie's surprise she wakes alive, with the U'lfer.

Finn scented her on the wind. He knows she's different yet no one else seems to scent it. He feels a draw to her he's never felt before, and is willing to face exile to be with her.

There is an introduction (which the first sentence is from). I like this as it's a complete short story of an important event in Lorelei's past.

There is a Celtic feel to the U'lfer - descendants of The Wild Hunt and Fionn mac Cumhaill. They are were-wolves and people. By chapter 7 you will know and feel it too. I loved this creation and grow to express the feel to me.

We get to see the world through different eyes, Lorelie, Finn, and from time to time Finn's brother Viln. The characters spend a lot of time re-evaluating and evaluating through thought to themselves. I felt a very intimate feeling with the three characters. I felt the most for Finn though. However with these characters being in the same place, I felt there were sections that repeated things - how limited the U'lfer are in number, Finn's madness, Viln repeats many of these things and Finn. The actions tell a lot, so their thoughts aren't needed as much to reiterate what we know or have learned.

The focus is on Lorelie who's t save the half-breeds of U'lfer and who doesn't know much of the world as she was shielded from it by her father, and king. This gives a young adult feel to the story. She's young and finds her way along with a sweet romance highlight here.

The beginning had me with the strong feeling of The Wild Hunt and Finn influences. The ending...Oooo. Enjoyed the end and the take of the Serpent of Time here. The middle had it's slow moments and lots of reflection by the characters, but I'm curious more of Finn. And what is Lorelie to do in the journey to come. But Finn? He's where my thoughts are.

This book ends the first step in Lorelie's events and starts the next journey. Looking forward to reading that next adventure. I'm curious to see if what is 'seen' happens or if Lorelie finds a way... I have the second book and will be reading it.