Faerie Tales
Faerie Tales is the first book of the "Revelations" trilogy by Fiona Skye. Ms. Skye can be found on Twitter (@FionaSkyeWriter), Google+ (+Fiona Skye) or at her blog (http://fiona-skye.com/). I met her on Twitter and she gave me a copy of Faerie Tales for an honest review. You can find the book on Amazon (http://amzn.to/1imESg0).
Faerie Tales was featured on One Thousand Worlds in February 2014. You can read that post here.
Riley O'Rourke is a werejaguar responsible for exposing the world of the Preternatural to the rest of Humanity. But not all the things that go bump in the night are happy with the new world order.The Queen of the Winter Court, a cruel and vicious faerie, is determined to punish Riley for her role in the Night of Revelations and sends some of the nastiest storybook characters imaginable after her.
Salvation comes from the Summer Queen, who asks Riley to steal a magical artifact from the Winter Queen, a mirror that will determine the winner in the eternal war between the Fae Courts. Riley's reward for returning the mirror is the protection of the Summer Court.
Joining Riley on this quest are her mentor, a 3,000-year-old vampire, and Riley's lover, a federal law enforcement agent with a secret of his own.
Their successful completion of this quest has unexpected consequences that could doom the entire world.
Fiona Skye writes well in Faerie Tales. She has a sharp command of language, and the book comes across well edited. I was impressed with how Ms. Skye's prose flows throughout the book.
As I read this book, I most enjoyed the way Ms. Skye intertwines several different types of modern fantasy details into the novel. There are were-creatures (not just wolves either, but many animal types), vampires, faeries, and magicians. Magic exists, both old and new. Ms. Skye takes the time to mix various real life myths and superstitions into one universe, and I found it worked to move the story along.
The book is written in the first person, from Riley's point of view. It makes sense then, when Riley transforms, so does the author's writing style. The character changes to something more primal and instinctual, no longer concerned with telling a story. The glimpses of "Jaguar's" motivations and understanding of the world added to Riley's own emotions about being a preternatural.
If there was one part of the book I had trouble connecting with, it is with Riley and her romantic relationships. As a man married most of my adult life, I could not relate to Riley in this regard. Riley struggles with her feelings toward a love interest throughout the book. Still, Ms. Skye spends ample time explaining Riley's troubled past, which helps put Riley's struggles into perspective.
I wonder if in the future Riley will come to realize some of her issues with relationships are actually based in how the character approaches relationships and sexuality in the first place. It would be interesting to see her grow in this regard in future books, and not fall into some sort of "love conquers all" simple solution.
While the book is a little slow to build up to the action, I was satisfied in the end. I felt the book successfully sets up the world in which Riley lives and builds the necessary tensions and antagonists that will take the trilogy forward into book two.
I am excited to see how Fiona Skye continues the Revelations Trilogy. She most impressed me with her clean writing style and ability to intertwine a number of disparate elements into a cohesive world.
I recommend Faerie Tales to anyone looking for a modern fantasy tale of magic and preternatural action with a little romance thrown in, and look forward to seeing more of Ms. Skye's work in the future.
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