Faeries of Dreamdark: Silksinger

I absolutely loved the first book in Laini Taylor's Faeries of Dreamdark series (Blackbringer).  I loved it so much that I bought a copy of the second book, Silksinger, right away.

I waited too long to read Silksinger.

I read Blackbringer over two years ago.  Way too much time has passed, and I barely remember the story now (besides that it was awesome!)  So it was rather tough to get back into the series.

But that was ok.  By the time I was halfway through Silksinger, I was once again in love with Dreamdark.

Silksinger is the story of several faeries.  Once again, Magpie Windwitch is here with her family of feathers (crows) and her friend Talon.  They're hunting for the remaining Djinn, to awaken them and return them to Dreamdark.  Talon, a scamperer (he has wings that are too small to fly with), has knit himself a pair of feathered wings.  Together, he and Magpie find the Ithuriel, before going in search of the Azazel.

A continent away, Whisper's family is attacked by a swarm of devils.  Both of her grandparents die fighting them off, leaving Whisper alone to protect the Azazel.  Whisper is the last of the Silksingers, a faerie clan long thought to be dead.  Their voices allow them to manipulate the Tapestry; they were famed for their flying carpets, which haven't been seen by others in millenia.

Whisper manages to make her way to an outpost, where she stows away on a caravan heading to Nazneen.  There she meets Hirik, a lad with big dreams and even bigger secrets.  Hirik longs to find the Azazel, to become the Djinn's champion (especially now that the Djinn are awakening and Magpie has become one of their champions already).  But he is a Mothmage, a clan also believed to be dead.  As legend goes, the great warrior clan sat idly by while the last dragon, Fade, was destroyed.  The Silksingers, who were not warriors, bravely flew to Fade's side on their carpets, only to be slaughtered along with the dragon.  The Mothmages were exiled and presumed dead in the aftermath of that battle.  But in truth, they are not dead.  And neither were they the cowards everyone believed them to be: the Mothmages were ensorcelled by a ruby left there by their greatest enemy.

I will admit, Silksinger was somewhat predictable, particularly concerning Whisper and Hirik.  But it was still a fantastic read.  I am sad to know there are currently no more Dreamdark novels written.  But hopefully Taylor will get back to the series (especially since Silksinger ends on a bit of a cliffhanger - I need to know more!!!!)

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

I bought Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer in the bargain section of Chapters a few years ago.  I don't honestly remember when, but I'm sure the premise intrigued me.  But not enough to read it right away. And so it's sat in my closet until just recently, when I am trying to actually read some of these books that I bought on a whim.  Most of them I'll probably read once then send on their way for someone else to enjoy.  I fully expected to do that with Blackbringer.

And then I started reading it.

I think I read pretty much all of it last night.  I started it earlier in the day.  Then last night I was going to go play Terraria, but decided at the last minute to continue reading this instead.  And I was blown away by how good it is.

Blackbringer is the story of Magpie Windwitch and her clan of crows.  They travel the world hunting the demons who are being released by the stupid humans ("mannies") who find their prisons (One demon granted some mannies three wishes, so now everyone is clamouring to get some wishes of their own; unfortunately most of the demons aren't as benevolent as that one happened to be).  Then Magpie finds a boat where a prison has been opened but there is no other evidence of the demon, not even the dead mannies who are usually left in a demon's wake; all that is left are their shoes.  And so Magpie must track the most deadly demon of all right into the faerie home of Dreamdark.

Blackbringer was written for a younger audience, so it's an easy read.  Easy, but so very good. It's got faeries fighting demons, magic, adventure, everything!  I actually fell in love with the book (i gave it a 5 on Goodreads and even marked it as a favourite) and bought the second one in the series from Amazon as soon as I finished reading.  I can't wait to read more from Dreamdark!