Before the days of men, there were elves. In a time they were great and powerful, the first dwellers, the brightest ray of dawn upon the earth. They brought light and music to the world and every breeze that stirs and wave that crashes still echoes with the wonder of the fair folk. But a foulness is brewing in the east, where men deal in sorcery. They summon dire forces, unleashing a terrible power into the world. And the elves, once immortal, now fade from the earth. But knowing that all sorcery comes from Runes that were carved ages ago, Efkin, a young elf lord, races to find and destroy the hidden Runes before all is lost. He sets out to recover the horn of his ancestors that long ago summoned the forces that shaped the world. Only the horn has the power to break the Runes. He journeys into the east, but comes too close to the heart of sorcery and does not dare blow the horn. If he is tainted by the poison of the Runes the horn will sound a ruinous note that could spell the end of the earth.
First Line:
It was early dawn when a wagon rumbled across the plain along the eastern part of Khazinth in its way toward a village the stood between the mountains and the sea.
The Sylvan Horn by Robert Redinger
When I read the blurb for The Sylvan Horn, I immediately thought of The Lord of the Rings series. Except the Humans were the bad guys, and the Elves were trying to protect the rest of the world from them. So, I immediately accepted the invite and dove right in. While I wasn’t right about it being like The Lord of The Rings (not even close…lol), I did enjoy reading this book.
The Sylvan Horn had an exciting plotline. The boundaries that have protected the Elves’ realm are failing. That is allowing Trolls to infiltrate their forests and kill their people. Attempting to broker peace leads the Elves to discover that there is more going on than just the Trolls attacking them. It is up to Efkin, a young Elf with almost mythic magical powers, to retrieve an artifact that can help him. This artifact, The Sylvan Horn, is held by the humans in a mountain of iron….which is deadly to Elves. As Elfkin makes his journey, he discovers there is so much more at stake. The bindings on The Runes, which can destroy the world, are failing. And there is only one god that can help them. Can Efkin survive the journey? Will he be able to reach the Horn? And what will Efkin learn about himself on the journey?
The Sylvan Horn is book one in The Sylvan Chord series. As it is the first book in the series, I can’t say the usual stuff I put in this section.
The Sylvan Horn was a medium-paced book. It did get off to a slow start, but the author used that to introduce most of the main characters. It picked up when Efkin started his journey but did falter a little in the middle of the book. But I still enjoyed the plotline. Once Efkin reached the human lands, the book picked up its pace and zipped to the end.
There were a lot of characters in The Sylvan Horn, most of which were introduced in the first few chapters. It did get a little confusing. But once Efkin was on his journey, I was better able to keep track of characters better.
I want to add before I go any further and forget that I wish the author had included a glossary. That would have made keeping track of the characters and the cities/countries/continents Efkin and his group visited so much easier.
This book is supposed to be a young adult fantasy. The book fits perfectly in with the fantasy genre. The author hit every single earmark for that genre, and I enjoyed it. I was iffy about the young adult genre, though. Some of the vocabulary was a little adult. Even I had to look some words up.
I loved the main storyline and the lore that went with it. Efkin was a likable character who was determined to get the Horn. I loved reading about his side journies while continuing on his main quest. The ones that stood out the most to me were the water giant (who protected him against thedragons) and the count who was training birds for war (I got a good laugh about that). I liked the twist on who Efkin was. It made sense during the last half of the book (with what he could do).
The Sylvan Horn ended on a cliffhanger. I have questions about the druid that this one didn’t answer. I am looking forward to reading the next book
I would recommend The Sylvan Horn to anyone over 13. There is violence, no language, no sex (or sexual situations), and no other triggers.
Thank you to the author for allowing me to read and review The Sylvan Horn.
I saw this meme on It’s All About Booksand thought, I like this!! So, I decided to do it once a month also. Many thanks to Yvonne for originally posting this!!
This post is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are wonderful and take you to places you would never get a chance to go. That includes places of fantasy too!!
So….enjoy!! Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas (other than the fantasy….lol).
United States:
New York (Brooklyn), Louisiana (New Orleans)
New York (New York City), Texas (College Station, Bryan), North Carolina (Raleigh), Washington D.C.,
California (Los Angeles)
Colorado
California(Orange County)
Georgia (Atlanta), Alabama (Birmingham)
Utah (Salt Lake City, Hill AFB), New York (Long Island, Manhattan, New York City), New Jersey (Glenn Rock), California (San Francisco, Lake Tahoe), Washington (Seattle), Missouri (Branson), Michigan (Detroit, Ann Arbor), Florida (Tampa), Ohio (Columbus), NewMexico (Albuquerque)
Alabama, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pittsburg), New York (New York City), Washington (Seattle)
New York
New York (Long Island, Lake Ronkonkoma), New Mexico (Los Alamos)
North Carolina (Asheville)
California (Los Angeles), Georgia (Atlanta, Isle of Hope, Savannah, Beaufort)
New York (New York City, Manhattan)
California (Berkeley)
Vermont (Lake Salem), New Hampshire, Connecticut (Hartford, Mercy Hills)
Nevada (Las Vegas)
New York City, New York
New York (New York City), Wisconsin
The Netherlands
Rotterdam
France
Strasbourg, Southern France, Paris
Paris
Brazil
Brasília
Switzerland
Geneva, Zürich
Ireland
Dublin
Belgium
Brussels
Russia
St. Petersburg
Vladimir, Murimstevo Castle
Lake Chebarkul
Italy
Monferrato, Naples
Orvieto, Rome
Naples and Capri
Venice
Norway
Bergen, Borgefjell
Poland
Krakow
Canada
Syn Island
Prince Edward Island (Georgetown), Quebec
Japan
Tokyo, Mako Island, Tomo Island
Australia
Australian Coast, Lord Howe Island
Cairns
Melbourne
Uganda
Ignisia
Forest of Ghosts (Flamehaven),
Germany
Lindenmuhle
Spain
Granada, Carboneras, Barcelona, Cantabrian Mountains (Torre Cerredo), City of Lights (fictional)
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Personal:
Wednesday (after last week’s post went live): I took Tony (my youngest cat) to the vet. I noticed that his pupils were two different sizes, and the eye with the smaller pupil was cloudy and bulging out. When I got to the vet, there was nothing wrong. His eye was slightly inflamed, but other than that, it was fine. I told the vet that I wasn’t imagining things. She agreed….lol.
Thursday: Nothing happened. It was a chill day, and I folded a lot of laundry.
Friday: Kids had off due to it being Veterans Day. It rained out, and we were stuck inside.
Saturday/Sunday: Nothing was done other than our usual stuff on Saturday. Sunday, Miss R had a make-up horseback riding lesson at 3 pm.
Monday/Tuesday: This was a repeat of the last week.
The longest book I read this week was: Kaiju Survival Guide.
The shortest book I read this week: A Wicked Game (it took me 2 hours to finish)
I decided to look at the books I had on my NetGalley’s Not Active shelf. I added a few books I had forgotten the last time I went through that shelf. I also double-checked to see if I had books on my Kindle (and, surprise, I was missing 4!!). So, that changed my reading list quite a bit.
I am slightly behind with my reviews. I am 6 reviews (2 will be written this week) behind. When BK is home, I can’t concentrate enough to sit down and write a review. He is worse than my kids when constantly interrupting me (and he knows it).
So that’s the essential things for this past week. How was your week?
As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these books!!
What I Recently Finished Reading:
What I am currently reading:
Nineteen-year-old Emily Díaz is lost, left to wander in a familiar landscape devoid of life. She is lost in a world in which her friends, her loved ones, the entire human race has moved into the future without her. Racing to catch up, she finds herself in a shocking new world, a futuristic world of incredible advancements. Medicine is extending human life, giving scientists reason to believe that immortality will one day be a reality. Famine and poverty have been eradicated. World peace has been achieved. Humanity is reaching deep into the cosmos. It is all so perfect…perhaps too perfect. Emily is skeptical. She begins asking questions. As she finds cracks in the utopian facade, a powerful force from a distant world begins to call to her, begins to beckon her. It wants her, and it will not give up until it has her. She finds herself torn, both terrified and entranced by this mysterious force. She wants to run from it but is inexplicably drawn to it. She doesn’t know what it wants or why it only wants her, but as time marches on, her compulsion to face it begins to take precedence over her fear. Her determination to face the mysterious force sets her on the path toward an unexplored planet sixteen light-years away…where it waits for her…waits to answer the questions she has been asking…waits to show her what it has in store for her…waits to fulfill her destiny. Emily Díaz has a date with destiny. It is a destiny that will have a monumental impact on the fate of humanity.
What books I think I’ll read next:
From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
A totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past.
One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.
Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.
Before the days of men, there were elves. In a time they were great and powerful, the first dwellers, the brightest ray of dawn upon the earth. They brought light and music to the world and every breeze that stirs and wave that crashes still echoes with the wonder of the fair folk. But a foulness is brewing in the east, where men deal in sorcery. They summon dire forces, unleashing a terrible power into the world. And the elves, once immortal, now fade from the earth. But knowing that all sorcery comes from Runes that were carved ages ago, Efkin, a young elf lord, races to find and destroy the hidden Runes before all is lost. He sets out to recover the horn of his ancestors that long ago summoned the forces that shaped the world. Only the horn has the power to break the Runes. He journeys into the east, but comes too close to the heart of sorcery and does not dare blow the horn. If he is tainted by the poison of the Runes the horn will sound a ruinous note that could spell the end of the earth.
Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a life for herself, she is swept up into a glamorous lifestyle where she married the handsome billionaire Jed Hawthorne.
But then, Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Jed?
With Behind Closed Doors, B.A. Paris takes the psychological thriller to shocking new heights. Now she’ll hold you captive with this stunning new thriller about one woman wed into a family with deadly intentions.
