The Fall of Fair Isle by Rowena Cory Daniells (The Fall of Fair Isle)

6/10

This review is a little unconventional, in the sense that instead of reviewing the individual books in the series, I will be reviewing the series as a whole. This is a fantasy series that is definitely not a stand-alone. All the books have to be read in the order they are meant to be read—and to ensure that the reader doesn’t forget what happened in the previous book(s)—as well as right after the previous with no breaks in between. It helps that I received the books in one e-book.

I had the hardest time getting into this series. I began reading the first book in February 2015, and I finished the series in September 2015. The characters are all stubborn, to the point of being infuriating sometimes (read: much of the time). However, that did seem to fit with the political nature of the series. Imoshen, Reothe, and Tulkhan are all at odds with each other, yet are intertwined to protect Fair Isle—the ancestral home of the legendary T'En. Reothe and Imoshen are the last two remaining "throwback" T'En; meaning that they have the wine-red eyes, the silver hair, height, and the sixth finger on each hand that their ancestors had. Tulkhan is the Gheebite general that captured Fair Isle, and in order to maintain his hold on the isle must form an alliance with Imoshen.

Throughout the three books, there were so many times that I wanted to shake Tulkhan and Imoshen by the shoulders because I was so frustrated with how stubborn and secretive they were. Daniells did an amazing job of conveying the tension and struggle the two faced to the point where I often could feel myself becoming tense and exhausted from the characters struggle. The world that was created, while original, gave very little for the reader to imagine. It felt that Fair Isle was very well constructed, but almost to the point where it didn't really seem to exist to me. In my mind, there was a grey mist shrouding the world outside of Fair Isle. The timing of the events throughout the books also felt off. There was very little indication as to when time had passed.

This is not a book I would readily recommend. It really just wasn't my cup of tea. The politics of the series were very well portrayed, but in the end I felt exhausted after reading it, which hindered my ability to enjoy the series.