Scan barcode
mxsallybend's review against another edition
4.0
Although the story is firmly grounded in the fantasy genre, complete with a little bit of magic and some glimpses of a deeper mythology, it almost reads like an old-school story of frontier justice, given new life through the elements (if not the setting) of a more contemporary police procedural. It’s a mingling of genres that could be problematic, but which actually works very well. The first time we move from a contemporary good cop/bad cop interrogation, to an old fashioned western bar brawl, to a contest of magical wills and religious prophecies, it’s jarring, but in a way that’s fresh and unique.
One of the things I loved about the book was the sense of mystery that Carole allows to pervade the story, feeding us tidbits of information through the characters, rather than overwhelming us with long-winded asides. As each new element of the fantasy genre falls into place, and is better explored, the story becomes more and more interesting.
The characters here are wonderful as well, although some readers may be put off by the lack of a traditional hero/villain dynamic. For me, that just added to the mystery. Wil and Dallin are great characters who immediately engage our emotions, but it’s not entirely clear on what side of the dynamic they’re fall. Depending on how the story develops, they’re have the depth and complexity to potentially be either hero or villain.
Very much a tortured soul, Wil is a character who not only elicits sympathy, but who also aggravates us almost as much as he does Dallin. As for Dallin, he’s partially the typical warrior-enforcer, but he’s also an outsider – for multiple reasons. The two play off each other very well, creating a tense relationship rides a fine edge, but smartly avoids devolving into the cliché of a mismatched ‘buddy’ partnership. As readers, we naturally long to see their adversarial nature turn to friendship, but I appreciated the fact that Carole avoided the standard plot device of a crisis even to suddenly resolve the situation.
It’s definitely clear that both men are gay, further fuelling our desire to see them come together, but it’s handled very tactfully. Being gay is a part of their characters, but not a driving element of the plot, and not a vehicle for titillation. Personally, I would love to see something more intimate develop between them in further instalments, but the story definitely doesn’t rely on that as a tease or a hook.
A wholly fulfilling story, with a lot of potential, I definitely can’t wait to see where Carole takes us next.
One of the things I loved about the book was the sense of mystery that Carole allows to pervade the story, feeding us tidbits of information through the characters, rather than overwhelming us with long-winded asides. As each new element of the fantasy genre falls into place, and is better explored, the story becomes more and more interesting.
The characters here are wonderful as well, although some readers may be put off by the lack of a traditional hero/villain dynamic. For me, that just added to the mystery. Wil and Dallin are great characters who immediately engage our emotions, but it’s not entirely clear on what side of the dynamic they’re fall. Depending on how the story develops, they’re have the depth and complexity to potentially be either hero or villain.
Very much a tortured soul, Wil is a character who not only elicits sympathy, but who also aggravates us almost as much as he does Dallin. As for Dallin, he’s partially the typical warrior-enforcer, but he’s also an outsider – for multiple reasons. The two play off each other very well, creating a tense relationship rides a fine edge, but smartly avoids devolving into the cliché of a mismatched ‘buddy’ partnership. As readers, we naturally long to see their adversarial nature turn to friendship, but I appreciated the fact that Carole avoided the standard plot device of a crisis even to suddenly resolve the situation.
It’s definitely clear that both men are gay, further fuelling our desire to see them come together, but it’s handled very tactfully. Being gay is a part of their characters, but not a driving element of the plot, and not a vehicle for titillation. Personally, I would love to see something more intimate develop between them in further instalments, but the story definitely doesn’t rely on that as a tease or a hook.
A wholly fulfilling story, with a lot of potential, I definitely can’t wait to see where Carole takes us next.
teresab78's review against another edition
4.0
Fantasy
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on - as was Dallin. This is queer fantasy and not romance (at least not this first book) but I was grabbed by the story. I want to know more!
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on - as was Dallin. This is queer fantasy and not romance (at least not this first book) but I was grabbed by the story. I want to know more!
ellelainey's review against another edition
3.0
Book – Guardian (Aisling #1)
Author – Carole Cummings
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 270
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, dual POV
Would I read it again – Maybe
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Romance
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
This was an interesting one, for me. I've only ever read the Wolf's Own series, by Carole Cummings before, so I figured I needed another book or two to decide how I felt about their writing. This one has just left me as confused as before.
First off, I really liked the plot concept. It was interesting, had some nice twists and there were some great parts where we really got to connect to the central characters and feel the chemistry fizzling away in the recesses of Wil and Dallin's minds. There wasn't much romance involved, other than a growing sense of learning about and respecting each other, towards the end, so I did feel that was missing. However, I have hopes that it will pick up in the next book.
When it comes to the writing style, I had issues. First off, there is no indication of timeline, era or the actual world this story takes place in. It has elements of Victorian Crime, Medieval Fantasy and a few Western influences (the saloon western and not the international 'western') It made it hard to orientate myself into the story. At one point there was a strong suggestion of the story being quite Penny Dreadful-esque, with a hint of magic as the only real fantasy element. The police parts read like a scene out of Ripper Street and there was very little fantasy content, as a whole. It was limited to the fact that Wil had this 'ability' to harness dreams etc, but that was the only single point of fantasy-related-content in the whole novel. There was talk of magic and sorcery, conjuring and trances, but all singularly surrounding Wil.
There were some new elements, that made it slightly more original, with the likes of the Brethren and the Guild, being religious factions, while having locations such as Cynewisan and the Dominion. But, beyond that, everything was relatively familiar to a Victorian Crime/Western world. I got strong hints that the lands of Lind and The North Tongue were Celtic in origin, probably one of which is Scotland and the other Irish, or one of them possibly being welsh. The heritage, history and language were big indicators, but it also made it harder to figure out the timeline/era.
There are some odd writing choices, like incomplete sentences being used as descriptive text (e.g. “A waggle of thin eyebrows beneath a lank fringe of greasy brown hair.”) which has always felt a little lazy, to me, personally. There are also editing issues, with the likes of missing punctuation and such, and a few instances of needless repetition. For example, the quote “Head down, eyes to the ground, gold between his fingers.” made no sense, because I had no idea at the time if that mean he weaved gold, like in the fairytale, or whether it meant actual coin, which wouldn't make sense either, since we were given no indication of where the coin might have come from or how it got into his hands that were generally empty a minute ago.
I was quite stunned to find that Chapter 1 was a total 14% all of it's own. All in Dallin's POV and all without much more than a scene break or two, it made the story feel interminably long. If that had been chopped in half, I still probably would have found it too long for a single Chapter. Especially one that introduces us to the main characters and sets the scene. I had barely begun to orientate myself into the world or to care about the characters, so it felt like too much was being thrown at me at once, with no real opportunity to stop, breathe and take a break to process what I'd read so far.
What made it even worse was that it meant that the dual POV didn't enter until 14% when it switched to Chapter 2, in Wil's POV, which slowed the story even more with a barrage of unnecessary 'travelling' description. On top of that, it usually took half a page, once entering a new chapter, to discover who the POV was for. Half the time I had to make an educated guess and hope that, when it was finally revealed, I was right, or else I'd have to start again.
When it comes to the 'romance' aspect, I was disappointed. Though I did like that Dallin and Mal got to know each other well and tested their trust boundaries and each other, quite often, I did feel that I was missing out on the component of at least romantic potential. From the start, both men have only ever salivated over women, and any time even a hint of thoughts of attraction towards each other pop up they react with disgust. It doesn't inspire me to believe that these two could ever be anything close to romantic with each other. They're too straight, too closed-minded and the little flash at the end of the book of Dallin having had a 'gay moment' in his past really didn't encourage, inspire or convince me that it was real. It felt more like a last-ditch effort to convince readers that at least one of the two could have gay tendencies, but it didn't feel real or natural at any point.
In fact, their first kiss is at 32% and there's nothing romantic about it – it's a ploy by Wil to distract or coerce Dallin into what he wants. It's pure manipulation, which only confirmed my already building theory that I didn't like either main character all that much. Dallin was this tough cop, but was a bit of a pushover and obsessed with not facing the truth even when it punched him in the face – literally. Wil was manipulative, violent, vindictive and liked to push people to breaking point, for most of the novel. The few times that he actually inspired sympathy were short lived, because it was generally followed by another show of his quick temper and ferociousness.
The original aspects were what I liked best – the dream element, the way they met and how Dallin's heritage unfolded, and the journey they went on, though the constant fighting with each other grew old after a while. It was the subtle, fragile friendship that formed throughout the book that I enjoyed the most and the way that Wil opened up about himself, even though it hurt, because he felt that, for the first time ever, he wasn't truly alone. I like that he was, naturally, ignorant of a lot of 'normal' things about life in the world, due to his long term imprisonment and how that affected him, mentally and emotionally, and how it made him want things that weren't particularly coveted by 'normal' people.
However, the ending threw me for a loop. It was far too sudden, it ended without any resolution to the plot or any of the sub-plots and left me wondering just how long this series/journey might be if it had only progressed so far in this novel.
Overall, with the mish-mash of genres, the long winded storytelling and how long it took to get anywhere, I had to take some stars off the final rating. The abrupt ending made it necessary, too. Although I enjoyed the overall story and the concept, it was just far too laborious to work through and I'm of two minds about whether I want to venture into the next book or not. At the moment, I'm leaning towards not. The thought of it just makes me feel tired already.
~
Favourite Quotes
“Wil blinked. Damn. It appeared the consequence of demanding to be addressed like an actual person was that you were then expected to provide half of an actual conversation.”
“There was a line somewhere between using brutality to survive and just brutality, and Wil walked it according to his own moral compass – stepped back and forth across that line easily and without so much as blinking.”
Author – Carole Cummings
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 270
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, dual POV
Would I read it again – Maybe
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Romance
** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine
This was an interesting one, for me. I've only ever read the Wolf's Own series, by Carole Cummings before, so I figured I needed another book or two to decide how I felt about their writing. This one has just left me as confused as before.
First off, I really liked the plot concept. It was interesting, had some nice twists and there were some great parts where we really got to connect to the central characters and feel the chemistry fizzling away in the recesses of Wil and Dallin's minds. There wasn't much romance involved, other than a growing sense of learning about and respecting each other, towards the end, so I did feel that was missing. However, I have hopes that it will pick up in the next book.
When it comes to the writing style, I had issues. First off, there is no indication of timeline, era or the actual world this story takes place in. It has elements of Victorian Crime, Medieval Fantasy and a few Western influences (the saloon western and not the international 'western') It made it hard to orientate myself into the story. At one point there was a strong suggestion of the story being quite Penny Dreadful-esque, with a hint of magic as the only real fantasy element. The police parts read like a scene out of Ripper Street and there was very little fantasy content, as a whole. It was limited to the fact that Wil had this 'ability' to harness dreams etc, but that was the only single point of fantasy-related-content in the whole novel. There was talk of magic and sorcery, conjuring and trances, but all singularly surrounding Wil.
There were some new elements, that made it slightly more original, with the likes of the Brethren and the Guild, being religious factions, while having locations such as Cynewisan and the Dominion. But, beyond that, everything was relatively familiar to a Victorian Crime/Western world. I got strong hints that the lands of Lind and The North Tongue were Celtic in origin, probably one of which is Scotland and the other Irish, or one of them possibly being welsh. The heritage, history and language were big indicators, but it also made it harder to figure out the timeline/era.
There are some odd writing choices, like incomplete sentences being used as descriptive text (e.g. “A waggle of thin eyebrows beneath a lank fringe of greasy brown hair.”) which has always felt a little lazy, to me, personally. There are also editing issues, with the likes of missing punctuation and such, and a few instances of needless repetition. For example, the quote “Head down, eyes to the ground, gold between his fingers.” made no sense, because I had no idea at the time if that mean he weaved gold, like in the fairytale, or whether it meant actual coin, which wouldn't make sense either, since we were given no indication of where the coin might have come from or how it got into his hands that were generally empty a minute ago.
I was quite stunned to find that Chapter 1 was a total 14% all of it's own. All in Dallin's POV and all without much more than a scene break or two, it made the story feel interminably long. If that had been chopped in half, I still probably would have found it too long for a single Chapter. Especially one that introduces us to the main characters and sets the scene. I had barely begun to orientate myself into the world or to care about the characters, so it felt like too much was being thrown at me at once, with no real opportunity to stop, breathe and take a break to process what I'd read so far.
What made it even worse was that it meant that the dual POV didn't enter until 14% when it switched to Chapter 2, in Wil's POV, which slowed the story even more with a barrage of unnecessary 'travelling' description. On top of that, it usually took half a page, once entering a new chapter, to discover who the POV was for. Half the time I had to make an educated guess and hope that, when it was finally revealed, I was right, or else I'd have to start again.
When it comes to the 'romance' aspect, I was disappointed. Though I did like that Dallin and Mal got to know each other well and tested their trust boundaries and each other, quite often, I did feel that I was missing out on the component of at least romantic potential. From the start, both men have only ever salivated over women, and any time even a hint of thoughts of attraction towards each other pop up they react with disgust. It doesn't inspire me to believe that these two could ever be anything close to romantic with each other. They're too straight, too closed-minded and the little flash at the end of the book of Dallin having had a 'gay moment' in his past really didn't encourage, inspire or convince me that it was real. It felt more like a last-ditch effort to convince readers that at least one of the two could have gay tendencies, but it didn't feel real or natural at any point.
In fact, their first kiss is at 32% and there's nothing romantic about it – it's a ploy by Wil to distract or coerce Dallin into what he wants. It's pure manipulation, which only confirmed my already building theory that I didn't like either main character all that much. Dallin was this tough cop, but was a bit of a pushover and obsessed with not facing the truth even when it punched him in the face – literally. Wil was manipulative, violent, vindictive and liked to push people to breaking point, for most of the novel. The few times that he actually inspired sympathy were short lived, because it was generally followed by another show of his quick temper and ferociousness.
The original aspects were what I liked best – the dream element, the way they met and how Dallin's heritage unfolded, and the journey they went on, though the constant fighting with each other grew old after a while. It was the subtle, fragile friendship that formed throughout the book that I enjoyed the most and the way that Wil opened up about himself, even though it hurt, because he felt that, for the first time ever, he wasn't truly alone. I like that he was, naturally, ignorant of a lot of 'normal' things about life in the world, due to his long term imprisonment and how that affected him, mentally and emotionally, and how it made him want things that weren't particularly coveted by 'normal' people.
However, the ending threw me for a loop. It was far too sudden, it ended without any resolution to the plot or any of the sub-plots and left me wondering just how long this series/journey might be if it had only progressed so far in this novel.
Overall, with the mish-mash of genres, the long winded storytelling and how long it took to get anywhere, I had to take some stars off the final rating. The abrupt ending made it necessary, too. Although I enjoyed the overall story and the concept, it was just far too laborious to work through and I'm of two minds about whether I want to venture into the next book or not. At the moment, I'm leaning towards not. The thought of it just makes me feel tired already.
~
Favourite Quotes
“Wil blinked. Damn. It appeared the consequence of demanding to be addressed like an actual person was that you were then expected to provide half of an actual conversation.”
“There was a line somewhere between using brutality to survive and just brutality, and Wil walked it according to his own moral compass – stepped back and forth across that line easily and without so much as blinking.”
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
This was good! I mean, it's very much a lot of set-up for the rest of the trilogy, so it's hard to evaluate it on its own, but I enjoyed it a lot. The world is interesting, and the plot grabbed me, even if I was still a bit shaky on some of the details at the end. You're kind of plunged into the world without a whole lot of explanation, but things become clearer as it goes on. Mostly, I just really enjoyed Dallin and Wil as characters. They're very different but both interesting in their own way, and I loved their interaction. There's basically no romance in this book at all, maybe just the TINIEST hint of something, but barely that. But I love slow burn romances that take multiple books to develop, so that was right up my alley. So much of this book is them learning who each other is and how to deal with one another (okay, mostly Dallin figuring out the best way to handle Wil — I loved the last chapter where he was going through the rules in his head for how to deal with him and get him to do what he wanted) and trusting one another (more Wil than Dallin, not that Dallin really trusts Wil either, but Wil is definitely more cautious). I loved Dallin's patience and understanding with Wil (not that he's ALWAYS patient and understanding, but how he comes to realize how to get answers from Wil and work with him and doesn't blame him for what happened to his mother). And Wil going from being a wounded animal who lashes out at the slightest hint of a threat to trying to learn to trust Dallin was great. Basically, I was very into their dynamic and the way their relationship slowly evolves (VERY slowly, they're basically just starting to get to a point of trusting one another by the end of this), and I'm very excited to see how it develops further.
tmikerx's review against another edition
2.0
Eh... Just not that interesting for me. I might continue reading the series, but we'll see.
crtsjffrsn's review against another edition
3.0
Strange crimes aren't new to Constable Dallin Brayden. But as he sits across from Wilfred Calder and hears the story of the incident he was involved in, something doesn't add up. And Wil's reaction to Dallin leaves him even more surprised.
The truth of the matter is that there's an entire history that Dallin doesn't know. At the same time, the truth that Wil has been given isn't exactly accurate. What is certain, though, is that Wil is on the run. And Dallin is more connected to him than he could ever have imagined.
--
I enjoyed the world that Carole Cummings created here. There's a rich history, and the unexpected connections between Wil and Dallin makes for an interesting set up. And it gives us, as readers, some great insight into Dallin's character.
What I would have liked to see, though, is a bit more of the relationship development between these two. I'm guessing this is a set up for more in later books in the series, but there's just not that much to find in this first book.
But if you're looking for an interesting and engaging fantasy story with intrigue and rich world building, you'll find it here.
The truth of the matter is that there's an entire history that Dallin doesn't know. At the same time, the truth that Wil has been given isn't exactly accurate. What is certain, though, is that Wil is on the run. And Dallin is more connected to him than he could ever have imagined.
--
I enjoyed the world that Carole Cummings created here. There's a rich history, and the unexpected connections between Wil and Dallin makes for an interesting set up. And it gives us, as readers, some great insight into Dallin's character.
What I would have liked to see, though, is a bit more of the relationship development between these two. I'm guessing this is a set up for more in later books in the series, but there's just not that much to find in this first book.
But if you're looking for an interesting and engaging fantasy story with intrigue and rich world building, you'll find it here.
ergogretchen's review against another edition
3.0
Snorting and retorting, snorting and retorting. WHY IS EVERYONE CONSTANTLY SNORTING.
Still, the concepts and story here are deeply interesting. The characters have depth and layers that I wasn’t exactly expecting in a book recommended to me due to how much m/m romance I read. I want to know more about the story, but I deeply hope the next two books contain less frustrating characters refusing to speak to each other, and a lot less SNORTING.
Still, the concepts and story here are deeply interesting. The characters have depth and layers that I wasn’t exactly expecting in a book recommended to me due to how much m/m romance I read. I want to know more about the story, but I deeply hope the next two books contain less frustrating characters refusing to speak to each other, and a lot less SNORTING.
kaje_harper's review against another edition
5.0
This book grabbed my attention and held it from the opening page. It's not a romance...yet. It is an intriguing fantasy about two men who are caught up in magical and political violence and intrigue, and are finding that neither they nor the world around them are what they had previously believed. Both men are enormously sympathetic and complex characters, and their interactions have a fascination somewhere between a love story and a train wreck. This book is in my top favorites of the year. Might be right at the top if it were a self-contained story. But be warned, this book is in no way complete in and of itself. At the end, the adventure is just beginning for these men together. I went right out and bought Book 2, and I'm relieved that Book 3 is not too far down the road. If you hate cliffhangers, wait to read this until the third comes out. But then, if you enjoy fantasy, run don't walk to your book vendor and give this a try.