Griffin's Daughter

This is the first of a trilogy called the Griffin's Daughter Series by Leslie Anne Moore.  Griffin's Daughter is the exact type of fantasy fiction book that I LOVE reading!!!  I love fantasy worlds... in this case, we have humans and elves.  There is a poor, tortured soul that goes off on an adventure to find a person that she has never met but gave her life.  During this adventure she meets and falls in love with an elf soldier who is also from a noble family.

There are so many little things that I love about the way this writer tells her story.  First of all, I love all of the unique names in this book.  Maybe they are common somewhere else, but I've personally not heard of many of them before.  :-)  There is our main character, Jelena, her husband, Ashinji of the Sakehera family... what cool names are those!  I also love how each character has these little things about them that makes them more 'alive'.  You can't believe how many books I've read where the characters are pretty much just robots that don't have very many thoughts or unique feelings, or their personalities are just too shallow.  Yes, I'm talking about some of the traditional 'romance' books that I am stupidly still reading, hoping to find something that I'll like.... this book would  not be classified as a romance, but you still have some of the romantic aspects that are found in that genre.  Though I have to say that I'm glad that the bedroom parts, with the exception of one, are tastefully written.  The part where Jelena and Ashinji make love for the first time, okay - it's definitely something that prevents me from recommending this series to a younger reader, but so much of this book would be so much fun for other readers!  So, I really don't understand why this part had to be so detailed.  It was written well, but really?  I broke my heart because I love to share book names and authors with other people, and well, a lot of them are the type that would not appreciate even one small part written with so much detail.  It makes me sad that I can't go out and tell my groups to get this book now!

Well, let's move one... for the ones that do not mind that kind of reading, like I said before, there is a bit of detail but it is tastefully done.  The writing is very impressive.  What I like about this writer is that she puts personality in many of the smaller things... the horses have personalities, one trying to bit another, and even the brief encounter with a wild boar was written so well that I could almost see the whole part in my mind.  This is what I like to describe as writing with all 5 senses and not very many writers can do this without over wording or just plain going overboard.  This writer has a nice balance and makes so much of her book come alive.

Now, you all know that I'm not a very patient reader.  The story does have a nice transition at the end of this book to go into the next, but now I'm very curious to how the adventure will continue.  Though I'm happy to say that this can also be a stand alone book - there are a few small issues that are not completely resolved in the first book, but it's enough to get some closure.  So, unlike some of my favorite authors, I don't feel like I'm left dangling.  :-)  :-)  I hate being left dangling but also love it at the same time.  I get too anxious for the next book and if I have to wait a whole year, I am not a happy person with that.  I'll be curious to see how well the next two books stand on their own.

So you're probably asking, am I going to get the next book?  I just looked it up on Amazon.  The answer is yes!  The price is not too bad and I can download one book this week and if I finish quick enough, I can get the last book next week.  :-)  The price is comparable to getting a used book, so I feel that the price is right.  :-)  If I would have had to pay full retail for a paperback or higher, I can't justify getting the ebook.  I'd rather go hunting for the book at the library or in a used copy.  I'm just cheap that way - I can't justify paying full retail price on anything anymore... because I can't afford it!  Do you realise how many books I read a year!!!?!?!?!

At the same time with this book, I've been listening to the final Harry Potter book.  No, I haven't read it before.  I've actually only read the first book, and the first two chapters of the second - I've reading the books to my 7 year old  for the past year.  I have, though, listened to all of the other books in audio book.  I need something to keep my mind busy as I do my daily chores and laundry and such.  :-)  Plus, when I can actually knit, crochet or bead, if I'm working on something really simple, I'd much rather listen to an audio book than watch TV.

But reading has always been my first passion.  I love books and now love my Kindle.  I have to thank Pixel of Ink and the author for offering this first book as a free download.  If it were not for this first free book, I would have never discovered this talented author.  I look forward to not only finishing this series, but reading any other books that she may have written.  :-)