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Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

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If you read only one fantasy book this year, read this one.

Gotcher attention, eh? I think that if you knew me, you'd know that I don't throw out statements like this willy-nilly. I've read enough books for children and teens to know that no matter how good a story seems while you are reading it, there's bound to be another that steals your heart a day or two later. Good books are published every single day, and declaring one to be the be all and end all of any category is just plain wrong.

That said, if you read only one fantasy book this year, read this one.

I mean it. First time author Laini Taylor has written a doozy of a debut. It's one of those books you read and then find you can't put down. I repeatedly found myself on the New York City subway system in a state of frustration every time I arrived at my stop. Somehow, Taylor is able to write a fantasy novel so compelling that you can never put it down because you've found yourself at a particularly exciting moment. Separating itself from every other fantasy series out there (an accomplishment in and of itself) Taylor's written a book with just enough humor, tension, excitement, hope, joy, and pure unadulterated despair to please even the most jaded of fantasy loving kiddies. And it's about freakin' fairies.

Funny story. Remember that old fairy tale about the guy who found a genie in a bottle and when he opened it he was granted three wishes? Well, it won't surprise you too much then to hear that these days whenever a human finds a bottle their first instinct is to uncork the sucker. Problem is, genies aren't the denizens of these bottles. Demons are. And when the demons are let loose upon the world there's only one gal with the guts to put them in their place. Magpie Windwitch just happens to be the granddaughter of the West Wing (it's a long story), a fairy, and she's traveling with her seven crow companions. Her job is to track down and recapture these wayward devils by any means possible. She's good at her job, but little of her training prepares her for the darkest creature let loose yet. Called the Blackbringer, this nasty piece of work is intent on destroying the world, and its chances happen to be pretty darn good. To defeat it Magpie will have to cross over to the world of the dead, befriend the flightless, scurry, kill, confront the creator of the universe (who is SUCH a pill these days), and discover her true past. If you didn't know her, that might sound like a tall order. If you knew her, it would still sound like a tall order, but at least you'd know she'll tackle it with everything she's got.

Hopes were not high when I first picked up this book. I'll level with you here... author Laini Taylor was previously best known for a line of fairy ornaments called "Laini's Ladies". From that you might imagine the book to be a sweet little flower fairy tale with a lot of dew-sipping and moonlight dances. Thank God for Laini's husband Jim DiBartolo, then. Basically, it's going to be hard to sell any book with the word "faeries" in its title to the male fantasy-reading public. That's where Jim comes in. His illustrations for the book are fairly spare, with less than ten dotting the book. Still, Mr. DiBartolo has nailed the tone of his wife's text. The image of Magpie on the cover is perfect. She looks like she means business. All the characters in this book look that way, actually. There's nothing soft, flower fairyish, or namby-pamby about these sprites. And one can only hope that exposure to the Artemis Fowl books will have given readers an inkling of the kick-butt nature of faeries in general.

Not that there isn't a healthy dosing of humor to boot. The crow brothers that accompany Magpie at all times act like a feathered version of Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, language and all. They smoke cigars and put on plays at the drop of a hat (which is particularly amusing when you consider the lack of opposable thumbs and all). Every character here (except maybe the villains) has a sense of humor, and it's an honest one. Taylor doesn't have to force the jokes. They come naturally and lighten an already quick and fancy book.

Okay, but what's the most important thing in any fantasy novel? The quality of writing, duckies. First and foremost there's the language in this book. Taylor's managed to create a kind of new speech that is infinitely understandable, but at the same time distinguishes itself from the pseudo-Gaelic slang so many other authors indulge in. There's a great deal of pleasure to be taken in phrases like, "hush yer spathering," or, "it shivers me," or, "un-skiving-likely." . She's also a keen ear for lush otherworldly descriptions too. Some are gorgeous and remarkable. Others are so horrific you're half amazed no one's thought of them before. "Its mottled brown skin had the texture of dried gut stretched over a skull, and so crude were its features it seemed to have been sculpted in the dark, and with one obvious omission: it had no mouth." I won't describe any more except to say how it goes about GETTING a mouth is grotesquely unique.

Of course, the inevitable comparison here is going to be with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The funny parts and mix of fantasy and horror placed alongside a heroine with supernatural powers who fights demons? Yeah. We've seen it before. The thing is though, this isn't a Buffy rip-off. It's powerful in its own right with its own distinctive mythology and unique world. Then again, it can definitely be boiled down to one girl saving the world. Why? Well, as the book explains at one point, "As with each devil she captured, she was the only one trying." The nice thing about having Magpie as your heroine is that even when you're worried for her, you're not so worried that you don't trust her. She may have the manners of a pit bull and the self-grooming talents of a mangy cat, but she's tough and fun and will take on anything her size or larger if you let her.

You know what I liked about this book? No rhyming prophecies about the future. Can I tell you how rare it is to find a fantasy that doesn't contain at least one, if not more, poorly rhymed prophecies about a "chosen one"? Okay, so fine. Magpie is kind of a chosen one. But she doesn't have to solve any riddles about it and her destiny isn't written in stone on an ancient parchment somewhere or anything. Besides, as the book puts it so perfectly, "She decided finally that it's not so bad to find out you have a destiny when it's something you were going to do anyway." And by the way, when someone dies in this book it matters. It matters intensely. This isn't one of those books where people die left and right and the stoic hero doesn't feel the loss. Nuh-uh. If someone dies Magpie feels mourns it up. This is something not all authors think to do, and I for one appreciated it.

Oh. And there's a warrior prince that knits. And a horrid little scavenger imp who enjoys putting his toes in his nose. And a host of other interesting, terrible, wonderful things all packed together in this book without ever feeling rushed or overused. For all its 400-some pages, "Blackbringer" moves at a remarkable clip, never getting bogged down or slow it doesn't sacrifice character or plot for the sake of action. Laini Taylor's balancing act with this novel should be studied intensely by those wannabes that want to break into the world of fantasy writing for kids. It's one-of-a-kind and worth a taste. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. If you read only one fantasy book this year, read this one.

"Hurry home, love, through the dream-dark glade/ where moontime beasts lurk in darkling shade/never linger, love, where the shadows grow/the Blackbringer hunts where the light fears to go."

Once upon a time, the Djinn wove the Tapestry of the world, creating forests and animals, mountains and fairies. Thousands of years ago a Devil War was waged when the horrific devils were created by snags in the Tapestry. The brave and beautiful fairy Bellatrix was the great heroine of this war and in the end she and her fellow warriors were able to trap all the devils in unopenable bottles. But then Bellatrix disappeared and the years passed, and something that not even the Djinn had forseen arose: mannies (humans). And mannies, with their insatiable curiosity began opening the bottles, expecting genies but instead releasing devils. Magpie Windwitch is the only fairy who seems to be hunting these devils, forcing them back into bottles. Most of the other fairies have forgotten the old ways, content to live in the safety of their villages. But then a bottle is opened that should never have been unsealed, one containing the awful shadow creature of legend known as the Blackbringer. The Blackbringer is more powerful than even the mighty Djinn and indiscriminately devours everything in its path, pulling devils and fairies alike into the darkness. Magpie, along with her comical crow companions, sets off to find the Djinn King, the only one powerful enough to stop the Blackbringer--but no one has seen him for centuries.

I began this book not expecting much: the tall, edgy faerie of Holly Black's Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale are one thing, but Tinkerbell-sized creatures are another. Tiny little winged fairies seemed as tough and adventurous as dragonflies to me. Consider me a convert. Little Magpie Windwitch may be tiny, but she sure has spunk. Talon Rathersting, a fairy who joins Magpie on her quest after the Blackbringer kills his father and brothers, is another non-stereotypical fairy. He is a prince of a warrior clan who has been hindered all his life with stubby wings. However, he does have a talent for knitting, and can create "skins" which he can wear to transform himself into a bird and finally have the chance to fly. Blackbringer is sprinkled with other such well-developed characters and Magpie's crows in particular provide a good dose of humor.

One of the most striking things about this book is Taylor's beautiful writing. She creates passages that are best described as lyrical and gives Magpie a unique voice by having her use a lot of fairy slang, like the word "skiving." It is even more impressive that this is her first book--it doesn't have any of the rough edges one would expect from a first time author.

Don't let the fear that a book about fairies will be too cutesy hold you back. This is a spectacular debut novel and absolutely engrossing. Highly recommended.

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer - how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

I love thee because thou art wonderfully imagined and skillfully wrought.
I love thee because the characters living within your pages are well developed and fully realized. I genuinely liked them. Better yet, I admired them and found them to be marvelous role models.
I love thee because those characters speak with just enough dialect to enhance their non-humanness.
I love thee because thou hast made the heroes journey fresh with a light and deft touch and because those heroes aren't forever angsting over their destiny. Instead they're getting the job done - and were doing so long before they knew they had destinies.
I love thee because your faery world is neither overly dark and nasty nor gooily sweet and light. It has its own shades of gray and I care, not only about its survival, but about its history.
I love thee because people of all ages can find joy and magic in reading you.

In short, Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, my love for thee is truly taller than tiptoes and most definitely higher than a stack of raccoons.

Blackbringer has found a forever home on my favorite-books-of-all-time shelf. I happily and highly recommend it to readers of all ages.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me start out by saying that I know the author of this book, so I expected to like it. I did have reservations going in, however, being that the only fantasy books I own have the words Harry and Potter in them. I am a Jane Austen, , occasional chick lit, sometimes heavy english literature kind of girl.

That said, she had me at Hello. Or in this case 'So much depended on this tiny faerie whom dreams had at last made real'. As another reviewer said below, this book IS extraordinary. I was sucked into Dreamdark from the beginning and could do nothing except finish reading it.

Magical is a good way to describe this book, both in content and execution. The world of Dreamdark that Laini has created is as rich and full as the language she uses to describe it. The story is a lavishly woven tapestry of color, characters, mythology, history, dreams and magic. The sense of brotherhood and of purpose of some, and the lack of it in others is what makes this story one worth finishing as quickly as possible, simply to find out what Magpie and her crows do and how she handles it.

This book was magical and I highley recommend it to anyone of any age who is looking for an adventurous ride thorugh a new land with a hero of the age.

I had been awaiting the day that Blackbringer came out for months (like perhaps a star wars geek waits for the opening night, except I didn't camp out, or wear a costume when I picked it up) because I wanted so badly to read it again! I was lucky enough to get to read one of the last drafts of Blackbringer (in two days, on vacation at the beach, I didn't see to much of the beach those days!) and I couldn't wait to read it again, but this time, without the danger of losing the pages!

Its fantastic. I don't know what else to say that hasn't already been said by the other reviewers. I was sad to close the book every time I had to put it down. And-like all my favorites-I was regretting reading it so fast when I was done with it, because I wasn't ready to leave that world! Laini created such a beautiful forest (Dreamdark) that I could picture it in my mind, and I wanted to be there in Poppy's garden and workroom, and I wanted to have dinner in the Rathersting castle surrounded by fierce, tattooed fairy warriors!

So all in all, go get this book, read it, then make all your friends read it, none of you will regret it!

Laini Taylor's Blackbringer centers around an imagined world steeped in magic. A young faerie named Magpie, the main character, flies with a group of crows who have taken it upon themselves to rid the world of the devils that have been let loose as well as preserve the magic and traditions of Magpie's people. Unfortunately for them, one of the worst devils (the Blackbringer) of all has been uncorked by humans (they call them "mannies"). Magpie, destined to play a far greater role than even she can fathom, stalks the Blackbringer even as he stalks her and her people.

This book left me very impressed. Laini Taylor's crisp style fits the storyline and brings the tale vividly to life, and the characters and events are well imagined. In fact, the world-building is fantastic, and because of this as well as other factors (good characterization, a mix of humor, unique concepts that only serve to bolster the story's quality, and a mismash of interesting characters), the flow of the story is incredibly smooth and I was picking Blackbringer up every free moment I had just to finish this tale.

This is just an all-around neat read. It kept me interested on every page, which is not something I can say about most books, much less debuts. I adored the characters. The villains were just as easy to dislike, and though I expected this story to be much darker, especially since I was reading another book by this author at the same time (and it was much darker and much less easy to like), Blackbringer did not turn out at all as I had first expected. It does contain some moments of horror, which are also well written and described in such detail that it is easy to picture the bloody, gaping jaws of terrible creatures, and kudos to the author for successfully transitioning from moments of peaceful calm to moments of tense dread and horror and later, to moments of fast-paced action.

This was a very, very good debut. I think Laini Taylor is an author to watch, and I will be picking up the second book, Silksinger. Though usually easily bored with any series, I will be sticking with this one to see what happens next.

I hardly ever say this (because I hardly ever read anything that garners such a reaction) but...out of all the books I have read this year, this is by far the best and it comes very highly recommended to any fantasy lovers out there. If anyone is looking for a fantasy with a little romance thrown in, there is a small relationship that seems promising, though I believe that it will be more developed (as in having moved from uncomfortable friendship to relationship - oh, it is so obvious) in the next book.

Concluding words: Laini Taylor's most excellent debut comes highly recommended from one very pleased reader.

A wonderful story, full of action and well rounded characters. While it would have been easy to fall into stereotypes, if only to move the story along, the author gives the reader lots of surprises--you feel like you are learning something new and exciting throughout the book.

The story can be a little hard to follow at first--the faerie language and its nuances took a little getting used to.

I have been recommending this book to young and old alike.

Faeries of Dreamdark is breathtaking in its scope, its use of language, its massive scale of adventure and hope and its illumination of all that matters most in life. Whether you are nine years old, as my niece is or thirty-nine, as my brother is, this is a classic, stunningly original story that you shouldn't miss. (My brother, who is an attorney and never reads fantasy, loved it so much he bought fifteen copies the day it came out to give to his friends. He is borderline obscessed with the book and I don't think he can wait for the sequel...too much is too much to ask of someone when a story is this good.) The story and the writing is every bit as captivating as Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials or Harry Potter - two favorites of mine- and yet I found myself loving this novel even more. I tend to abandon books like crumbs when I lose interest but thats impossible with Blackbringer. Magpie Windwitch and Batch are going to seep under your skin and you will never ever be able to forget them, endearing and feistily determined as they are. There are knitting faerie warriors, imps who can't keep their toes out of their nostrils, cheroot smoking crows and flying Gypsy caravans that careen through the night sky, midnight blessing ceremonies, and a main protagonist, Magpie, that every boy and girl will wish was their best friend.

I have to say I was hesitant to divulge that I have known the author, Laini, as my own devilish, feisty best friend for half of my life now, as if that would somehow dillute my review or put it in question for the objectivity of it, but if I thought it was just okay, I wouldn't write this. (I'm a former Peace Corps Volunteer...we never lie!) Actually, that could have added some great high drama to have your best friend write an awful review on Amazon! I was privileged to be one of the earliest readers of its very first drafts several years ago now and was utterly blown away that this masterpiece was tucked away in that brain o' Laini's all these years and no one knew! What it has evolved into word by word, day by day, is a gift to readers everywhere. Its stuffed with adventure at every turn and yet, is also a deeply moving story about fierce loyalty and to use a word Laini has used, valor. Even if you don't normally read fantasy, I genuinely hope you will make an exception for this book. Thanks for reading!

I selected this book after reading the reviews here on Amazon to see what all the fuss was about. Like some of the others have mentioned it took me a bit to get into the story because of the language style of some of the characters. I ended up loving all of the fun little sayings and nuances of this story. I love the characters and what seems to be a unique story line on the creation of the Earth. I definitely felt the shivers while reading some of the more intense parts of the plot. ;)

I hope there will be more books about Magpie, or even Poppy, as they both were wonderful characters. I see there is another Faeries of Dreamdark book about a new character. I am sure I will pick it up soon to read. I hope to see more books from this Author as I am enjoying each of her stories that I have read thus far.

Now devils were creeping back into the world, faster and faster all the time, but the age of champions was long past, and little Magpie Windwitch found herself alone against them.

This is not the story of just any faerie. At 100 years (a mere adolescent) Magpie Windwitch is a true warrior faerie. Filled with determination, Magpie has managed to capture 23 devils in the last eight years. For thousands of years these devils have been safely held captive in bottles. Now humans (mannies) are releasing them, thinking they will be granted three wishes; instead, they only release evil. The devils are not interested in the mannies so much, but are hungry for the faeries.

With darkness stealing over the land and their situation becoming even more dangerous, Magpie seeks to understand the skills she has been given so she can fight this evil. In her short years she has only heard stories of the most powerful devil of all, the Blackbringer --- but now she's convinced that this is the evil that is fast destroying the safety of all of faerie kind. She also realizes that she must risk her life and try to awaken the great Djinn (Lord Magruwen) if there is a chance to win this battle.

Magpie travels with a most colorful group of guardians: seven cigar-smoking crows --- Pup, Maniac, Bertram, Calypso, Pigeon, Swig and Mingus. Each offers its own unique personality toward Magpie's safekeeping. As the story moves into deeper and darker adventures, the crows are called upon for the greatest of sacrifices, which they give with full hearts.

The faerie's journey as she discovers her true identity and fights a life-and-death battle is laced with an array of wonderful characters: Talon, the prince of the Ratherstring warriors (a possible romance is blooming here); Orchidspike, the official healer of Dreamdark; Poppy Manygreen, dear friend and future healer; Batch, the deceiving scavenger imp; Skuldraig, the magic dagger only Magpie is able to use; and Snoshti, Magpie's loving nanny.

In this remarkable, beautifully written and illustrated book, Laini Taylor has created a most fascinating and detailed faerie world. Filled with dragons, devils, hobgoblins, giant spiders, imps, witches and monkey kings, Dreamdark is a realm to be visited more than once. These adventures, and the brave heart of little Magpie Windwitch and her unforgettable battle to heal the torn tapestry of the faerie world, will thrill readers. There likely will be an eager audience waiting for the next book of the Dreamdark world.