Summary (Warning: Mild Spoilers):
Elves living in hiding. Humans oblivious to their continued existence. What could go wrong? The humans of Asrellion live under the false belief that they eliminated all elves in a genocidal war centuries ago until a prince encounters one in the forest and she saves his life. From that moment their lives are intertwined, even as she disappears and the human nations go to war. At least he is comforted by the dreams they share together in each other’s absence.
Seven years into the raging war between human nations, the prince becomes suspicious and discovers that humans are being manipulated – pitted against one another by a mysterious force. The elf princess too must face this same mysterious enemy. When reunited by a common threat, there is no time to dwell on the realization that they know each other’s worlds or that their dreams were shared.
But the world is so much more complicated when hidden siblings with language barriers emerge and necrophiliacs are watching.
Amidst the lore of this book and the implications of the mythical bond, lies a story of love and self-discovery twisted by outside forces. As we follow our adventurers around the amazing world of Asrellion the reader witnesses a race war unfold.
Overall Reaction:
Holy Crap. I mentioned that I had previously met the author, but I had never before read anything she has written. I love this book and the world of Asrellion. Where’s Sir Peter Jackson?
Think: The Princess Bride meets The Lord Of The Rings (and The Hobbit) with more genocide balanced with artfully crafted dialogue for each individual character’s voice and way fewer song breaks.
The world of Asrellion has an attribute I will from here on out refer to in reviews as “other laws of physics.” Magic and other mythic properties are consistent and comfortable and don’t take on illogical cause and effect relationships. A reader can wander around and learn Asrellion in their own head as they choose and based on the MORNNOVIN fanfiction, I am glad to say it appears many are!
I love that all of the characters are deeply flawed in complex ways. Characters are irrational, emotional, arrogant, petty, in denial, self-serving, and some are extremely out of touch with the reality other characters around them are seeing. There’s also character growth. These flaws are chipped away at, little by little, so they morph and change, but never fully go away.
In regards to character presentation and point of view: I don’t call it head-hopping and based on everything I’ve read, this doesn’t actually fall into the definition. One perspective per scene (from third person) is used to reveal limited information to the reader, even with an omniscient narrator and the perspective is always logical and clearly presented. This tool is used to follow intense emotions (example: we follow a character that leaves the room instead of staying to hear what another character says that’s painful for them to hear). I haven’t encountered this before and it made it possible to focus on emotional aspects of the story without having to use words to talk about the emotions.
Each kingdom of elves or humans has unique cultural practices that play out through dialogue, dress, and mind games between characters. Culture clashes and language barriers are constantly explored through observations and reactions unique to each character’s personality making each reaction feel genuine to a reader without ever feeling heavy-handed.
Overall, I loved the story of war strategy, fighting an enemy, and how the author allowed adversity to exist beyond the main plot in numerous ways I can’t get into here without spoiling the book. If you love fantasy books about elves, humans, culture clashes and genocide this is probably the book for you.
LGBTQA?
Major characters are represented as having diverse relationship types. Absolutely belongs on any LGBTQA Fantasy Booklist.
Grammar+:
The few items I found were not noticeable enough to interrupt the flow of reading and are within the 1 error/10,000 word standard.
Twilight Zone Moment:
Every book has one. Without going into detail or spoiling anything, there is a scene where a character shows up beaten to a pulp to execute a secret plan to take down an enemy, but I was very confused as to how the character got beat up.
Buying Options
| Print List Price: | $19.99 |
| Kindle Price: |
$7.99
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Mornnovin (The Way of the Falling Star Book 1) Kindle Edition
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherDogwood House LLC
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Publication dateMarch 28, 2019
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File size5513 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"In this first installment of Bethancourt's series... she presents characters from rich fantasy cultures... Readers who enjoy detailed worldbuilding will quickly fall in love with this novel... The prose is similarly polished and executed with great care; the even pacing will keep readers engaged, the various players are well developed, and the smooth dialogue feels genuine... A fine high fantasy novel with a richly crafted world." - Kirkus Reviews
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
About the Author
Alyssa is an autistic dog lover transplanted from the harsh Arizona desert to the vibrant Pittsburgh area. She has been writing fantasy stories her whole life and is thrilled to finally be sharing them with someone other than her dog.
--This text refers to the paperback edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B07PTBXQCV
- Publisher : Dogwood House LLC; 1st edition (March 28, 2019)
- Publication date : March 28, 2019
- Language : English
- File size : 5513 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 552 pages
- Lending : Not Enabled
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Best Sellers Rank:
#1,914,622 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #8,522 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #21,229 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #22,877 in Fantasy Action & Adventure
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5
18 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2020
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One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2019
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How many times have I picked up a self-published novel hoping that maybe this time I’ve found one of those ‘hidden gems’ that everyone talks about? Time after time I’ve started such a book only to find it full of grammatical errors, poor plotting, and zero character development. What do people have against editors or even a decent beta reader?
With this book, Mornnovin: The Way of the Falling Star, I found that treasure. From the first paragraph, it obvious Bethencourt spent a great deal of time polishing her story. If there were mistakes in there, I didn’t see them, and I’m very picky. She creates a fantastical world but somehow avoids old tired tropes so each character is a refreshing change from used up stereotypes.
There is Loralíenasa, the Elven Princess of a hidden Elven kingdom on the verge of extinction and someone is killing her people. She must go on a quest, yes, a quest, to find out is behind this and save them. Along for the ride are various humans, including her love interest, Prince Naoise, and my favorite character, her twin sister Lynn. The author subverted the cliche and gave the ‘feisty’ characteristics to a secondary female character, rather than the heroine.
The characters are all fleshed out, the storyline flows. There is nothing in here that takes you out of the story. It's not all sunshine and light, there is darkness and sadness, but it builds toward a satisfying conclusion.
Read it. You won’t be sorry.
With this book, Mornnovin: The Way of the Falling Star, I found that treasure. From the first paragraph, it obvious Bethencourt spent a great deal of time polishing her story. If there were mistakes in there, I didn’t see them, and I’m very picky. She creates a fantastical world but somehow avoids old tired tropes so each character is a refreshing change from used up stereotypes.
There is Loralíenasa, the Elven Princess of a hidden Elven kingdom on the verge of extinction and someone is killing her people. She must go on a quest, yes, a quest, to find out is behind this and save them. Along for the ride are various humans, including her love interest, Prince Naoise, and my favorite character, her twin sister Lynn. The author subverted the cliche and gave the ‘feisty’ characteristics to a secondary female character, rather than the heroine.
The characters are all fleshed out, the storyline flows. There is nothing in here that takes you out of the story. It's not all sunshine and light, there is darkness and sadness, but it builds toward a satisfying conclusion.
Read it. You won’t be sorry.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
Oh wow, this was SO good. I finished it the day I started reading because I couldn't put it down! The characters are endearing, the political intrigue engaging, the escalation of tension perfectly executed... Often I don't read books until the sequels all come out, but this was well worth reading immediately. The ending was satisfying emotionally but I'm still so invested in the characters and love stories and the rebuilding of what was lost, I look forward to reading more!
The darker plot points were balanced with humor and love, the descriptions took me there vividly, and why haven't you bought this book yet? Go read the excerpt and then TRY to not buy it to read more, I dare you. ;) Anyways, this was 5/5, wholeheartedly.
The darker plot points were balanced with humor and love, the descriptions took me there vividly, and why haven't you bought this book yet? Go read the excerpt and then TRY to not buy it to read more, I dare you. ;) Anyways, this was 5/5, wholeheartedly.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2019
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I admit, it took a few tries to get going, but that was my own fault. I was burned out on fantasy. This book got me back into it. It was so good. I loved every chapter.
Alyssa has a way of making these characters come to life. Each one an individual and special. I laughed with them. I cried with them. It was an all around amazing fantasy novel.
Alyssa has a way of making these characters come to life. Each one an individual and special. I laughed with them. I cried with them. It was an all around amazing fantasy novel.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2019
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. The characters were constantly a delight, with surprising twists and turns, mystery, and a dose of romance, this was a satisfying read. I'm also excited for the fact that this is the first of a trilogy so I get to meet the characters again in the near future!
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2019
First-time author Alyssa Marie Bethancourt hits a home-run with this sweeping tale of adventure, mystery, romance, and magic. The world-building is rich and textured, the characters are nuanced and believable, and the prose is just heavenly. Surprises abound, with a shocking twist right up front that flows into a complex and compelling search for answers, culminating in a desperate battle against a chillingly evil villain. Far from retreading the same old tropes, Bethancourt instead turns them upside-down, using them to examine important social issues. Easily one of the best books I've read in a long time.
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2020
It was a very pleasant surprise to read this book. I love the twists and the overall plot is highly entertaining.
There are just enough details about events/places/characters without being overwhelming or annoying.
Also, it is pretty fast paced but without losing the essence of the plot and without sacrificing the main characters’ development.
There are just enough details about events/places/characters without being overwhelming or annoying.
Also, it is pretty fast paced but without losing the essence of the plot and without sacrificing the main characters’ development.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries
Nora
5.0 out of 5 stars
buy it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2019Verified Purchase
it's great, just buy it