Blog Tour: Storm Siren by Mary Weber
Storm Siren by Mary Weber
Series: The Storm Siren Trilogy
Publish Date: August 26, 2014
Young Adult Fiction, Epic Fantasy
Thomas Nelson, 352 pages
Source: ARC
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
In a world at war, a slave girl’s lethal curse could become one kingdom’s weapon of salvation. If the curse—and the girl—can be controlled.
As a slave in the war-weary kingdom of Faelen, seventeen-year-old Nym isn’t merely devoid of rights, her Elemental kind are only born male and always killed at birth — meaning, she shouldn’t even exist.
Standing on the auction block beneath smoke-drenched mountains, Nym faces her fifteenth sell. But when her hood is removed and her storm-summoning killing curse revealed, Nym is snatched up by a court advisor and given a choice: be trained as the weapon Faelen needs to win the war, or be killed.
Choosing the former, Nym is unleashed into a world of politics, bizarre parties, and rumors of an evil more sinister than she’s being prepared to fight . . . not to mention the handsome trainer whose dark secrets lie behind a mysterious ability to calm every lightning strike she summons.
But what if she doesn’t want to be the weapon they’ve all been waiting for?
Set in a beautifully eclectic world of suspicion, super abilities, and monsters, Storm Siren is a story of power. And whoever controls that power will win.
Storm Siren by Mary Weber is the first in a new young adult trilogy featuring a young heroine who is an Elemental and one that should not exist.
Nym, at the age of only seventeen, has already suffered the loss of both parents in a tragic accident when she was only five and has been abused and sold by more owners than she can count on both hands. Born with the rare ability of an Elemental, one that has never been seen in a female before, she should have been killed at birth. As much as she tries to hide this curse, one that often is uncontrollable and ends up destroying those around her, she ends up being discovered by a court emissary who wants to use her abilities as a weapon between warring kingdoms.
She is thrust into a world of political intrigue and deadly assassins, the world that is about to unleash the legendary and lethal power of a shapeshifter known as Draewulf. Nym will have to learn to harness her powers, sidestep intrigue, and have the courage to be the master of her own fate.
With Storm Siren, Mary Weber has given us a wonderful new heroine to be excited over and a fascinating world filled with magic, romance, and danger. Without being overly complicated, Storm Siren has a nice balance of world building where it touches on the history of warring realms, the magic of an Elemental and the threat they pose, as well as a mythic creature that threatens Nym herself.
Wrap this up in a wonderful story of a heroine rising beyond her guilt and seeing her curse for the truly amazing gift it is. I was hooked by this courageous young lady immediately. I felt all her feelings of doubt and guilt, and loved the positive moments and shouted "Yes!" when Nym finally, after a few setbacks, realized her own self-worth and power as a woman and an Elemental. She's a great representative of a positive heroine's journey!
There's a touch of romance in the story as well that I enjoyed with its sweet possibilities, and new friendships with other gifted Elementals surprised me and rounded out the story nicely. One of the characters was as powerful in his own right as Nym, and though the author could have created the infamous love triangle, creating unnecessary angst, she bypassed this completely and let the reader enjoy the strength of the friendship and loyalty instead. Bravo!
The pace was somewhat slow for me in the beginning, yet held my attention easily with Nym's wonderful character. The last third of the story was filled with terrific action, magic, intrigue and a few major twists that took me by surprise. The moments of battle and fierce storm magic were among some of my favorite and the ending had me gasping. Really gasping ...
I would highly recommend Storm Siren to Fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy reading themes of empowering young heroines!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Aside from Goodreads, I hang out on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and my BLOG. Come say hi!
Officially though: Mary Weber is a ridiculously uncoordinated girl plotting to take over make-believe worlds through books, handstands, and imaginary throwing knives. In her spare time, she feeds unicorns, sings 80’s hairband songs to her three muggle children, and ogles her husband who looks strikingly like Wolverine. They live in California, which is perfect for stalking L.A. bands, Joss Whedon, and the ocean. She likes orange trees, tattoos, and ALL the music. ;0)
BOOK 1 in my YA fantasy STORM SIREN trilogy releases Aug 2014 from Thomas Nelson, HarperCollins. Eep!
Giveaway Details
Win (1) of (5) copies of Storm Siren by Mary Weber (US Only)
