Talia - Heir to the Fairy Realm | Joel C. Grannerman Flanagan

Morning! Quick review for you today.

Talia, the young Iridescent-winged Heir to the Fairy Realm, and Prince Bastile, the Heir to the Human Realm, have embarked on a forbidden love affair, and their choice will have consequences for both their worlds. 

After a stunning betrayal, Talia, her 8 Ladies, and her Heir's Guard (9 female Fairy soldiers) bravely set off on a journey through the Fairy Realm in search of answers about the Exile Queen, a reviled ancestor. 

However, Talia's evil Aunts, the Three Sisters, and others in both the Fairy and Human courts stand in her way, not understanding the ancient prophecy that Talia is destined to fulfill. 

Will Talia be able to save both the Fairy and Human Realms from the devastations of another war? 

If you enjoyed The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, you will be captivated by this exciting story of Talia and Prince Bastile's forbidden love affair and the stirrings of horrible hostilities between these two vastly disparate Realms. Buy now, before the price changes!

Talia, Heir to the Fairy Realm, tells the story of Talia, a fairy who falls in love with a human from the human realm, who also happens to be the heir of his respective culture. There is peace between the two realms, but it is tenuous at best. Their affair will set off a chain of events that will take Talia to search for answers in the unlikeliest of place, searching out ancestors that have been exiled and also fight against both against expectations and the politics of both courts.

Ok, let’s start by saying two things. First this book surprised me. I totally did not expect what was held inside the book. I must admit that not knowing absolutely anything about this book, I thought it must be a middle grade book, and that is totally on me. This was mainly to do with my prejudices about fairies, and the type of book that I expect from seeing stories about them. This book dispelled with some of these prejudices to show that stories of fairies can be more adult than I expected. 

The other thing that I must tell you is that this book wasn’t for me. However, does that make this a bad book. Hell no! Of course it doesn’t and that is primarily due to the fact that I can appreciate that this book is good. I mean, there’s lots of things that I think are good but I don’t like. Take Taylor Swift for instance! I think she is a fantastic musician and excellent songsmith. Would I listen to any of her music? Not a chance. It’s just not my style. Similarly with lots of books too. I think Malazan is an excellently written story. Do I want to read it? Sorry, not my bag. And similarly with Talia, I enjoyed all its component parts and there’s loads of things I thought were really good.

For instance, Joel C. Flanagan - Grannerman writes good characters that have complexity and appear to be well fleshed out. Take Talia for instance! She can be selfish, she can be contradictory and she really annoyed me in parts. However, she can also be naive and compassionate, which really endeared me to her. Similarly with all the other characters that are around her, they all have a layer of complexity and likeability, but equally, can be just as annoying, which for me shows that Joel C. Flanagan - Grannerman is a writer who made me care about something that I don’t really care about..

Additionally, he writes a well plotted novel, revolving around the subtleties of court politics and the interactions of the characters, which buoys the story along. And of course, with this level of politicking, there has to be believable and well written dialogue, which Joel C. Flanagan - Grannerman manages to pull off with the interactions between the characters that made the story flow tremendously well. 

There’s a good romance plot, which will surely keep the fans of romantic fantasy happy. And what is good, is that it is a believable relationship, rather than being an idealistic one.

Joel C. Flanagan - Grannerman also a fascinating world of fairies that I have not seen before, such as the fairies class and roles being determined by their wing types. Which, like I said earlier, surprised me because fairies are not one of my favourite fantasy characters in all honesty, so to make me care and be interested in the world as a whole means that there has got to be some damn fine writing. 

One of the things that was a bit af a barrier for me, was the pacing of the book. Joel C. Flanagan - Grannerman takes his time building the world and the things around the characters, which for me tended to slow things down quite a lot.

However, the pace did pick up towards the end of the story and there was a bit of action towards the end. 

If fairies and a complex socio political ecology of intrigue and courtly politics are your bag, then I thoroughly recommend this book. It’s filled with complexity, a rich magic system and a believable romantic sub plot that I think will make all you romantasy fans out there happy, and don’t listen to the fact that it wasn’t for me.