Lenka S. reviewed on 2/4/2014 + 829 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Every review here is quite accurate, only individual perceptions differ I think... The story has beautiful landscapes, good people, a wondrous Pegasus species, a sneaky villain, horrible monsters, political intrigue, an interesting world you might want to visit. All the elements are there. Put it all together well and you should have a brilliant story.

Sadly, this was not put together well. Not only is the reader constantly confused, so are the characters. The story drags, drags, DRAGS! There seem to be some rules that should never be broken, but only some magicians seem to understand these rules. Even the good magicians are confused, apparently some of their history books are missing or hidden.

Sylvi (human) is bonded in a ritual ceremony with Ebon (Pegasus) because it is what a princess does at the age of twelve. Why is it the custom? No idea , but it seems to correspond to a convoluted history that is part of a treaty between Pegasus and humans. Sylvi and Ebon bond incredibly well during the ceremony, creating a strong telepathic and very sweet friendship, but this is somehow bad. Why is it bad? No idea, but the court magicians feel threatened because they believe only they should be able to translate speech between a bonded pair with a whacked out sign language that is less than understandable. Why shouldn't the Pegasus and humans understand each other through unfettered telepathy? Because true understanding is somehow bad. Ebon takes Sylvi flying, (sounds like fun to me) but this is also supposed to be wrong, so they have to do it in secret. If they get caught flying together, disaster will strike. Why? Don't know. Ebon and Sylvi travel through the kingdom to outlying towns and cities, earning the love and respect from the people. Good? No, bad somehow.

The magic and what magicians do is poorly explained, and because of this, what they do looses drama. The central villian disappears for most of the book, and when he reappears, we don't care what he's going to say...and when he says it, it doesn't make much sense, some hidden and previously unread book is found by the evil magician. The treaty between the allies is broken. Weeping and suspicions, lack of trust between Pegasus and humans ensues. The bonding between Sylvi and Ebon must be broken for the good of the kingdom. Why? No clue. The cryptic reading of the passages from the hidden book by the evil magician make absolutely no sense. The story read is about a love and sacrifice between a bonded pair of a human prince and Pegasus. In fact, (in my opinion) the translation points in the opposite direction than how it's perceived by the magician. And so it ends without end... Everyone sadly goes their separate ways even though the monsters are coming and they desperately need each other as allies to face the threat.

There are other potentially interesting characters--Sylvi's family members, Galfin, the pegasus shaman, and Sylvi's Speaker--but none of them are used enough in a plot that revolves too much around the two central characters that are basically annoying teenagers.

The story ends mid sentence so we have to wait for the sequel that was supposed to come out sometime in 2012. Maybe the questions will be answered and explained. (Assuming you remember the questions and still give a tinker's damn.) I almost abandoned this book multiple times. I kept thinking, "It'll get better." It never did. I don't recommend the book and can't imagine reading its sequel unless the reviews are truly outstanding.

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