Rowena Cory Daniells
Rowena Cory Daniells lives in Brisbane by the bay with her husband and six children. Over the years she has been involved in Independent Press, run a bookshop, worked in a graphic art studio, served as a volunteer on state and national Arts Bodies, and organised national awards. In her spare time she studied Tae Kwon Do, Aikido and Iaido, the art of the Samurai sword, and yoga.
The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin
The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin — (2010-2013) Publisher: The Kingdom of Rolencia sleeps as rumours of new Affinity Seeps, places where the untamed power wells up. By royal decree all those afflicted with Affinity must serve the Abbey or face death. Sent to the Abbey, the King’s youngest son, Fyn, trains to become a warrior monk. Elsewhere others are tainted with Affinity and must fight to survive. Political intrigue and magic combine in this explosive first book in an exciting new fantasy trilogy.
Short story:
The King's Bastard by Rowena Cory Daniells
I was really excited to read The King’s Bastard. Now that I’ve finished it I find myself both pleased and a little disappointed.
There isn’t much that’s amazingly new in this book. It has all of the traditional political elements that I've read about numerous times; for example, the older inheriting brother is jealous of the younger brother. Added into the mix are plotting relatives and friends set to destabilize the throne, as well as plenty of secrets. In addition, Rowena Cory Daniells’ world features enchanting magical creatures, such as the unicorn-like “unistag.” The magic system seems fairly stereotypical, but Daniells makes up for this conventional magic system by making it an important aspect of the plot in a very subtle way.
Daniells' writing is not as fluid as one might wish. Often Daniells tells re... Read More
The Outcast Chronicles
The Outcast Chronicles — (2012) Publisher: The Outcast Chronicles follows the fate of a tribe of dispossessed mystics. Vastly outnumbered by people without magical abilities, they are persecuted because ordinary people fear their gifts. This persecution culminates in a bloody pogrom sanctioned by the king who lays siege to the Celestial City, last bastion of the mystics. When the city falls, the mystic leader negotiates their surrender and her people are exiled from their homeland... For nearly 300 years the mystics have lived alongside the true-men, who barely tolerate them, until… King Charald is cursed with a half-blood mystic son. Sorne is raised to be a weapon against the mystics. Desperate to win his father’s respect, Sorne steals power to trigger visions. Unaware King Charald plans their downfall, the mystics are consumed by rivalry. Although physically stronger, the males’ gifts are weaker than the females. Imoshen, the only female mystic to be raised by males, wants to end the feud. But the males resent her power and, even within her own sisterhood Imoshen’s enemies believe she is addicted to the male gifts. Sorne tries, but cannot win the respect of True-men. When he has a vision of half-bloods in danger he has to ask himself where his loyalty lies. Convinced he can destroy the mystics, King Charald plans to lay siege to their island city. Will Imoshen win the trust of the mystic leaders and, if she does, will she believe the visions of a half-blood?
Besieged by Rowena Cory Daniells
I have very mixed feelings about Besieged. Overall, I’d give it a positive ranking, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that the text does have issues. Quite a few issues, really. What does work is very good, and I can really give those elements a sterling review. But then there’s… the other hand.
Besieged is a big, sprawling political drama concerning a race called the T’en, the ordinary humans (here called True-Men or Mieren), and the “half-blood” population, apparently a result of interbreeding between the two, called the Malaunje. On the face of it, the whole dynamic looks like just another tussle between the Elves and the Humans: the T’en are a tall, beautiful, long-lived people with magical powers and an advanced, artistic culture, but are relatively few in number. The Mieren are plentiful, but are comparatively barbari... Read More
Exile by Rowena Cory Daniells
Exile, the second book in Rowena Cory Daniells’s OUTCAST CHRONICLES, simultaneously raises the stakes and deepens the narrative that began in the first installment, Besieged. It’s a good bit of work, and readers will be pleased to find Daniells addressing some of the issues that were problematic in Beseiged while at the same time keeping to the familiar sense of suspense and breakneck speed that made the first novel so gripping.
When last we left the T’en, they had finally given some sense to the book’s title and gotten themselves besieged by the armies of King Charald. Starting the book going right into that problem for her characters to work on seems to give Daniells energy coming right out of the gate, and the text clips along at a swift pace. The long-awaited direct comparison be... Read More
Sanctuary by Rowena Cory Daniells
In this final installment of Rowena Cory Daniells’ THE OUTCAST CHRONICLES, the focus shifts from the conflict between the humans (Mieren) and the elf-like T’en to the clash between the different factions of T’en as they float across the ocean toward the titular sanctuary. Fortunately, the sense of pacing and deeper characterization from Exile, the previous novel, remains intact here, and as the T’en and Malaunje always dominated the cast of this series, it’s tough to miss the Mieren once they vanish from the proceedings. It’s more of the same material that was quite enjoyable in the last book, although the overall resolution of various plot threads leaves a bit to be desired.
If Exile, the book which preceded Sanctuary, was about cultural conflict and upheaval and the book which preceded that, Besieged, was about stagnation, the... Read More
Other books by Rowena Cory Daniells
Last T’En — (1999-2002) These books are also titled The Last T’En, Dark Legacy, and The Shadow Kingdom. Publisher: In a world of danger and dark enchantment, the most treacherous magic is desire… Trained in the arts of war and possessed of extraordinary healing gifts, Imoshen was one of the last of the legendary T’En, an ancient race who’d ruled Fair Isle for six centuries. But now, in the space of a heartbeat, all that Imoshen holds dear is gone… lost to invading soldiers and the relentless general who led them. All his life Tulkhan had heard tales of the T’En… of exotic women whose wine-dark eyes could see into a man’s soul and read his mind. Yet nothing could have prepared him for the reality of Imoshen. Even surrounded by his Elite Guard, the fierce beauty would not surrender. But making the last living T’En royal his captive was a grave mistake. For soon Tulkhan will discover the full force of Imoshen’s proud defiance, as this alluring temptress seeks to turn the tables and make her magnificent captor a prisoner of his own raging desire. From Cory Daniells comes a glorious romantic fantasy set against a backdrop of dark magic and daring, a spellbinding story of a man and a woman at the heart of a deadly conflict… and at the mercy of an irresistible hunger.
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