Queen of Song and Souls

..."His sigh spoke of fear and regret mingled with grim acceptance. 'Teach her,' he said. 'Teach her to fight. Teach her to defend herself, and teach her to kill. The five of you must be her chatoks in the Dance of Knives. Teach her as you have taught no other. Give her everything. Hold nothing back.' 'Rain...' Bel murmured, his eyes troubled. Rain waved off his unspoken objection. ' She is a Tairen Soul, and we Tairen Souls were born for war. I may not like this path the gods have set before her, but Farsight is right. I must do everything in my power to ensure she is prepared to walk it'... Yeah Baby! Woo-Hoo! This is what this series will do to you...just make you stand up and shout! I'll let someone else do the play by play review. I'd hate to mess up a great story, so I'll just give you the facts! Ellysetta is finally on the last leg of her journey. She alone has the fate of the world on her shoulders, and with the love and help of Rain and her blood sworn lu'tan she's getting closer to her Song. I can't express how much I want all of my friends to read this series...It's not by any means an easy read, if you like those pick up a Kenyon, Ward or Cole novel (which I do enjoy sometimes), but if you want something a little more challenging then this series is for you. When you have to actually work for the prize isn't it all that more grand?! That's how this series is for me. I love getting to the "Aha" moments that ties into previous books...Did I mention I LOVE this series?! "Queen of Song And Souls" was supposed to be the last and final book in the Tairen Soul series, but as always Mrs. Wilson didn't short change her biggest fans by cutting the story in half and giving us a rush ending. Thank you so much for that Cheryl! I will continue to be a broken record and say...Read this series in order!!! Goodness I can't begin to imagine picking up say book 3 and 4 and trying to understand this world. And if you think for one minute you can just figure it out by doing that, I'll go ahead and tell you... No you won't. Mrs. Wilson doesn't down play her fans intelligence or memories of her previous books, and she stays true to her existing fans. She does not spend half the book "catching everyone up". What a breath of fresh air this author is! As much as I hate to say this I'm looking forward to the end of Ellysetta and Rains story, and I've been told (by the author) that the next in the series will finally be their Happily Ever After. Oh, and I've also been told....Shhhh, but don't tell.....that we'll be getting Bel's and Gaelen's stories....and a new series by her coming soon! Did I mention I love these books and that they're my all time favorites? I'm so sure I have! And you'll love them too if you read them!

This review is based on the negative feedback I've read. This book is much more than simply another romance. This book is a necessary installment in the overall story arc. If you cut it back to just a few short chapters then you would be missing out on the scope of the world, the characters and it would be simple and easy and forgettable. But having invested many pleasurable reading hours into this series, it is far from forgettable. The length and the time spent building up the events and the time spent knowing the characters is written in such a way that it feels effortless to read. And that just shows how talented CL Wilson is in this genre. She grabs you and strings you along one thread at a time, weaving together one fabulous and compelling saga! The details and characters of this series is so finely honed, it's read with ease, no drag, no lull in the story line. In some ways I do think this series was mislabeled, in that it has more of an epic fantasy feel, rather than a romance. But the romance is still the primary focus of the overall story plot. Yes, war is upon them and there is evil that haunts Ellysetta, but it's that war and that evil that is preventing Rain and Ellie from fulfilling their mate bond, so therefore everything in this book and in all previous books has been necessary. Could CL Wilson have eliminated these last two books and had the bad guy, Vadim Maur destroyed sooner to appease those that feel this series is dragging, well, maybe. She could have eliminated this thread with these characters, or that thread with those characters, but then what do you have? There is so much detail. You learn much more of the world and the characters and the bonds, that without those things would it have been as epic, or as rich, or as amazing? NO! It would not have. I love fantasies. And the Tairen Soul series is one of the most engaging I have read in awhile. This series is truly an Epic Fantasy Romance series and there just aren't very many of those out there. I've read Epic Fantasies, but this one is romance and I think CL Wilson is an amazing talent in this genre, and if it were to take her six books to complete this saga, then I say take six books! Because I love and cherish each one of them. Not exactly a review :). But my thoughts nonetheless! This series is for those that don't mind an epic saga as two people struggle with who they are and prepare for a war that could destroy everything as they know it. And of course along the way you get to fall in love with so many terrific and endearing characters that we can only hope to see them in their own epic stories in the future (Gaelen, Bel, Kieran, and Kiel to be exact!) I love these books, and they will always remain unforgettable in my heart. My highest praise to Ms. Wilson for creating such an amazing world.

I agree with the comments made by previous reviewers. Wilson is one writer you really MUST read the previous novels of AND in order, to appreciate the excellence of her novels. Without the previous books, this would be quite confusing to a reader. This novel was a very long time in arriving in print, it was a long wait, but it was worth the wait. You can entirely escape your own troubles and tribulations very quickly for an entire day in this, or any of Wilson's, novel(s). Her characters are very vividly described, although the multiple races or species can be very confusing to a newcomer to the Fading Lands. This novel really does NOT deal well with the Queen's missing sisters. It does, however, provide much information about her parents, noted only briefly a few times in the previous novel. The King of the Eld proves himself to be a fascinating, if enigmatic addition to the series. The fate of the Fey guard with the Queen's younger sisters is still left open to interpretation for the upcoming novel. Yet, more of the Queen's "Dance" is being unveiled now for the reader. Wilson's novels are, for me, a strong blend of elements from Feehan's Carpathian novels (especially her most recent ones) and Tolkien's complex species and battles from Lord of the Rings novels. These are very complicated novels, but they are so intricately plotted, characters so vividly described (usually), magical fantasy enhanced that anyone who loves romance-fantasy-battle stories will be captivated. After Feehan's Carpathian line emerged strongly in the last few years, I wondered, as a reader, "What's left? Where else that's original can the romance genre go?" I think the answer clearly is, "To C.L. Wilson."

Queen of Song and Souls is the exciting fourth book in the Tairen Souls series by C.L. Wilson. In my opinion, due to complex world created by C.L. Wilson, this series needs to be read in order starting with Lord of the Fading Lands, thus experiencing this series to it's fullest. C.L. Wilson elegantly throws us back in the world of Fey in the prologue where the King of Sword and Sky (Tairen Soul) ended. From there we follow Ellysetta and Rain as they travel across the lands trying to create alliances with the Celierians, Elves and Danae, to help fight the war against the evil Mages of Eld. They have come to realize that Vadim Maur and the Mages have been preparing for this war far longer than they suspected. They know the only way they can win this war is to combine the Fey forces with all of the other races against the dark magic of the Eld. But these alliances are tenuous at best, due to the intrigues of politics between the different races. Unfortunately, during this dark time of war, they can't afford any weaknesses or doubts. As Ellysetta and Rain travel, self discoveries are made about themselves, questions are answered and new mysteries are revealed. Ellysetta is also plagued by horrible nightmares and the anxiety of baring four mage marks made by evil High Mage Vadim Maur. And Rain tries to hide from Ellysetta that the bonding madness has started and that it is advancing fast because of the fighting on the bloody battlefields. In addition to the tremendous worry of the war, they are both distress from the inability to complete their truemate bond; completing the bond will keep Rain from descending into madness and save Ellysetta and her powers from being controlled by the evil Vadim Maur. Queen of Song and Souls contains all the elements that makes a perfect and terrific read for me: a complex and creative fantasy world, edged with darkness; a romantically, poignant love story; edge of your seat suspense; and truly evil and vile bad guys. C.L. Wilson combines all of these elements elegantly with her beautiful prose. I honestly don't have one complaint about this book. Not one. As this series has progressed, each book just keeps getting better than the last. I experienced such a wide range of emotions reading this book that by the time I was finished with it, I was emotional exhausted, in a good way. While I was reading my emotions ranged from being anxious, angry, happy, a deep sadness, surprised, thoughtful, and worried. In the end, I was left with a strong sense of forbidding. I'm happy to say we get some long awaited answers but new questions take the place of the old ones. All in all, Queen of Song and Souls is going down as my favorite read for this year, hands down. Queen of Song and Souls is not to be missed, it sets the stage for the next and final book in this series. I'll be anxiously awaiting the conclusion to Ellysetta and Rain's story in Tairen Soul this coming year.

The saga continues as Rain and Ellysetta's story continues to unfold. This book was so FULL! The Fey and Eld are now at war and the situation is taking its toll on all involved. Some relationships will flourish, while others are irrevocably damaged. Characters who haven't had much play get put back into the story seamlessly. This book was an excellent addition to the first three in the series. Ms.Wilson writes with such passion and clarity that you become a part of the story. A well written story can make you react to the plight of the characters. This story made me laugh and cry and feel afraid and root for the characters. I am now anxiously waiting for the 5th and final book in this series.....Tairen Soul.