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Starflower (2012)

by Anne Elisabeth Stengl(Favorite Author)

4.47 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0764210262 (ISBN13: 9780764210266)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Bethany House

series

Tales of Goldstone Wood

review 1: QUICK HIT – Taking place sixteen hundred years before the first three novels in the series, Starflower takes us into the past but leaves us with two familiar characters who aren’t yet who we know them as. With majestic prose and compelling imagery, Stengl weaves a beautiful tale of liberation, submission, and the hounding call of the one who named all things.The Dragonwitch seeks the Flowing Gold of Rudiobus, and none save King Iubdan, Queen Bebo, and Lady Gleamdren know of its secret…and Lady Gleamdren would be the most easily captured and most likely to be persuaded to give up the secret of the legendary treasure.Eanrin, the catlike Faerie poet from the previous Tales of Goldstone Wood, is smitten with Gleamdren, though her affections are more toward herself than a... moreny man. Even when the Dragonwitch kidnaps her, she sees it as more a game than a serious situation. A hundred suitors will come to my rescue! Truth be told, there are only two: Glomar and Eanrin. But along the way, Eanrin gets distracted by a maiden trapped in an enchanted sleep in the Wood Between. One magical kiss later, she awakens to tell a beautifully tragic back story of a raging god and a blood sacrifice.I dare not say any more for fear that I reveal too much. If you’ve started at book one, you know Eanrin well. Stengl has alluded to his affections for Gleamdren in almost, if not every, book to this point, so it’s only natural that she go back and fill us in on the interesting history of her characters. We learn how Eanrin became a knight of Farthestshore, how the hound of Lumil Eliasul drew him in. We learn the origins of another important character in the series.Stengl’s imagery in this novel is beyond magnificent, but I can’t really talk about them without giving away key plot points. So go read the book and then shoot me an email. I promise to respond in gushing praise. It’s fair to say that each book in The Tales of Goldstone Wood is better than the last. Starflower is a novel that both fans and new readers are sure to adore.
review 2: This book takes place 1600 years prior to the previous three books. It relates the story of Starflower, a person who has become legend by the time of Leo and Una, and is mentioned a couple times in the previous books. We meet Starflower on the run. She is exhausted, flithy, and has obviously escaped from being sacrificed. In her weakened states she succumbs to the enchantment of the River. This is also the story of Eanrin the poet/cat readers have met in previous books. He is composing lines for the court of Iubdan, trying to best all the other men by winning the favor of the Queen's cousin, and in general being his cocky, curious, stuck up self. He comes across what seems to be a damsel in distress outside of Iubdan's borders one day and brings her into the kingdom for aid. It turns out that the entire realm has been taken in by a glamour and this damsel is actually a dragon trying to get her hands on the Flowing Gold. She kidnaps the Queen's cousin, and it becomes up to Eanrin and the Captain of the Guard, Glamor, to rescue Gleamdren. Eanrin and Glamor view each other as rivals, so they decide to split up and race to the rescue. But Eanrin's path comes across yet another damsel in distress. Though wary due to his last experience, he decides he can't just leave this girl to the clutches of the River, and thus Eanrin meets Starflower. The women of Starflower's land are cursed so that they cannot speak, which makes communicating with Eanrin challenging to say the least. Starflower ends up going with Eanrin on his quest to save Gleamdren, and this has consequences no one foresaw.In the background of all of this are the Beast and the Hound. One of them is hunting people to devour them, and one of them promises freedom through service to him. Starflower and Eanrin's futures are determined by who they each choose to follow.Stengl's writing just keeps getting better. This was a beautifully written tale, of several layers, that came together seamlessly. I loved the back story of Eanrin and Starflower, and find it so intriguing that you can really read this series in any order as long as you read book 3 after book 2. The spiritual allegories woven in were also done very well. They were maybe a little stronger here than in previous books, but I still found it tactfully done. I particularly loved the lessons that Eanrin learned in this book.Notes on content: Only the made up swearing about dragon's teeth and such. No sexual content beyond a kiss. Minimal violence. Two dog attacks, and two knife fights. less

Download links for: Starflower

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