About the Book
Book: The Story Raider
Author: Lindsay A. Franklin
Genre: Christian YA Epic Fantasy
Release Date: July 23, 2019
Deceiving an empire is a treacherous game.
Tanwen and the Corsyth weavers race to collect the strands of an ancient cure that might save Gryfelle. But Tanwen has a secret—Gryfelle isn’t the only one afflicted by the weaver’s curse.
As Queen Braith struggles to assert her rule, a new arrival throws her tenuous claim to the Tirian throne into question. Braith’s heart is turned upside down, and she’s not sure she can trust anyone—least of all herself.
The puppet master behind Gareth’s rise to power has designs on Tanwen and the story weavers and will stop at nothing to reclaim the throne. A plot to incite the angry peasants of Tir takes shape, and those dearest to Tanwen will be caught in the crossfire. As the fight for Tir consumes the realm, no one can remain innocent.
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Guest Review from Mindy Houng
“Hope is never lost as long as you’re willing to fight for it. And I do think there is hope for you.”
“For what is honorable does not change with the tides, and when one acts with honor, he need not fear the consequences.”
This book 2 in The Weaver Trilogy picks up right where the first book The Story Peddler ended, so definitely read book 1 prior to reading this. Much like the first story, this one is told from both first person and third person perspectives. The author’s writing is easy to read and flows seamlessly to convey the heartaches, sorrows, and hopes of the characters. The plot is fantastic with lots of twists and surprises along the way as the group of weavers travels the world to proclaim emancipation for those that had been enslaved to the Kingdom of Tir and also to find the cure for an ancient curse slowly bleeding out the memory and life out of a couple of the weavers.
The first 1/3 of the book does move a bit slowly as they prepare to journey into foreign lands to deliver the new queen’s edict and to figure out the cure from ancient texts. Tanwen, the first person narrative main character, starts out as a whiny, bratty, selfish, petty, impulsive teenager with a barbed tongue and it’s somewhat difficult to actually like her until the entire team of weavers are under attack. She does grow up and even learns to think outside of herself during the latter part of the story. The secondary characters are awesome and I especially enjoyed getting to know Tanwen’s father Yestin. The story picks up momentum with a continuous stream of action and revelation of different moving pieces in the plot as the band of weavers fight against the villain only known as the Master. There is much loss, grief, shame, fear, and uncertainty amongst the characters but hope, even though it be small, keeps them working to right the wrongs. The ending, just like the first book, will leave you dangling off a cliff-hanger and wanting to read the third book now.
If you enjoy epic fantasy YA books, you will love this book and the series. I received a copy of the book from Enclave Publishing via Celebrate Lit Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
About the Author
Lindsay A. Franklin is a best-selling author, freelance editor, and homeschooling mom of three. She would wear pajama pants all the time if it were socially acceptable. Lindsay lives in her native San Diego with her scruffy-looking nerf-herder husband, their precious geeklings, three demanding thunder pillows (a.k.a. cats), and a stuffed wombat with his own Instagram following. You can find Lindsay on social media, too, if Wombatman hasn’t hijacked all her accounts. She’s @LinzyAFranklin on Instagram and Twitter, and she Facebooks at www.facebook.com/LindsayAFranklin.
More from Lindsay
I often get asked how I came up with the idea for The Story Peddler, book 1 in The Weaver Trilogy. It’s a dangerous thing to dig too deep into a fantasy novelist’s imagination (it’s pretty weird in here, you guys), but the short answer is I was sitting in a workshop at a writers’ conference, and an acquisitions editor made a comment—something like: “I have to peddle your stories to executives. At the end of the day, I’m just a story peddler.” When I heard that phrase, my imagination exploded. I thought of what a “story peddler” might look like if we added a little wonder and a sprinkling of fairy dust to the equation. Then Tanwen emerged as a character who might be a fun vehicle for this story-peddling process, and I imagined a story that would suit her. The Story Peddler was born.
But someone recently asked me why I visualized the supernatural art of storytelling in the way I did—as strands of color, light, fabric, or glitter coming out of the hands of the person telling the story, then crystallizing into a solid object for her to sell. And I have no real answer for that, except, again, “It’s pretty weird in here, you guys.” The Weaver Trilogy is a celebration of creativity and art, and that gave me reason to think about what other types of strand-weavers in this story world might look like.
If you’re new to the series, here’s a primer on the weavers you’ll find in these books.
Storytellers: Strands pour from their hands as they tell stories. When they reach the moral or ending of the story, the strands come together to form a crystallized sculpture. A story peddler then sells the sculptures to make her living.
Songspinners: Strands are lighter, airier, and come from their mouths instead of their hands as they sing. Songspinner strands are emotive and speak to the hearts of the hearers. Once the song is over, the strands disappear.
Colormasters: Strands are like streams of paint, ribbons of fire, or jets of water. When they hit a solid object, they create an image on the object. Colormasters seek to reflect the beauty of their surroundings, capturing the physical world exactly as it is or simply as it feels.
Stoneshapers: Their hands light up as they manipulate rock and stone with their fingertips. They create beauty by molding something that already exists and releasing the art trapped inside.
If that sounds like fun, welcome to my weirdness! Tanwen can’t wait to weave a sparkling adventure for you.
Blog Stops
Among the Reads, August 5
Retrospective Spines, August 5
Worthy2Read, August 6
Seasons of Opportunities, August 6
Through the Fire Blogs, August 7
Fiction Aficionado, August 8
Blogging With Carol , August 8
Simple Harvest Reads, August 9
Books, Life, and Christ, August 10
Remembrancy, August 10
Pause for Tales, August 11
Hallie Reads, August 11
Kathleen Denly, August 12
Inspired by fiction, August 12
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, August 13
A Baker’s Perspective, August 14
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 14
Library Lady’s Kid Lit, August 15
Texas Book-aholic, August 16
janicesbookreviews, August 16
Inklings and notions , August 17
Artistic Nobody, August 17
A Reader’s Brain, August 18
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Lindsay is giving away a grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card, The Corsyth custom Story Peddler candle from Novelly Yours, The Cethorelle custom Story Raider candle from Novelly Yours, choice of two tea tins from the Adagio Story Peddler Tea Shoppe, “Hedgenibblers, fluffhoppers, mountainbeasts, oh my!” mug
Story Peddler book sleeve, Story Raider enamel pin, and assorted bookmarks, stickers, and art prints.
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
This book sounds like an awesome read. Great cover!
This sounds like a good story!
I love learning how authors come up with their stories!
This book sounds like an epic adventure!