Whispers of Shadow & Flame by L. Penelope
Rating: ★★★★☆

Whispers of Shadow & Flame by L. Penelope captivated me with its rich blend of magic and adventure. Set in a world where destiny intertwines with ancient prophecies, the story follows protagonists who are thrust into a realm of danger and intrigue. Penelope's world-building is immersive, painting a vivid picture of landscapes filled with mystical creatures and powerful forces at play. The lore surrounding the Whispers, magical artifacts that shape the fate of kingdoms, adds depth to the narrative and kept me eagerly turning pages.

The characters in Whispers of Shadow & Flame are vibrant and multifaceted, each with their own motivations and secrets. I found myself particularly drawn to the protagonist's journey of self-discovery and growth as she navigates treacherous alliances and confronts her own inner conflicts. The relationships that develop throughout the story are compelling, adding layers of tension and emotional resonance to the plot.

Penelope's writing style is fluid and descriptive, making it easy to immerse oneself in the story's unfolding events. The pacing is well-balanced, with moments of intense action interspersed with quieter, introspective scenes that deepen the reader's connection to the characters. Overall, Whispers of Shadow & Flame is a captivating read for fans of epic fantasy, offering a world brimming with magic, intrigue, and the timeless struggle between light and darkness.

Ok, I'd like to start of with 1) an observation and 2) a confession.

1) The small passage quotes at the start of each chapter irked me... irked me something fierce. Deal-breaker? No, but it was evident right out of the gate.

2) You should know that I was unaware that this was the second book in a series before I requested it. This might not have been a problem seeing as how it was following different characters this time around BUT the whole backstory... the whole history of the Magic and the history of the World in general was explored more deeply in the first book... so I've heard. That being said I did still like the background building but it did not feel seamless nor complete... the Plot skipped around like a truffle pig with ADD rooting around erratically, searching for some fertile Plot but alas, there was none to be found here. Harsh? Yes, but this book took a loooong time for me to get around to reading (and to get into) and the premise was SO promising... I'm sorely disappointed though... in fact, I'd like to ask for a Time refund but hey... C’est la vie

Now, characters. Firstly, I DO NOT appreciate nascent romantic relationships that feel forced... it makes me cringe and look to skim... ugh! Secondly, I (usually) loathe insta-love, it has an extremely low success rate with me... UGH!! BUT with both of those strikes I must admit that the biggest problem I had with the characters were that I found it extremely difficult to muster feelings for ANY of the cast (and the POV list was large... larger than it needed to be)... that's a travesty in my eyes... a severe, literary faux pas. Without relateable/loveable/loathable/gripping/interesting (take your pick) characters to commiserate with and feel for, what kind of cohesion can the best of plots have?? I'll answer that obviously rhetorical question... it's NONE!

Soooo it's obvious, I'm one of THOSE readers. I like my stories to be heavily character driven or at least have nailed 2 out of the 3 of the Trifecta of Awesomeness categories.

The Trifecta of Awesomeness:
writing quality + character development + world building

This is the rubric I use to judge a book... it's consistent and fair so when I say that Whispers of Shadow and Flame did not slay any of those three (in fact it barely handled one of them well... the second was a fail and the third was just MEH... so basically it's a wash) categories then you know exactly why I am saying that this book is not for me.


Overall:

Writing: decent- succinct but sloooow paced ✔️
Characters: woefully underdeveloped and flat ✖️
World: erratic but decent 🚫 🤷‍♀️

That adds up to a failed Trifecta SO I won't be on the lookout for any more of this series... we have officially split up citing irreconcilable differences... don't worry, it was mutual.

~ Sorry

*** I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ***

this book was phenomenal, I think L. Penelope is such an amazing author, her world building is A+ and I cannot wait for more books from her!!

It’s been quite a while since I reviewed the first book in this series. I remember really enjoying it, but I’ll be honest, I had to go back and read my review to really catch up on the world and characters before requesting this one. However, given how positively I’d reviewed that book, I felt fairly confident in this second one, even if, sadly, it was following a separate set of characters than the ones I had grown to love. And while I did find this a quick read, it didn’t really hit home in the same way as that first entry.

Due to the powerful magic within her, Kyara’s life has not been her own. Instead of choosing her own path, she’s been forced to become an assassin, a notorious one at that, known as the Poison Flame. But when her most recent target turns out to be more than he seems, Kyara sees an opportunity to begin reclaiming her own power. For his part, Darvyn is also uniquely powerful, but has begun to sink under the weight of guilt and regret over those he wasn’t able to save. Together, Kyara and Darvyn will uncover truths and mysteries that have long been kept in the shadow. But to make their way forward, they will have to learn to trust each other.

While this book didn’t hit the same sweet spot as the first one, there were still several things to like about it. For one, I still really enjoy the world-building. The last book really delved into the way this world’s history and the magical barrier that has divided it in two has affected the various groups of people living on either side. We explored how history is told by the winner and how the responsibility for the welfare of people expands beyond borders and one’s own patriotism to one’s own homeland. But by the end of that book, that barrier was coming down. That left a lot of interesting new pathways open for this book to explore, and the worldbuilding and continued fleshing out of the various cultures and peoples of this world didn’t disappoint.

I also still really enjoy Penelope’s writing style. It’s quick, clear, and engaging. There are a number of magical elements and, of course, an entirely fictional world. It takes a strong writer to really ground those sorts of unknowns into an understandable and approachable block of text. Even while some parts of this story didn’t work for me, I still blazed through it in a few short days.

Surprising no one, perhaps, where this book stumbled for me was with the characters. Of course, I knew going in that we’d have a new batch of characters, but I was disappointed to not even see our original two in passing. Beyond that, the way the book is summarized leads readers to believe that the book will unfold in a similar way to the first, alternating between two lead characters’ POV. Sadly, no. There were way more characters than that! Somewhere between four and six, I’d say. Not only do I generally not prefer books with large ensemble casts of POV characters (it takes a really master-level hand at writing to make that many characters feel distinct and worthy of a reader’s interest and investment), but it also reduced the page time for the two characters who were still mean to be read as “main” characters. In the first book, there was plenty of time to become attached and invested in our leads. Here, I found myself really struggling to care overly much about either Kyara or Darvyn.

And while the author’s writing is up to the task of creating vast, complicated worlds and systems, it faltered with characterization. The overall tone of writing didn’t change from character to character, leaving Kyara and Darvyn, very different characters not only because of gender but also life experiences, reading almost identically to one another. There was also another character’s POV chapter that was writing in a completely different tense than the reset of the book, a HUGE pet peeve of mine. It always feels overly tricky and rarely is there any payoff for this choice (a notable exception and an excellent example of intentional use of this writing method would be N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy).

So, while I’m still intrigued by the world and the larger-scope conflict that has been brewing, I struggled to enjoy this book as much as I did the first. I’ll likely continue to the third, however, as I’m curious to see how the bigger mysteries will resolve.

Rating 7: Weak characterization let down a book with strong world-building and magical intrigue.

I don’t know how or why I waited so long to read the next book in this series! For shame. I loved the first book when I read it a couple of years ago and that was firmly fantasy romance. This felt more strictly fantasy to me and not only because there wasn’t an HEA for the main couple. We get a few other POVs and I’m very curious how they’ll come to intersect because they didn’t here. Perhaps in the next book? This felt like a lot of big world-building set up for big things ahead but not in a bad way. I was entranced by where all the story went. I loved Darvyn and Kyara together. I have no idea how an HEA will happen but I have to believe that it will because they are such a great, unlikely pair. An Earthsinger and an assassin! It should never work and yet it does. I did get a little tired of how trusting Zeli was and why she couldn’t see Kerym’s true colors but I’m glad she eventually got on board with the program.

I do want to note a couple of things around disability that may be upsetting. Spoilers: First, a physician injected disabled and sick people with the plague, including Darvyn’s mother. This is primarily recounted from the past but the physician appears to still be doing this work. Second, Darvyn is betrayed by someone and the traitor turns out to be the one disabled person in their group. While Darvyn’s mother was disabled and presented in a positive light, we only experience her through Kyara’s memory. I do not remember any other positive depictions of disabled characters that could perhaps offset the Disabled Villain trope but I may have missed something.

CW: heroine is an assassin and there are on-page assassinations, gunshot wound, torture (brief, more focused on aftermath), kidnapping, imprisonment, human trafficking, near-death experience for main character, heroine has a magic-induced unhealed wound on her chest, cutting for blood magic (and scars from past cuts), soldier brutality, child abuse, stepmother sold Ulani and Tana to nabbers, Tana’s dad kept her locked in a closet (it is not clear why), harems consist of kidnapped girls and the True Father “fathers” children with them for his army, hero’s mother disappeared 20 years ago (view spoiler), Zeli’s parents were executed for being Keepers of the Promise when she was a child, physician injected disabled and sick people with the plague, Disabled Villain trope, concern of children being sold to pedophile but they avoid this fate, slut-shaming, painful first time (past), alcohol, manhood used as euphemism, ableist language

Whispers of Shadow & Flame is the first book I've read in this series. While I can't speak about the other books, I can tell you I enjoyed this story. Because this falls in fantasy, I am always happy when encountering great world-building and highly developed characters.

I had begun reading the first book in this series and was quite enjoying it. However after requesting the sequel to read I begun to find it harder to read the first book due to both the writing style and characters and I ended up DNFing the first book in the series at 54% as the story made no sense and parts of it made me feel uncomfortable reading.

I loved the personal conflict Kyara has with her unique magic ability. I was constantly on the edge of my seat wondering how she was going to possibly succeed. Darvyn was also a great character and a good foil to Kyara. I loved seeing their relationship change as the book went on and they grew as characters.

DNF 25%

I enjoyed the first book in this stand-alone fantasy series, but I struggled with this one. We have new characters and it felt like starting a new series. Unfortunately, it was too slow for me and I’m bailing for now.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This story expands on the fantasy and political conflicts of the first book by following new characters behind the enemy lines. It took me a bit to figure out the timeline but these events take place slightly before, at the same time, and then slightly after the events of the first book. I enjoyed getting to read more in this rich fantasy world and we saw more of the power structures and each sides’ perspectives. Our two new main characters were again thrust together and had to overcome misconceptions and secrets before trusting and loving one another. I’m all in for the star crossed lovers theme in this series. However, I didn’t like this book as much as the first because I felt it was missing the great connections to compelling commentary and broader social themes that I had loved before. But this cliff hanger makes me want to read more and see how this works and it’s characters react.

Thank you Publisher and NetGalley for the early copy of this great series.

I decided to put this one down, I loved book one but don't remember enough to give this a solid read. Thanks for the chance.

I read the first book in anticipation of following up with this one. It was just ok for me. Although I'm trying to broaden my reading, sci fi and Fantasy is just not the genres for me. I kept getting confused and had to keep going back. It really didn't do it for me, but judge for yourself.

I didn't really love this book as much as I enjoyed the first book in the series but that won't keep me from reading the next one.

Whispers of Shadow & Flame is the second book in the Earthsinger Chronicles by L. Penelope. Released 1st Oct 2019 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Griffin imprint, it's 496 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

Even though it's the second book in the series (there's also a novella in addition), it works well as a standalone. I hadn't read any other work by this author and I had no trouble following the plot or the wonderfully complex and rich world building and magical systems. The author is gifted, especially with her descriptive prose and dialogue. I wasn't yanked out of the story one single time by clunky or unbelievable dialogue.

There is explicit (consensual) sexual content, so that should be taken into consideration. There's also quite a lot of violence. I liked that the book's female protagonist is strong, practical, and intelligent (despite being a coerced assassin). The book ends on a teeth gnashingly frustrating cliffhanger, so bear that in mind. Despite the frustration, I'm glad I read it and look forward to the next installment.

For readers who prefer their speculative fiction romance-free, this book does include a significant romance subplot. The writing is superlative however, and the included romance element wasn't cringe-worthy or badly written at all.

Four stars. This is a gifted author with an intelligent and immersive story to tell.

This is a perfect example of a book with a great premise, but poor execution. I really enjoyed the first book, so I was excited to read this one, but unfortunately, it fell pretty flat to me. I didn’t find the characters interesting, the plot was very slow and overall it was just pretty disappointing.

The characters weren’t really interesting to read about. They were pretty one-dimensional, which made them uninteresting to read about. And I also didn’t feel like the side characters were particularly thought-through – they were mostly just there because they had to be, but no real energy was put into making them believable or interesting.

The romance felt kind of forced. Maybe that’s because I prefer romance to be gradually growing. I don’t like it when the characters fall in love in a week, because it doesn’t feel believable to me, and I also don’t think it gives much room for tension (and I love romantic tension). So, basically, I missed build-up and tension between the characters.

The plot was pretty slow. Now, I prefer my fantasy with action, and lots of it, and I want there to be a lot going on. And this one was... not. There was very little action, and to be honest I found the plot to be pretty boring.

I will say this, though: the world is really interesting. You get to learn more about the world that I fell in love with in the first book, which I liked. This was also the main reason why I struggled through it. I really love this world, and the premise of magic in this world is really original and interesting.

Overall, this book was a disappointment. While the world-building was great, the characters were one-dimensional and the plot was slow, and the interesting world just couldn’t make up for that. If you enjoy slower fantasy books, this one might be for you, but if you, like me, want fast-paced and action-packed fantasy, I wouldn’t recommend it.

I’m new to the writings of L. Penelope, but I found this novel to be a great introduction. Whispers of Shadow & Flame: Earthsinger Chronicles, Book Two is the continuation of her fantasy series.

The Mantle, the magical barrier which separates the countries of Lagrimar and Elsira, is failing. All previous breaches of the Mantle led to war between the countries. This breach could be the one that brings the barrier down completely.

Kyara of Lagrimar and Darvyn of Elsira are the best their respective countries have to offer. They have opposing powers and are members of opposing factions but develop tentative respect for each other. Kyara and Darvyn will have to put aside their differences and join forces to battle both age-old and new powers to save their countries from a war that could destroy them all.

L. Penelope has built a world of vast wonders, some vibrant and some desolate. The characterization is top-notch. Though most are imbued with magical powers, the characters are still believable and well-developed. The author’s ability to smoothly handle the numerous characters without confusing the reader is a wonder in and of itself. The varying background scenery adds depth to the story and proves the author’s world-building skill. The plot is engrossing and held my attention from the first page to the last. The ending is a perfect lead-in for future installments.

Book two of Whispers of Shadow & Flame is a strong 5 out of 5 star read that I throughly enjoyed. I recommend it to those who enjoy in-depth fantasy/sci-fi.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.

great epic fantasy captures you in an alternative world and envelopes you in its magic, but also delivers characters who live up to the call to adventure and the pursuit of goals that require resilience and self-sacrifice. L. Penelope's Whispers of Shadow and Flame does exactly that. In book 2 of the Earthsinger Chronicles, the world-building is internally consistent but the characters of Kyara and Darvyn ol-Tahlyro are so well written, you have no choice but to follow helplessly in their wake.

One thing I always look for is excellent writing and L. Penelope’s writing is perfect for the story she writes. She builds a world that is on the edge of war, the tension razor sharp at every turn. The scenes are tautly written and no one is as they appear. As a romance reader, I was also deeply satisfied with the primary romance. The protagonists are the epitome of opposites - Kyara is a Poison Flame and Darvyn is the most powerful Earthsinger in the Kingdom, which makes their relationship fraught with all the contradictions of bringing life and death together in the bond of love. Watching them come together was an intense experience.

I received an ARC courtesy of NetGalley

5 stars. An absolutely fantastic continuation of the series. The characters tug at my heart and the world is completely fascinating. I love this series so much - I can't wait to see where this goes!

4 stars

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This is an exciting continuation of an entertaining series. The book hits the ground running and doesn't slow down until the satisfying cliffhanger. While the first book in this series focused on Jasminda, an orphan girl living in Elsira that still has her Earthsong. and injured spy Jack, this book focuses on two characters living in Lagamiri.

Kyara is an orphan girl forced to become an assassin for the True Father, the powerful, warped ruler of Lagamiri. Rather than having Earthsong, a power that helps heal people, control the elements and grow crops, Kyara has Nethersong. When Kyara uses her Nethersong, everything around her dies. She is tasked by the True Father to kill anyone that displeases her, especially rebels called Keepers. She is bound by a blood oath and when given an order, she cannot disobey. Kyara's latest orders are to hunt down a Keeper rebel with powerful Earthsong called Shadowfox.

Darvyn ol-Tahlyro, the Shadowfox, is the most powerful Earthsinger in generations. He has been defying the True Father and helping the people of Lagamiri his entire life, but is still plagued with guilt about those he is unable to help or save. He is also haunted by the memory of the mother that gave him to the Keepers to help the people, and has spent years searching for her. Throughout the years Darvyn is constantly moved from place to place by the Keepers to protect him from capture.

When Kyara and Darvyn encounter each other, he discovers that she has answers about his past, and he can help her quest to learn to control her power. They both grapple with personal issues, outside forces, and obligations, as well as an upcoming war they are both determined to stop.

Often second books in fantasy series lag a bit and contain a lot of filler, but that is not the case here. In fact, I think this book may even be a little bit better than the first book. The characters are compelling, there is plenty of action, the story is fast-paced and the book is an easy read. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Mantle separating Langrimar and Elsira is about to fall, changing the shape of both kingdoms. Kyara is a deadly assassin due to the magic she had been born with but can't control, and has to capture the legendary rebel Shadowfox. Darvyn ol-Tahlyro is the most powerful Earthsinger, but tortured by the memories of those he couldn't save. Kyara might hold the key to unlocking secrets of his past, and the two have to work together to unravel old prophecies and head off a war when new threats arise.

This is the second novel in the Earthsinger Chronicles, following Song of Blood and Stone. It definitely helps to read that one first, as this book opens several weeks prior to the end of the first one, and progresses forward in time. We hear about Jack intermittently, but without reading the first book, it wouldn't make sense why he's so important. Langrimari tend to be dark-skinned and Elsirans tend to be lighter-skinned with red hair, and there is prejudice against the Langrimari in Elsira. That doesn't change for this second book in the series, but we're on the other side of the Mantle now. The True Father, immortal and ruling with strict, ever-changing laws and a network of informants, is a looming, threatening presence even to his own people.

There is a lot of tension, as Kyara and Darvyn are attracted to each other and are suspicious of motives at the same time. The other thread involves the serving girl Zeli, her mistress Devana, and Delvana's fiance Kerym. Through them, we see the impact of informing on neighbors for rewards of food or supplies, as well as the perceptions they have of the Shadowfox.

As the story progresses and the different stories weave together, the big picture emerges. The plotting inherent in the country isn't just in the informing of neighbors, but in the highest levels of government as well. We learn more about Nethersong and Earthsong, and see a different side of The Queen Who Sleeps. I definitely understand Darvyn being upset with Her and the disappointment in the Keepers. The politics and fighting of the Rebellion is potentially devastating, just as the True Father's can be, though their ultimate goal is more benevolent than the government.

This novel also ends with the fall of the Mantle, this time on the other side of it. There will be more novels in this universe, and I'm sure they'll be just as finely crafted as this one.