For as long as Finockt can remember, she has sought a means to escape the remote Valínthian village in which she grew up, prompted to depart by something deeper than herself and which she cannot explain. But that same prompting compels her to remain until the day her vengeful enemy seeks her life after he discovers her a golden necklace bearing one half of an intricate cross pendant. When she is suddenly rescued by a mysterious, young man who has been tracking her for years, she and the rare, unbefitting item she owns are taken to Thorlóthlon, Valínthia’s stronghold. Now Finockt finds herself tossed in the middle of a battle between two kingdoms, each with a claim to one man’s throne, and face-to-face with a regent who holds the key to unlocking everything she did not know about herself and the past she thought was forgotten. But does she have the courage to combat Thorlóthlon’s dark history and curtail the inevitable? And what other secret will she find hidden in Thorlóthlon's depths to aid her quest? Find out now in the first installment of the trilogy In the Shadow of Emerald The Lost King’s Daughter!
““The gold of nobles is a rare gift indeed.” For as long as Finockt can remember, she has sought a means to escape the remote Valínthian village in which she grew up, prompted to depart by something deeper than herself and which she cannot explain. But that same prompting compels her to remain until the day her vengeful enemy seeks her life after he discovers her a golden necklace bearing one half of an intricate cross pendant. When she is suddenly rescued by a mysterious, young man who has been tracking her for years, she and the rare, unbefitting item she owns are taken to Thorlóthlon, Valínthia’s stronghold. Now Finockt finds herself tossed in the middle of a battle between two kingdoms, each with a claim to one man’s throne, and face-to-face with a regent who holds the key to unlocking everything she did not know about herself and the past she thought was forgotten. But does she have the courage to combat Thorlóthlon’s dark history and curtail the inevitable? And what other secret will she find hidden in Thorlóthlon's depths to aid her quest?”
Series: Book #1 in the “In the Shadow of Emerald Fire” trilogy.
Spiritual Content- Three Scriptures are referenced at the beginning (Psalm 65:2, Psalm 34:5, & Psalm 116:14); Prayers & a blessing over food; Finding abandoned chapels & feeling peace in one; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God & Jesus; A “silent message of hope” comes to Finockt to know what she’s supposed to do; All about many mentions of a cross pendant necklace; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking and praising God; Mentions of a chapels (including Finockt finding an abandoned one); A few mentions of Providence being with someone; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of a banner with a lion representing Christ as the Lion of Judah; A mention of someone saying that he believes that “God does not separate us form those we love for long”; A mention of a Power beyond Finockt’s control spinning a different course for her; In the bonus content at the end, there are the meanings of characters’ names and some have Christian meanings; *Note: Finockt wonders if the necklace has a mysterious power as it always draws/calls her to the woods and a stream (someone else says that it’s like a spell over her and always makes her “restless and angry” when she returns, but Finockt feels peace when following it and knows that she should); Finockt is told that the necklace “contains a power foreign to most men, the true meaning of which not many are privileged enough to understand”; Finockt calls the cross a curse because she feels trapped (someone tells her that those who do not comprehend it say that); A group of people’s hope is in the coming of the Lost King’s Daughter; A man’s darkness flees him when speaking to a certain person (who assumingly worships God), but succumbs to the darkness and evil again; A queen is able to know another’s thoughts and stretches out her hand where a sword comes to her; The phrase “saints above” is exclaimed once; Mentions of prophecies & a curse that some have foreseen (including a group of people being cursed to always strive for power of a country, but never attain it; & some believing that Finockt is the only one who can get rid of a curse); Mentions of magic, “magical” items, & spells (in terms of a household’s “unexpected magic”, a magical sword, Finockt wondering if the necklace has a mysterious power, someone saying that the necklace has a spell over Finockt (unclear if that’s true or not), Finockt wondering if a man casted a spell on her, it seeming as if the necklace gathers sunrays to shine more brilliantly, & a mention of fey’s magic in a frosty forest); Mentions of evil, darkness/evil in others, & evil lurking in the forest; A few mentions of ill omens; A couple mentions of seeing someone who has passed again; A mention of Fate dealing a man his tasks; A mention of someone facing “eternal damnation in the next [life]” if he does not change his ways; A mention of an ornery house having the “devil himself” in it; A mention of someone asking enough if they are a magician (teasing); A mention of a place being full of “deep magic and myth”; A mention of someone lurking like a “loosed spirit” (ghost).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’, a ‘wretch’, and two forms of ‘blast’; A bit of eye rolling; A few mentions of curses (including one by Finockt, all are said, but not written); Being attacked (multiple times), Being held at knife/sword-point, Being chased, Being threatened with death, Fighting back, Almost drowning/falling into water, Falling off a horse, Passing out, Injuries, Pain, & Blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Battles, Attacks, & seeing deaths and bodies (up to semi-detailed); A fire & concern for a loved one (up to semi-detailed); Grief (for loved ones and dear friends, up to semi-detailed); Remembering seeing deaths & bodies (up to semi-detailed); Social drinking at parties & dinner (including Finockt being given ale and watered down wine a few times, up to semi-detailed on the tastes; Others drink on page as well); A villain talks about killing Finockt & she is watched carefully to keep that from happening (she is attacked multiple times); A villain slaps his son (barely-above-not-detailed); Finoickt feels like a trapped prisoner at times; Finockt doesn’t make a promise to someone because she doesn’t think she can keep it; Finockt doesn’t follow instructions a few times and disobeys an authority figure to be able to find out information; Finockt deceives someone that she thinks is a spy & feels guilt over it; For a moment, at one point, Finockt feels ugly bitterness & hatred for the cross necklace and people involved because of what she’s had to do; Many mentions of wars, deaths, killing, battles, attacks, fights, fighting, people being knocked out, fires, & a village being destroyed; Mentions of deaths & a missing (assumed dead) child; Mentions of bodies, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a mother being sick & close to death (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thieves, crimes, & criminals; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & a drunk; Mentions of smoking, pipes, & tobacco (a young man smokes on page); Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deceit; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of hunting, animals for their meat, & stuff animals; A few mentions of murders (not in a war-setting); A few mentions of a man killing his own brother; A few mentions of prisoners & a death/execution; A few mentions of murder holes of a castle & how they were used (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); A few mentions of blackmail; A few mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of death sentences & a possible public execution; A couple mentions of possibly being killed because of a reckless horse; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a potential hostage; A mention of others acting like beaten dogs; *Note: Finockt is told by someone that he blames her mother for the death of his family (she is distraught hearing this, but she counters his claims); A horse is hit multiple times with arrows (said that it’s in pain and runs off into the woods, border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of coffin-like structures.
Sexual Content- A hand kiss and a forehead kiss; A bit of Touches, Hand holding, Noticing, & Nearness (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a couple in an embrace; Finockt feels ashamed to have been out at night unaccompanied with a young man; Finockt blushes when told about her producing a male offspring; A few mentions of a young man liking Finockt (she views him as one of her best friends but later confesses to herself that she loves him); A couple mentions of romantic gestures (which Finockt hoped for from a certain young man deep down, but it’s said that “her feelings were beginning to outweigh her reason” when alone with him in a dangerous situation); A couple mentions of courting; A mention of a kiss; A small amount of love, falling in love, & the emotions; *Note: A few mentions of mothers passing away in childbirth & other babies not surviving.
-Finockt P.O.V. switches between Finockt & many others 462 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Pre Teens- One Star New Teens- Three Stars Early High School Teens- Four Stars Older High School Teens- Four Stars My personal Rating- Three Stars
This book has intimidated me for a while. Purely because of the page length of over 460 pages. Well, I decided to dive into the world these last couple of days and finally read it. Overall? I enjoyed it. I do think it was a bit too long at times and not too much happened in this book, but it was an interesting plot and I would be curious to see what happens in the next book of the series.
The story is told almost in a narrator style, but not *quite* that way or in a normal third-person point of view style. It took me a long time to be able to follow along well because it was similar to head jumping (when the point of view changes between different characters and their thoughts within the same chapter with no breaks). This was probably my biggest struggle when reading with the slow pacing.
As far as the characters, I liked Finockt, but never really felt connected to her because of the head jumping and birds’ eye view of what was happening. Everyone else I felt distrustful towards (much like she did after betrayals) and watched with a narrow eye.
There’s not much dialogue—which I typically prefer—but the author has a focus on giving the reader the details of the surrounding nature and events that take place. Very descriptive and gives a lot of the play-by-play, so to speak, which I didn’t always love, I’ll admit, but made it easy to visualize the places, areas, and textiles.
The pacing felt very slow for the majority of the book, but once we hit about page 300 or 65% that was where things started being revealed finally to Finockt and I started being more interested in the plot. Everyone was keeping her in the dark about things, events, and why she was there prior to that—for over four months. She’s much more patient than me, because I would have been relentlessly pestering for answers after a week. I feel like a lot of things could’ve been omitted and that could’ve happened closer to the hundred-hundred and fifty page range.
There’s a very light romance thread, but it almost come out of left-field and definitely was not the focus of the book at all. The faith content was light, but you could tell that the good guys of the book had a faith.
It’s definitely a slower paced novel than I expected it to be, but that’s not necessarily a negative thing. I do wish more events and dialogue had happened within these many pages, but I do appreciate how it was very, very clean throughout the whole story. It doesn’t end on a cliffhanger which was nice, but it does end with a lot of things unresolved, making sure you know it’s the first book in the series.
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author. *I received this book for free from the Author for this honest review.
I loved the descriptive world building in this story. I loved the character moments and the Christian themes. I really enjoyed the building friendships and the very subtle romantic elements. I felt like I was in the scene sometimes and there are a handful of characters I wish I could be friends with. I'm super excited about the next book and can't wait to read it!
This is YA Christian fantasy and I would let a teen read this, they might appreciate it more than I did.
The words underwhelming and dissatisfying are what come to mind... For 464 pages, I finished this with far more questions than I would have liked to have had. This being a first in a series, I imagine following books will reveal more, but to me it felt like the author gave the reader nothing. Every time I thought something epic could be happening finally, I felt faked out.
The writing was flowery at the expense of being cumbersome, in my opinion. On top of that, it is written primarily in third person limited while dabbling in third person omniscient. It revolved around Finockt's character, the female protagonist, and then without clear transition switching bird's eye view to another character briefly for no more than a few paragraphs at a time and sometimes for only a sentence, before returning to Finockt. It was hard to follow. I wish there had been more dialogue, that would have aided the storytelling (since the female protagonist knows nothing the entire book). My experience reading this was akin to someone telling me they had a cool secret but dragging it out that they were not able to tell me for no reason at all for the reading time of a full-length novel. I also felt like the first third felt disconnected from the rest of the book. At one point, I thought maybe a love triangle was being hinted at but it never really felt clear. So much of this book was just unclear to me. The faith content fell flat for me as well.
The atmosphere (and my held-out hope something exciting would happen) kept me reading. This utilizes Celtic influences and medieval aesthetic. Most of my reading tabs were just underlines of pretty atmosphere. That is where the flowery language was nice. So if you're in the mood for a hyper-atmospheric read shrouded in obscurity, in a Celtic-inspired medieval fantasy world following the unfolding story of a stubborn YA female protagonist then pick this up! I am quasi-interested in picking up the second book, but not any time soon.
In this book: -quest -kingdom clash -betrayal -lost identity -prophecy/legend -Celtic themes
Content Guide: romance - clean/very light language - clean violence - non-graphic faith - medium amount fantasy - very low/non-magical; the author has an IG post about the magic elements in this book being reminiscent of Lord of the Rings type stuff like glowing objects, etc., but idk, maybe that just didn't translate concretely to me on-page. As I alluded to in the bulk of my review, almost everything about this book felt obscure to me. I prefer non-magical so that was fine.
Okay, just reread this book!!!! And I love it so much!!! The first time I read it I skim read it because I was not In the mood for a long fantasy but I felt bad because I beastly even remembered the plot after the first week after reading so I just reread it and am obsessed. Need to go buy the second book. Highly recommend😀 It kind of gave off national treasure meets a knights tale vibes.
I would like to say a personal thank you to the author for sharing her world with us, every person has their made up or personal story and some stay hidden where others are expressed. I think that is the fun of reading, being able to experience and immerse yourself in others world. So thank you for sharing your world☺️
I enjoyed the poetic prose and descriptive scenery. The overall style felt reminiscent of the adventure fantasy books I grew up on and that is a rare thing to see. I was intrigued from page one and it kept me turning pages.
The main character seemed realistic and the author did a great job depicting her interactions and relationships. There’s a wide cast of characters and many names/places to follow which kept it interesting and entertaining. I greatly appreciated the pronunciation guide in the back.
The POV style was unique and switches quickly from one paragraph or even sentence to another, which can be tricky to follow but also kept me on my toes. I think the author has a talented writing style, but certain elements may have been a bit over detailed. As much as I was intrigued by the mysteries and secrets, I was also hoping for more answers sooner. I’m guessing time will tell with the rest of the series.
(Also just have to note, the acknowledgment page the author wrote was inspiring. I was impressed by her perspective and it positively influenced my view of not only her writing, but also of other Christian fiction works.)
The Lost King’s Daughter Content Guide and Warnings
Content:
🤐 Language- none 💋 Romance- as this is a mediaeval-ish book there are hand kisses, but all are VERY nondescript and clean, one nondescript forehead kiss (appropriate for 9+) ⚔️ Violence- mild: Finockt has a sword placed on her throat twice, there is one age appropriate description of a dead body, blood (appropriate for 12+) ⭐️ Other Considerations: use of wine and pipes 🧑🧑🧒🧒 Age Rating- 12/13+
A Quick Review:
HOW IS THIS BOOK NOT MORE POPULAR?! I loved all of the characters from the start (especially Gwri)! The writing was beautiful and sucked me in at the first sentence. I laughed, cried, and stayed up way too late! A. D. German has woven together a wonderful story that is perfect for anyone wanting a very clean, christian friendly, adventure full of plot twists.