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Touchstone
When war is all you've ever known, the promise of peace is more terrifying than any battle. For Freya, there is no life worth remembering before the army, and none worth imagining after. Born to the lowest caste of a brutally bigoted society, she's found no more horror on the battlefield than she knew on the streets.And she's earned a lot more respect with a sword in her hand.As a young man, Dragan was blooded on the rush of adrenaline and sated by the euphoria of victory. With Freya beside him as his partner, he was indestructible. But age and mortality are gaining ground, and cracks have started to appear.He's had fifteen years of war and he's earned his retirement.Together they survived the war. But can they survive peace when it means different things to each of them?
270 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2012
90 people want to read
About the author
Letitia Coyne
5 books14 followersLetitia Coyne is alive and well and living in Australia. She writes, paints, draws, sews, plays with old wooden furniture, revives jewellery and sings very loudly.
Proud member of the 1889 Labs family. Check out 1889 Labs for a host of brilliant authors, including: Greg X Graves, Terra Whiteman, Isa Kft, M Jones, Kit Iwasaki, AM Harte, MCM, Craig Young, Tim Sevenhuysen, and poet extraordinaire Gabriel Gadfly. [More to come….]
Proud member of the 1889 Labs family. Check out 1889 Labs for a host of brilliant authors, including: Greg X Graves, Terra Whiteman, Isa Kft, M Jones, Kit Iwasaki, AM Harte, MCM, Craig Young, Tim Sevenhuysen, and poet extraordinaire Gabriel Gadfly. [More to come….]
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 5, 2013
There are sad books that make the tears fall endlessly from your eyes. There are books that makes your cheeks hurt from smiling. There are books that make you wish you lived in them. There are books that make your heart stop beating.
And then there are books.
You know what I’m talking about.
Sometimes you find a book, the book. A book, which is so good or so special that you feel like it has become a part of you. You keep the book in your heart and cherish it. It makes you become a different person; it gives you some values that make you think twice about something. It’s a keeper.
Touchstone was one of those books.
It didn’t change my life but it gave me some life choices and some deep values that I will forever keep in my heart.
Let me tell you about Touchstone.
When I first got Touchstone from Amazon, I couldn’t wait to begin. The front page alone was to die for, and I was ready to rate it 5 stars (at least) because of the beautiful and poetic writing on the front and back. Lemme show you:
“When war is all
you’ve ever known,
the promise of peace
is more terrifying
than any battle”
Is this great, yeah? I don’t know about you, but this surely lit the passion in my eyes and made me clap my tiny fangirl hands.
Well, I was definitely sold to this wonderful book and I couldn’t start reading fast enough, so when I finally had a few hours break, I made a cup of tea and sat down to open Touchstone.
And you know what happened?
I was hit by the devastating groundbreaking barrier that readers eventually will meet in some books. And it hurts me to say this, because I had so many expectations for this book.
I was disappointed.
It felt like a total letdown. I felt like I was out on the ocean with a heavy rock tied to my foot, pulling me under the surface. It felt like I was drowning in the deep black water and no matter how fast I was swimming, I still couldn’t get to the surface.
So I took a deep breath.
Calm down, Rose.
I think what my problem was that I expected Touchstone to be a book like The Hunger Games; I expected witty characters, funny comments and maybe most of all, a happy ending.
I will tell you this; there is no happy ending in Touchstone.
Not an ending you would expect, at least.
Well, I took a pause to reflect about this book. I had to change everything I thought about this book beforehand and make my own first-impression. And so I did, and I will tell you this; after I started over and gave the book a fresh pair of eyes, I can assure you.
I was not disappointed this time.
I’m glad that Letitia Coyne had no problem with throwing some angst at her characters. I like stories where the protagonists go through at least some degree of Hell, and I think these characters got more than they deserve. But it was believable and it was very nice to read.
Now, when it comes to characters, I liked the individualism the characters had. When it comes to characterization and love stories, many authors feel like this should make the story evolve around the pair and not the characters (yes, I am looking at you Fallen and Twilight). And yet, this author managed to write a book with two individual characters combined in a complex love story and she managed to kick ass with a magnificent plot. Way to go, Letitia! A gold star for you.
Therefore, talking about the individualism of the characters, I might as well just add my comments about Freya and Dragan.
I liked Freya. Freya is that person we all deep inside wish to be. Of course she has her downsides. She has a bad temper and she is quick to use her fists, but she is believable. And I liked the way you didn’t feel sorry for her the way that other characters makes you (unwillingly) give them your pity (*still not looking at you, Luce). Freya did have a bad life; coming from the lowest of low, she managed to get up and fight her way to the top. She is respected and she has earned it. I don’t just like her. I really liked her. And I respect her from the utmost corner of my heart.
Dragan is something for himself. In a way, I both loved and hated him. He acted in many ways, which I couldn’t understand and didn’t like. But I still loved him, because his intentions were always for the better. While Freya was very short-minded and quick-to-act, Dragan saw the bigger picture. And in a way, I could understand why he did what he did. He loved Freya so much, that everything else hardly mattered.
What I liked most about Touchstone was probably the plot. No screw that, it was DEFINITELY the plot.
I think I liked the ending most. Not the very last page (oh god, that was devastating) but the part where Freya and Dragan return home to Dragan’s house, and they start living together. I loved the way the author made each person represent entirely different things and still made them live together. I won’t tell you how it ends, but let me tell you this; Touchstone is not a happy book.
I could go on and on about how great Touchstone is, because I feel like I have so much to say. But then there wouldn’t be left anything for you, my dear review-readers. So please, open the book and read. It will definitely not be for nothing.
And then there are books.
You know what I’m talking about.
Sometimes you find a book, the book. A book, which is so good or so special that you feel like it has become a part of you. You keep the book in your heart and cherish it. It makes you become a different person; it gives you some values that make you think twice about something. It’s a keeper.
Touchstone was one of those books.
It didn’t change my life but it gave me some life choices and some deep values that I will forever keep in my heart.
Let me tell you about Touchstone.
When I first got Touchstone from Amazon, I couldn’t wait to begin. The front page alone was to die for, and I was ready to rate it 5 stars (at least) because of the beautiful and poetic writing on the front and back. Lemme show you:
“When war is all
you’ve ever known,
the promise of peace
is more terrifying
than any battle”
Is this great, yeah? I don’t know about you, but this surely lit the passion in my eyes and made me clap my tiny fangirl hands.
Well, I was definitely sold to this wonderful book and I couldn’t start reading fast enough, so when I finally had a few hours break, I made a cup of tea and sat down to open Touchstone.
And you know what happened?
I was hit by the devastating groundbreaking barrier that readers eventually will meet in some books. And it hurts me to say this, because I had so many expectations for this book.
I was disappointed.
It felt like a total letdown. I felt like I was out on the ocean with a heavy rock tied to my foot, pulling me under the surface. It felt like I was drowning in the deep black water and no matter how fast I was swimming, I still couldn’t get to the surface.
So I took a deep breath.
Calm down, Rose.
I think what my problem was that I expected Touchstone to be a book like The Hunger Games; I expected witty characters, funny comments and maybe most of all, a happy ending.
I will tell you this; there is no happy ending in Touchstone.
Not an ending you would expect, at least.
Well, I took a pause to reflect about this book. I had to change everything I thought about this book beforehand and make my own first-impression. And so I did, and I will tell you this; after I started over and gave the book a fresh pair of eyes, I can assure you.
I was not disappointed this time.
I’m glad that Letitia Coyne had no problem with throwing some angst at her characters. I like stories where the protagonists go through at least some degree of Hell, and I think these characters got more than they deserve. But it was believable and it was very nice to read.
Now, when it comes to characters, I liked the individualism the characters had. When it comes to characterization and love stories, many authors feel like this should make the story evolve around the pair and not the characters (yes, I am looking at you Fallen and Twilight). And yet, this author managed to write a book with two individual characters combined in a complex love story and she managed to kick ass with a magnificent plot. Way to go, Letitia! A gold star for you.
Therefore, talking about the individualism of the characters, I might as well just add my comments about Freya and Dragan.
I liked Freya. Freya is that person we all deep inside wish to be. Of course she has her downsides. She has a bad temper and she is quick to use her fists, but she is believable. And I liked the way you didn’t feel sorry for her the way that other characters makes you (unwillingly) give them your pity (*still not looking at you, Luce). Freya did have a bad life; coming from the lowest of low, she managed to get up and fight her way to the top. She is respected and she has earned it. I don’t just like her. I really liked her. And I respect her from the utmost corner of my heart.
Dragan is something for himself. In a way, I both loved and hated him. He acted in many ways, which I couldn’t understand and didn’t like. But I still loved him, because his intentions were always for the better. While Freya was very short-minded and quick-to-act, Dragan saw the bigger picture. And in a way, I could understand why he did what he did. He loved Freya so much, that everything else hardly mattered.
What I liked most about Touchstone was probably the plot. No screw that, it was DEFINITELY the plot.
I think I liked the ending most. Not the very last page (oh god, that was devastating) but the part where Freya and Dragan return home to Dragan’s house, and they start living together. I loved the way the author made each person represent entirely different things and still made them live together. I won’t tell you how it ends, but let me tell you this; Touchstone is not a happy book.
I could go on and on about how great Touchstone is, because I feel like I have so much to say. But then there wouldn’t be left anything for you, my dear review-readers. So please, open the book and read. It will definitely not be for nothing.
February 20, 2018
Touchstone is set in an imaginary, brutal, “medieval” world, a world in which constant war is a way of life and has been for centuries. The society is made up of a strict caste system and it is the lower castes who do the fighting and the dying for the nobility and the rich – yes, this sounds much like our own unimaginary world. The heroine of the story, a young woman named Freya – a child of the city slums – has been a warrior since her teens, paired as a “dyad” with a big, tough, big-hearted and simple fellow named Dragan. They love each other, but this love has not been an exclusive one. However, when Dragan’s fifteen-year term of enlistment draws to a close, he wants only to return to his family farm, and he wants Freya to return there with him, to put down her sword and take up the ways of a farm wife. And here is the dilemma and the crux of the novel, because, except for her love and comradeship for Dragan, war and fighting has been the only meaning in Freya’s life: will she be able to change? I don’t want to give away the ending, and there is also so much more to this story, especially the big question: what exactly does a warrior fight for, especially when he or she realizes that the reasons given for fighting were and are false to the core? This is a fast-moving, full-blooded tale, filled with vivid descriptions of life and death: highly recommended for fans of the genre.
October 16, 2012
Touchstone is more of a socialism story. It is a story of the clash of classes. It is not a adventure or romance story. It is a story of what mankind has resort to.
The story started off with Freya and Dragan. They has been fighting along side of each other for 15 years. Dragan has served his term and decided to leave and tend to his farm property. Freya has nothing except her skills of war. Dragan has persuaded Freya to leave but she has three months. Commander Paske refused to discharged her so Freya ended up in administration. As Paske demoralized Freya, she discovered the truth that was just to terrible to believe.
The noble class wanted to eliminated the lower classes. There were never any war but the lies that was told by the noble class to control the population of the lower classes.
In depth, Freya represented the class that has no property, the beggars, and the poor. Dragan represented the class with properties that the upper class wants for themselves. It is the war of the class differences: of those who has privilege versus those who don't.
In sense, it is a sad story. There are no happy ending until the balance is restore.
The story started off with Freya and Dragan. They has been fighting along side of each other for 15 years. Dragan has served his term and decided to leave and tend to his farm property. Freya has nothing except her skills of war. Dragan has persuaded Freya to leave but she has three months. Commander Paske refused to discharged her so Freya ended up in administration. As Paske demoralized Freya, she discovered the truth that was just to terrible to believe.
The noble class wanted to eliminated the lower classes. There were never any war but the lies that was told by the noble class to control the population of the lower classes.
In depth, Freya represented the class that has no property, the beggars, and the poor. Dragan represented the class with properties that the upper class wants for themselves. It is the war of the class differences: of those who has privilege versus those who don't.
In sense, it is a sad story. There are no happy ending until the balance is restore.
May 18, 2012
i enjoyed this book although it was a little confusing and hard to get into. The book over all was good and i thought it was nice to have a women warier it gives a different perspective
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews