Taerith

by Rachel Starr Thomson

When he rescues a young woman named Lilia from bandits, Taerith Romany is caught in a web of loyalties: Lilia is the future queen of a spoiled king, and though Taerith is not allowed to love her, neither he can bring himself to leave her without a friend. Their lives soon intertwine with the fiercely proud slave girl, Mirian, whose tragic past and wild beauty make her the target of the king’s unscrupulous brother.

In a land of fog and fens, unicorns and wild men, Taerith stands at the crossroads of good and evil, where men are vanquished by their own obsessions or saved by faith in higher things. The king’s rule is only a knife’s edge from slipping—and when it does, all three will be put to the ultimate test.

TAERITH is a Christian fantasy adventure in the world of the Romany Epistles. If you love lyrical writing, unforgettable characters full of faith, and inspirational fiction that confronts darkness, reveals breathtaking beauty, and moves your heart to connect more deeply with God, this book is for you.

Genres: Fantasy, Christian Fantasy

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2011

About the author

Rachel Starr Thomson is in love with Jesus and convinced the gospel will change the world.

Rachel is a woman of many talents and even more interests: she’s a writer, editor, indie publisher, singer, speaker, Bible study teacher, and world traveler. The author of the Seventh World Trilogy, The Oneness Cycle, and many other books, she also tours North America and other parts of the world as a speaker and spoken-word artist with 1:11 Ministries.

Adventures in the Kingdom launched in 2015 as a way to bring together Rachel’s explorations, in fiction and nonfiction, of what it means to live all of life in the kingdom of God.

Rachel lives in the beautiful Niagara Region of southern Ontario, just down the river from the Falls. She drinks far too much coffee and tea, daydreams of visiting Florida all winter, and hikes the Bruce Trail when she gets a few minutes. A homeschool graduate from a highly creative and entrepreneurial family, she believes we’d all be much better off if we pitched our television sets out the nearest window.

LIFE AND WORK (BRIEFLY)
Rachel began writing on scrap paper sometime around grade 1. Her stories revolved around jungle animals and sometimes pirates (they were actual rats . . . she doesn’t remember if the pun was intended). Back then she also illustrated her own work, a habit she left behind with the scrap paper.

Rachel’s first novel, a humorous romp called Theodore Pharris Saves the Universe, was written when she was 13, followed within a year by the more serious adventure story Reap the Whirlwind. Around that time, she had a life-changing encounter with God.

The next several years were spent getting to know God, developing a new love for the Scriptures, and discovering a passion for ministry through working with a local ministry with international reach, Sommer Haven Ranch International. Although Rachel was raised in a strong Christian home, where discipleship was as much a part of homeschooling as academics, these years were pivotal in making her faith her own.

At age 17, Rachel started writing again, this time penning the essays that became Letters to a Samuel Generation and Heart to Heart: Meeting With God in the Lord’s Prayer.

In 2001, Rachel returned to fiction, writing what would become her bestselling novel and then a bestselling series–Worlds Unseen, book 1 of The Seventh World Trilogy.

A classic fantasy adventure marked by Rachel’s lyrical style, Worlds Unseen encapsulates much of what makes Rachel’s writing unique: fantasy settings with one foot in the real world; adventure stories that explore depths of spiritual truth; and a knack for opening readers’ eyes anew to the beauty of their own world–and of themselves.

In 2003, Rachel began freelance editing, a side job that soon blossomed into a full-time career. Four years later, in 2007, she co-founded Soli Deo Gloria Ballet with Carolyn Currey, an arts ministry that in 2015 would be renamed as 1:11 Ministries. To a team of dancers and singers, Rachel brought the power of words, writing and delivering original narrations, spoken-word poetry, and songs for over a dozen productions. The team has ministered coast-to-coast in Canada as well as in the United States and internationally.

Rachel began publishing her own work under the auspices of Little Dozen Press in 2007, but it was in 2011, with the e-book revolution in full swing, that writing became a true priority again. Since that time Rachel has published many of her older never-published titles and written two new fiction series, The Oneness Cycle and The Prophet Trilogy.

Over 30 of Rachel’s novels, short stories, and nonfiction works are now available in digital editions. Many are available in paperback as well, with more released regularly.

The God she fell in love with as a teenager has remained the focus of Rachel’s life, work, and speaking.

Reviews

[Sarah]

Well, I have to say this was a huge disappointment. I love this author so much, but you can tell this was a very early work. The bare bones of what makes her stories great are there, but it was so poorly executed, that I decided I didn't even want to bother finishing.

If you want to read something by this author, do not start with this book.

[Jenny Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several storylines that intertwine, even tangle at times. We meet Taerith as he and his siblings are banished from their home by a somewhat guardian. Taerith wanders homeless picking up odd jobs here and there.

Next, we are introduced to a travelling circus as Taerith meets them on the road. Colder weather and leaner times leads Taerith to tag along with them. They are on their way to perform at a wedding reception.

Then we meet the bride-to-be, Lilia, when the circus stumbles upon Lilia’s caravan being attacked. Taerith proves his fighting skills as he and the rest of the circus rescue the caravan.

The groom’s brother comes along to transport the bride-to-be safely to her wedding. The groom is King Annar, his brother is Prince Borden. Prince Borden thinks his brother is foolish, especially to throw such a wedding party during a very lean time of year. Prince Borden also thinks Lilia will be to frail a queen to aid his brother or his kingdom.

Prince Borden orders a rather stubborn and unlikely servant, Mirian, to be the new queen’s personal maid. Borden hoped that Mirian’s strength and stubbornness would rub off on Queen Lilia.

When Taerith and the circus enter the town to perform, Taerith feels compelled to stay in the kingdom and lend protection to Queen Lilia. He also meets Kardas, a member of the army.

Kardas hails from the far north where men are so wild, they seem to be part wild animal. Together, Kardas and Taerith try to save a kingdom each in their own way; a kingdom that is falling from the foolish decisions of its king and the enmity between royal brothers.

With so many introductions early on, the book had a slow start. Even after it go going there were parts that dragged, and at 300+ pages seems a little long for the central conflict and tying up of subplots.

I first heard of Rachel Starr Thomson via a book giveaway. Being a book addict, I entered. Though I didn’t win, I joined her email list and was alerted to this book as a freebie. I read it, gave it my honest review and will consider more books by this author.

[Erica Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the best Christian fantasy books I’ve read recently, and that’s because this book does what a lot of other Christian fiction struggles to do—truly, awesomely portrays the wonder of God and the spiritual world.
But lest you think this book is all spiritual and no story, its amazing in all other parts too. The writing is absorbing and immersive, the story written in fine, atmospheric brushstrokes. The characters have fire inside them, somehow both real yet mythical. Taerith, especially, is a wonderful main character—he has a depth to him that feels very real yet storylike. In a way, this story feels like a fairytale, but a bit darker.
And the story manages to take a good, solid, *visceral* look at societal issues as well—the systems that hurt the most vulnerable, loyalties that can kill. (And I’ll just say—a certain character broke my heart.)
I’ve read some of this author’s other work, but this is the best I’ve read from her. Highly recommended.

[Miss Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really surprised me. Im not especially a fan of Roman times. But this book was set in a different style than I had expected. Showed how hard life was back then. How little rights the everyday people actually had.

The Hero was just that and the book is full of twists and turns. Good and Evil, I really think you will enjoy reading it. There were statements in it that just stood out to me....things that were life changes for right now where I am in my Christian walk.

Just like fantasy? You will enjoy this book too. Well written.

[Kimberly A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after reading the Romany Epistle by Rachel Rossano – Wren.

Plot – B+

The plot was good for the most part. I wasn’t able to predict every turn, just some of them. The only true trouble came from the middle of the book. The original plot that drove the story is resolved around the halfway mark (52-60%) and the minor subplot threads sort of drag along for several chapters. It does pick up again toward the end as the secondary plot is pulled together. Overall, I liked the ideas behind the main plot and the secondary plot but I wish it had been more tightly woven together so the pacing didn’t slow to a drag in the interlude between them. The book is one of a series but it can stand on its own well.

Content – A-

This is a clean book. There is no language, all cursing takes place off the page. Sensuality is nonexistent.

There is violence but it is not gratuitous. Actually, the first two fights written about are barely described. I don’t want gratuitous violence or bloodshed but I wish the description of how the fight took place had been more than something along the lines of “he attacked and his opponent fell” so I could better picture the fight and have a clearer idea of what’s supposed to be happening in that scene. Later on it’s revealed that Taerith has never killed a man and the impression is given that he doesn’t like to even wound to the point of bloodshed. Most of his action in the battlefield involved winding and knocking down/out opponents. I did like the struggle for him over whether he should take lives to protect lives Characters die in battle, through starvation and disease, and murder. Vengeance is tackled and dealt with fairly. I liked how Thompson showed just how destructive a quest for vengeance can be to the person seeking that vengeance.

The romances shown in this book are…complicated. The romance shown at the end of the book is the one that didn’t sell me though. It felt too much like a convenience for the characters involved and not like a true love match, which is okay for the beginning or middle of a story but not so much for the end, at least for me. That said, I did like Taerith’s honorable love for Lilia a lot. Courtly love at its purest.

There is some magic in this world as shown through the presence of unicorns, who are implied to have healing gifts based on the one we are introduced to in the story. However, this is balanced by a very strong spiritual message. The image of Deus, or God, as a dove or winged man was an interesting portrayal. I thought the scenes involving the priest were good. I liked how he not only spoke about Deus but he also does things, lives out his faith. The salvation encounter for Taerith was well done, not in your face but it was clear that he had been touched/changed by the encounter.

Technical – B

This book had good bones. There were only one or two typos in it. However, the narration hampered my ability to get into the story. There is a lot of head-hopping, more than once this happens in the same paragraph, so it was hard for me to tell if I was reading Character A’s thoughts or Character B or C’s thoughts or if it was an omniscient narrator. I usually prefer character changes to occur in a more orderly fashion, e.g., with section or chapter breaks, to help keep the narrative puzzle from occurring. Because of the fluidity of the narrators, their individual voices became more important but they didn’t really sound different from each other even when moving from men to women or vice versa. I went into the book expecting two or three POV characters but there are a lot more. These details along with the fact that there’s a tendency to tell instead of show kept me at arm’s length from the characters so to speak. I couldn’t really sink into the story or their lives.

I mentioned earlier that there’s very little description for the first two fights in the book, which are supposed to be important because they place Taerith in two key places. The second fight is literally three sentences revolving around Taerith “being prepared” and then he basically steps forward and in the next sentence the fight is over. I am a visual reader, so I prefer descriptions that engage me and let me SEE what the character is doing. In the same vein of telling and not showing, there is a lot of repetition occurring in the narration and there are some odd punctuation choices. Semicolons and colons being used when a comma and a transition phrase would have helped the flow. Or where a period would have sufficed.

Final Grade – B or 4 Stars

Overall, I liked the story of Taerith. I think that Rachel Starr Thompson has the talent of a great writer and I could see it even with the narrative gaffs. I couldn’t determine for sure whether this was Thompson’s first book but it did have the feel of a first or even sophomore novel where the author is still working the kinks out of her writing process. Because it is a nine-author series, the voice between books definitely changes but the ending of Taerith made me eager to read Aiden since that Romany sibling also makes an appearance. While I wasn’t drawn in to the point of devouring the book in hours, I never had to force myself to pick the book back up again. I would recommend this book to Christians looking for a clean fantasy with strong Christian elements and fans of medieval-esque fantasies. Recommended for ages 16 and up.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Wren by Rachel Rossano a few years ago I was really excited to read this book. I must admit the opening, daunted me just a bit. There were a lot of characters, and a lot of moving around, it took me awhile to get into the story enough to really enjoy it. And I really did enjoy it after that. Taerith was a likable guy, with nice supporting characters. I loved how much Taerith was willing to give up for Lilia because he really did love her. I espechilly loved Tearith's friend in the army. I cannot remember his name, but he was super cool!
The fantasy element was not my favorite, but it was super light, so even people who don't like fantasy at all probably wouldn't be bothered by it. And for people who like fantasy, this would probably just be an added bonus.
But I felt like I never really got invested in the characters. My only other complaint was that there was one character that I never was sure weather he was good or bad, he just seemed to bounce back and forth.
Overall, this was a good book. It was nice to see Taerith's story.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book Wren in this series first (by another author- R.R.), and enjoyed it - this is the only other book in the series that I could find that has been released right now (each book is by a different author).
I believe this would be a really good young adult book. There is some really good truths to be found in it. It is a fantasy book. And as such there is a spiritual aspect, they pray to God but call him by a different name but in this world it is to represent the God we call upon in reality.
The story itself is interesting and I found several of the characters interesting and with depth. However, I do wish in some of the character relationships there would have been a little more interaction/depth of relationship. It lacked a little in that area but I guess it fit in keeping with where the author was taking the story. Home, family being a choice... We chose to love, etc.

I am interesting in reading what I believe will be the next book in this series, Aiden. And I do believe I will try reading another book by this author. As I said it was enjoyable and a good read. Rating it between 3 1/2 to 4 Stars.