Stormshadow

Storms in Amethir

by Stephanie A. Cain

Author Note: this book is no longer available on any retailer

Princess Azmei of Tamnen has a decision to make, and she doesn’t like either option: marry Prince Vistaren of Amethir--a man she’s never met--or let her kingdom’s war with Strid go on with no end in sight. Seeing no alternative, she agrees to meet Prince Vistaren, with the caveat that the marriage treaty won’t be ratified until then.

Azmei knows she is sailing into a precarious situation. After all, the correspondence she’s traded with Vistaren doesn’t guarantee he’ll be a man she can respect or love. She can’t stand the thought of seeing her generation decimated by the bloody conflict with neighboring Strid. Yet while she has sworn to serve her brother, the heir to Tamnen’s throne, Azmei isn’t certain this is the best way to do so.

What Azmei doesn’t know is that her new friend, Orya, is not who she seems to be, and that Prince Vistaren has secrets of his own. And on top of that, there are those who will stop at nothing to prevent the alliance between Tamnen and Amethir...

There is a storm on the horizon, and its shadow may grow to cover the whole world.

Genres: Fantasy

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2014

About the author

         

Stephanie A. Cain writes epic and urban fantasy. She lives in Indiana and works at a small liberal arts college. She enjoys hiking, reading, singing, and general geekery. She has three cats, which she is well aware puts her firmly in crazy cat lady territory, and way more dice and painted miniatures than she needs.

Reviews

[Laura Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

So at first, this is a tale of a princess doing her duty to her kingdom, marrying to seal an alliance and end a war. It's not her choice, and it scares her, but she's determined to see it through.

Only, readers of STORMSINGER might recall that the prince to whom she's betrothed isn't exactly the princess-marrying kind. He prefers men. But he has a royal duty to see through, as well.

Add to this some political treachery from those who would profit by continued war, an assassin seeking to protect her autistic little brother, and and a front-row seat to the developing romance of an infamous lady privateer, and you have an idea of the places this could go.

(Orya is my favorite.)

[BobA707 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:Much more depth than the scene setting in book 1. The author talks about war but assassination seems to be the preferred death mechanism - or not in this case

Plotline: Interesting plot, a bit of romance, murder and mayhem

Premise: A bit of magic, could become interesting

Writing: Simple, descriptive, good characters

Ending: Looking forward to the revenge ...

Pace: Never a dull moment!

[Jessica Kemery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An original and inventive book. I loved the characters and how the story progresses. The author has a way of making the worlds come alive around you. Highly recommend this story, it's hard to put down once you start.

[Quartzen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, fast-moving, and a step up from the roughness of the previous installment in the series in both prose style and plotting. I did however dislike the romance subplot between the secondary characters, the privateer and the general from the last volume I didn't really understand why the privateer, who was reluctant to enter a relationship for years, suddenly changed her mind after a guilt-tripping talk from the protagonist about leading on the general, nor did I honestly really understand why a princess would have an interest in the romantic affairs of highly-placed members of a foreign military after only having spent a few hours in their company.

Also, mixed feelings on the handling of the arranged marriage between the princess, and the prince from the last volume who is gay, but I don't think I'll be able to decide for sure on that element until I see how it resolves in the next volume. I did become invested in their friendship, though, and I really want things to work out for these characters- there were some twists I didn't see coming at the ending, and I'm curious to see where things go in the next volume.

[Jenny Koch]

DNF @ 74%

It's just mehhhh