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Winter's Blight #3
The Waking Magic
Everyone is drawn to magic for a reason.
As Deirdre, James, Iain, and Alvey travel to the Wayfaring Festival, seeking answers for the brothers and magical materials for Alvey, forces Fae and human close in.
Deirdre's fight to control her magic evolves as she begins to connect with it on a deeper level. Yet she risks losing everything to General Callaghan, the leader of the Iron Guard, who hunts her to harness her power into a weapon. Meanwhile, James begins his own quest for magic, drawing him closer to the Master, a sinister being who holds the fates of James and his mother.
Joining the group is Cai, a wandering swordsman connected to the mysterious amulet Iain found hidden in an Unseelie dwarf's treasure horde. As Iain is faced with the ever-increasing danger of their journey, he believes the skilled, if uncooperative, man could secure both their safety and an end to the war before it begins.
But facing imminent dangers both within and around the group, each of them is forced to make decisions that will alter their journey and even the fate of the country.
As Deirdre, James, Iain, and Alvey travel to the Wayfaring Festival, seeking answers for the brothers and magical materials for Alvey, forces Fae and human close in.
Deirdre's fight to control her magic evolves as she begins to connect with it on a deeper level. Yet she risks losing everything to General Callaghan, the leader of the Iron Guard, who hunts her to harness her power into a weapon. Meanwhile, James begins his own quest for magic, drawing him closer to the Master, a sinister being who holds the fates of James and his mother.
Joining the group is Cai, a wandering swordsman connected to the mysterious amulet Iain found hidden in an Unseelie dwarf's treasure horde. As Iain is faced with the ever-increasing danger of their journey, he believes the skilled, if uncooperative, man could secure both their safety and an end to the war before it begins.
But facing imminent dangers both within and around the group, each of them is forced to make decisions that will alter their journey and even the fate of the country.
Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2024
8 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
K.C. Lannon
9 books14 followersK.C. Lannon graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in English. When she is not co-writing the Winter's Blight book series, she tutors English, walks dogs, and dabbles in painting, drawing, or just making a general mess on paper. She enjoys cooking vegetarian meals, daydreaming she is a Gothic Heroine, and playing tabletop RPGs.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 15, 2025
Waking Magic
When I rate a book, I judge it based on five qualities: ideas, world building, execution, depth, and entertainment. I ask myself if the book has achieved these qualities, and one is worth a star.
BTW, this review does give a few things away.
Ideas: Is the premise interesting? Do I like what happens in the story, or do I think certain parts are weird/uncessesary?
World Building: Is the world creative, and is it introduced well? (Works more for fantasy)
Execution: Do the characters’ choices make sense? How did the rising action, climax, and falling action occur? Were things thought through? Were the right things shown? How was the writing style?
Depth: Was there a special lesson? Was there character development, depth, or redemption arcs?
Entertainment: Did it take a painful amount of faithfulness to finish it, or were my eyes glued to the page?
Ideas:
I think the ideas are great. A changeling (a magical creature raised in the human world in place of a human baby) is trying to find her birth family. I also love the variety of characters created (even though some are annoying). Nothing has really weirded me out. I also love the idea of incorporating Christianity into fantasy. 1
World building:
The world that they created, with humans knowing about and fearing fae and a new London having been built after London was destroyed by fae is brilliant. 1
Execution:
Most of the characters’ choices make sense. The villain, Alan’s choices kind of don’t make sense because he hates Fairies but is working with them to hurt other Fairies. Another things that doesn’t make sense (beware, spoilers ahead) is that Kallista had swapped Deidre and Alvey years ago when they were babies, and now the three of them are traveling together. She recognizes Alvey but doesn’t recognize Deirdre. Deirdre isn’t a common name, so I don’t see how Kallista can not realize that she’s Alvey’s changeling counterpart.
Other than those two plot holes, the execution is really good. Throughout the series there’s been a transition from enemies to friends to lovers that has been so smooth and beautiful. C.S. Lewis says being in love shows you the beauty of the world, and this story really shows that because one of the MMC realizes that magic is beautiful when he gets to know the FMC. The only potential issue is when he admits his feelings for her out loud, and I was thinking, “Wait, I knew he felt that way, but I didn’t know he knew he felt that way.” I guess I was assuming he’d admit it in his head before out loud, but it still worked and was totally adorable.
There’s also another romance transition that is working out pretty smoothly, and those characters belong together because they are so annoying.
Also, there were some things in the first book that seemed insignificant that are becoming significant now. There’s been a lot of extensive thought, and I can really see the series coming together. 0.75
Depth:
I can tell the authors are trying to incorporate Christian values into the story, and the way they do that is so beautiful. There isn’t any hard core allegory like the Chronicles of Narnia, but there’s a part where a certain character puts on a magical necklace that (like wands in Harry Potter) chooses the wearer and gives them a message they need. The necklace had read “forgiven,” and already belonged to that character, but they needed to accept it. When they put it on, they expected it to weigh them down but it actually made them feel lighter and like they could let go of their mistakes and move forward to be the person they were meant to be. I think this part represents accepting God’s forgiveness, and it correlates to when Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give up rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you will find rest for your souls.” A yoke is something a farmer puts on a cow’s neck that connects it to the plow. Jesus is saying that when we accept his yoke, we are given rest, which is ironic because it’s supposed to be heavy. It’s also ironic that a necklace made a character feel lighter. So I think the necklace represents Jesus’ yoke because the character had to literally take it upon himself, and you’d think it’d be heavy, but it gave him relief bec God’s forgiveness always brings relief. Just like the necklace, forgiveness is ours. We just have to accept it.
1
Entertainment:
The book got boring at times. It’s almost always switching perspectives, which can be discouraging if you just want to find out what happened next to a character you’re already reading about. Nevertheless, the ending was quite thrilling, and there were tons of twists and turns. It leaves a lot of premises for the next book.
0.5
Overall rating: 4.25
When I rate a book, I judge it based on five qualities: ideas, world building, execution, depth, and entertainment. I ask myself if the book has achieved these qualities, and one is worth a star.
BTW, this review does give a few things away.
Ideas: Is the premise interesting? Do I like what happens in the story, or do I think certain parts are weird/uncessesary?
World Building: Is the world creative, and is it introduced well? (Works more for fantasy)
Execution: Do the characters’ choices make sense? How did the rising action, climax, and falling action occur? Were things thought through? Were the right things shown? How was the writing style?
Depth: Was there a special lesson? Was there character development, depth, or redemption arcs?
Entertainment: Did it take a painful amount of faithfulness to finish it, or were my eyes glued to the page?
Ideas:
I think the ideas are great. A changeling (a magical creature raised in the human world in place of a human baby) is trying to find her birth family. I also love the variety of characters created (even though some are annoying). Nothing has really weirded me out. I also love the idea of incorporating Christianity into fantasy. 1
World building:
The world that they created, with humans knowing about and fearing fae and a new London having been built after London was destroyed by fae is brilliant. 1
Execution:
Most of the characters’ choices make sense. The villain, Alan’s choices kind of don’t make sense because he hates Fairies but is working with them to hurt other Fairies. Another things that doesn’t make sense (beware, spoilers ahead) is that Kallista had swapped Deidre and Alvey years ago when they were babies, and now the three of them are traveling together. She recognizes Alvey but doesn’t recognize Deirdre. Deirdre isn’t a common name, so I don’t see how Kallista can not realize that she’s Alvey’s changeling counterpart.
Other than those two plot holes, the execution is really good. Throughout the series there’s been a transition from enemies to friends to lovers that has been so smooth and beautiful. C.S. Lewis says being in love shows you the beauty of the world, and this story really shows that because one of the MMC realizes that magic is beautiful when he gets to know the FMC. The only potential issue is when he admits his feelings for her out loud, and I was thinking, “Wait, I knew he felt that way, but I didn’t know he knew he felt that way.” I guess I was assuming he’d admit it in his head before out loud, but it still worked and was totally adorable.
There’s also another romance transition that is working out pretty smoothly, and those characters belong together because they are so annoying.
Also, there were some things in the first book that seemed insignificant that are becoming significant now. There’s been a lot of extensive thought, and I can really see the series coming together. 0.75
Depth:
I can tell the authors are trying to incorporate Christian values into the story, and the way they do that is so beautiful. There isn’t any hard core allegory like the Chronicles of Narnia, but there’s a part where a certain character puts on a magical necklace that (like wands in Harry Potter) chooses the wearer and gives them a message they need. The necklace had read “forgiven,” and already belonged to that character, but they needed to accept it. When they put it on, they expected it to weigh them down but it actually made them feel lighter and like they could let go of their mistakes and move forward to be the person they were meant to be. I think this part represents accepting God’s forgiveness, and it correlates to when Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give up rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you will find rest for your souls.” A yoke is something a farmer puts on a cow’s neck that connects it to the plow. Jesus is saying that when we accept his yoke, we are given rest, which is ironic because it’s supposed to be heavy. It’s also ironic that a necklace made a character feel lighter. So I think the necklace represents Jesus’ yoke because the character had to literally take it upon himself, and you’d think it’d be heavy, but it gave him relief bec God’s forgiveness always brings relief. Just like the necklace, forgiveness is ours. We just have to accept it.
1
Entertainment:
The book got boring at times. It’s almost always switching perspectives, which can be discouraging if you just want to find out what happened next to a character you’re already reading about. Nevertheless, the ending was quite thrilling, and there were tons of twists and turns. It leaves a lot of premises for the next book.
0.5
Overall rating: 4.25
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2020
This book was actually a bit more fast paced, which I liked and I am loving this series, Its already captured me and I can’t wait for the next book. A new character is introduced in this book, here we meet the Knight called Cai. I am not sure what to make of him. Alvey drives me mad, she is a spoilt brat IMO. But we have our three main characters still travelling together to find information on James and Ian’s mother and to get Deidre to the Summer court.
May 8, 2020
The series is finding its footing and getting better.
May 24, 2020
Can evil win?
The journey continues. The lost is found. A wish is granted, but by then it's to late, a love of the magic has taken hold.
The journey continues. The lost is found. A wish is granted, but by then it's to late, a love of the magic has taken hold.
November 7, 2022
Good
An interesting book an adventure waiting for everyone- 2 brothers, a fairy just discovering her magic that is then stolen- dastardly father- what more could you wish for
An interesting book an adventure waiting for everyone- 2 brothers, a fairy just discovering her magic that is then stolen- dastardly father- what more could you wish for
January 10, 2025
*4.75 stars*
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews