In a land where guilds rule all, war is unimaginable, unbelievable. Until it arrives. From the desk of Honor Raconteur comes the tale of one guild, who believes in the impossible, and fight with everything they have to prevent the war they see coming.
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Contains all three books in the trilogy "Deepwoods," "Blackstone," and "Fallen Ward," as well as "Origins," the collection of short stories.
Ever since I was a toddler, I have been making up stories. I’d entertain anyone willing to listen to my wild fantasies about unicorns and gargoyles and amazing people. At 13, I started writing the stories down. At 23, I finished the first book that was, in my opinion, good enough to publish.
I spent three years trying to publish my book, Jaunten, the old fashioned way. The problem was my story was outside of the norm for young adult fantasy – it didn’t have vampires or the supernatural in it, it was clean enough to earn a PG rating, and there wasn’t any dark overlord to defeat. No literary agent would pick it up because it didn’t fit the “fantasy formula” that all of the popular books did.
I put the idea of having my book published off to the side for a while as I finished a Bachelors in English at Middle Tennessee State University. But as I worked on my third degree, the idea of being published came back to me. This time, while working as a paralegal, I had a better grasp of the laws involved of doing self-publishing. For six months, I did a great deal of research in how to do self-publishing the debt-free way.
It was hard. I was working full time, going to school full time, and living on my own. I never really had a break. I was always working on something. At times I felt like my brain would just go into meltdown from having to learn so many different things to make my idea work.
After six months, I thought I knew enough to publish myself. I put Jaunten out as an ebook, created a website and forum so that fans could communicate with me, and spread the word as best I could. Within three months, I was selling internationally. Within six months, I was making enough to quit my day job and sit at home, writing full time.
After six months of writing, publishing, and building up a reputation, I started to be approached by other people wanting to emulate what I did. I soon realized that there was a niche out there waiting for me to fill it—a place where original fiction could be published and released into the world. As of February 2012, I started my own publishing house, called Raconteur House. Since that point I have signed on four additional authors (not including yours truly) and am attracting more in a steady stream.
I have continued to write and publish the rest of the series through my House. When I’m not writing or editing, I like to go out into the community and give presentations of how to be an author. It’s actually really fun to talk to all of these people who want to be authors. Most people think that you can’t make any money being an author—actually, you can. And you can do quite well. It’s just a matter of working really hard, having a little talent, and knowing how to market your books. All I’m doing with these presentations is giving people the know-how to make their dreams come true.
While it’s true that you don’t need a college education to be an author, I encourage everyone to be as educated as possible. I have a lot of experience and education that most people don’t, and that’s what gives me an edge in writing. I’ve lived in places as obscure as Tehachapi, California and other places as large as Salt Lake City, Utah. I hold three different college degrees. I practice two different martial arts. I think I’ve tried every life experience that came my direction. All of that is incorporated into my books, and that’s what gives reality to my worlds and characters.
Even if I abruptly stop selling books tomorrow—which I don’t see happening—I would still continue to write. Creating characters and worlds is that much fun. Once you start, you become quickly addicted.
What a fun and unique story! I know I can always count on Honor Raconteur to have interesting characters with meaningful and wholesome relationships. Something I was particularly impressed with in this book, was how she juggled so many characters. The main viewpoint is Shioban, but she has a guild of approximately 10 people (it changes throughout the books) and each character is distinct, interesting, relatable, and lovable, and the page space each character gets is well balanced, I think. I think that would be so hard to manage, striking the balance of have strong, distinctive characters that don't overshadow others, even when you have such a variety of temperaments, personalities, and backgrounds. So bravo! Really well done! It makes the story feel so full and engaging.
The plot and setting were also very interesting and well, thought out. In a society where the only government structure is guilds, Deepwoods is an escorting guild, meaning they help people travel from place to place. As such, in the books you get to see lots of different places and cultures. And there isn't a really a magic system in this world. The only really magic-y thing is Pathfinding, which is used for travel. I like magic in books in varying amounts, but I think for this story, little magic involvement worked well.
I definitely recommend these books if you like fantasy adventure stories full of great characters and wholesome relationships.
What a delightful story ... was a little hard to get into but once I wrapped my head around all the gorgeous characters I was hooked, kind, strong, loving and caring .... friendship and trust - I really enjoyed and would highly recommended, a little of everything for everyone!
Honestly, if Honor Raconteur writes it, just buy it.
Raconteur has a gift for stellar world building, phenomenally diverse ensemble casts, and plots that zig and zag in all the right ways. I read this series during a winter storm and it warmed me all the way through. Just wonderful. 10/10 will read again.
This is the third series by Honor Raconteur that I have read and this is the third series I have enjoyed from the first sentence to the last. H R tells a great story and her characters are entertaining. I recommend all of them, so please check it out.
In a land where guilds rule all, war is unimaginable, unbelievable. Until it arrives. From the desk of Honor Raconteur comes the tale of one guild, who believes in the impossible, and fight with everything they have to prevent the war they see coming.
Contains all three books in the trilogy "Deepwoods," "Blackstone," and "Fallen Ward," as well as "Origins," the collection of short stories.
I got the book on Kindle Unlimited Review:
I wanted to clarify that I have read the three books in this edition, but skipped the short stories which may or may not add to characterization, but do not develop the main plot of the story and seem like the collection of mini prequels, basically how the guild and its initial members have come to be together.
In this world if I understood it correctly because the author surely did not bother with the long explanation, the governments all fell at once. Why ? Probably after some catastrophe, but the word described in the book certainly did not seem dystopian or post-dystopian. I think this world reverted to the middle age like existence and barter exchanges but I could be wrong . There are many guilds in different cities ( some cities have bigger and smaller ones - our heroes share their city with at least one big guild - again if I understood correctly) and they do all kinds of jobs in those cities, they do jobs and they do trade, although once again confusingly enough villages and just land in between seemed like more dangerous, free for all zones?
Now read the paragraph I wrote again and disregard it please, or at least disregard it as far as the importance of the settings in these stories . All that matters as far as I could discern that our main characters live and work together. There are nine of them as the book begins and couple more guild members are added under interesting circumstances as the story progresses.
This is basically a story of good people, good friends, trying to save their world from the seemingly unexpected or maybe very expected threat. There are NO internal conflicts between the main characters whatsoever. There is an external conflict developing over second and third book - threat of war and actual war, BUT the book is very ( I am not sure the right word to choose) maybe naive about it?
The dear friend who recommended this story to me suggested that the book is maybe young adult? But even with my limited YA reading I have read YA books which were way way more violent and/or sexually explicit. Here is the good example, and since the blurb mentions war I don't think it will be a big spoiler. We see couple of battles between the army of good guys and bad guys. During/after those battles there are wounded shown, but it is as if no one died. Do not get me wrong, I am quite happy with absence of gruesome descriptions of dead fighters. But not to mention it at all that for example people were not just treating their wounded but burying many of their dead? So that's what I mean. I am not really complaining, I am just trying to explain what I meant when I called the book naive.
One bad guy is executed at the end of the book three, which seemed to be the only death in this war. At least the only death shown on page.
I said earlier that there is no conflict between main characters, however their everyday interactions were very appealing for this reader. There were no major fights between them , but them doing their work and helping each other and people around them was nice to read about. Also the new guild members that show up during the course of the trilogy come to them from some dark places and the best I can say without spoilers is that they undergo some rehabilitation which I thought was nicely done within the constraints of this world. I guess the kindness to another human beings shown through on almost every page to me when the characters interacted with each other and with those they were trying to help.
Although there was a child in book three, which was presumably ten years old when he showed up. Sorry, but even with all the issues he had, he did not sound not only as ten years old, but I would not think he was younger than sixteen based on how he talked. I liked his storyline a lot, but I thought he sounded much older than his on page age.
Grade: B-/B
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Siobhan and her motley crew will steal your heart.
Trigger warnings: aggression towards woman (ALWAYS thwarted), assumptions about women’s occupations based on ethnicity, violence (none graphic, most non-lethal).
Siobhan Maley starts a guild with her friends Grae and Bierley, specializing in guarding caravans while they travel. As they travel the continent, they pick up new members and make new friends, and are tasked with some world-changing tasks.
These books were a delight, and I especially enjoyed the bonus stories at the end where we learned exactly how everyone joined the guild.
Honor Raconteur truly lives up to her name. She is an amazing storyteller. She creates here several characters, each of who is relatable and memorable in each one's individual strengths, flaws and insecurities, and gives to them as a team a world-changing quest (which none of them wanted or sought) and lets them go forth and deal. And deal they do. I resented every moment I had to put this series down to do other things (like eat, sleep, work...). This is an eminently readable series that I recommend to any young adult who enjoys reading Erin Hunter or JK Rowling.
I originally read Crossroads after reading the Artifactor series. It introduced me to these marvellous group of characters that were a guild of wayfarers. Of course I had to know their stories too so bought this boxed set. Wow! I’m so glad I did that. Not only is this an extremely enthralling series, it has the most wonderful illustrations of the characters scattered throughout the books. Even the dogs are represented. I’m thoroughly enchanted. I now intend to read Jioni to finish the current tales set on this world off completely.
I loved how very comfortable I felt when lost in reading this series. They are a loving family unit, the world is quite realistic, and other than pathfinders there is no deux ex machina magic to suddenly cause or cure problems. The way the characters came together and how they welcomed new members as well as the little foibles and in jokes, like making bets just added so much real to what is essentially a fictional world. I happy dove in and was saddened when it was over.
This is more a quest and coming of age story than a romance. The characters are engaging and the story well paced. The world is interesting and well crafted. Four stars not five as I felt Wolf and Siobhan’s relationship just overlooked at the end. It felt very unsatisfying to not be clear about their future and a huge oversight. I think they were the two characters that deserved more development as well.
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As another reviewer stated, its great to see people working hard to advert war without bloodshed them actively looking to fighting as the main answer. Loved the world and the characters and how they all work together to make their lives and community better. Really fun stories- how there will be more in the future
I read all of Honor Raconteur's books. This series is well written with fascinating characters and great world building like the others. Highly recommend if you like Mercedes Lackey and Elizabeth Moon. There are a few grammar errors, duplicated words, etc that seem to infect kindle books.
Character development is fantastic! Each one becomes your best friend and you want to travel with them. The settings are described in a manner where you can see each city and continent in your mind"s eye. Guild controlled cities make sense for plot development and support. I would recommend this to anyone to read.
These books have very interesting characters with engaging back-stories. I enjoyed watching one of the main characters learn how to be a healthy, contributing member of a group and how different people were able to help him learn in different ways. A little bit of clean romance. I would definitely recommend!
I enjoyed this series, it had a good cast of characters and world building. Honor usually does though. Each character is not only unique and well rounded but of different regions and diversity, which has been rare in the past to find. The pathfinder way of travel was an interesting idea as well. Thoroughly enjoyed.
I want more!! such a complex group of people woven into family. What's next for Deepwoods? I will have to finish the artifacts set fast so I can read the cross over book! **squee**
I really enjoyed how the ensemble works together; I would recommend this for David Eddings or The Goblin Emperors fans and/or those who like a good fantasy with a lot of people cooperating
I really liked this series, it starts off kind of slow but at the end you never want to put the book down. I also loved the end bit where everyone gave their backstories.
I've been blessed with each of these stories. About people, friendships, adventures, battles and fun. There is no smut - it's clean and interesting. Good development of diverse characters exploring their world and its many cultures.
Amazing how the writer gives a feel for new lands and cultures. You also feel for the main characters as they are so well rounded. Even lesser characters come across well.
I love the characters and the redemption arcs of several of them. It was such a pleasant and enjoyable read. I have yet to disappointed with any book by Honor Ranconteur.
This is a good trilogy. It has all the features; suspense, romance, mystery, humor, and family. Loved the characters, it was hard not to like them; they are very likable. Great series.
Story telling and character development was great. Well written and I liked how the story flowed. There were no loose ends and it kept me interested the whole way through.
These are beguiling stories about people one can both empathize with and admire. Great storytelling. As with each individual backstory, I hate to see it end.