Lord of the Fading Lands question

I read this series over the summer and enjoyed it too. Like you I was looking to talk about it.

One of things I noticed was how different the second half of the story arc felt from the first. When they are still in her city (I can't remember the name) the story felt more intimate, more small scale. Once they left, then they were traveling a lot, and dealing with different peoples (beings?) and certainly the war. Much bigger in scope.

Spoiler Alert: I've tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but if you read this before reading all 5 books, be aware there is information you might just not want to have yet!

I absolutely adored these novels. Lord of the Fading Lands is the one that really hooked me in though, and certainly my favorite overall. Rain stole my heart from the moment he landed in front of Ellysetta. Elly's naivety in the beginning, and the overwhelming situation she found herself in and Rain's experience in everything but the situation he found himself in with Elly was endearing. Their pairing was as close to perfect as any romantic couple I can think of.

As the books progress, the bad guy seemed to get impossibly worse. I got to the point that when I turned the page and saw the scene shifting to the mage I'd have to put the book down for a few minutes while I "prepared" my mind to read about what evilness he was getting up to next.

There are readers, particularly romance readers, who seriously object to rape or forced sexual situations in any form being used as a plot device, and will condemn a book just for having those situations in them. I will admit, they make me uncomfortable, but then I don't always read for comfort. Sometimes I read to "feel", and I've always liked books with a strong villain. The head mage, along with his associates, were certainly that. Still, I can see how some of the situations presented would offend or otherwise put off some readers. For me, it made it all the more critical that our hero and heroine win the day.

My only real complaint is that the book has the feel of being too wordy. In places, I feel that the flow of the story didn't really work. I understand that the author originally wanted to publish it as one 1000 page book, but her publishers wanted her to break it down, so that could certainly explain why that is the case.

This series for me ranks the very best blend of fantasy and romance that I've ever read, and I enjoyed it very much.

Loved every one of them! Never have I loved a series like this!

I liked it. Or at least, I was impressed at the potential. I hope CL Wilson writes many more stories. But the books have big problems. You have Elly, whom I liked. I thought she was fairly sensible. Except that of all the things she was unsure of about Rain, the one thing that NEVER bothered her is the fact that he killed billions of people, many of them innocents because he lost a girlfriend. A girlfriend who had already lived nearly one thousand years. Shouldn't that have bothered her a little? In fact no one seems all that bothered. I don't get it.
Then you have Rain, who seems completely angered and confused at the stupid mortals who feel that just his gut feeling might not be enough for them to declare war on their neighbors the Eld. They want silly things like proof, and evidence! Who would have thought? On top of that the Fey seem determined to "protect" their women from everything from a dangerous lunatic to a catty comment with equal fanatic zeal. I was particularly disgusted when rain actually used magic to throw a defenseless human girl into a river because she was flirting with him and disrespecting Ellisetta. Huh? I don't allow for men to physically hurt women no matter what, much less a thousand year old powerful warrior going after some twenty year old skinny blond shopkeeper girl. If I was Elly I would have helped Kissande( or whatever her name was) out of the water and told Rain to take a hike, and that I can fight my own battles when it comes to words. What a jerk. And why would someone that old act more immature then the average ten year old?

Mari , I have to agree with Emily ... I think you have read a different book from the rest of us. You got the names, plot and storyline all wrong .

i just finished lord of the fading lands .i love this one .normally the activities of evil always bother me ,why would they have to tell about what the evil is doing ,how it is always gains an inch much faster then the good ones .how it is resourceful ,a good example is brotherhood series by j.r ward ,i read that ones in my teenage ,i loved that books ,still it make me grit my teeth when it starts about the doing of evil ,because of that reason alone i did not reread the books .allright enough about that ,lord of the fading lands is a wonderful journey with a beautiful character who will wound their way in our hearts .many scenes make me laugh ,when the end comes i didnot expect it that way.i turned the next page to find about what happens next,instead found it as a end .the book deseve the better climax .

There is just 1 thorn in the entire series for me (otherwise I do enjoy it very much).

I'm totally perplex with the sloppy plot of Ellie's to rescue her sisters towards the end of book 5. Especially, when they tried so hard to evade the Elds and had to sacrificed many warriors (Steel Wall) to helped them escape. They practically delivered themselves to the High Mage's doorstep like Christmas presents!

To summarize:
Book 1 Air powered me to Book 2 which continued to hold my heart then Book 3 unravel some of the mysteries in the first 2 books which leave me very impress (because most of the time, I can guess what's coming which takes all the fun out of the mystery!). But this one is a pleasant surprise. Then comes Book 4 which leaves me with "what? That's it?" What do I care about the Elves and their darn song or dance? Then comes the grand finale that send me nose diving into the the ravine.

I LOVE this series!!

I just recently re-read LORD OF THE FADING LANDS and wrote a review on it. As I said in my review, I think Ms. Wilson is one of the best contemporary fantasy romance writers today. Some of her passages, I can read over and over again. Her writing style is beautiful.