Selarial’s Song

Series: The Songs of Talmanor, #1

Author: Laura Brewer

Genre: Science Fantasy

Book Description:

Ignorance is the greatest danger of all!

Selarial ne Talmanor is wary of going on patrol with the mostly human crew of the Ventura. They have a good combat record, but human suspicions run deep. Will they be willing to trust the Sorthian crew of the Equinox?

Alcar Trent, Captain of the Ventura, knows the captain of the Equinox. He’s skeptical of the Sorthians’ psychic talents, but he does trust them as strong allies to watch his back in a fight. Can he learn to rely on their abilities – and admit to his own?

The Coalition of Free Worlds is on the verge of open war with the Thess’n Empire. As the incidents increase, Selarial and Alcar begin to see the Sorthians are high on the list of targets. When ancient weapons, long thought destroyed, begin to appear, Selarial must trace the source. On Sorth, the Singer Council searches equally ancient records for answers, but finds more questions – and an urgent warning.

Review:

Selarial’s Song reads like a relatively classic epic fantasy that just happens to be set in space with spaceships, instead of wild and dark forests with caravans and mounted knights. I can’t say I enjoyed the military aspects, the authority structures, or some of the other pieces of it, but I definitely knew those would be there going in, and there was a lot about the book that stood out. I enjoyed it more than I expected.

The writing is smooth and engaging. From reading the Chronicles of Asgard books by the same author, I expected to have a hard time connecting to and feeling some of the more poignant emotional moments. This one didn’t have that flaw. The emotional struggles felt poignant, raw, and heavy, instead of flitting by too quickly, stated but hardly felt. They were appropriately poetic, whether with mind-spinning wonder and awe, beauty, or with pain and fear and torment, as appropriate.

I really enjoyed the fantasy elements and the psychic powers. The Sorthians seem very much like elves, but they also felt pure in an inhuman way, and they seem to be psychically connected to each other. The effects of this and other aspects of what they are were woven into the story in a subtle, natural-seeming way, such as when one learns that Selarial – and seemingly all Sorthians – have no true insight or experience into human jealousy. That sensitivity to what the Sorthians would or might be like really raised the story to the next level for me.

I also particularly enjoyed the way the psychic powers are rather unaffected by distance, and how the Singers of Sorth can stretch their song across the galaxy to guide or influence events towards their will. The psychic powers in this book were just nice.

And over and opposed to my issues with the militant authority structure, there’s also a touch of deep, abiding wisdom that really sang to me. Here’s an example of one of those passages, though there’s another one relating to how humans see – and abuse – animals that I also really liked:

A slow smile spread across Olahran’s face, gentling it. “The beginning of the path of wisdom is to learn to love a thing for what it is, not what you can do with it. A hungry man would see a thing that bears fruit; a cold man would see a source of fire. A craftsman would see only what his skill would make of it, but to be wise you must first see it as it truly is; as it sees itself.”

I feel that is one of those passages that speaks for itself, and nothing more needs to be said for it. Though I have to wonder how this kind of wisdom works within the rigidity of a military-like environment at all ….

Something else that really sang was Alcar’s discovery of his power and encounter with it.

Alcar stared into the beauty of deep space with a new awareness …. He felt wrapped in its velvet darkness, the peace of it stilling a brief stirring of fear. He had known that peace before, without understanding. He’d always assumed everyone felt it. Alcar never realized it was a part of himself becoming one with that gem studded darkness.

Yes, the Sorthians’ communion with nature, their telepathic sharing in the joy of creation, these moments … it stirred desires so deep in me and made me long for more. To be one with that peace and that joy, even more than I sometimes already can be ….

And that sense of the power, pure, streaming from the hearts of the stars … I liked the magic and the power. It was just so … magical, with deeper significance. There were a few things I didn’t understand though: if the Singers’ powers come from the heart of stars, and is that purifying fury and flame of light, then how could the Thess’ns gain anything from capturing a Singer? You’d think their power would resist ever being used in such a corrupting way, so it wouldn’t be a risk, apart from the torment the individual Singer would endure.

In character with the Chronicles of Asgard novels, even the darkest, most horrifying moments aren’t at all graphic, and I thought the effects of the psychic powers, and the way coming across evil with a direct psychic touch can shake a person, were well-done. The novel ends on what I would consider to be a “soft” cliff-hanger, and it’s one I don’t find at all problematic to my enjoyment of the book. Though I would like to see what Alcar does next ….

I will also note that, as far as it goes, I enjoyed the romance. I don’t know how people who are more into romance would find it, but the mutual competence, respect, and dependence that develops between Selarial and Alcar really works for me. There’s a lot about both of them to be liked, and I thought they fit together, and I really liked the pairing of a man and a woman who are, to all considerations, equals – not quite alike in power, but definitely equals in their relationship, and equals in the long-term. Partners.

I also enjoyed the bond Selarial has with her team, the bird-like Roth and the more feline Kirrlea. They both have strong, distinctive personalities that play a role in her life and choices, even if Roth doesn’t use words much, if ever. It was a very neat touch.

However, I found the beginning of the book very hard to get into. There wasn’t enough emotional feel for the characters to get me engaged, and there were too many characters and too much going on, so it just left me bored and confused. I got into the book by opening it up to some page in the middle, though that left me a little confused too, since it took me a while to figure out what Roth and Kirrlea were!

I will also note that the main characters aren’t in the least concerned that they will betray what they believe in or people they care about if put to torture, however terrified they might be, and I liked this.