The Black Jewels series and The Other series are definitely my favorite books by Anne Bishop but I think this series is a solid read. I find the characters to be the strongest part of the books. The story itself has define highs and lows but it is worth a read. ( )

Fun, though the world-building is a little fuzzy. I'll read the second part! ( )

The main character in this story is Sebastian. He is the child of a wizard and a succubus whose mother gave him to his father to raise. His father hates him because he is the living proof of the mistake he made sleeping with a succubus. Luckily, he has an aunt and cousins who try to make up for his father's abuses.

Sebastian's cousins are a Landscaper named Belladonna and a Bridge named Lee. His cousin Belladonna runs afoul of the wizards by being too powerful and also for creating a landscape that is perfect for Sebastian and is exiled. However, she is the only one who might be able to combat an old evil that has escaped its imprisonment and now wants to conquer Ephemera.

Meanwhile, Sebastian meets a young woman named Lynnea who has undergone her own kind of abuse at the hands of a woman who found her wandering as a child and took her home to be a servant and her whipping boy. When Lynnea throws a hard-earned penny into a wishing well, all she wants is to find a place where she can be safe and be loved which leads her to Sebastian's landscape even though Sebastian isn't at all sure that he's right for her.

When the evil entity called It convinces the wizard to find Belladonna so that she can be destroyed, Sebastian is chosen as the bait to draw her in. Only Sebastian and Lynnea's love for each other can save them and Belladonna from the wizards and It's horrible plan.

I enjoyed the world building in this story. The idea of shattered landscapes that can only be reached by bridges that may or may not take you to your intended destination but often take you to the land your heart desires was intriguing.

This is the first book of a trilogy. One advantage of catching up on an author's earlier works is that I don't need to wait for the next book or books to be published. They are waiting for me on my Kindle. I can't wait to read them. ( )

3 1/2...maybe. This one was hard for me. The first 100 pages were more 2-2 1/2 stars. The middle third was a solid 3 stars and I figured that's what it would be in the end, but the last 100 pages were great!

The world building is fantastic. I think the first 100 pages were so weak, because of that whole 1st book in a series syndrome. You don't really understand most of what you're reading yet. But it grows, and the characters grow, and you fall in love with them, even ones you didn't really expect to. The world building is so complex, it takes 2/3 of the book to really lay it all out there.

Well worth the initial struggle! ( )

Audiobook
2 stars for the first half, I struggled to stay focused and interested. there was a lot of telling, lectures form characters, little action.
3.5 stars for the second half. All the issues they lectured about, talked about, worried about, wondered about stated happening. They happened fast, and the characters were forced to make a choice. I was engaged. I needed to know what this great evil thing happening was and how far it could go. Could it win ? It was bad, really bad, which I loved till the end when it did a major 360 in personality ?!?! I give that ending a 1.5 star for that wimp out.
I did download book 2. Why ? I may want to know what a certain group of tricksters is up to. May, I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series. ( )