I read the very first "romantasy" I have ever read in Sarah Hawley's "Servant of Earth." The book is absolutely gorgeous...I loved the cover. It was one of about two-dozen books I got in December of last year between my birthday and Christmas. It was the second one I finished, though, and did so, in part, due to its cover. I would never judge a book by one but covers can incite me to pick up a book sooner rather than later.
I enjoyed the story quite a bit. It was fun and had quite a bit of content in its roughly 450 pages. I had never read a romance novel before and hadn't read a "romantasy" either, which is a hybrid of romance and fantasy. It was a good read, though, but I don't know that I will continue the series. Not because of writing quality but just because it isn't really my genre. It is written in the first person, though, which I often adore in my novels.
"Servant of Earth" tells the tale of a village that has a traditional fascination with faeries that live near them. They periodically allow certain women to be selected to cross over to their realm to live in purported happiness and bliss. The main character, a young woman by the name of Kenna, has a dear friend named Anya who gets selected to make the transition. Armed with a dagger she found in the bog surrounding the village, she follows with the intention of helping her friend. Kenna narrowly escapes death and loses her friend in the process.
The bulk of the novel is centered on Mistei, the underground kingdom that the faeries live in under the oppressive rule of a tyrannical king who had ruled for eight-hundred years. Kenna acclimates well to the new society in time and serves as a servant of one of the six houses, the Earth house. She falls in love with a prince from the Fire house, and they have a great deal of sexual tension and, later, encounters. There are trials that selected young adults from the houses are pitted against. Six trials - one for each house. And Kenna, wanting to help but also wanting to escape, assists her charge with the trials one-by-one.
The book is a lot of fun. I wanted to quote a couple of passages while I'm writing this.
First, a quote from Kenna: "'You think I never get upset,' I said, 'but that's not it at all. Life can be so painful. During the worst moments, all you can do is focus on one second at a time. You focus on staying alive. You make it your only goal, and you forget everything before or after.'"
And just one more - this one just prose: "People vanished all at once, but the things you wanted to tell them or do with them or show them didn't."
All this to say the book is rather well-written and I did enjoy it. I tend to favor poignancy in literature over romance, so I am naturally drawn to those sides of the book. Hence the quotes I chose to share. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys those genres. I have to admit, even though it isn't my style, I'm tempted to continue reading if only to see what happens. But there's tons of books I want to read and only so many days in which to do it.
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