Book: Daughter of Earth: Book Four of the Leather Book Tales
by Regine Haensel
Published by Serimuse Books
Review by Toby A. Welch
Fantasy books are so hit and miss for me. I either love or hate the world that the author created and I am thrust into. In the case of Daughter of Earth, I love where author Haensel’s creativity took her. The world that revolves around Alizarine and Samel kept me sucked in, eager to keep flipping the pages.
As the title points out, this is book four in The Leather Book Tales set. The author best explains this book collection: “The Leather Book Tales is a fantasy set in western North America. Four powers – fire, water, air, and earth – reveal themselves in four young people, triggered and enhanced by a pair of silver bracelets. The young people’s abilities increase as they overcome challenges and collaborate against forces that oppose and threaten them. The Leather Book holds old and tangled tales that connect with what is happening to them, but the stories don’t reveal all that is behind the events. The young people face risks, not only for themselves but also for the world and its people.”
A huge bonus with book sets instead of an intertwined book series is that you can read one or all the books and in any random order. That works for me because if a significant amount of time passes between books, there is no need to struggle to remember what occurred in the other books. Each one stands strongly on its own.
I am usually not a fan of descriptive writing but Haensel pulled it off seamlessly. She can set a tone with impressive style. A couple of my favourite examples are:
“It’s the mention of the bracelets that frees me. A memory of silver flashes across my eyes, and then the gold of sunlight flashing on water. I close my eyes and at the same time I imagine a large and heavy door slamming shut in my head. It’s so real that I can actually hear the sound, a reverberating boom.”
“A tiny ray of brightness slants down. Very gradually it grows bigger until it’s the size of a gold coin, and it continues to grow until it’s like a small pale plate – sunshine penetrating my prison.”
While I don’t typically reach for young adult novels when I’m craving good fiction, I am glad I took a chance on this one. The story is strong enough to keep the reader drawn in from the first page to the last. The characters are interesting and well-developed. I highly recommend Daughter of Earth for all ages.
Saskatoon-based Haensel is currently hard at work on another book in The Leather Book Tales set, Time Dancer. I can’t wait to get yanked back into this fantastical world.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM