Thank you for approving me for Windsinger by A. F. E. Smith. Unfortunately I am no longer able to review this title.

A.F.E. Smith’s third Darkhaven novel is my favourite. Smith examines what war means for her characters as they struggle to prevent it, and to prepare for failure. She looks at how love—for family, for country, for home—impacts their choices. And she delivers an exciting, emotional denouement on top of the internal battles everyone wages. I couldn’t put it down.

I highly recommend this whole series. They’re fantasy mysteries with a personal feel, and while the first one does use a trope I hate (the villain’s main motivation is rape), each book is better than the last. And at $3.99, the ebooks are super affordable.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for giving me this book to review.

Windsinger is a really good and tense third book in the Darkhaven series. It is full of politics, action, murder and an intriguing story. However, it did feel slow to start but really picks up towards the middle of the book.

I really liked the way Ayla has grown and is able to balance all aspects of her life and is still able to be a wife and mother as well as a ruler and defender. Caraway lacks confidence and that all of who he is down to luck not skill or his instincts. However, I found Miles to be the most interesting character as I really felt for him and the dilemma he found himself in.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope there will be more books in the Darkhaven series in the future. I would recommend Windsinger to fans of the previous books in the Darkhaven series, Darkhaven and Goldenfire.

“Windsinger” eBook was published in 2017 and was written by A. F. E. Smith (http://www.afesmith.com/). Ms. Smith has published 5 novels. This is the third book in her “Darkhaven Novels” series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence, Mature Language and Mature Situations. There is a touch of LBGTQ romance in the story. The story is set in another world. The primary character is Ayla Nightshade, Overlord of Darkhaven.

An ambassador from Sol Kardis is coming to Darkhaven. Nightshade must meet with him and convince him that a peace will be far better for both of their countries than the war towards which they are heade. All goes well, but the ambassador is murdered with evidence pointing at Nightshade as the perpetrator. Sol Kardis soon declares war on Darkhaven and hostilities begin.

A huge Paravian airship, the Windsinger, visits Darkhaven. It is a wonder for all to see, but is there a hidden purpose in the visit? Nightshade, her husband Thomas, and others loyal to her must try to find evidence of who is behind the murder. Little do they know that they are also fighting forces from within bent on war.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 11 hours I spent reading his 449 page Fantasy Mystery. While this is the third book in the series, it reads well as a stand-alone novel. I liked the characters and the plot of this novel. I will look for more books from this author. The cover art is reasonable for this bok given the part the airship Windsinger plays. I give this novel a 4.5 (rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Ayla Nightshade is now the Overlord of Darkhaven. She is the only adult Changer left; she can transform into a powerful Alicorn. Ayla has been working on honing her skills both in Changer and human form with the help of Miles, an alchemist and her husband, Tomas, the Captain of the Helm. Ayla finally feels like life is calming down, with her three children growing well and a meeting set for a Peace Treaty with an ambassador from the neighboring land of Sol Kardis, Ayla is fulfilling her role as Overlord. However, the meeting with Sol Kardis goes terribly wrong; after Ayla and the ambassador meet in private, the ambassador suddenly dies. Ayla is the only suspect and Sol Kardis declares war. Now, Ayla must go to the front lines with Tomas left to run Darkhaven and watch over the children while other members of the Helm frantically try to prove Ayla's innocence and figure out who is truly behind the war.

This is the third installment in the Darkhaven series. Windsinger provided a fast-paced, action filled and suspenseful ride in the wonderful world of Darkhaven. I was very pleased to see Ayla grow into a confident ruler, expand her powers, be comfortable in her Changer form and have nurturing relationships with her husband and children. The suspense and intrigue grows right from the start as Ayla meets with the Kardise ambassador. A twisted political scheme is set forth that involves many of the characters that I have gotten to know over the course of the series. I was glad to see Sorrow, Zander, Ree and Art have important roles. As the war rages on, I was also impressed to see Ayla in Alicorn form use her powers. As the end approaches, the tension rose to the point that I did not want to put the book down. I was surprised at all of the players tangled up in the scheme and how they thought everything would play out. Another awesome installment into the fantasy world of Changers and Darkhaven.

This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.

I would definitely recommend this series to fantasy book lovers. A.F.E. Smith is a master juggler of the elements that make up a fantastic read.

See a full review at http://www.girl-who-reads.com on Thursday April 27th, 2017

Mirrorvale has long stood in a precarious ‘truce’ with the surrounding kingdoms; held together with the fear of the changers. Now not only overload but a mother, Ayla Nightshade attempts to broker a formal peace treaty with an ambassador from the neighboring kingdom of Sol Kardis. After one day of hard negotiations, the ambassador is found dead. Suspected of murder, the race in on to prove Ayla’s innocence and prevent all out war.

Across the the three books (this is the third Darkhaven novel) the writing quality, world building, and character depth has been consistently entertaining and well executed. The build up is slow to a rip-roaring climax; leaving plenty of time to be intrigued and entertained. The characters are especially interesting in this outing, with even the side characters having story arcs ramping up several times to push them to the limit and end up with some great development. It can seem a little trivial in the grander scheme of things but it was good to get to know them.

I do hesitate to give away too much and end up spoiling some pretty major plot points. Suffice it to say I am loving this series and hope to see more. 4.7 out of 5.

https://lynns-books.com/2017/03/07/windsinger-darkhaven-3-by-a-f-e-smith/
Windsinger is the third instalment in a highly entertaining series that has gone from strength to strength. I won’t elaborate too much from the previous two books but Smith has gradually developed a comprehensive world filled with politics and magical creatures that together prove to be a compelling combination. Each of the books has a murder mystery element to the story and Windsinger is no exception with a story that fairly quickly becomes a race against time. Please be aware that spoilers for the first two books in series may be lurking below.

Mirrorvale is an unusual country. Nestled in between two more powerful countries the only thing that really keeps the wolves from the door is the Nightshade family whose powerful shapeshifting abilities take on many forms. The family line is greatly diminished however and with only one shapeshifter currently in situ Mirrorvale sits on a knife edge. Unsurprisingly Ayla has a strong inclination to form a peace treaty and as the book begins preparations are being made to receive the Kardise ambassador. Ayla, being keen to show willing and offer the hand of friendship shrugs off the usual protocols and meets the Ambassador alone for informal discussion over a glass of the famous Taransey liquor produced in Mirrorvale. All goes well and by the end of the evening the promise of a treaty between the two countries is a real possibility, that is until the Ambassador turns up dead the following morning, clearly poisoned the evening before and with Ayla herself having poured the drinks herself. Things suddenly take a turn for the worse and contrary to peace it now seems that war between Mirrorvale and Sol Kardis seems highly probable.

What did I enjoy about Mirrorvale? Well, yet again the author manages to progress the characters and the world building heaping further layers upon those already established in books 1 and 2. There are plenty of different threads here and an element of intrigue with a much more sinister plot underlying the whole thing. Of course I don’t want to give too much away so I won’t say more about that aspect but what I really enjoyed this time round was not only that the horizons of the story branch further afield and take a look at the politics surrounding the tentative peace that exists but we also get to really see Ayla in action and it’s very impressive! In fact having finally seen Ayla make use of her true abilities it’s easy to see why the Nightshade threat was so very real and kept the threat of invasion from becoming a reality. Don’t get me wrong – Ayla has her limitations – and her enemies are becoming all too aware of that fact – but she’s still a rather spectacular beast in her shapeshifter form.

In terms of the characters we again see much more firmly established relationships. Ayla and her husband are happy. They’re married and now have children but that doesn’t stop them worrying, in fact, lets face it, it probably increases the worry. Tomas remains ever vigilant and still charges around the place trying to single handedly second guess every possible threat and he realises only too well that he can’t be everywhere but he also finally understands that he has other people surrounding him who he can rely on and trust – and, as difficult as it may be to admit it, he also has to trust Ayla to be who she needs to be in the face of danger. One of the people that Tomas relies heavily upon is the mercenary Sorrow. Sorrow finds herself in the strange position of caring about other people – primarily her partner Elisse and Elisse’s son Corus – and not surprisingly this is bringing out a, maybe not so much a soft and fluffy side, let’s say a more thoughtful and more easy to persuade side to her nature – I’m thinking the Terminator from the second movie rather than the first (not that I’m saying Sorrow is anything like a robot – to be clear – just that although she’s very single minded she can be reasoned with). I just love this character and could read more of her – she’s just refreshingly honest, a bit abrupt and totally no nonsense. Ayla, is still aloof, but I think I finally understood the necessity for her being so – especially when she finds herself on the war front commanding an army and watching people die!

It’s difficult to write too much more without really spoiling the plot. There is a strong intrigue running through this story and one that threatens Mirrorvale in the worst possible way. I don’t want to spoil that for other readers so my lips are sealed. Other than to say that this is another fast paced, well written story with plenty going on to keep the reader entertained and with characters that I’ve really become attached to. Well done Ms Smith for yet another very firm instalment to this series.

I received a copy courtesy of the publisher through Netgalley for which my thanks. The above is my own