Book Review: Sarya's Song

My rating: 5 shining stars full of longing!!

Damn! This book made me cry! It was so so beautiful!


I wanted something to love. Something that would love me back.

In a world where music is magic, gifted by Eshalarion the Creator to help heal, keep peace and prevent natural disasters, Sarya dyr-Rusac is a respected arranger of musical magic rituals. Or was, better said, since she ended up in exile after a wedding ritual she wrote led to the very tragedy it was supposed to prevent. Having left the Skola of Music in disgrace, Sarya tries to make a living travelling from place to place but her chants are starting to fail. They are not only failing for her, they no longer have the power to control or prevent disasters all over the world.
Scorching summers, bitterly cold winters, floods, droughts, plagues, bloodthirsty hostilities and so on; all these shake the world, unaffected by the chants that should control them.

With the disasters, haunting new music is brought by the wind - music that heralds terrible new forces at work, or forces so old they have long been forgotten. Music that no one but Sarya seems to hear.

The wind's lovely dreadful melody spoke clearly to her. It promised terrifying things to come. And since she was the only one who could hear the warning, Sarya takes it upon herself to unlock the mystery. And to do that she returns to the only place the answers can be found: the Skola she had fled from in disgrace. Back there, she needs to confront the mistakes of her past, as well as convince the Masters to trust her and allow her to dig up long-forgotten secrets and chants that they believe are best left forgotten. Not an easy task to do, since an orphan and former charity student like her, will never properly belong to or be accepted by the upper class forming the ranks of the Skola. Something that had been clearly pointed out even by Adan Muari, the talented singer who used to be Sarya's friend, sparring partner, and the man she can never have.

While trying to come to terms with all the above, Sarya faces yet another challenge, perhaps more significant than all the rest. A beautiful, nameless man in chains begins to appear in her dreams, begging her to sing the song she heard in the wind, the song that will set him free. And he makes Sarya feel! He makes her long and desire. He makes her question for the first time in her life, if she may truly be 'something that was of real worth'.

And here is where the plot thickens and the pace, though fast even before, picks up breakneck speed that doesn't relent till the very end. Sarya is plunged in a race against time, for the very future of the world, battling closed minds, prejudice, injustice and perhaps above all, her own pride. After all, pride is all a woman like her has left!
Altruistic and compassionate to the core, Sarya's past mistakes had been done because she listened to her heart. She helped out, only to be turned on when everything went wrong. She tried to do good, only to bring disaster both upon herself and on others. Now she is faced again with the same choice. Her heart is telling to release the chained man. But is he a god with the power to save the world or the power to destroy everything she knows and loves? And this time Sarya is determined to listen to the voice of reason too.

Told in a flawless and compelling prose, this tale is one for the heart. It is both plot and character driven but, at the same time, manages to convey a lot of feeling. Masterfully drawn characters will practically make you feel their pain and sorrow.
Emotions jump out of the pages:
'hurt, helplessness, shame, resentment of a society ruled by customs, traditions and laws that took away all power from some people and gave it to others without regard to fairness and justice, dreams crushed and hearts broken..' - darkness and despair, this story has it all.
And perhaps because of all this hurt and darkness, when lovers come together, walls are let down and trust given, we get some downright exquisite scenes.

Sarya's Song is a masterful balance of romance and fantasy, character development and action, as well as fictional and real-life feeling. And it is practically unputdownable from the very first page!
You may have noticed by now that it's not all rainbows and flowers. It turns very dark towards the end and, as the author warns in the blurb, it also contains disturbing themes including memories of abuse and of child loss, violence including sexual violence, and mild to moderate sensual content.
And I must make a note over here for yet another praise because these were so skillfully presented! Brilliantly done!

Wonderful in depth word-building gives you a proper fantasy world setting from both geographical and historical point and the magic system as chants to keep the world safe is bound to appeal to any lover of both fantasy and music. Because it is so beautifully presented!

Yes, the characters do go through hell and are able to get back to their feet by sheer will alone; the heroine is altruistic to the bone and the male MC is unbelievably handsome, patient and forgiving; but this is romantic fantasy after all! And despite the fact I usually resent perfect people, I really loved these two. Because they both weren't perfect after all, especially at the end.

If you're a hopeless romantic and fantasy addict like myself, you have got to read Sarya's Song!
It is magic on a page!!

Check out this book and more of Kyra Halland over at www.kyrahalland.com