Review By Harriet
Klausner
Anyone desiring a
beautiful adult fairy tale will want to read SILVERDAWN, an urban fantasy novel
that includes elements from the romance genre and sword and sorcery sub-genre.
Julie D'Arcy has a
flair for writing tales that is reminiscent of the bards of a bygone era. The
audience will feel spellbound by this special fantasy.
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Romance/Fantasy/Time Travel
Rating: 5 Cups, Coffee Time Romance
Silverdawn is the story of a woman's
journey on her path to discover her roots, magic, a lost family and love.
Julie D'Arcy
weaves a rich tale. From the first page, the author hooks the reader with
Silverdawn's
story. The love story is hot and the action is intense. The final conflict
between good and evil is explosive. I really enjoyed this book. The plot twists
are wonderful and left me breathless. I hope Ms. D'Arcy
will continue the story of Silverdawn and Faren, giving birth to a new series.
Candy
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Silverdawn
Silverdawn possesses the key to an object of such evil that it could
destroy the world. She just doesn't know it yet. She has no idea why
it is so easy for her to translate dead languages and why the odd
crystal paperweight on her desk projects a feeling of evil. Nor does
she have any notion of how the statues of a lion and a griffon could
awake from their stony slumber and attack her on her way home from
the museum where she works. She also hasn't an inkling of how the
man that she has dreamed about for years could come to her rescue.
She only knows that these things are so - or else she is going mad.
Faren, the most trusted and noble
Paladian Knight of Rastehm, has been charged with an important task. He must
travel through time and dimension to the place where the daughter of the King of
Rastehm now resides. The Princess Silverdawn was exiled when she was but a babe
because she possessed illegal magic. Now, the most feared evil in Rastehm has
found the time in which Silverdawn abides and threatens her safety. It is this
evil, Iraj of Istani, from which Faren must protect her.
Arriving just in time to save Silverdawn from being mauled by a
griffon, Faren is immediately aware that danger has truly found the royal
daughter. Having always taken his duties seriously, Faren sets about insinuating
himself into Silverdawn's life in order to guard her closely.
Silverdawn is no fool, although she is ignorant of her lineage, and
she soon discovers Ewyn's true identity. Together, despite their forbidden
attraction, the two must work together to keep the key from falling into Iraj's
hands. Along the way, Silverdawn discovers the existence of miraculous magics
and characters from her own medieval world of Rastehm.
Julie D'Arcy has successfully intertwined romance with otherworldly
adventure in SILVERDAWN. With a dungeons and dragons flavor sprinkled liberally
throughout the pages of the novel and fantastical creatures inhabiting the
storyline, D'Arcy's novel is one that will surely interest fantasy fans.
Reviewed
by Janean Nusz for The Road to Romance
January 20, 2004
-
Lovers of epic fantasy with a small amount
of time will find this a rather concise epic, easily read in one sitting.
Silverdawn comes off the page as a credible heroine, when she balks at
leaving the twenty first century's comforts for a world with no running
water, readers will empathize at the thought.
REVIEWER NAME LOST
Excerpt of Silverdawn
She
whimpered, tossing her head from side to side, then grasped at his shoulders,
her nails diggings into his flesh.
Never
had she felt anything so painfully exquisite. She had not imagined these
sensations existed. Her insides clenched, as if she were being wound tighter and
tighter. All thought and feeling spiraled from that one place Faren touched.
She
rode the crest of a wave, growing higher and higher—climbing a mountain that had
no summit. With a rush, her mind reeled and her body gave way. Wave after wave
of intense pleasure rippled over her skin, making her incapable of movement,
making her want something or someone to ease her torment. She lay for a moment
reveling in the feeling then she reached for Faren, but he withdrew from her
touch. She watched him, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Aching for him
to come to her, aching for him to fill her as no man ever had.
He rose
and, in the muted light of the bed lamp and the dying embers of the fire, his
hands went to the fastening of his jeans. He flicked open the top button, and
their eyes met. He paused, running his gaze over her body then cursed loudly and
swung toward the window, threading a hand through his hair. “I cannot do this.”
His voice came like a whip crack in the silence.
Silver
turned onto her side, her face burned. She reached for his raw silk shirt and
pressed the dark cloth against her breasts. “Was it something I did?”
Faren
turned. Her skin was so fair, so beautiful, against the ebony of his shirt. The
sight of her distressed face made his heart weep—a fair rose he had almost
defiled.
Unable
to meet the blueness of his eyes now circumstances had changed, Silver stared at
the door. “I was too forward? It is because I allowed you to do that? I know I
am probably different from the women you have known…” She left the sentence
hanging.
Faren
rushed to drop before her, framing her face in his hands. He pushed her damp
hair back from her cheeks. “Never think that. You are perfect. It is I. I feel
nothing but loathing for my own weakness. I made a promise to myself, which I
have now broken. I should never have let this go so far. I am but a Knight in
your father’s court. You are the Princess of Rastehm, perhaps one day to be
queen. Your father means too much to me for me to besmirch his daughter.”
“And I
mean too little to you to love.” Tears spilled from her eyes before she could
stop them.
He
wiped them away with his thumb then released her and rose to move to the window.
He stared into the night. Funny how the brilliance of the stars reflected none
of the pain that he felt.
The
sharp claw of desire clutched at his gut. He was so hard with the wanting of
this woman, he thought he would burst. Yet he could not bring himself to take
her. As much as his mind and body screamed to do so, his head told him it would
go against all his teachings as a Knight of Palladia. “I know little of love,
Silver. I have never had time for matters of the heart. I am but a rough
soldier. I do not know if I understand what love is.”
Silver
donned his shirt, which came just below her thighs, and rose to follow him. Her
arms snaked about his waist; she pressed her cheek to the hard warmth of his
skin. “Then, Sir Knight, I shall teach you.” She felt a tremor run through his
body as her breasts pressed against his back.
He
stepped away, deliberately putting distance between them, and turned to face
her. “Perhaps, but you are still who you are, and I am who I am.”
Silver’s heart clenched What could she say to stop his words of rejection? Stop
him from walking out of this room and never touching her again? Even the thought
was too painful to contemplate. “And never the twain shall meet?” she asked
softly, almost flippantly, while the knife pain in her breast twisted a little
more. “What of Guinevere and Lancelot?”
“And to
what end did they come?” he countered dryly. “He a monk and she a nun.”
“You
don’t know that for certain.”
Faren
raised a brow. “If I could change the proof I would, but to refute the truth is
akin to holding back the waning of the moon.” He gave a bow and reached for her
hand, bringing it to his lips.
The
gesture seemed to Silver only to distance them more, slotting her neatly into
her place—Princess to his Knight, far beyond his reach.
“You
are a stubborn man, Faren Malaan.”
“Goodnight, Princess.” He rounded and strode for the door.
Silver
found her voice as he reached for the handle. “One question.”
He
stilled but did not turn.
“Does
the dragon tattoo bear any significance?”
Faren
glanced down at the red dragon that scaled his arm from elbow to shoulder then
turned, his gaze locking on Silver. “All Knights of Palladia receive the dragon
on the day of our investiture. It is our insignia.” He pulled the door wide.
“And
are damsels not sacrificed to temper the dragons?”
“Not
this time, my lady, not this time.” He closed the door behind him.
This work is not to be reproduced in any shape or form.
© Copyright belongs to Julie D'Arcy 2008
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MORE REVIEWS
In Julie D'Arcy's, Silverdawn, a
queen mourns the banishment of her daughter and a young lady grieves the
brutal murder of her adopted parents.
Julie D'Arcy deftly tells the saga of unrequited passion, treachery, grief
beyond measure and the healing power of love and trust. Silverdawn
cleverly incorporates the Celtic lore of the goddess with modern
archaeology. The Otherworld exists beyond this dawning and only those of the
goddess can cross over.
Silverdawn engaged me from the beginning until the surprising
conclusion. I eagerly await Julie D'Arcy's next tale of Rastehm and the
goddess.
Ms D'Arcy has
written a fantasy that does not quite fit the futuristic description,
but would be enjoyed by those like myself who like that story
type. There is enough magic and
fantasy added to make it more than a time-travel.
The growing love between Silverdawn and Faren received the same
intensity as their adventures. So although defying sub-categorizing,
SILVERDAWN can be
described as an excellent Fantasy or Fantasy Romance.
REVIEWER LOST, sorry
Silverdawn
Fantasy
****
FYI reviews for Huntress and Eternal Night.
To halt the spread of evil in an ancient land, all magical
beings are exiled to other lands and times, no matter their age or rank.
Thus, Princess Silverdawn is taken from her mother as an infant, sent
through the wall of Eternal Flame into present day London, where she grows
up to become a scientist.
Unknowing that she is translating her own history,
Silverdawn works on learning the secret of eldritch scrolls she encounters
in her work. She does have some recognition of their lore, from visions she
experiences. When Faren, a brave knight from her true home finds her, she
realizes that on some level, she knows him, but finds his tales too
fantastic, until the
truth is undeniable, as is the love she feels for
him. The time has come when the evil she was was sent away from will once
again attempt to take over and destroy all that is good; Silverdawn is the
hope of preventing that. Yet, how can she risk her life and give up all she
knows for a world she has never seen?
Cy Korte /for Book Isle
Paperbacks
For those who
love a fairytale-like battle between good and evil, liberally sprinkled with
romance, this book should be added to their list. Julie D'Arcy brings the
chivalry of medieval adventures into the modern world with a deft and easy to
read style.
Romance 8
Characterisation 9
Sexual tension 8
Plot 9
Jennifer Brassel
Trust in Dreams (available all good bookstores, Doubleday Book Club)
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