Bloganuary – Day 21

Who is your favourite author and why?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series found their way into our home and hearts when our girls were in high school. I had never read them before and, as the books moved from hand to hand and room to room, they became dogeared and much loved by all.

When Shelley (daughter No 2) asked me to buy her another fantasy book to read – she’d asked for something that may become as beloved as Tolkien’s (yeah, I know how that sounds) – I stumbled across a pleasant surprise standing in the book section of a department store.

For sure it was the cover that caught my eye but then I read the following review/opinion right on the front cover:

“Not since Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’ have I been so impressed by a beautifully spun fantasy.”

ANDRE NORTON

Well, I didn’t need to read (or peruse) any further so I purchased the book and took it home and gave it to Shelley.

Unfortunately, she found it difficult to ‘get into’.

Not willing to waste the cost of the book, I decided that if I’d paid for it, then someone was going to read it, and although I too found it difficult and confusing to understand, I persisted – and persisted. I think I read the first page two or three times and perhaps the first chapter more than once (or twice) and eventually told to myself to “Just keep going!”.

Which I did, and I’m so pleased I didn’t give up on the story.

What was the book?

The Ill-Made Mute, the first novel in the Bitterbynde trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton, and it found its way into my heart as a much-beloved novel – as did the following two volumes.

–⋅ o ♥ o ⋅–

This is the series I was thinking about back on Bloganuary Day 10 when I said ‘I’ve also devoured a book that held a gripping tale and then all but fallen over myself to get to the bookstore to purchase the next instalment.’

When I finished reading this first book, I told Shelley to persist, to just keep going because around the fourth chapter, something happens in the story that changes your perception of what you’re reading and it will make you want to keep turning the pages.

She persisted and agreed with my assumption.

She also went on to love the story as much as I did.

Actually, all my girls have read the Bitterbynde trilogy, and all of them loved it.

I know it’s not for everyone, but I’ve read it several times now and I know this sounds like I’m just talking about my favourite book when I was asked to talk about my favourite author.

But hang in there. I am getting to my point.

–⋅ o ♥ o ⋅–

JRR Tolkien’s works were my first delve into the fantasy genre but Cecilia Dart-Thornton’s Bitterbynde trilogy had me falling in love with using a book as a teleportation device.

Who would have guessed a book could transport you to another world, another place and time, with strange lands, peoples and customs? (Ok, that was tongue in cheek.)

I can’t get enough of that specific teleportation thrill that comes with reading fantasy and have read so many wonderful tales that I can’t identify one author as my favourite.

So, I’ll share some of my favourite authors:

Neil Gaiman, Sarah Douglas, Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin, Juliette Marillier, Diana Gabaldon.

That’s just a few. My list really is a very long one but I thank J.R.R. Tolkien and Cecilia Dart-Thornton for setting me off on this fantastical journey.

–⋅ o ♥ o ⋅–

Read more about Bloganuary here.