El just somehow came into the power after a two-hundred year hiatus with no explanation. Moreover, the whole back-story about how a Caveadear comes to be didn’t hold up according to the book, Ancient King Ossian was supposed to name the next one to hold this position, but he was dead. At one point she even declares: “The land is awake. But she was such a big baby for most of the book, and so improbably changed at the end, that it all seemed silly. Her love interest, Jahan, was pretty much perfect however, and El’s female friends are much better and more admirable characters than she. The whole idea of having sex on the ground to wake up the land struck me as absurd, as did El’s instant metamorphosis from bratty teen to world leader. One of the “bad guys” is actually nuanced, but the rest are quite caricatured. But not everyone survives the confrontation.ĭiscussion: There are some pretty sketchy plot threads in this book, as well as some likable elements. This she also jumps right into, suddenly able to speak to the mobs of people and change their centuries of loyalties.

She also jumps right into the sex in the park idea, even though she has been inexperienced up until this time.Įventually, the forces of Caeris and Eren come to a head, and El must waken the land and save the day.

Gradually, she is deprogrammed from the propaganda of the Ereni, and taught to be the Caveadear. With a little help from sympathizers from Caeris, El escapes, and begins a new life.Īt first she fights her saviors she is 19 but acts more like a typical 16-year-old protagonist: bratty, self-centered, ungrateful, and a know-it-all. But shortly after the story begins, the king who protected her for 14 years is murdered his evil daughter Loyce has taken his place and El is suspected of regicide. Okaaaaay.Įl was captured from her home land of Caeris when she was five and taken to Eren, a rival kingdom. On certain occasions, such as the Day of the Dying Year, a sort of Halloween, when the veil is thinner between this world and the world beyond, she must actually “wed” the land. For instance, she needs to drop her blood on the land and stones from time to time. El discovers that she not only has magical abilities, but she is the designated “Caveadear” – someone who can “wake the land” after having taken certain ritualistic steps. This fantasy has some unique aspects, mostly related to the power of the main protagonist, Elanna (“El”) Valtai.

The waking land