Artemis
Written on Jun 12, 2020
I received an ARC of the second book. I've requested another hold to hopefully finish this.
The night my sister was born, the stars died and were reborn in her eyes….
Zuhra and Inara have grown up in the Citadel of the Paladins, an abandoned fortress where legendary magical warriors once lived before disappearing from the world - including their Paladin father the night Inara was born.
On that same night, a massive enchanted hedge grew and imprisoned them within the citadel. Inara inherited their father’s Paladin power; her eyes glow blue and she is able to make plants grow at unbelievable rates, but she has been trapped in her own mind because of a “roar” that drowns everything else out - leaving Zuhra virtually alone with their emotionally broken human mother.
For fifteen years they have lived, trapped in the citadel, with little contact from the outside world… until the day a stranger passes through the hedge, and everything changes.
- ISBN10 1250208416
- ISBN13 9781250208415
- Publish Date 1 November 2020 (first published 26 November 2019)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 29 April 2022
- Publish Country US
- Imprint St Martin's Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 384
- Language English
Reviews
I received an ARC of the second book. I've requested another hold to hopefully finish this.
Quirky Cat
Written on Oct 20, 2019
Sisters of Shadow and Light is the first novel in an all-new series by Sara B. Larson. It's the tale of two sisters, and their very strange and unexpected lives. They've been abandoned, and worse, trapped within a citadel. That is, until everything takes a sudden change fifteen years in.
These sisters lived in a world in which Paladins used o be commonplace. They were the magical warriors set to protect them all. Until they disappeared. Now there are none. None, unless you count Inara, a half Paladin born with the light of the stars in her eyes.
Zuhra is a loyal and loving sister. For the past fifteen years, she's loved her sister where their mother would not. She treasured her sister's rare moments of lucidity. She also knew what her mother's plans were for her, and what she believed to be her destiny.
Inara is only half-human. Her other half is Paladin, even if her mother would never truly admit that. Inara loves her gardens and her sister. And she doesn't seem troubled at all by her lack of maternal care.
“We were in the citadel, so we didn't see the night sky, didn't witness the pulse of darkness that obliterated all light – including the stars – at the moment my sister cried and turned her burning eyes on my mother for the first time.”
Sisters of Shadow and Light was a beautiful and heartwarming tale, full of mystery and lore. It has a little bit of something for everyone. There's some romance, devoted sisters, betrayal, mystery, and magical creatures.
I'll confess that it took me a little bit of time to get into this one. I wanted to like it right from the start, of course. But it took about three or so chapters for me to find myself invested in what was really happening. So if you find yourself struggling, try giving it an extra chapter or two before you give up.
Sara B. Larson's writing style was absolutely brilliant. It flowed wonderfully and was reason enough to make me want to keep reading it through to the end. I know that this isn't Larson's first novel, but it's the first one that I've read. And I've clearly got to check out the rest of her works!
This was the start of a series, and I'm more than a little bit curious to see where the next novel is going to take us. I hope to hear news about it sooner rather than later. But like I said, at least I have a decent backlog to work through in the meantime.