The Exile and the Sorcerer (Lyremouth Chronicles Book 1)

Read saving The Exile and the Sorcerer (Lyremouth Chronicles, #1) Published February 1st by Bold Strokes Books Funny Lesbian Romance books.
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The task Jemeryl is given, to track down an ex-lover who has turned renegade on the Coven, does nothing to assuage her doubts. However, old bonds of affection are enough to make her accept the assignment, even though she is sure that she has been told only half the true story. When Jemeryl does not return, nobody can stop Tevi from going after her. Book four in the romantic fantasy Lyremouth Chronicles series. After three years of studying with the Empress Bykoda, Jemeryl has learned all that the elderly sorcerer can teach her and is ready to return to Lyremouth.

However, before she leaves, Bykoda reveals a grim secret - an oracle of death, and asks her to perform one final assignment. Jemeryl must take Bykoda's talisman to a place of safety. Failure will mean complete destruction not only in the present, but also the past. While in Tirakhalod, Tevi has been working as an officer in Bykoda's army.

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It has been a difficult time for her, living in a land where those who cannot work magic are treated as insignificant. Only Jemeryl's love has made life bearable.


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With the return to the Protectorate drawing close, she hopes that the worst is over. However, somebody is after the talisman, and that person is willing to commit murder to get what they want. Tevi and Jemeryl, soldier and sorceress, must risk all in the race to uncover a traitor and retrieve the chalice that, in the wrong hands, could bestow dangerous powers.

A dark presence is threatening to uncover long hidden secrets, and the future of the whole Protectorate is at stake. Without allies to help them, Tevi and Jemeryl will need to rely totally on each other; something made all the more difficult when the rest of the world seems intent on pulling them apart.

Series: Lyremouth Chronicles

Events will force them to re-evaluate their assumptions about society and their places in it. Success will require making difficult choices, even while they battle for their lives. The most important step for a 17th century Spanish noblewoman being, of course, an advantageous marriage. Jemeryl's character is not as fleshed out yet, but she doe I seem to really enjoy Jane Fletcher's writing. My hope is her character will break out more in the upcoming books. I will be reading the rest of this series and I am looking forward to the ride.

Jan 14, Bellish rated it it was ok Shelves: Tevi is exiled from a society very different to our own and finds herself in another society, equally different from our own and from the one she has come from. Unfortunately, Fletcher does far too much telling, with characters explaining how their respective societies work, and not enough showing. The result is a novel that raises some interesting questions about gender, sexuality and society and doesn't take them anywhere at all.

There are some interesting concepts in here that I would like to Tevi is exiled from a society very different to our own and finds herself in another society, equally different from our own and from the one she has come from. There are some interesting concepts in here that I would like to see explored by a more adept writer than Jane Fletcher. Apparently, the result would be a violent culture in which the weaker sex is oppressed, objectified and restricted to child rearing and other domestic tasks.


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Not sure what the point of that thought experiment was What would happen if society attached no significance to gender at all? Perhaps as a result of nothing being passed down as inheritance. If overlapping spectrums of attributes were acknowledged men tend to be taller etc. Apparently everyone would find a role in society based exactly on their merits and non-procreating pairs would simply adopt spare children from opposite-sex-matched friends and relations.

Sounds fairly utopian but, at least as far as the lack of inheritance and drive to ensure advantage for your offspring, not how people generally work. Is Fletcher's premise that there are no differences between the sexes which would at least make the first horrible matriarchy have a point , or that it would be nice if there weren't? If men and women dressed and presented in exactly the same way, would everyone be bisexual? Is this a thought experiment too far?

In any case, the book doesn't really go anywhere beyond the details I have set out above, so it all feels a bit artificial and pointless. However, the pacing is terrible and there are chapters of padding, of Tevi exploring the unfamiliar society, which could have been done much more elegantly and readably in parallel with the actual plot, and not as a overlong section of clunky world building. Also, crucial plot points that only work if characters are ridiculously obtuse and unobservant are a no go: I imagine that the whole trilogy could have been compressed into one 3-star novel, but I'm not going to continue to find out.

May 11, GypsyBookworm rated it it was amazing. So, this is probably my favorite lesbian book to date. I really was looking for a good lesbian fantasy and this delivered. Written in the style of Robin Hobb, one of my favorite authors , the story Jane Fletcher weaves never fails to delight. I absolutely loved both characters. Fletcher has a lot of skill at writing compelling and capable heroines who also still retain their femininity. I will be getting the others in the series.

Jan 20, Megan rated it really liked it Shelves: I love Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series but I will admit that the first time I read this one years ago I didn't love it. That being said, on my re-read I had a greater appreciation for the characters, world building and the slower unfolding of the story. I think my original reservation was that almost the first two thirds of the book focus on Tevi as she is exiled from her home and finding her way on the mainland and within the Protectorate. She doesn't meet Jem until well into the book, which l I love Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series but I will admit that the first time I read this one years ago I didn't love it.

Lyremouth Chronicles Series by Jane Fletcher

She doesn't meet Jem until well into the book, which leaves Jem not as developed as Tevi, and they just barely start on the quest for Lorimal's Chalice and then the book ends. If you plan to read this one - be prepared to pick up the rest of the books. Fletcher tells a great story and I really do enjoy her twists on societal norms in her world building. I'm quite glad I gave this one another chance and I'll definitely be re-reading the rest of the series. Mar 07, Elizabeth rated it it was ok Shelves: I can see your agenda.

Yeah, it's kind of The pacing in this is wildly off, Fletcher's issue-related needs force her to warp her characters into total morons, and she provides little to no framework for her central emotional premise. If you're looking for a fantasy world with lesbians, go for Ash. Jul 26, Cynthia rated it did not like it Shelves: Within the first two chapters of this book, you learn that the exiled main character comes from a group of islands where women take a potion throughout their childhood to make them stronger and faster, thus making them superior to their weak, soft, emotional men, whom they "take" to bed whenever they please and whom are shown to be eager to be "taken" to bed.

There is also a few mentions of "taking a liking" to a male prisoner, heavily implying and condoning imo rape. Dec 01, Effie Calvin rated it really liked it. I have so many complicated feelings about this book, though I will say most of them are positive. This book sort of felt like half a book.

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I mean, it's full length, it just spends a long time carefully exploring every. The fact that it leaves off before the plot really begins also makes it feel more like a prologue to a much bigger story. I was expect I have so many complicated feelings about this book, though I will say most of them are positive. I was expecting to feel cheated because of this, but I actually didn't mind so much.

Just know that if you're hoping for a romance, this book is not one.

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It felt like the attraction was primarily physical. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding, I actually think I liked learning about how the world functioned than I did the plot, especially when it slowed down in the middle. It could be a little heavy-handed at times, but watching Tevi gradually realize that her home was actually shitty and impoverished, rather than a nation of glorious warriors, was satisfying without feeling forced. The fact that Tevi manages to make it until the third act before noticing that everyone on the mainland is pansexual stretched credibility a little bit, but when I think back on people I've met who have grown up in secluded and highly conservative cultures, it does make a little more sense.

Near the end of the book, Tevi learns that she has been disabled her entire life, though nobody realized it, and this is the reason she was never as good a warrior as her sisters. She only realizes this after she gets healed accidentally. I always raise an eyebrow at disabilities getting magically healed, but I felt like it worked in the context of this setting and the story, given that it is a fantasy world where magic exists and Tevi is never defined by her disability or, later, her lack thereof.

However, I am not physically disabled, so I can't claim to be any kind of real authority. The most I can say is that I have suffered from mental illness, and if I was reading an alternate version of this story where Tevi's problem was mental instead of physical, I don't think I'd have had a problem with how it was handled. Other reviewers have mentioned that this book really did drag at times, and that's true. As I said above, it feels more like a prequel novel than the first book in a series. I will check out the next one and hope that the action speeds up a bit now that we have both our protagonists together and ready for an adventure.

I feel like this setting has so much more potential. Jan 26, D.

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In my opinion, it was a good story, filled with travels and fighting. Of course, the travelling went a little faster and the fights were kind of short too. Still, it was interesting and it was filled with suspense. Unlike the Celaeno series, in some parts, same-sex relationships are discriminated, but not enough.

The romance was good, but I hoped there was more on it. For me in overall, it was a good story and worth reading. May 30, Robert rated it it was amazing. Yes, it is also a romance, and a good one at that. However, unlike so many other romances of this genre, it has a wonderful story. The characters have depth, the world is rich, and the story and romance are given plenty of time to develop. I've now read half the books the author has written and I've enjoyed every one. Sep 06, J. Fields rated it liked it Shelves: Decent low fantasy with touches of heat. General It's going to be hard to review this one.

I absolutely hated the first half of the book. Tevi is just not a compelling protagonist and is very reactive. She seldom if ever has any agency, and basically lets things just happen to her as she drifts aimlessly through her exile. Also frustrating was the lack of through line for the first half.

Yes, we have this vague quest, but Tevi doesn't take it seriously and doesn't really even think about it until Decent low fantasy with touches of heat. Yes, we have this vague quest, but Tevi doesn't take it seriously and doesn't really even think about it until the halfway point, so we the reader are also left thinking the book is just going to be a meandering 'Tevi reacts to circumstances' book. And then we hit a POV shift. And then the book completely turns around. Jemeryl the sorcerer, while not the most likable of characters overall, has agency.

Her backstory is short, concise, and to the point, and for that reason it seems so much easier to get into her head and empathize. The point of the POV switch is also where the through line picks up, and suddenly Tevi's quest matters, and we have a purpose, and a plot, and a driving force in the book. Also we have the romance between Jemeryl and Tevi which, while short, was steamy in places and well done. Worldbuilding I liked the worldbuilding in this book a lot. The towns are well drawn out, the histories feel complete, and the few pages of just background text we get which should have read like info dump, really didn't.

In fact, they served to round out the story well, and at times I was more engaged in those than the actual narrative. The magic system is a little hard to understand less a system and more just existing , but doesn't seem to be a focal point of the book, either. Tevi's backstory, as told through Jemeryl's POV, is interesting, as is the history of her island. I also do always appreciate a book that puts queerness as canon. General nitpicks There were a few POV fails in the book, where we went from third limited to some type of author voiceover, which threw me from the narrative.

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They waned as the book progressed, and the story relied more on block text of stories than authorial narration towards the end. The book deserves better cover art than this, really. I'd actually recommend any new readers to this book to read the second half first, starting at the sorcerer's POV. This section makes Tevi much more sympathetic, and makes her journey to the mainland much more relevant. I don't think the reader would miss much by skipping the first half of the book, and then if desired, one could go back and read the front half to fill in worldbuilding and character arcs.

Rating I decided on a three star review for this book, because the first half was one star, maybe, and the second half was a strong five. The E-mail Address es field is required. Please enter recipient e-mail address es. The E-mail Address es you entered is are not in a valid format. Please re-enter recipient e-mail address es. You may send this item to up to five recipients. The name field is required. Please enter your name. The E-mail message field is required. Please enter the message. Please verify that you are not a robot. Would you also like to submit a review for this item?

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