Sorrow by John Lawson

Sorrow: A Witch Ember Tale by John Lawson 239 Pages 2009 5/5 Sorrow is a new chapter in the Witch Ember series of books by John Lawson. I've reviewed his two previous books, Witch Ember and The Raven and truly loved them both. I don't know if it's just because it's the latest I've read by him or not, but Sorrow is currently my favorite of the three books that he has now published. It's a dark tale, a magical tale, a treacherous and murderous tale and it's everything that I love in a novel. So smartly and deftly written that it truly blew me away at times and left me gasping for breath...seriously, I had to remember to breathe sometimes. Faina is young girl sent to live with the Viscount and his wife after the death of her parents. She lives in a home where money is no object, power is ever present, and orgies abound...a home that is far from the one she came from. She loves to dance and does so beautifully, enticing the eye of everyone that she catches. She is a true joy, bringing smiles to many of the faces that greet her. But she soon notices that she's walked into a dark place. A priest is killed. He's living in the Viscount's home and it's clear that he was killed in quite a violent fashion. The Count, Hashii, is called out to investigate the priest's murder. It seems that an assassin has done this...an assassin called Sorrow. Sorrow is a being wrapped in grey gauze with a look of sadness on it's face and it sheds black tears as it commits it's crimes. It's skilled with a blade and with it's body, able to outrun and outfight anyone who it faces. And the count has made it his mission to find the assassin and discover it's secrets. In the meantime, Faina has drawn the attention of the count and the attention of another young man. A man that Sorrow has it's eyes on as it's next victim. The young man, Phindol is the owner of a sword of great power and Faina wants nothing more than his protection...for she has fallen in love with him. Lawson has returned to the scene with a true masterpiece of the dark fantasy realm edged with a hint of mystery. I was enthralled with this book from the beautiful prologue all the way through the satisfying epilogue (which leaves room for a possible sequel by the way while still remaining satisfying). As I said in a post the other day, I had forgotten how skilled of a writer John Lawson is since it's been a year since I've read his previous books. But I remembered quickly with the opening lines of this book.:

One time, I was in the Dreaming, carried by the Wake

and cradled by All-Mother, rising and falling in the

rhythms of Her heart drumbeats. When I was low, I

slept, but when I rose high, I could see and hear the

Firsttime.

Rising and falling and rising and falling

This was a book that I truly didn't want to end. I could listen to tales of Faina for days...that's the same way that I thought of Esmeree of Witch Ember. He writes such wonderful characters and comes up with some of the most amazing story lines. An assassin that cries black tears wrapped in gray gauze?! I mean come on! It's like a book that was written just for me! The book is released today and is available for download. To those that fear e-books, fear not...if you're going to try one, try this one. It's SO worth it...I promise you. And there's no need to have read any of the previous books to read this one. It's a completely separate story with no ties to the other books. It stands alone brilliantly. If you have read the other books, it's a great addition to this unique fantasy world.

I want you to read this so bad that I'll buy it for you. For one of you that is. Leave me a comment saying you would like to read it and I'll pick one person for whom I'll buy the book! Don't know how that works exactly with an e-book, but we'll figure it out. Winner announced this Sunday!

Edit to Add: Ooooh, and just realized that it's read an E-Book week until March 14th! You should totally read this!

You can buy John's book Sorrow by following this link.