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    Keeper of the Dawn
    Unavailable
    Keeper of the Dawn
    Unavailable
    Keeper of the Dawn
    Ebook174 pages1 hour

    Keeper of the Dawn

    By Dianna Gunn

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Sometimes failure is just the beginning

    All Lai has ever wanted is to become a priestess, like her mother and grandmother before her, in service to their beloved goddess. That’s before the unthinkable happens, and Lai fails the trials she has trained for her entire life. She makes the only choice she believes she can: she runs away.

    From her isolated desert homeland, Lai rides north to the colder, stranger kingdom of Alanum—a land where magic, and female warriors, are not commonplace.

    Here, she hears tales about a mountain city of women guardians and steel forgers, worshiping goddesses who sound very similar to Lai's own. Determined to learn more about these women, these Keepers of the Dawn, Lai travels onward to find their temple. She is determined to make up for her past failure, and will do whatever it takes to join their sacred order.

    Falling in love with another initiate was not part of the plan.

    Keeper of the Dawn is a tale of new beginnings, second chances, and the endurance of hope.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBook Smugglers Publishing
    Release dateApr 18, 2017
    ISBN9781942302476
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Keeper of the Dawn

    3.5/5

    5 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I wish this book were longer! It takes the story of a teenage battle royale and asks what happens when someone trains for their entire childhood to fight, then...doesn't win yet still survives. This is the story of the aftermath for Lai, whose mother and grandmother were both priestesses after winning the ritual battle, and who has had the gods show her favor, yet fails to win when its her turn.This is a violent story. There is a lot of death on the page, both when Lai kills her opponents and when loved ones die from hardship or age. When an entire society is built around this kind of ritual killing, though, is it any surprise that such things happen? Yet Lai regrets the deaths, and must force herself to go on when the reality of the first one reaches her.It's also a sweet and gentle story. Lai cares deeply about her home and friends, and she would do anything to protect her own. There is a romance in the second half that explores Lai's asexuality (but she is not aromantic), which is a nice change in the romance story pattern.The world that Dianna Gunn writes has a rich history and setting, which I enjoyed learning about. How the magic rules came to be, different countries' political alliances, and what that means for the characters were interesting to see. I would love to see a more drawn out and detailed story, or a series of novellas, in the same universe. Unfortunately, for all the care of the setting, the characters got a bit of a short shrift. So many are never named or only briefly sketched out, other than Lai and Tara and some of the elders. It seemed to mainly be a difficulty of breathing room, the novella is so short there wasn't space to give life to all the people Lai knows or has relationships with. A lot of the deaths that happen on screen don't have as much impact because the characters are so thin. I'm afraid some of the sketchiness even extends to the main characters - Lai at the beginning must be 10 years old, at most, because she's 16 or 17 at the end, but I definitely thought she was more like 14 or 15, as in most other YA stories of this kind!I'm really glad I took a chance on this, and I'll be trying others in the Book Smugglers' Novella Initiative if they're this enjoyable (and I'll hope that Gunn works a novel about Lai or this setting, so that I can visit again someday).
    • 4/5
      I loved this fantasy novella! I picked it up mainly because I heard the protagonist was asexual (true), and I ended up with a novella that was beautiful in so many ways and really resonated with me.Lai’s mother and grandmother before her have been priestesses, and Lai can’t imagine any other life for herself. In order to become a priestess, she must win through the trials, for only one girl can be selected by the gods as the next priestess. But what about after the trials? What will happen to the friends she’s in competition with? And what if… she fails?If you read that blurb and start thinking, “Oh this is a competition plot line like so many YA books recently,” let me stop you right there. The trial takes up at most the first third. The majority of the book is not about the competition, it’s about what happens afterwards. Honestly, that was a relief. I’ve read so many books along the lines of “teenagers must battle for X” that I’m not super interested in another. Not everything needs to be the Hunger Games.Gunn packs so much into this little novella. True, the supporting characters could be developed more, but I think there’s just not space and that doing so would make the story drag. Lia is squarely the focus in Keeper of the Dawn.I knew Lia was asexual going in, but it still struck me how similar her perspective could be to my own, in a way that I don’t think I’ve seen from another YA protagonist. It’s more in the details of her narration than anything else. Like the way she describes people as beautiful but not as hot or attractive. It felt markedly different from what I usually encounter and a lot closer to how I actually think.Lia’s asexuality is explicitly addressed in the book. In the second half she has a romance with another female character, and she discusses it with her love interest at one point. It’s unclear how Lia identifies in regards to romantic orientation, but I feel like she could be similar to me. Since I realized I was ace, I’ve been searching out books with asexual protagonists, but Lia is the one who’s asexuality seems most similar to my own. I honestly didn’t expect to have this sort of reaction to Keeper of the Dawn.In addition to everything else, Keeper of the Dawn is just so beautifully written. Gunn’s prose is so elegant and graceful, and she’s remarkably successful at making her world feel truly magical. I adored all the attention she paid to the mythology and world building. This is a truly lovely novella.In short, I came for the ace representation and stayed for a sincerely great story. I have little doubt that this will end up being one of the best fantasy novellas I read in 2017.Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.