Wednesday, February 24, 2016

If my life could be a BOOK, it would be written by Laini Taylor




It all started with a book that had a photo of a girl wearing a blue feathered mask on the cover. I picked it up and never wanted to set it down again...

You know when you find that ONE author that you're 100% positive of that you'll absolutely adore everything they write? I found her in August of 2014, and I'm forever thankful that I did.

That book with the blue-masked girl was "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" - which I mentioned in my "Month of Power Couples: Karou and Akiva" casual cosplay post on Monday! It was  a story I had somehow been dreaming of my entire life and finally found. Ok - that sounds uber corny, but it's true! The following two books in the series were no different, and I finally finished the series last year. It. Was. Epic.

In case you've never read it: it's a YA fantasy trilogy about a mysterious girl who has a magical secret: she was raised by monsters. Actual monsters. One of which happens to grant wishes! She is content with her life as a young woman living in Prague, attending art school with her best friend by day, working for her 'demon dad' by night.  Her life gets completely turned upside down, however, the day black hand prints start appearing in secret doorways. Things turn dangerous, and she comes face to face with a different kind of monster: an angel. With wings made of fire. She eventually learns things she never knew, but somehow once did, and nothing is ever the same again - and that's just the FIRST book, mind you. It's hard to really describe the rest of them without completely spoiling the story.


So I decided to hunt down other books written by Laini Taylor.

DROWNED
 
First up was a comic/graphic novel called "Drowned" illustrated by her equally awesome husband: Jim DiBartolo. It was super creepy and super awesome.

Mysterious ghosts, demons, and Lucifer himself. Dark and mysterious are the words that most often come to mind when trying to describe the feel of Laini's writing..


LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES

She also wrote a book of three short stories called "Lips Touch Three Times". Each story dealt with some form of the supernatural, and my favorite story was the last one, dealing with creatures of her own creation called Druj. Talk about magical - the world she created in that one made me feel like I was actually there, and I wanted it to be real so badly, but at the same time not, because it was a dangerous place!

And that's basically my point: if my life were a book, I'd want it to be the most magical, epic, fantastical adventure ever written. And Laini Taylor would know exactly how to craft her poetic word-magic for it.

There were also illustrations by Jim at the beginning of each story, that I absolutely adored. 


STRANGE THE DREAMER 

A few months ago, it was revealed that Miss Taylor is set to release a NEW, two-book series later this year, and I cannot WAIT. According to this site, NOVL, it is to be titled "Strange the Dreamer", and it's about a character named Lazlo Strange, who works in a library...

I may not be a dude, but I DO happen to work in a library!


Could my dream of living in a fantasy world dreamt up by Laini Taylor be coming true?!

September can't come soon enough!
How about you? Who is your top favorite author/book/series? Whose dream world would you most want to live in?






2 comments:

  1. I would have to say that my favorite series by one of my favorite authors is Tales from the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee. Lee was truly the mistress of gothic fantasy. Tales from the Flat Earth was released in the late 70s and was ridiculously ahead of its time, or maybe it was par for the course considering that Rocky Horror was released during that time. The books can be enjoyed in any order, but to get the full experience it is best to read them in sequential order. The central character that ties all of the tales together is Azhrarn the gorgeous, demon ruler of the Underearth. I love his character! He is such an flamboyant fabulous ass and he owns it. Most of the stories that occur are due to the fact he gets bored and wants to go bother the humans on the middle layer of the Earth pie. There is also Upperearth, which is where the genderless/sexless gods chill out and give no shits about what's happening on Earth. I kind of went bananas with this answer... Anydangway! I definitely have plans to read Daughter of Smoke and Bone and once I finish (hopefully soon dangit) this book I have checked out now I will start on it! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL.. thanks so much, Emmie!! Sounds like an interesting read, indeed! (ha - that rhymes!) Can't wait for you to join my Daughter of Smoke and Bone Fanclub and fangirl out over Akiva with meeee!!! ;) :)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...