Debutante by day. Murderess by night. Edinburgh's only hope.
Edinburgh, 1844. Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she's spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of Sithichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she's a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Fun world and characters, ending stumbled
By Anya @ On Starships and Dragonwings
The Falconer by Elizabeth May is the best kind of fantasy involving faeries: the kind where the MC is on a mission to kill the evil buggers! The Falconer combines an awesome steampunk version of Scotland with all my favorite evil faery legends to make a fun and action-packed book. While The Falconer stumbled a bit at the end, it is an addictive read and I’m dying a bit for the sequel.Note: I received The Falconer through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program for an honest review. Some things may have changed in the final version.The Falconer by Elizabeth May (The Falconer #1)Published by Chronicle Books on May 6th, 2014 (US)Genres: Historical Fantasy, Steampunk, YALength: 336 pagesHow I got my copy: PublisherHeiress. Debutant. Murderer. A new generation of heroines has arrived.Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?Strengths:I can’t get over how much I loved the setting of The Falconer. There are fun steampunk inventions all over the place and Aileana likes to tinker on top of it all. Aileana also uses a nice amount of Scottish words/slang that most readers will recognize, so I easily gave her a Scottish accent in my head. All of this combines to bring to life this alternative Scotland and it is just too much fun.I’m a fan of broken main characters and Aileana is rather broken. She saw her mother die in front of her a year ago and the rumor mill likes to blame her for the murder. This event has affected Aileana pretty deeply, which I found refreshing since it seems too many MCs these days are able to just shrug off those sorts of things.The writing of The Falconer is fast and action-packed. It often will fade to black on any scenes that are mundane and instead skip straight to the next bit of action. I blew through this one and enjoyed having an easier read.May is exceptionally talented at writing banter! I was laughing frequently despite the gruesomeness of events because Aileana and her various companions are just so snarky. None of her companions much like each other either, making the snark even better.Secondary characters can really shape a book and The Falconer has some great secondary characters. There is a pixie, Derrick, who loves honey and hates Aileana’s fighting partner, Kiaran. Then there are Aileana’s human friends who have no idea what is causing her to disappear from every ball they take her to, but try their best to cover for her. I also really enjoyed Aileana’s maid and butler even though they are only on the periphery since even in their few scenes, May is able to convey their personalities strongly.Weaknesses:When you first start The Falconer, you’ll think the romance is going one way, then you’ll get confused and eventually things become clearer. I really didn’t like how the romance ended up and found it annoying when big battles were happening. We really need to force all MCs to go through priorities training…. Kill first, kiss second is all I’m saying.The Falconer has the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers and not in a good way (is there a good way? I don’t know). I knew it was coming because there was no way the action could wrap up in the page that was left and, surprise! It didn’t. The ending of The Falconer is literally smack dab in the middle of the big epic battle with nothing resolved. If you can’t take that, wait for book two.While The Falconer is nicely action-oriented, I felt that the smaller details were sacrificed for the action. I wanted more details about Aileana’s inventions or the fae and the main conflict. As action scenes were playing out, I found myself not able to remember why things had to play out this way to begin with.The Falconer doesn’t quite jump into love triangle territory since Aileana clearly states that she isn’t in anyway interested in one of the guys in her life, but it still seems like dangerous territory. I really hope that a love triangle does not end up manifesting, but it easily could in subsequent books.Summary:I was sure that The Falconer was going to be at least a four-star book when I was in the middle of it. Then it tripped right before the finish line and broke my heart. If you don’t mind slightly annoying romances and cliffhangers, you definitely should read The Falconer because the rest is awesome. If cliffhangers or romances of annoyance are a pet peeve of yours, The Falconer might not be the book for you. However, I am still really excited for the sequel because I must know what happens next!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Vengeful, murderous, and magical...
By Alicia
5 StarsTHE FALCONER was PHENOMENAL!!! From it's Scotland lure, to it's vengeance and murder, to it's THRILLING, action-packed adventure, and heart-pounding, slow burning romance, that sent heat rising, and toes curling, THE FALCONER was exceptional, and did NOT disappoint!!!THE FALCONER is indescribably AWESOME!!! I can pretty much say that I loved just about everything about this book. I listened to most of it on audio, but also read some from the physical book. But honestly, I think I preferred listening to it rather then reading it. The narration was flawless, and one of the best I've come across in a long time.The characters were developed and had all the character traits I love. Aileana was broken and determined, fierce and deadly, but still capable of love and compassion. She was able to play her part to the T: Lady by day, elegant and noble, hunter my night, killer and deadly. And she was soooo good at it. Even though they both started to bleed into each other by the end of the book, she still played her part regardless of opinions. She was the perfect character for this book. I loved Aileana and can't wait to see how much more deadly and dangerous she becomes to her enemies in book two.And Aileana's mentor, and close but distant friend, Kiaran McKay was the perfect example of AWESOME!!! Ruthless and cunning, dark and dangerous, deadly, but loyal to his cause, and determined to right his many wrongs. He was the perfect mentor for Aileana--smart, skilled, strong, powerful, deadly, and pushed her to the breaking to teach her her weaknesses. And he was so dam sexy at doing it!!!The world-building was unique and VERY well done. I loved the historical and Scotland background, intertwined with dark and dangerous faery's tearing the city apart. I thought the elegant lady by day and huntress killer by night was brilliant, and tied into the rest of the plot with ease and grace. It was just phenomenal!!! I loved the way it was done, written and narrated!! Yup, it's safe to say I pretty much loved everything about this novel and characters!!!THE PLOTHeiress... Debutant... Murderer...Aileana Kameron is a Lady by day, and a killer by night... She's been that way since last year, when her mother was murdered, torn to shreds and had her heart ripped from her chest right in front of her. But the person, or should I say thing, that killed her mother wasn't even human at all. She ordinarily wouldn't be able to see them, the predators preying on the weak, but she was wearing the thistle--A plant that gives humans the abilities to see their predators coming. And the predator that she seen that unforgettable night, was more terrifying and deadly, then anything she's ever laid her eyes on. But that was just the beginning for Aileana, aka Kam...They hunt weak humans, they devour their energy and kill them after their sucked dry. They are in all forms and shape, they are strong and mighty, they are imprisoned under the city, and they are breaking free little by little.They will either end the human race, or imprison them all. They are dangerous and deadly, and have many different strengths, and they are preparing to rise up and rule again, and if not stopped, they will defeat and conquer, and all will be lost to the human race. They are called Faerys, and they are coming....Only one can save the human race from death and imprisonment, and she is the last of her kind, the last remaining Falconer with the power to stop them. But she is only one against many, she is just learning and acquainting herself with her capabilities, she has yet to come into the ultimate power of a Falconer, but she will give her life to save them all. She is a hunter, the hunted, a predator, the prey, a killer, the rescuer, unstoppable, the defeat-able, she is lady Aileana, last Falconer and Scotland's only hope, and she will rise up and fight for them all...Dark, dangerous and deadly--all my favorite qualities in a book, and THE FALCONER had them all and MORE!!!! The dark essence and deadly demeanor that THE FALCONER portrays is precise and flawless. I can not even come close in expressing the full depth of my love for this book. And that ending was strait TORTURE!!! It should really be freaking illegal to end a book like that, SERIOUSLY!!!! ;)Overall, THE FALCONER is one of the best fantasies I've read this year, and it will definitely be going on my favorites shelf where it will stay. I loved everything about this world; from the elegant, yet rough writing, to the superb acting of the narration, it was all just flawless and addicting, and totally time worthy. I would HIGHLY recommend this novel/series to ALL fantasy and paranormal fans out there!!! Their really is NO WAY it could possibly disappoint!!!THREE WORDS:READ. . . IT. . . NOW. . .
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.Disappointing
By Melinda
I really wanted to love this book. I think Ms. May had a great idea, but the story suffered in the execution.In particular, I love a YA story with a strong female protagonist who doesn't rely on the men in her life to define her identity. This is something May did very well, but unfortunately Aileana is so over-gifted that she becomes hard to believe or empathize with. Her only flaw is her blood-lust, which is largely excused and doesn't have real consequences. I would have liked to see her struggle more, both in her battles and her relationships (and her inventions! Her tinkering seems very random right now).My biggest complaint is the ending, which was extremely abrupt and felt less like a cliff-hanger than a mistake in publishing. I honestly thought there were pages missing from my copy, at first.The pacing was also very rushed. Because the whole story takes place over only a few days, it was hard for me to believe some of the revelations that occurred between characters, especially.I am not sure if I will read the rest of the trilogy, but if I do, I hope the second and third books will take more time for character development, and give the reader enough breathing room to feel worried about Aileana and invested in what happens to her.
