2 out of 4 stars
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The Sylph’s Tale by Marta C Weeks is a fantasy story with elements of romance for adult readers. In pre-historic time, the Angel of Light begins to feel emotions, which his kind should not be able to do. Tasked to watch and aid humans by the Almighty, the angel sits atop a mountain to view the daily living of one tribe. One young girl seems to see him, but he doesn’t know how this is possible. Later, when this girl runs from being given to a village elder for a night, the angel rescues her. They spend the night together and fall in love.
Our leading lady, given the name Haya by the angel, is empowered by her encounter and wishes to lead the women of her tribe from the shadows. The Angel of Light wants to help, but Haya pushes him away. Will love triumph, or must some battles be fought alone?
This book’s length (about 15,000 words) allowed me to read it in one sitting. Upon finishing, though, I wasn’t sure what to think. The book was listed under science fiction/fantasy, but it truly felt like a romance. It isn’t the type of thing I normally read. Nevertheless, I found it interesting.
Up front, I will state this book is not for young readers or those uncomfortable with rape themes. The sexual content is not described in explicit terms, but it is hinted at strongly. There is also the notion of sex between an immortal being and under-aged girls—with all willing participants. Sex is also portrayed as a loving act between two people, or beings, which leads into the liberation of women. This is a story of finding one’s voice and freedom in many ways. Readers uncomfortable with the themes stated here, should skip this book. They make up a good portion of the content.
The religious themes are also fairly heavy. There is a lot of praying and beseeching and begging of the Almighty for forgiveness. While this all fit with the theme of the story, it made it difficult for me to connect with the Angel of Light as a character. At various points, he rebels against his nature. He shows grand moments of fighting for what he wants. And then he suddenly goes back to begging. Similarly, when things don’t go his way with Haya, he runs off to pout or hide until Haya comes to explain. Then, he forgave her because he loved her. It didn’t endear me to him very much.
Haya, by contrast, seems like a character I could really get behind. She’s willing to fight and does so admirably. Her village elders see her in the arms of the angel and become afraid. Rather than let them chase her away, Haya returns to make change among her people. I would have loved to spend more time with her, but the entire book is told from the angel’s perspective. Thus, I didn’t get to know Haya as much as I wanted.
There are several mistakes throughout the text, both typos and missing punctuation. This combined with a main character I couldn’t relate to and a story I couldn’t quite figure out the genre of lead me to rate The Sylph’s Tale 2 out of 4 stars. Haya brings my rating up from 1 star, but I can’t quite give this 3. I recommend this book to lovers of fantasy romance, especially of angel themes, but only if the sexual themes described above are not found offensive. The author states in the book description that this story may contain elements not for all readers, and I agree with this warning. If these themes don’t bother you, though, give this a try.
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The Sylph'S Tale
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