My love affair with Laini Taylor’s writing started with me stumbling across an audiobook about fairies written more to the pre-teen level. It was called Silksinger. After listening to it for a few minutes, I realized it was a sequel, and went back and found the first book, Blackbringer.
I was entranced.
I find it difficult to use words to describe how I feel about Taylor’s writing. She uses words like thread on a loom to weave together beautiful tapestries that you wrap yourself up in and never want to leave. Finishing one of her books is like losing a dear friend, and you grieve that it’s over. When I finished Blackbringer, I immediately listened to the sequel (which I still had checked out from the library). These are currently the only two books in Taylor’s Fairies of Dreamdark series, and I pray she comes back to it to at least round it out with a trilogy, if nothing else. They may be written at a middle school level, but so is The Hobbit, and it’s one of the greatest books of all time. My next step is to buy actual physical copies of these books so I can read them with my 10-year-old daughter.
Looking for more of Taylor’s books, I moved onto Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which everyone besides me seemed to have heard of. (This is for an older crowd, more at a YA level.) Another great book – and apparently, the movie rights have already been snatched up for it. Pick it up – your local library or bookstore probably has a few copies. The sequel (Days of Blood and Starlight) comes out next month.
Thirsty for something else by this author, I got her only other book: Lips Touch: Three Times. Yes, a young adult book with 3 supernatural short stories centering around kissing. I’m 41, look like I’m going on 50, and I felt like I had to sneak it out of the library so I wouldn’t look like some weirdo. But the writing was still fantastic. And each story has a visual prequel of sorts – a story drawn by her husband, Jim Di Bartolo. It’s a fascinating little book.
But, three books?!? That’s all I could find.
But then I came across a short story! An anthology, Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction, holds a story by Laini Taylor called Gentlemen Send Phantoms. I haven’t read this one yet – but it is currently checked out of the library, sitting on my dresser, and I can hear it calling out to me.
Finally – and I think this is the last thing – it appears that she has also written a graphic novel, illustrated by her husband. It seems to have horror feel to it, and it’s titled, The Drowned. Unfortunately, it’s going for $130 on Amazon – so it must be a collectible. One person has it on eBay for $200. Don’t know where I’ll find that, but I’m going to have to run that down next. Anyone know where I could borrow a copy of this? You can check out the beginning of this dark story online – but it’s only the first few pages. It looks good and creepy.
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