Marked for the Pyre (Brands of Taelgir #2), by M.T. Fontaine
The Book
Synopsis:
To overthrow the Stewards’ hold on the kingdoms, Kaianne and Andreiyes strike a tenuous alliance between their people – the Marked and the Carved. Yet uniting the two factions is proving a greater challenge than either of them anticipated.
The Carved blame the Marked for centuries of genocide.
The Marked are conditioned by the belief that all Carved are heartless and savage.
If they cannot put aside their differences, the rebellion is doomed. As more Stewards close in and with the king nearly on his deathbed, their window of opportunity is closing.Meanwhile, Master Rau knows the royal couple is plotting. Torn between his allegiance to his Steward brethren and to his daughter, he struggles with how to proceed. When rumors surface that an old adversary has come out of exile for the benefit of the royals – the very same person who prophesied the Stewards’ end – Rau must decide between what he knows is right and what is best for the person he cares for most.
Plans are made. Objectives are drawn. But their futures depend on more than their choices.
My Review
Marked for the Pyre is the second book on the dark fantasy series Brands of Taelgir, sequel to Carved Amidst the Shadows, written by M.T. Fontaine. In this novel, the relationship between Kaianne and Andreiyes gets stronger, the same as they need to make Carved and Marked work together if they want to break the control the Stewards have over Taelgir.
With all the worldbuilding done in the previous book, we have a book that focus much more on the characters, delving into their struggles and insecurities; our pair are enjoying their love while at the same time having to deal with one of the most difficult possible situation. Carved and Marked have hated each other for centuries, but without working together, overthrowing the Stewards' grip is just a dream.
Giving hope to those that have been made pariahs for years will become a key task.
Marked is a brighter novel in comparison with Carved, letting more space to greatly written action scenes (the wyvern confrontation is just perfect) and introducing bigger epic elements to the narration; maintaining still the character focus (including Master Rau, whose storyline is a rollercoaster).
Fontaine shows her growth as writer, managing to weave an overall more complex story but with a great amount of detail that makes following it easier than in the first book; it is extremely easy to empathize with the characters.
Marked for the Pyre sets all for a third book whose scope seems to be even more epic than this one; if you like dark fantasy with touches of romance, and great characters, Brands of Taelgir is a series you should read.
The Author/s
M.T. Fontaine
Writing has been a steeple of my daily diet since I first learned how to pen my first word. It started out with notes left behind for family members and short stories, to writing skits for the neighborhood kids. I’d wake up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep because of the thousands of ideas floating in my head. Back when I was twelve to thirteen, I actually begun writing my first book. Unfortunately, around that time I fell into an acute hormonal depression. Following the start of taking medications for a couple years, I lost the will and creativity to write. It wasn’t until 2017 (over a decade later) that I finally started getting that urge again to write, and I haven’t stopped since. About a year ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to start writing part-time instead of just fitting in a half-hour here and a half-hour there.
I’m an introvert at its finest. If I could bury myself in books and my writing, whenever my kids were at school, I would. I have a wonderful partner in life, two kids, and two fur babies. I’ve lived in three countries: the grand canyon state in the US, France, and now Spain. I speak both french and english fluently and am working on refining my spanish, however difficult that currently is since I work solely from home. One day, I hope to make authoring my day-job, but until then I’m a part-time insurance finance manager who gorges on tea, lots and lots of tea.
That’s probably more than you wanted to know about me, but you clicked the button so it’s on you!