I'm not usually a fan of fantasy, however, The Waking Land intrigued me. It is a well written tale of adventure and self discovery. Fans of Uprooted by Naomi Novik may find a new favorite in Callie Bates' lovely new novel.

The Waking Land is basically a girl flees back to a magical realm after being accused of murder.  This book was very hard for me to get into. The writing style wasn't my favorite. There was too many details and it could have been better if it was scaled down just a bit It was unique but not my cup of tea. 2 out of 5 stars.

Callie Bates awakens readers with her wit and creativity in her debut books The Waking Land. 

The complexity of her characters and imagery of her world is what kept me reading.

For me, it was a slow start, but once the main character was betrayed and magic revealed, I became hooked. 

After that point I felt the book moved fairly quick. 

I enjoyed the read and cannot wait for the next edition to the series, because there has to be another book.

By far my favorite thing about this book is the rich imagery of the setting and the complex politics driving the story. The writing is excellent and the characters so easy to fall in love with.
That said, sometimes I did feel like, though the politics were really intriguing, sometimes the explanations went on a little long. It also gave the story much more of an adult fiction feel than a young adult feel, because while Elanna is caught up in finding her place among her people—adopted or biological—much of the story has to do with the political ramifications of her alliances and actions. The romantic relationship in the story also had more of an adult relationship feel to me than a teen relationship in the way the characters related to one another and how Elanna thought of her love.

Those things didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book, though they might make it less appealing to young readers. Hard to say. If you liked Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword or Leah Cypess’s Nightspell, you may want to snap up a copy of The Waking Land.

Looking for a delightful, magical read? Callie Bates’s The Waking Land may sate your hunger. With several strong, female leads (like Rhia Knoll), the practice of forbidden arts, war, and just a taste of romance, this book easily lands as one of my most enjoyable reads so far this year.

I can honestly say this is one of the few books where the main character begins as the weakest. When we meet Lady Elanna Valtai, she appears weak and, quite honestly, brainwashed by her Ereni up-bringing. Throughout the first two-thirds of the novel, El proves to be unreliable. She is clueless as to where her loyalties truly lie, even as the truth rams itself down her throat. Fortunately, those she counts among her friends know what they’re doing and don’t have to rely on her for quite a while.

Loyce, the new Queen of Eren, on the other hand is an awful brat. Unfaithful to her husband (who readers never meet), she colludes with an equally disgusting noble boy, Denis Falconier. Their command over the Butcher of Novarre strikes fear into the hearts of those that dare to rebel. And the Butcher? He’s an altogether interesting figure on his own. Trust me on that one.

Eren and Caeris, the lands where this tale takes place, on beautifully rendered, proving Bates’s strength with the written word. Her command of language coupled with her love of nature come together seamlessly, visualizing a truly fantastic world. The story Bates weaves into this battle-worn land offers readers a faint taste of epic fantasy, in a style pleasing for fans of young adult literature. For some, The Waking Land may be the gateway to delving into high fantasy – Bates’s concept of magic is that wonderful.

The Waking Land is a fantastic ride through a world that fears magic. It is the timeless tale of how war erodes nations. Because of El’s wishy-washy portrayal and the sheer fact that we don’t see a lot of action until the last fifteen percent of the book, I cannot give this one five stars. A four though, certainly.

My Initial Reaction:

While this book wasn't a huge hit with me, I definitely wasn't mad that I read it. I saw a lot of potential throughout the book and I really did enjoy the magic and the basic premise of the story. The only thing I wasn't so keen on was that I had a hard time falling in love with the characters. 

My Overall Reaction:

The main premise of this book is that Elanna, our main heroine, is a girl who grew up as a political prisoner in a country that has taken over her homeland. She now considers the King who captured her more of a father then her actual father (we will get to this a bit later). The one thing nobody knows though is that she has hidden powers that allow her to control the earth around her. I enjoyed this form of magic that she portrays throughout the book and (without giving away too much) I love how she grows into these powers. I also like that she wants to be a botanist and learn about plants, which goes along with her powers. But all of these plans she sees for herself are thrown out the window when the king is mysteriously killed and she is blamed for it. She is now thrown back into the life she thought she would never know and goes on a wild adventure to prove her innocence and free her homeland from the country she thought was home.

This story had a great base to it but I felt at times it fell flat. I wasn't as keen on all the relationships throughout the book, I didn't feel like I wanted to root for any one character or relationship to happen. She flipped/flopped a lot with how she felt about characters. For instance, it seemed that Elanna wanted a good relationship with her father one moment and at other times she would totally forget about him and act like he never mattered to her. It was confusing at times. I did enjoy her adventure throughout the land though, and how she had to meet all different types of people in her homeland, it helped her rediscover the place she was born and was meant to be in. It also helped her discover the magic that has always lived inside her. 

Another downfall for me was that the story itself sometimes felt like it was being dragged along and some parts probably could have been cut out or condensed. Mostly this was because of repetition of thoughts and feelings over one character that I felt could have been summed up in a couple pages, when in fact, it took a few chapters. But all in all, a good writing style that helped build a good picture in my mind. Overall I gave this book 3/5 stars. While it wasn't my favorite book, I would definitely read something again by Callie Bates in the future.

Of course the gorgeous cover and intriguing description drew me in. The novel started off in a very suspenseful and tragic way and then jumps ahead to a critical point where Elanna is forced to make a choice between her adopted home and her biological family. Both choices are fraught with peril and betrayal is never far. The worldbuilding here did hook me in; however, the complex cast of characters somewhat confused me. There is an insta-romance that came out of nowhere and had me shaking my head. It was a struggle at times to keep going as the pacing seemed off - yet I did want to know more at every turn.

Interesting story and premise.  Sure to circulate well with fantasy fans.

In The Waking Land, Bates creates a richly-detailed and action-packed story that focuses on Elanna, a young girl who grows into herself as she learns more about the magical world she lives in.  Politics abound as she tries to figure out what/who is right and she discovers an ingrained magical ability that she has suppressed her entire life.  Elanna’s earth-related magic may lead readers to try out Uprooted by Naomi Novik, if they haven’t already.

My review will be posted at llamallamalibrarian.wordpress.com on 8/14/17.

This review and others posted over at <a href="http://milliebotreads.com/"><b>my blog.</b></a>

I DNF’d this book around the 40% mark.


I missed the part where it was YA and had I known that I still would have given it a chance, but I would have been more prepared for the constant physical descriptions of the characters and their clothing and how handsome that one guy was. Instead, I was caught off guard, wondering why this book wouldn’t shut the hell up about how hot this one guy was and how bewildered Our Heroine was that someone so blindingly handsome would pay even an iota of attention to her. I wish she had been struck blind by his good looks so she would STOP TALKING ABOUT THEM.

Actually, the first clue I had that this book was YA was that magical line where the character said within the first handful of pages: “I breathed out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.” Damnit! She even repeats the sentiment later by stating: “I realize I’m holding my breath.” Girl, would you just breathe normally, please!?

Writers one and all, please stop putting some variation of that line in your books! I beg you!

Anyway, once I realized I was reading a YA fantasy books, things started to go downhill fast. Elanna has some cool magical powers wherein she can make plants grow and move and maybe do other stuff, but, I didn’t get far enough to find out. I enjoyed hearing about her life in the palace (though perhaps she would have been a less annoying character if the book wasn’t told in first person and the read privy to her every pointless thought) Once she’s convicted of murdering her foster father, the king, and she meets the heart-poundingly, breath-takingly, lip-bitingly, godlike, handsome Jahan, I started to lose interest because her world starts to revolve around his handsome jackass.

Oh, and we also find out 20% into the book that his name is pronounced Yah-han, not Jah-han, but by then it was too late for me to change my mental pronunciation.

So Elanna has these cool powers she’s been trying to hide, but rather than use them, she’s busy mooning over JAH-han. The second he comes on the scene, really, she’s gabbing about how super-hot she is and how she’s dressed as a boy (Gasp! How drab!) Which, by the way, I swear the start of the book mentions her boy clothes and how she doesn’t actually pass for a boy, they’re just more comfortable, but then after that she’s constantly worried she’ll be mistaken for a boy in the presence of good looking people and even is mistaken for a boy at least once. I, however, was too lazy to go back and look this up, so I can’t be certain.

When Elanna wasn’t pausing amid fleeing for her very life or thoughts of how she’s just lost all the family and friends she’s ever known to think about the hunky Jahan, she was painstakingly describing her group’s boring travel details or random politics about a world I didn’t care about. For someone with magical powers, she didn’t use them enough for me to maintain interest. I wanted to know more about the magic system – oh, Jahan has undefined mystical powers as well – and sadly, when I wasn’t bored to death I was frustrated.

I felt so beaten about the head with Jahan’s hotness that I wish I’d actually been knocked unconscious so then I wouldn’t have to hear about it again. I finally had to abandon this book because life is too short to read books I don’t enjoy.

But hey, if the handsomest dude to ever handsome in YA and magic (I hope there’s more of it in the latter half of the book) are things that interest you, you might enjoy this!

I'm very grateful for the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for a review. Unfortunately, this book wasn't really for me. I didn't really care for the main character, and I struggled to connect to the writing style.

Where to start with this novel... it was so much to take in. I really wanted to love this read, and with a beginning like the one The Waking Land had, I felt like it was going to quickly become a favorite. Somehow, it was the exact opposite of it. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy any of it, or that it didn't have that magical feel I was hoping for, it just had too much of it. Along with a bit of a creepy factor I wasn't expecting, it was a little off putting. 

Even with that I hoped that the characters would make this story much more interesting for me and put some of those other feels behind me, but sadly that was not at all what happened. I didn't connect with many of the characters and I feel like a big part of it could have been that there were so many of them and they were on constant rotation (yes, that's how it felt for me). I was not very fond of Elanna, and that was not for lack of trying, she just didn't have any traits or qualities that set her apart, even having the land in her corner.

As it moved along, I hoped the love story that played out would sway me more in the direction of great reads, and that also felt a little bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong, Jahan was more of a likeable character than Elanna's, but that bond they were forming felt a little unbelievable. He was in and out of the picture often and not much she could really trust as he wasn't even someone she'd known until all the chaos ensued. What really set me off from this romance was the way they cemented their new relationship. It was definitely cringe worthy. 

That's where it really gets even weirder and not a good shocking moment, at all. I loved that she had the ability to use the land at will, being able to defend those that needed, or get herself out of a deadly situation, but it was the bond she had to form to really be part of the land that I couldn't stomach (there enters her love and the extremely squeamish scene in the novel). Even more, was what she had to give up for having to wed the land because yes she actually became its bride. 

While I enjoyed the parts of the magic involved and the story it began with, how the king was not as he portrayed himself to be, or what her people truly represented, even the fact that she was fighting to defend the freedom and unity of the people, everything else seemed to have dragged on. While all of that happened, even more characters were being introduced and being killed off or removed for one reason or another. I felt like I could have really liked this novel more if a good amount of that had been omitted, and the whole connecting with the land for all its power was not so disturbing. It just wasn't what I was hoping for.

DEBUT NOVELIST -- WHAT A STORY

Wow!  From the cover of the book to the last page, you’re in for a treat.  While you read, you’ll realize how appropriate the cover is.  It is as creative and unique as this tale of fantasy.

For a debut novel, the writer shows real talent and imagination. She weaves a land of fantasy with secret little pockets of intrigue hidden within the bigger picture.  Characters are well fleshed out.  The characters are complex, providing a rich selection of people with questionable motives in a tale which gets increasingly desperate. The best part is you feel for Elanna’s plight, your emotion of right and wrong will run high.

The book is written in first person, Elanna’s point of view. She is a Caerisian girl abducted from her parents, used as a political pawn.  This event and the death of her abductor, King Antoine, catapults the story into a situation where Elanna, the protagonist must make decisions. Chaos and the power struggle of the Ereni embroil Elanna into unsafe territory. She is accused of killing the king, using magic and her knowledge of botany to poison him. Using magic is a crime, penalty by death.  She runs, the witch hunt is on.

Elanna is strong and intelligent. She is also a foundling in magic. Fourteen years in Ereni lands has made her detest her own people, her father and mother, particularly, who didn’t come to save her. She’s been content, however, living under the wing of her abductor, King Antoine, almost like a daughter. She enjoys working with the royal botanist, Guerin Jacquard.  This is her opportunity to feel the earth. Elanna has a secret gift, she dare not share with anyone.  When she touches a plant, it will grow. Magic is in the lass, but not enough to save her.

Unbeknownst to Elanna, her family has been watching over her. They infiltrate the court to save her.  But does she want to be saved from those she’s learned to hate? Those who fight against the new ways?

The Caerisians don’t have as much magic as they did.  There are no more stewards of the land.  The wardens of the mountains  keep to themselves.  They are safekeeping the old ways until a new steward appears. The land of magic is dying. No one can wake it.

Princess Loyce, daughter to the king is particularly vindictive to Elanna. She is a character easily disliked.  One other is Denis Falconier, who plays up Princess Loyce’s hatred of Elanna. They both demean her, smearing her heritage.

Jahan Korakides,a character, is iffy. Is he a good guy or bad? Bates plays the reader’s doubts like a harpist plucking her strings.  I doesn’t seem to matter to Elanna whose side he’s on.  She is drawn to him.

A sigh unravels from within me. I wish I could talk to Jahan. I liked the way he listened to me, as if he really heard me—more than that, as if he understood what it’s like to hold secrets buried so deep you don’t even let yourself see them. As if he understands what it’s like to be born for a purpose you never chose.

What Elanna doesn’t realize is she is the new steward of the land.  To save her people, to save her world from annihilation, she must become the steward, not just in word, but in deed.  Can she live up to it? Can she harness the mystery and magic in the Circle of Stones?

Elanna’s mother is one to watch.  Bates is a marvel not giving away the motives behind certain characters.  They are enigma to the reader as is to Elanna.

Lord Gilbert, known as the Butcher, will scare you.  What is his game? Denis Falconier, bed partner to Princess Loyce, is difficult to read.  He doesn’t like Elanna and makes her life extremely uncomfortable.  With the passing of the king, the walls of the court ooze with evil and fear.

Elanna must face the truth of who she is. She’d prefer to lose herself in studies in Ida. She has spent her life trying to forget her magic, her past.  Now it’s time to face her past, accept the truth and play the role she is chosen to play.  Only then, can her real strength unfold.

Bates absolutely captivated me with her creative, unique story in this brilliant tale of intrigue, strength, doing the right thing, finding your true self, and overcoming fear. I enjoy taking away from a story more than entertainment.  She shows even though divided into nations, we are still one people, people who want peace and prosperity, living harmonious with the earth.

I recommend the read and am certainly interested in following Callie Bates, a newly published author.

I was provided an advanced reader's copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This was an okay read - there wasn't anything wrong with it, it just plodded along rather more slowly than I would have liked...  The beginning was strong, then it felt like it needed a hefty edit to keep the pacing even and the plot moving forward. There were interesting Celtic-feeling elements, and I really enjoyed the earth magic component as well as the tripartite governing concept with the steward of the land and the mountains and the king as an interesting spin on separation of powers. The murderer was pretty easy to figure out early on, and despite the attempts at weaving confusion as to who was good and who could not be trusted, there was not much mystery in that regard either. There were no epic fail moments or flaws, but I found myself skimming at multiple points because the story would drag - and even if I skimmed several chapters, I never had difficulty catching up.  To me, that suggests that a fairly heavy edit could have tightened this into a really well-paced adventure...

This was one of those books that has you rooting for the team and not the players/characters. I found the world building very engaging with the fables and legends a strong foundation. 

While the world building was it's true strength everything else felt lacking. I never cared for any of the characters are their building relationships. They all felt just like pawn pieces moving across the board. and never fleshed out for me to care about them one way or another. I hope the author re-visits this world someday as I am curious about some characters that didn't get enough screen
time .

though it sounded good I had a hard time connecting with the main characters and she never grew on me. the plot was interesting and it kept my attention so as far as the story goes it was good.

In the acknowledgements section at the end of The Waking Land by Callie Bates, she states that her book is "what happens when you read your daughter The Lord of the Rings [when she's]...nine, then drag her into old-growth forests and nurture her desire to be a writer." The book is a story told in the vein of that legendary one, but with it's own style and strengths. Like that legendary book, it is also long and epic in scale (which is why I'm so late posting this review), but more rousing than the original and told, I thought, with more flair.

What The Waking Land is About

Lady Elanna Valtai is fiercely devoted to the king who raised her like a daughter. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Elanna is accused of his murder and must flee for her life. She runs into some men who are compatriots of her real father, the one that let her be kidnapped by that king many years ago. She's taken back to and forced to reckon with her despised, estranged father, who had been branded a traitor. Feeling a strange, deep connection to the natural world, she also must face the truth about the forces she has always denied or disdained as superstition, as certain powers suddenly stir within her.

But her accusers are relentless, and she's quickly forced to choose between staying free of them but involving herself in a rebellion against the king's daughter (now the queen and revealed to be the power-monger she truly was), who was just recently her pretend sister, or letting herself be caught and executed for a crime she didn't commit. Neither is really an option, but the power that she develops to literally wake the land tilts things in the rebellion's favor, ill-fated though it might be.

What I Liked About the Book

It is fascinating to me the way some authors can spin such rich, intricate tales about imaginary people, places, and plots. It's not easy to do. Bates, even though she is a debut author, seems to be a pro at developing multiple story lines, embellishing each one, and weaving them all together into one seamless plot that marches ever forward. There is a romance story line, a what-do-I-do-with-my-power story line, a will-I-ever-have-a-good-relationship-with-my-parents story line, an evasion-of-capture story line, and a does-this-rebellion-stand-a-chance story line. They're all big story lines in and of themselves, and they all progress based on Elanna's thoughts and their ensuing decisions. Amazing.

Also, the entire book is told in first-person present tense, as in: "There's a touch on my arm, and I look up to find Jahan standing next to me." This is very unusual for speculative fiction, but it really works. It makes things seem more tangible and intense, being inside Elanna's head as things happen. If I were to put a visual with this, it'd be the rug-weaving video I mentioned here, but with the viewer being the weaver and the rug being much bigger and multi-colored. That's why I say it's "rousing."

Lastly, the intrigue and mystery of whose loyalties lie where (Elanna's, Elanna's mom, The Butcher, etc.) is very thick, which makes for lots of emotion and thinking during the reading of this book.

What I Didn't Like as Much

In the way of a nutrition facts label, there are a couple of swear words, a sex scene (that I skipped over), and an out-of-wedlock relationship. There's definitely violence. There are also good examples of mercy being granted and of certain people taking the high road, of communing with nature (of course).
It might big a bit long for some.
There are a couple of major plot points that I questioned the sense of, despite the fact that they'd been well led up to.
Who Will Probably Like This Book

Anyone who likes Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, or The Curse of Chalion by Louis McMaster Bujold will like this book. Anyone who likes intrigue, action, non-simplistic plots, or romances will probably enjoy it too.

Enter to win a free hardback copy of The Waking Land by Callie Bates by clicking here or subscribing to my site on the main page.

Yet another disappointment. After reading the synopsis, I was so so so excited for this book, but sadly, it just didn’t deliver at all. I ended up DNF’ing it with about 100 pages left. The main character annoyed me so much and there was just no plot at all. It was confusing and boring.

The main character, Elanna, like I said, was so incredibly annoying and obnoxious. Also, she’s a terrible friend. Minor spoiler alert, but she leaves behind her best friend to be either imprisoned or killed because it’s an inconvenience?? Yeah no. If you do that, I wouldn’t call yourself her best friend anymore. She was so clueless and dumb and acted like she was trying to be like just about every other YA heroine, but was failing.

Also, the romance totally came out of nowhere. I kind of figured she would fall in love with this one guy, but I feel like one minute they were friends, and the next she had fallen in love with him. It was very insta-lovey to me. I’m also really confused about the whole marrying the ground part?? I was so confused I couldn’t tell if she had actually done it or not, but she kept talking about it and how she wanted to. Like what does that even mean?

The worldbuilding was subpar. It could have been worse though. The place names were all so similar and I was constantly confused about where/what certain places were. I could have sworn Ida was a kingdom, but then later on it seemed like it was a city or part of a country or something? I was confused. But really, there was so much potential for world building, but it just did not deliver. It was confusing and not well fleshed out, though you could see the author was trying.

I don’t have much to say about the writing other than that it was boring and simple. It wasn’t very beautiful or poetic or anything, just basic. Not in a bad way, there was just nothing about it that stood out at all.

Also, like I said, there was basically no plot at all, and when there was, it was super boring. Basically nothing happened at all and finally at around page 250 in the eARC, I was so bored of it, I just stopped reading. Elanna flees for her life when she is accused of murdering the king who raised her and then finds her way back to her family, who is plotting a revolution. Oh and another thing that annoyed me, her father basically said to her that he was only glad she was back because she would be useful in the revolution. Not because he cared about her or anything. Just the whole relationship with her parents was so terrible and forced.

Overall, I clearly did not enjoy this book. It was boring, confusing, and all around, forced. All the relationships and everything felt so forced and not real. The characters were all boring and cliché as well. I personally, would not recommend this book, but I could see some liking it. So, if it does seem interesting to you, then check it out.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me. I thought the concept sounded interesting, but the plot was largely a rip-off of the Jacobin rebellion with magic added, and the main character was a mess of conflicting emotions and motivations.

From what I can tell this is a stand alone book. Meet Elanna Valtai who was kidnapped from her revolutionary parents at the age of five and raised by the King they were trying to displace. She is now 19 and has had to hide her magical powers over plant life her whole life in order not to called a witch and executed because magic was outlawed two hundred years ago when her people were conquered. When the King is assassinated her whole world is turned upside down and she finds herself having to choose between leading a revolution or pretty much give herself up. What she never she is she is just one part of a three way role of power that is needed for the land to come back to life making things better for all that live there. This book has all kinds of things going on. there is magic of course, intrigue, suspense, murder, battles, romance, and so much more. Each page leads the reader on a new path in the adventure that leads all the way to the grand finale at the end which was quite awesome if I do say so myself. Though the main characters are officially adults I highly recommend this book to fans of YA fantasy novels because this one flows just like one of them would which I think makes it fall into the new NA genre. I really enjoyed reading it so it gets 4/5 stars.