Seraphina (Book 1)by Rachel Hartman

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. (goodreads.com)

Still on a fantasy kick, in case you were wondering. Deliciousness.So, you'be probably seen posts about the 2012 fantasy debut of Seraphina floating around the internet. Fantasy, dragons, music and secret plots to kill political people. This has it all. What it also has is a lot of words. No matter how long I'd read, and how far I thought I'd gotten, I hadn't made much progress when I looked at the page number. There's just so much to read and so much for your eyes to devour in this book. It's insanely well-written and very literatury. I have tossed this book in the mental file I have called "Smart Books" or "Intelligent Books". I had to use my brain, repeatedly while reading this book. That's not an insult or anything, it's just that I wasn't able to just float through reading this if I wanted to appreciate the entire story.The reason I had to use my brain was because this book is high on description and low on dialogue. I tend to have to focus more on description-oriented novels because of my own reading issues (dyslexia and synesthesia). I don't consider this a negative, it just takes me, personally, a little longer to get into the flow of stories that are very descriptive. I don't want to miss anything, because if I don't focus, I will. In fact I had to go back and re-read a few pages every once in a while because, well, I'd missed something. It's just the way my brain and eyes work when I read stuff. Dialogue breaks up the page more than paragraphs of description, so my eyes tend to not skip things as much as they do with straight text. (I have the same issue with school books, too. No wonder I failed so many things!)But enough about me and my brain limitations...Seraphina is a beautifully told story and Seraphina, herself is a wonderful protagonist. I believed her emotions and I felt them, too. I can't quite explain it without making it sound dumb, but I connected with Seraphina during her story and she felt real to me. I felt her frustration and sadness. I felt her joy and her fear. Seraphina and her story were captured beautifully and lyrically on the page.This book has a great epic fantasy feel to it. It was everything I needed in my fantasy novel and more. There are revelations, that I won't reveal, lest you be spoiled, that made me catch my breath. The relationships that Seraphina has with the other characters in the book are strong and deeper than she often thinks they are. I loved Orma and Princess Glisselda. I love Kiggs and Loud Lad.This was such an interesting and original tale, that I had a moment of delight thinking this would be a stand-alone book, but then sadness that it might be a stand-alone, but then disappointment and joy over the realization that this is certainly a series. (Ok, so I might have issues.)And true story about Seraphina - I spent an agonizing 20 minutes over on the Book Depository site trying to decide between the UK and North American editions of this book. I kid you not. I was drawn to both covers, but in the end, the UK edition (pictured above) won out, mostly because it was paperback. Though I keep staring longingly at the hardback edition because that cover is also stunning. I don't often buy two copies of the same book in different editions, but I think that's what I am going to have to do in this case. I might have to collect both editions through the journey of this series. I'll make that decision when they release the covers for the next book. hehIf you love fantasy, real honest to goodness fantasy, then pick up Seraphina and you won't be sorry.Seraphina

1. Seraphina
2. Dracomachia - 2013