Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Daughter of the Sun
SERIES: Tales of Inthya #2
AUTHOR: Effie Calvin
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 408 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2018
BLURB:
Orsina of Melidrie is a paladin of the Order of the Sun, sworn to drive out corruption and chaos wherever she finds it. She has been ordered to leave her home and travel around Vesolda in search of a great evil she is supposedly destined to destroy. But after two years of fighting monsters and demons and evil gods, she does not seem to be any closer to her goal—or ever returning home.
Aelia is the Goddess of Caprice, the personification of poor decision-making. The Order of the Sun has classified her as a chaos goddess, meaning that her worship has been outlawed. During a run-in with Orsina, she is trapped in a mortal body, rendering her unable to leave Inthya.
Aelia is found by Orsina again, but this time Orsina does not recognize her in her new body. So Aelia pretends to be a mortal woman who is fleeing an abusive family. Aelia plans to use Orsina as protection as she hunts down the magical relic that will free her from her mortal body.
As Aelia and Orsina grow closer to one another, Aelia wrestles with her own desire to tell Orsina the truth about who she is, and her fear that Orsina will turn on her if she does. But the decision might not be hers after all, because their actions have not gone unnoticed by Aelia’s siblings.
REVIEW:
Earlier this year, I really enjoyed the first book in Calvin’s debut series, The Queen of Ieflaria. It was romantic and elegant, with an intriguing fantasy plot and good main characters, but I can’t say it made a huge lasting impression. This book, the second in the series, has definitely made a more permanent mark. I think Calvin has grown exponentially as a storyteller in under a year, which is an amazing feat.
While the first book felt sweeping and lofty, with plots of dragon attacks and arranged marriages, this book leans into the minutiae of world building and gives us a deeper look at the belief system and social structures of Vesolda. Orsina, a travelling paladin who is on a seemingly endless quest to fulfill a prophecy, stops from village to village to help townsfolk and make sure none of the chaos gods are causing trouble. When she vanquishes the mortal vessel of Aelia, the chaos god of caprice, she continues on her way with a kind, naïve stranger, who introduces herself as Elyne.
But “Elyne” is only a new human vessel for Aelia, and Aelia is stuck between her desire to travel and see the human world with Orsina and the need to find a mystical item that will help free her from a mortal body. The women start to truly fall for one another, but Aelia knows that if she confesses her true form to Orsina, things can only end tragically.
Aelia is such a fun character to spend time with. I like how she may be a chaos god, but she is not evil. She’s the god of caprice, meaning she’s destined to make split-second decisions and change her mind a million times. She’s destined to not think things through. And that makes her the opposite of Orsina, whose sworn profession is being calm, cool, and collected in the face of chaos. It’s no mistake that they end up being an accidentally perfect match while on the road together, vanquishing foes from village to village. They’re like a perfect friends-to-lovers buddy cop duo in a unique fantasy setting—until secrets come out, of course.
I’m definitely invested in the belief system of Iolar and how each god has their own followers and representatives. I also like how “human” the gods end up being, especially when they represent very human elements, like creativity, grief, and melancholy. Orsina would be a flat character in a less capable author’s hands—she’s devout, pious, stoic, and even a little gullible, but she’s also brave, strong, and achingly kind. She and Aelia have both experienced loneliness in different ways, and their bonding is slow, sweet, and tender. It’s a wonderful example of two very different, complex characters falling for each other in a completely realistic way.
Since these stories rely on a pretty complex world-building arc, I’d definitely read The Queen if Ieflaria first, though the stories themselves are independent from one another. We get a good introduction to the gods and the general layout of the land. But this is definitely the better of the two stories—the characters, plotline, pacing, and writing are all superior. This is an excellent fantasy book that will keep you invested until the end.
RATING: 
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