Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: A Dance of Water and Air
SERIES: Elemental Magicae, Book 1
AUTHOR: Antonia Aquilante
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 319 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2018
BLURB:
Edmund is heir to the throne of Thalassa and a wielder of Water magic. Devoted to his kingdom and his duty to it, Edmund can do nothing but acquiesce to an arranged marriage with the queen of a neighboring kingdom. The marriage and the child it is required to produce will seal an alliance between Thalassa and Aither that is vital to Thalassa’s safety, and far more important than Edmund’s personal misgivings.
Arden is the younger brother of Aither’s queen and a wielder of Air magic. Raised in the politics of the court to support his sister’s rule, he understands the alliance is important to Aither, even as he worries about his sister marrying someone she’s never met. When Edmund arrives in Aither to prepare for the wedding, Arden is tasked with helping him settle in at court. As they spend more time together, Edmund and Arden develop a close friendship, then stronger feelings, but with Edmund’s wedding approaching, they must hide their feelings, even from themselves.
When someone tries to assassinate the queen, Edmund is blamed, and Arden rescues him before he can be executed for a crime he didn’t commit. To prevent a war between their kingdoms and protect them from a dangerous enemy, Edmund and Arden will have to discover who wants to pit Aither and Thalassa against each other and mend relations between the two kingdoms as they evade those searching for them—all while finding a way to be together.
REVIEW:
I thought I loved this book at first, it appeared to be my favorite type of fantasy story with princes and magic and evil doers, but the story kind of dropped off for me as it went along. I’m not just going to make that statement and not explain. I liked where the story was going. A prince with water magic is sent off into the depths of a mountain range to a foreign kingdom, where the royal family members have air magic, to wed the new queen. He has no say in the matter and is packed off immediately. Huh? Right away it seemed strange. What king would send his heir off to a foreign land to marry the queen, with no warning, and no back-up male heir? I got that it made sense politically in the story but it seemed rushed. And then to send him off with only his best friend and one guard?
Somewhere in the middle of the book was the ‘surprise’ line about unbinding the chest. I have absolutely no issue with transgender characters and have quite a few transgender friends in the writer/reader community and in real life, but I didn’t understand what felt like to me a strange placement here. The character seemed to be transgender for the writer’s purposes, not to advance the story line. I did like that no one seemed concerned what gender anyone married or slept with, with straight and gay couples portrayed as just the same. I also found hints at the end of the book about producing an heir not being a problem to be a little troubling. I think I know where that is going, and I’m not sure that is something transgender men usually entertain. I could be wrong about that direction in the story, but I don’t think so.
There were also some other odd things which didn’t work for me and lowered my engagement. For example, you have this group running for their lives and stopping at a manor house that one of the princes has been having built, without anyone knowing about it. They walked there in one night. I didn’t believe the ‘no one knew’ aspect of the house. Then there was the hot running water in the tub. The house is freezing and heated only by wood. Where the heck did the hot running water come from?
The end of the book leaves you with a cliffhanger, I’m not sure if I’ll seek out the sequel.
RATING: 
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