Furyborn by Claire Legrand – a Review

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Description:
Follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world…or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.

A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable–until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world–and of each other.

Review:

Furyborn by Claire Legrand is the first book in her new Empirium YA fantasy series. Furyborn starts off with a bang, as we meet the feared Blood Queen Rielle, who has just given birth to a baby girl.  Knowing that evil wants her baby, Rielle gives her child to a young boy to take her away and protect her; feeling the  anger of the evil being coming, Rielle takes her own life.  What a way to start and grab our attention.  Furyborn follows two women, one in the past and one a thousand years later, with both women being extremely powerful and destined to either destroy or save the world.

One Pov is Reille Dardenne (before she became the Blood Queen), as we learn about her and her two best friends, Audric and Ludivine.  Rielle has always had secret powers that her father and trainer would teach her how to control everything.  When she comes across Audric being attacked, Rielle comes to his rescue using her hidden powers, which will change her life forever. 

The Prophecy claims that sometime in the future the evil angels locked away for centuries will return and wreck havoc across the world, and two women will rise; one made of Blood and the other of light. “a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction’.  The King and his court are disturbed by the revelation of Rielle’s powers, with some threatening to have her killed.  She is forced to prove that she is indeed the Sun Queen and loyal to the kingdom by undergoing seven trials of different elemental magic, of which she must complete every one, or be executed.

Eliana Ferracora is a bounty hunter (1000 plus years after the death of Rielle), also known as the Dread of Ornline.  Eliana has been trained by her mother to be an assassin and bury her feelings within, and do what is expected of her as a bounty hunter for her kingdom .  Eliana protects her family, as she needs the money to take care of Remy ,her brother and her mother to survive, and forces herself not to let what she does consume her.  When her mother disappears, Eliana is desperate and agrees to help Simon, one of the leaders of the rebellion, in order to find her mother.  Eliana is an amazing fierce and tough heroine, though her stubbornness was annoying at times.  Eliana has the ability since she was a child to self heal, but had no idea why.  Though there is no romance between them, there is a bond that will develop between Simon and Eliana and she will learn the truth about whom and what she is.  

What follows is an intense exciting dark and intriguing story switching between two time periods separated by over a 1000 years.  Rielle will fight with help from her friends, Audric and Ludivine to survive her violent trials, as well as from the angel who helps and makes her even more powerful.  Corien, the angel is truly the villain in both time periods.  It was amazing to see Rielle fight and rise above the terrible challenges for each elemental magic.

Eliana will become part of the rebellion in order to survive, protect Remy and find her mother; she will also come to understand the role she will eventually have to play. In a desperate attempt to save Simon and the rebels, she will learn more about her inner powers. 

Claire Legrand does a masterful job creating the two main characters, as well as many of these fascinating characters (Simon, Remy, Audric, Ludivine, Navi, etc).  The storyline between the two women flows seamlessly and keeps our interest throughout this complex world. 

These two women are fierce, strong, with flaws and weaknesses, and both very different, but their spirit is enduring.   Two storylines a thousand years apart, that weave together flawlessly that surprised me how well Legrand wrote this.   There are some surprises along the way, and though we know what happens to Rielle in her time, the book leaves off with Eliana stepping up into the role she was destined to be.  Furyborn was very well written by Claire Legrand, and has us impatiently waiting to see if the Sun Queen will rise and save them all. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher