Get Troubled Waters Formulated By Sharon Shinn Contained In Copy

author of the Twelve Hours series welcomes readers to a new fantasy world where the elements rule Zoe Ardelay receives astonishing and unwelcome news she has been chosen to become the king's fifth wife Forced to go to the royal city she manages to slip away and hide on the shores of the mighty river It's there that Zoe realizes she is a coru prime ruled by the elemental sign of water She must return to the palace not as an unwilling bride for the king but a woman with power in her own right But as Zoe unlocks of the mysteries of her blood and the secrets of the royal family she must decide how to use her great power to rise above the deceptions and intrigue of the royal court It's always risky for me to reread a book As I grow older I find that my tastes have changed and even so I find myself becoming increasingly critical of certain elements in books I usually do not reread books but recently a friend asked me for YA high fantasy recommendations and I remember enjoying this book when I first read ityears ago Thus I decided to revisit this book to see if it was as good as I remembered because if I'm going to recommend it to my friend I better make damn sure that it's a good book It's my reputation on the line after allThis is one of the rare instances where the second reading turned out to be even better than the first I am so happy to say it is even better than I remembered even reading it from a critical standpoint actually particularly from a critical standpoint This book is glorious I do not giveratings lightly and neither do I gives unless I feel like a book overwhelmingly deserves it In my humble opinion all YA high fantasy should strive to be this goodThis book has it all compelling brilliantly detailed world building a main character with weaknesses that evolve into strength with beliefs and ideals that change along the way The romance is light and utterly believable There is politics there is magic there is court intrigue There is friendship there is backstabbing the evolution of relationships platonic and romantic are credible The reader is taken from the slums to the palace from a small village to a bustling town I truly enjoyed every moment of this bookSummary Zoe Ardelay isyears old and her father has just died She is prostate with grief at the death of her brilliant loving father the only family she has had since her mother diedyears ago since her father has been exiled from the royal court someyears ago Zoe has barely had time to mourn before the king's right hand man Darien Serlast shows up and gives her a most unexpected and unwelcome news Zoe is to be the king's fifth wifeI know this doesn't sound promising I know it screams that Zoe is a special snowflake I know you are rolling your eyes at the thought of yet another convenient parent's death Please bear with me and trust me when I say that this book is so much better than it initially seemsZoe is in shock almost catatonic with grief from mourning She follows Darien without comment barely able to comprehend anything and barely capable of anything than the simple act of existing Once they get to the city Zoe snaps out of it and escapes She is not an idiot she has been in the city before and she knows where to stay where she can be safe She finds a place to settle near the banks of the Marisi river and there Zoe slowly awakens She grows out of her grief she comes to life again and she slowly comes to realize that her father is not who he seems as much as she loved him he kept secret from her One of those secrets is that she is the coru prime The heir to her houseArmed with this knowledge Zoe knows she is empowered As a prime Zoe has power than that of being a king's wife We are there with her as she grows to realize the full extent of her power to come into her inheritance and her destiny As she navigates the treacherous waters of the royal court and the royal wives and uncovers a mystery Perhaps she might even find love with a man as strong willed as she isWhat I Loved About This BookThe Setting Wonderfully imaginative Simple but absolutely compelling You know how numerology plays a large role in some countries like the Asian countries Certain numbers are good luck certain numbers are avoided for their negative associationthe world of this book works similarly only it is influenced by the numberMore on this in a bit Five keep that number in mindAll the elements in this book pun intended mesh together so well This is set in an alternate universe with light elements of magic Not everyone possesses magic only a select few the heirs primes of each of the five major houses within the country of Welce There are five major families which have the majority of power and influence within the royal circle without being directly royal themselves They are the Ardelays the Dochenzas the Serlasts the Frothens the Lalindars Zoe herself is the result of an union between two of the major houses the Ardelays and the LalindarsThis world is ruled by the belief of five elements in the body and soul which corresponds to each of the five families which corresponds to five seasons of the year I absolutely loved this and how well created this system turned out to be There is no glossary but the world is so well explained that one is not needed and for the curious there is a chart and a brief explanation of the elements and the year located at the very beginning and at the end of the book Simply put there are five elements and blessings coru waterblood elay airsoul hunti woodbone sweela firemind torz earthflesh This elemental blessing system is incorporated into every aspect of the story and it is so incredibly well crafted From the birth of a child and the selection of blessings to the explanation of traditions within the country to someone's personality to the incorporation of magical elements this world is absolutely consistent My mind bogglesThe year itself is still composed ofdays but organized differently again according to the five elements There are five seasons uintiles each lasting for eight ninedays with one Changeday a holiday and a major celebration at the endbeginning of each uintileThe setting itself is lovely and well described from the slums by the river to the spectacular palace itself I never tire of the world in which this book is setThe Characters Zoe Ardelay is awesome She is not perfect there were moments I lost patience with her but altogether she proved to be a most satisfactory heroine Zoe is weak at the beginning although that is somewhat understandable due to her grief She also has a tendency to run away when times get rough due to a lack of patience with others not because she is an ostrich with her head stuck in the sand Zoe is brave she is not perfect she doesn't understand the extent of her power sometimes she loses control of her own power at others but she is never malicious never evil I loved seeing Zoe come into the power which she has inherited and I enjoyed seeing her learn to play her part as a prime as a court woman as a woman with power and strength and wealth in her own rightI grieved with her when her beloved intelligent loving father died I felt for her when she came to realize like most of us eventually do that parents are not perfect They are human they are flawed The Zoe comes to know her father and his deeds the angrier she becomes as she feels betrayedbut her feelings are so understandable and relatable Zoe is reasonable rational intelligent And for that I loved her “If he was alive I might have abandoned him at this point tired of one

too many betrayals” she said “But I do not have that luxury now I must understand him and accept him or lose even my memories of him And I am not prepared to do thatnot now Not yet Perhaps not ever” The other characters in the book are eually well crafted Great care is given to all the side characters and I enjoyed them all Nobody is purely evil Someone we start out distrusting disliking someone who is initially standoffish cold distant may prove to become a friend along the line There is a great attention to detail in everything in this novel from the setting to the characters no matter how small and I truly appreciate thatThe Plot Always kept me engrossed The story moves around a lot and it gives us an opportunity to learn with every setting we come across We come to know new characters new things new intrigues new mysteries with every setting It is always a learning experience and a pleasant one The characters themselves comtribute so much to the plot that they become part of it This book always keeps me entertainedI absolutely loved the court intrigue I do not enjoy an overwhelmingly political book and this book has just enough politics and power play to keep me interested without losing my attention I particularly enjoyed the royal court with the king's four wives This world is not polygamous only the king is allowed to have than one wife and as always with than one woman in power there is always an interesting power play and cattiness to keep me entertained There's light intrigue a mystery that does not overwhelm Zoe's story and throughout all of it Zoe always has a role in which to participateThe Romance Light enjoyable and completely believable For much of the book Zoe doesn't even think about romance about having her own family about love about marriage FUCK YEAH ahemSorry I just get a wee bit excited when a female character is rational and consistent and content in her own self without the need or reliance on a man like thatZoe's love story is so gradual one hardly notices it It starts with distrust grows into a reluctant alliance then friendship Love eventually comes into the euation but it is not the centerpoint of the book by any meansFUCK YEAHSorryZoe and her love interest are so good together They are both such strong personalities and I loved them for it They are both stubborn unyielding in their own way and through their contrast they find their similarity Opposites attract Coru woman who could not be contained Hunti man who could not be moved There is no mind games There is no petty jealousy There is friendship alliance trust love They find strength in each other in their opposing personalities “There is nothing but heartache for a coru woman and a hunti man” she said deliberately contrary “He cannot control her and she cannot change him”“He never fails her and she always moves him” he corrected “She can trust his strength and he can be lifted by her joy” Altogether a fantastic book Highly recommended for all ages This is classified as YA but the characters are adult however there is nothing in this book that would offend anyone older thanI will enjoy this book when I reread it atThis is what I would call a fantasy lite story and as such is an easily accessible tale for those who may usually shy away from fantasy stories believing them to be too dense and foreign feeling to make for non stressful reading This is the story of howyear old Zoe Ardelay grows out from under the shadow of her larger than life father whom she joined in banishment from the royal court some ten years earlier It's a nice story easily processed and digested and Zoe makes for a likable main character There is a small romance angle at work but if romance is your bread and butter look elsewhere The romance here is presented in drips and drabs I actually would've liked a little so there is no danger of it overwhelming the rest of the story If action is your thing again look elsewhere because this is of a late bloomer storywith an emphasis on how Zoe moves through her new circumstances I would have liked a deeper dive into the world of the Five Families and their Primes As it is it feels like the story skimmed over and just hit the highlights See what I mean about fantasy lite But it was an enjoyable story for all that and I'm curious to see how subseuent books go since it looks like each one will showcase a different character If you are looking for bloody wars on immense scales with mythical creatures of the apocalypse sword fights violent deaths foul conspiracy fast pacing this may not be the book for you to read But if you are open to something different you may end up enjoying this novelI decided to give it a try upon reading the superb review of TadianaI am happy to say I was not disappointed at all I just loved reading it now consider it as one of my favourites of the Fantasy genre Background story The society of the Kingdom of Welce is built around the balance of the five natural elements with related character traits blessings water blood fire mind air soul earth flesh wood bone peoples resonance to one of themBesides the King the country is ruled by five great families with a particular affinity to one of the elements especially embodied in the heads Primes of the families water “coru” Family Lalindar air “eelay” Family Dochenza fire “sweela” Family Ardelay earth “torz” Family Frothen wood “hunti” Family Serlast The story is about Zoe Ardelay Lalindar how instead of marrying the King as histh wife she comes into power as the new Prime of the Lalindar her mothers family how she is growing into her role and how she navigates the troubled waters of high society court intrigueThings I loved Sharon Shinn managed to “create” a story that flows simply naturally without great fuss pointless grandiosity forced BIG revelations Every detail seems to be in its place fits naturally into the greater picture She did indeed achieve BALANCE The concept of the world building is based on theelements loosely on numerology The author builds up her world slowly but surely with lovely interesting intriguing details of geography religion politics social customs without being over or underwhelming The magic if it can be called magic at all is understated It is like natural powers coming to characters in synch with their intrinsic elements with greater power being concentrated in the Primes of thehouses It is an important feature but not the actual drive behind the story The heroine Zoe she is not your typical kickass one not that I have anything against them in general but still has a solid inner strength to her in perfect harmony with her natural element water that is very appealing She IS actually lovely likeable easy to relate to She is not perfect has no false humility about herself either And that my Fellow Readers is no mean feat considering how many authors seem to miss the point entirely by creating these oh so very speshul snowflakes” whose specialness lies in being insufferable oh please don tell me I am special for I know I am not though everyone else keeps telling me I AM” spoiling the whole reading process even if the story is a good one It is also a refreshing change that Zoe upon learning that she is heir to her Coru grandmother Prime of the Lalindar family instead of denial and running away from her fate in the usual fashion of chosen ones” of most fantasy novels actually takes to her role like a duck is taking to water pun intended flowing into filling in the space she needs to occupy naturally without any needless rumpus The characters in general main as well as secondary characters are well drawn There is no black white characterisation The love affair is also understated part of the story without events having to evolve around it all the time There are no earthuakes fireworks all screaming HESHE is the ONE” It is still believable how thecharacters are influencing are slowly being drawn to each other without the author having to hit us on the head every other page with how much they are in love describing every move look facial expression thought feeling in excruciating detailBe warned again that the story takes its own sweet time to gather real monentum so if you want a uick action fix choose something else.