Title: The Falconer (The Falconer #1)Author: Elizabeth May
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: September 19, 2013
Genre/Age Group: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Source: Purchased
Add it: Goodreads
Rating:
One girl's nightmare is this girl's faery tale.
She's a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty.
She's a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. she's leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense the sìthíchean—the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans—and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.
She's a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons—from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols—ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.
She's a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother's murder—but she'll have to save the world first.
The first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy, this electrifying thriller combines romance and action, steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.
MY THOUGHTS
This was a reread for me. (Boom, powerful statement.) As a result, the following might take on the form of a collection of loose thoughts instead of a coherent review. (As if I usually write the latter.) If that’s not your thing and you’d rather see a (spoiler-free) first impressions kind of reaction, maybe this what did work for me/what didn’t work for me post is more your jam. Judith also reviewed this all the way back in 2014, which was way less THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC than I personally would have liked, but it was an unfortunate case of reading it at the wrong time. (Or at least that’s what she told me. Feel free to edit this out if I’m spreading lies and slander, Jude.) I have to say, though, the red pieces of paper — which is what Judith uses to mark a passage she really liked — that occasionally fell out of my copy were a very nice touch to an already amazing reread.
LET’S DO THIS. (Vague spoilers style.)
One of the bigger sins of my baby blogger self was that I severely disliked this book until I hit the 120th page. I was much more biased openminded this time and while the beginning was still a bit of struggle, I was fully gone the minute Catherine came to luncheon at elevenhours. Let’s continue these stills for a moment. I still love the stitchers and I wish they were real. I imagine them as these little mechanical beetles that stitch you up and let’s be real, they’re the only insects I’d ever let voluntarily crawl all over my body. I still wish we could have seen Aileana’s year of training instead of just the last week before fairy armageddon. (That being said, so much happened that I often forgot this took place during only one week.) I’m still sort of rooting for her and Gavin to have this marriage of convenience while having some kind of understanding a.k.a. affirmation that Aileana and Kiaran are the real OTP.
AND I STILL WISH WE COULD HAVE SEEN AILEANA INVENTING WITH HER MOTHER. Because there’s no way you can convince me her mother didn’t know exactly what she was doing, using the guise of teaching her daughter how to make frivolous contraptions as a way to hone her skills in a safe and what would be deemed appropriate or “ladylike” manner. And it’s this way of tricking the system that makes me wish Aileana had just told Catherine about the fae and all the other nightmares roaming their world from the start. It’s not like I don’t get her wish to keep Catherine “untouched” by the fae world, but Catherine would be such an asset to Team Protect the World from Fairy Assholes. She has the kind of smarts and knowledge of etiquette that would make her come up with a believable excuse in five seconds flat every time Aileana has to run off in the middle of a waltz because she’s sensing another escaped fairy. So besides the Besties in Battle draw, it would just be good thinking to clue her in because she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Though it’s hard for me to complain about that when the scene with Aileana, Catherine, and Dona taking a walk in the park and Kiaran casually strolling their way in the broad daylight, leaving Catherine faestruck and wanting to touch Kiaran while saying over and over again how beautiful he is — I feel you girl — made me actually squeal in delight. Never mind the effect that Aileana being so peeved by his gal she considered whacking him with her parasol had on my person. I remember saying not that long ago that I never really swoon over books but ya damn I almost rolled off my bed several times with this one. I was delighted. I was giggling. I was holed up in a blanket fort, more or less clasping my cup of tea while savouring every word.
This is still true and 2013 Ellis was adorable.
Random thing I noticed and LOVED this time: how taken aback Aileana is when she realises she could have hurt people by blowing up the bridge but didn’t even think of them at the time. I have no idea whether it was intended that way, but it felt like this figured as a bit of subtle commentary on how often the human toll (not just in body count but also in the way their homes and cities are ravaged) is neglected in stories where the supernatural (or superhuman) intersects with the human world. I’m just going to interpret it that way because I like this theory.
AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW AILEANA KAMERON HAS WEAPONS STASHED LITERALLY EVERYWHERE BECAUSE THIS. GIRL.
Second sidenote: I feel like my vocabulary has been very affected by this book, because I’m typing all of these words I usually NEVER use but ohmygodddd I loved the language. I loved the vocabulary, the turns of phrases, Kiaran’s fae language or whatever the hell it is and trying to guess what he was actually saying, the debate of language politics of 19th century Scottish high society, and Aileana’s stance on what bullshit it is that they should be speaking “proper” English. It’s quite possible I need help but I still feel the urge to randomly yell out “what a cad!”
Okay. OKAY. I’ve kept it somewhat together for long enough so before I start yelling about the OTP that became even realer and more intense on the reread, let me just mention that what I want out of the sequel(s) is for there to be some kind of confrontation where we can see the previous Falconers. My personal vote goes to a scene where they appear to Aileana when she needs their strength and support à la Raisa and her gray wolf ancestors.
I’m also very excited about meeting Kiaran’s sister Aithinne and I hope she and Aileana team up in the sequel.
And I’m going to need a dance scene with Aileana and (possibly evil? or at least morally conflicted) Kiaran doing one of those old school dances full of illicit touches and maximum levels of UST bouncing off the walls.
why can’t I kiss you on the dance floooooor I wish that it could be like that why can’t it be like that ’cause I’m youuuuurrrrsssss
(Help me.)
OKAY BUT HOW DID I APPARENTLY FORGET AND NOT FALL WILDLY IN LOVE WITH KIARAN CALLING AILEANA KAM TWO YEARS AGO?? I am utterly charmed (and GONE) now. Or when he asks her which future she sees for herself and offers the options of a domestic au with Gavin or the never-ending battle right by his side?? Fuck. me. (I want both. I want this.) (The Gavin of it all is optional.) Or how they always seem to gravitate towards each other, with her leaning against him when she’s exhausted, them always nearly touching in a way, and just being PULLED towards the other, with him standing behind her while she’s sketching, looking over her shoulder and seriously getting in her face space?? THE FIGHTING BACK TO BACK. BACKS TOUCHING, WEAPONS OUT. DESPERATE KISSES. ELLIS DOWN. BUT ALSO THE PARTIAL DISROBING TO GET POISONOUS FAIRY BARBS OUT. THE GRABBING BY THE LAPELS. THE FLIRTING WHILE HIGH ON 19TH-CENTURY SCOTTISH MEDS. CUTTING OFF EACH OTHER’S PLEDGES OF UNWAVERING LOYALTY AND DECLARATIONS OF FEELINGS WITH MORE DESPERATE KISSING. This ship left me utterly weak and it will be a while before I recover.
THAT BEING SAID THE ENDING IS STILL ATROCIOUS LIKE THIS ISN’T SOME CW SHOW WITH THE NEXT EPISODE AIRING WITHIN A WEEK I’VE WAITED FOR OVER TWO YEARS FOR THE SEQUEL YOU CAN’T JUST STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THINGS AND CHEAT MY OUT OF THE FIVE MORE PAGES I THOUGHT I STILL HAD WITH A GODDAMN BESTIARY (which I thought was awesome in and of itself but that’s besides the point) OKAY ELLIS OUT
MEMORABLE QUOTES
I throw the hammer to the ground and approach Kiaran. His gaze is bottomless, unfathomable. I lean in, indecently close.
“You underestimate me,” I whisper. “And that is a mistake.”
I make a choking sound at the back of my throat. “Really, Catherine. You’re misremembering.”
“What nonsense! You used to write in your invention sketchbook: Lady Aileana Stewart, Viscountess of Cassilis.” She smiles slyly. “I suppose you’ll have to change that to reflect his new title now, won’t you – Countess of Galloway?”
“Oh, do be quiet. That was a lapse in judgement.” I say, waving a hand dismissively. “I was young and foolish.”
“You did it for four years.”
Derrick glares. “Could you possibly form a working relationship with someone who isn’t so crabbit all the time?”
“What did he do?”
“Stole all of my intended victims! There I was, getting ready to fly around and collect my trophies, and he jumps in and swings his blasted glairy-fairy blades and kills everything.”
“So what were you doing with him when I arrived? It looked cosy.”
“Kiaran was . . . helping me.”
“Was there something near your mouth that required such focused attention?”
I all but choke on my tea. “Don’t be absurd.”
“Perhaps His Grace has empty vases on one of his many chimneypieces,” I say drily, “which you can steal to replace the ones you accidentally broke in my home.”
“That wasn’t an accident. I decided I didn’t like them.”
Kills: 20 36 87 103 Too many to tally.
Weaknesses: No known weaknesses. I will find one.