Golden Daughter (Tales of Goldstone Wood) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Epub)

Description

BEYOND THE REALM OF DREAMS IS A WORLD SHE NEVER IMAGINED Masayi Sairu was raised to be dainty, delicate, demure . . . and deadly. She is one of the emperor’s Golden Daughters, as much a legend as she is a commodity. One day, Sairu will be contracted in marriage to a patron, whom she will secretly guard for the rest of her life. But when she learns that a sacred Dream Walker of the temple seeks the protection of a Golden Daughter, Sairu forgoes marriage in favor of this role. Her skills are stretched to the limit, for assassins hunt in the shadows, and phantoms haunt in dreams. With only a mysterious Faerie cat and a handsome slave—possessed of his own strange abilities—to help her, can Sairu shield her new mistress from evils she can neither see nor touch? For the Dragon is building an army of fire. And soon the heavens will burn.

User’s Reviews

ANNE ELISABETH STENGL makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a kindle of kitties, and one long-suffering dog. When she’s not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and practices piano, painting, and pastry baking. Her novels have been nominated for and won many literary awards, including the Christy Award and the Clive Staples Award.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Golden Daughter is the most vivid and endearing tale in Mrs. Anne Elisabeth Stengl’s series thus far. While eache tale grows more complex, this story stands out because of the vividness of the culture presented. I was immersed in this world from the beginning and found it difficult to leave.Golden Daughter tells the story of a usurped people who seek vengeance, a prince betrayed by his brother, a lonely scholar embroiled in a dangerous pact, and a warrior princess who will protect her mistress at any cost. When a Dream Walker, (one who can leave the mortal realm and travel into worlds unknown), is attacked by forces not seen, the High Priest of the Crown of the Moon enlists the help of a Golden Daughter. Bred as bodyguards, golden daughters are demure but deadly. Contracted in marriage to wealthy patrons, the daughters will protect their “husbands” the rest of their lives. Yet Masayi Sairu chooses a different path. She will protect the Dream Walker. Sairu’s decision will thrust her into a perilous journey that will test her to the very limits of her strength.Characterization is so vivid in this tale, the reader truly feels for each person. They spring to life before you with unforgettable clarity. Sairu is one of the most endearing heroines I have encountered in quite some time. Fierce, kind, loyal beyond reason at times, and determined, she truly stole my heart. Jovann, a Chhayan prince taken captive, is another amazing character. His steadfastness, pain vulnerability, love and humor shine forth. I also loved becoming better acquainted with Sunan, a character featured in earlier books. It was truly wonderful to discover a portion of his backstory. His character is so complex that one aches for him. And, perhaps the most enigmatic character of all is Lady Hariawan, the Dream Walker. A character of unfathomable mystery, Hariawan is both unempathetic and oddly strong. I could not fully grasp her motivations for many of her actions, which perhaps is why she is so unforgettable. At times, I felt true sorrow for her and at other times she infuriated me. To be fair, I will say I do not loathe her, but I do not love her, either. This, of course, is the mark of a superb storyteller, for Mrs. Stengl draws these characters in such a way the reader can identify with each individual.Golden Daughter will transport you to a world of pain and hope, a world where a malevolent Dragon seeks to destroy and a Song Giver rules with ultimate power. Enter a world where hidden temples built from voices reside and where the Moon’s Garden blooms with blossoms of opals. Travel through a beautiful palace and a Valley of Suffering. Most importantly, meet amazing people who, although different in some ways from ourselves, are not so different after all. Meet people who hurt and seek vengeance, and meet people who love despite their baser instincts. This novel reminded me of Romans 8:28 through the end of the chapter. Through God’s help, we are more than conquerors. All things work together for good to them that love God.

⭐ Masayi Sairu is Golden Daughter, one of the most dangerous and secret weapons of her emperor. Trained to spend her life protecting a patron disguised as a husband, Sairu takes her future into her own hands and finds herself caught up in something far larger than she could ever imagine.Sairu is such a big, powerful heroine packed into a tiny package. She is full of humor, skill and a smile that can freeze enemies in their tracks. Her companionship with Eanrin felt natural and flowed off the pages. Sunan is a character that is not new and yet completely different from the Sunan readers will be familiar with. I enjoyed seeing Sunan’s origins and hope to see more of him in the future. Jovann is a new hero to Goldstone and I fell in love with him. He is a kind and peaceful soul internally at war with his upbringing and family loyalties. Since childhood he has had a connection to a certain songbird and must find his inner self and strength to become his own man. Lady Hariawan is best described as empty. She is almost completely devoid of emotion and has no sense of self preservation. Her refusal to act has dire cost and I do not believe her tale in the Goldstone is over just yet.Epic has, for me, become synonymous with the Tales of Goldstone Wood. Each individual tale is interwoven with threads of biblical stories and well known fairytales, without becoming just another retelling. I feel completely comfortable going ahead and calling this my favorite read of the year! It is packed with enough action and adventure for two books and the ever expanding mythos of Goldstone wood becomes more alluring with each new novel.***I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own***

⭐ Golden Daughter by Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the 7th book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was much better than the last one in the series! This story was so detailed and everything was finessed to perfection. I was immersed in the characters stories and was unsure of what the final outcome would be. I think it may be my new favorite of this series!Masayi Sairu is a Golden Daughter. These women are trained from a very young age to be guardians of others usually princes. Their lives are destined to be loveless because love can be used as a weapon against them. The unique thing about these women is that they are the Emporer’s daughters yet they are trained to serve others. Intriguing concept!A very talented Dream Walker needs help and Masayi Sairu manages to become her servant for life. But what she doesn’t understand is why a cat with strange abilities is following her mistress. Or why a slave is so important to the Dream Walker. As she struggles to protect her mistress from harm she finds herself fighting love and doubts. Can she protect the Dream Walker from the dragon and his army or will they be too strong?I give you fair warning! Once you start this book, you won’t be able to put it down. It is interesting from the beginning to the end, and even though it is a long book, I wasn’t ready to be finished with the story! The characters were so well thought out and the whole time period was magnificently done. The author is a master with characters and regions making you, the reader, feel like you are a part of their world. There were so many plots and subplots centering around the one overriding story line, and it all meshes together so perfectly in the end. Eanrin seemed more approachable and caring than usual in this story but was still the typical cat. 😉 LOLYou don’t have to read the other books in the series to read this one. It’s pretty much a stand alone novel. 🙂 Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

⭐ I’ve been wanting to read this book for ages and I finally decided to reward myself for a completed project this month and got myself a copy. I was not disappointed: it will prove to be one of my favorites from this author, bested only by Heartless and Starflower, although Dragonwitch makes for steep competition as well.There is much about this book that will leave you chewing on it later. I found I enjoyed reading it small segments, to give myself time to truly appreciate what I read and prepare myself for the next section. I don’t normally read this way, so this is a good indication the book was terrific. I am a speed reader, so for any book to make me slow down and still love it says a lot. There are some amazing Biblical parallels in this story, which I won’t get into lest I spoil it for others, but I think you will all be moved by the message of this amazing story. And yes, it is a nice FAT book so you will get to enjoy it that much longer.I love fat books.

⭐ The Tales of Goldstone Wood just keep getting better and better. This time the author takes us to a land where royal daughters are raised and instructed to protect and defend their charges. Our favorite cat is back along with the dreaded dragon. And can I say I LOVE those little lion dogs…or should I say “hedge-pigs.” Even their names are adorable: Sticky Bun, Dumpling and Rice Cake. Brilliant.Golden Daughter delivers everything readers have come to expect from Anne Elisabeth Stengl: an engaging plot with characters who face choices that mold and form them on their journey. The Greater Dark looms over all, infecting characters who harbor anger, resentment and unforgiveness in their hearts. “The Path of Nightmares is beyond mortal tongues to tell. For to each traveler it wears a different aspect, making itself individually dreadful…”While it certainly helps to read the series from the beginning, this story can stand alone as well- although it might be harder to fully understand the cat (maybe we’ll never fully understand the cat anyway…hehe). The whole series is worth your time and this installment is no exception. Delightful.

⭐ Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My copy of Golden Daughter, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, came last Wednesday. If you live in North Carolina, you’ll remember that it was the first cold rain of the year, made more miserable by the fact that I had forgotten my literature teacher’s porch didn’t have an overhang, so my lovely, furry boots were soaked. I crept miserably home, determined to curl up somewhere warm with a nice book. But, luckily, I thought to check my e-mail first. And there, glowingly, I beheld my ARC. Eagerly, I began to read. And so we come to what you have been waiting for: the review. Masayi Sairu has been a Golden Daughter her whole life, confined in an emperor’s palace, where she learned the skills of intrigue, cunning, and, above all, protection. For as soon as the Golden Mother deems her training complete, Sairu will be married off to a political ally, whom she must protect for the rest of her life. But arranged marriage holds no appeal for Sairu, and when she sees a chance to escape the traditional role of the Golden Daughters, she takes it. Her new charge, the beautiful temple girl, Lady Hariawan, is a gifted Dream Walker, capable of exploring worlds far beyond her own. But an encounter in the Dream left her scarred, both physically and spiritually. And how can Sairu protect her mistress from enemies in a different world?Golden Daughter is unlike any of Stengl’s previous novels. For one thing, it takes place largely in the Near World, and there only in one region– something Stengl hasn’t done since Heartless. Although the adventures do bleed over into the Wood and the Dream, the characters have less knowledge of it, so it reads quite differently. That being said, Stengl handled it excellently. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time her characters have interacted with a crowded city or travelled across the Near World. (I am discounting summarized journeys.) In addition to forging new territory, Stengl shows great restraint as a writer when she refrains from overtly referencing the rest of the series. A certain, familiar character goes almost the entire novel without being named. So yes; Golden Daughter is quite different, almost disconnected, from its peers. And although I am sad not to see more of the familiar Wood, this forces the novel to stand on its own– and, dear readers, Golden Daughter does just that. Despite having more unfamiliar characters than I anticipated, I quickly connected with our three heroes: Sairu, Jovann, and Sunan (although I did not pick up on the allegory until deplorably late in the novel). In fact, I enjoyed all the characters… except Lady Hariawan. She set me on edge, and I could not fathom her role in the story aside from a focus of the characters’ interest; she literally spends most of it comatose, emerging only long enough to make cryptic comments. Towards the beginning of the novel, I worried that I was meant to sympathize with Lady Hariawan as a heroine of the novel. I didn’t sympathize with her, not at all. She irritated me by never doing anything, but her non-actions still retained consequence. As events transpired, I felt more comfortable disliking Lady Hariawan, but even now I can’t figure her out. After five hundred pages, I know precisely nothing about her besides her name. And because I never understood the motivations behind her actions, I lost interest in them. Why was she beautiful? Why was she silent? Why did she change? I still don’t know. Yes, it is frustrating. But remember the ending of Veiled Rose, when it seemed no one could possibly sink any lower? Or– dare I mention– the ending of Shadow Hand, that left me a complete wreck after finishing it? Although Stengl does not pull her punches, she always, always, delivers a great ending. Maybe not a happy one. But certainly never a pointless one. Although I didn’t understand the character of Lady Hariawan, I trust that Stengl has more to say on the topic. Until then, I can only keep reading. I am reasonably confident that I will love anything in this series, and Golden Daughter is no exception. I loved reading it; you should do so, too, at your earliest convenience. I would recommend that you read at least Veiled Rose, Starflower, and Moonblood first, preferably in that order. Because the series spans such a vast frame of time, it runs the risk of losing the reader along the way, and I fear that might happen if you read Golden Daughter unprepared. To recap: Golden Daughter, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, is an excellent addition to the series. Although quite different from the previous books, it retains her trademark wit, charm, and vision that leaves me speculating what comes next. I, personally, would love to see Imraldera again. Because we only get one character’s perspective of her in Golden Daughter, I’d like to reconnect with one of my favorite characters, because I suspect that she still has some growing to do.

⭐ My daughter and I have read all of the Goldstone Wood books, and Anne Elisabeth Stengl just gets better with each book. Her characters are complex, human, but lovable, and her omniscient style of writing fits the story well, giving it an epic fairy tale feel. We love the way each story weaves together with the others in the series, and Golden Daughter does a great job of connecting and enhancing certain details in other books. The Night of Moonblood scene was fantastic and lived up to the epic song and foreshadowing in Moonblood, the third book in the series. This is one of the best Christian fantasy book series we have read. We are looking forward to more of her books.

⭐ Let me say up front that I usually love this author and have all of her books. However, I was a bit disappointed with this one. Maybe because the characters and culture were so different from the others or the fact that Eanrin (who is not my favorite character despite me being a cat lover) is the only truly familiar character. Also there was just too little of my Prince (less than ever I thought) and he’s the one I’m always looking for. Still, this is an author and series I recommend. If you’ve never read her then start with the first book – heartless. If you’ve read some of this series book not this book then just be aware that it won’t quite be what you may be expecting.

⭐ Stengl continues to deliver excellence with her latest installation, Golden Daughter. This is no casual read, like many popular books. The language and intertwining story lines compel the reader to fully immerse themselves into Stengl’s carefully constructed fantasy world. Although this story can be read independently, reading the rest of the novels enriches the reading experience, allowing the reader to catch references to previous novels and events in the Goldstone timeline. Do yourself a favor, and dive into the world of the Tales of Goldstone Wood.

⭐ I love this series and wish that it would have sold more copies so that the author found it profitable to continue the tales. This was the only book of the series I had not read previously, and it is definitely the thickest. I was pleased with the condition that the book came in and enjoy a pleasant couple of days diving back into Stengl’s finely crafted world. Would definitely buy more books from her if she decided to write more for this series.

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