Warrior of the World

Jeffe Kennedy

Jan 2019 · Chronicles of Dasnaria Book 3 · Rebel Base Books

About this ebook

CHRONICLES OF DASNARIA

Just beyond the reach of the Twelve Kingdoms, avarice, violence, strategy, and revenge clash around a survivor who could upset the balance of power all across the map . . .

Once Ivariel thought elephants were fairy tales to amuse children. But her ice-encased childhood in Dasnaria’s imperial seraglio was lacking in freedom and justice.. With a new name and an assumed identity as a warrior priestess of Danu, the woman once called Princess Jenna is now a fraud and a fugitive. But as she learns the ways of the beasts and hones new uses for her dancer’s strength, she moves one day further from the memory of her brutal husband. Safe in hot, healing Nyambura, Ivariel holds a good man at arm’s length and trains for the day she’ll be hunted again.

She knows it’s coming. She’s not truly safe, not when her mind clouds with killing rage at unpredictable moments. Not when patient Ochieng’s dreams of a family frighten her to her bones. But it still comes as a shock to Ivariel when long-peaceful Nyambura comes under attack. Until her new people look to their warrior priestess and her elephants to lead them . . .

Praise for The Mark of the Tala

“Magnificent...a richly detailed fantasy world.”
—RT Book Reviews, 41⁄2 stars, Top Pick

“Well written and swooningly romantic.”
—Library Journal, starred review

Ratings and reviews

Spoilers ahead for the first two books ... Imperial Princess Jenna of Dasnaria was raised to be obedient and to pleasure the man her father and brothers chose for her. In Dasnaria women have nothing and no power, they are kept sequestered in a seraglio. When Jenna is married she finds her husband is a sadist and enjoys taking out his hatred of her father on her body. Eventually her brother helps her to escape and she travels to new lands, trains as a Priestess of Danu and takes vows of chastity and silence. At the end of the second book Jenna, who now calls herself Ivariel had made a new life with a family in Nyambura where she tends to the elephants and teaches the children to dance the warrior's dance, until her abusive husband tracks her down and she kills him and his men in a beserker fit of rage, although it almost kills her too - until Ochieng and his family rescue her with all their elephants. In this third, and I believe final, book in the trilogy Ivariel is still recovering from the beating and rape by her now deceased husband but the family face further threats from a neighbouring city after the rainy season extends longer than ever before. The people are starving and so they come to pillage and steal from the peaceful Nyamurans. Ivariel is struggling to deal with her violent impulses, fearful that when the rage descends she could kill one of her friends, but maybe that's just what the Nyamurans need to protect them from the outside. I still haven't read the first book, even though I bought it when it was on sale, I'm a bit scared about how horrific Jenna's life with her abusive husband will be ... What can I say? A fitting end to the trilogy. I think you could read this as a stand-alone novel, although the backstory would all be told not shown. Jeffe Kennedy writes such beautiful prose, such engaging characters and such evocative landscapes. I felt like I was tending the elephants with Ivariel, singing the songs with the family, the torrential rain we had last night also felt very much like the rainy season in Nyamura, water everywhere and your clothes are vaguely damp all the time! I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

will we hear more from this world?

About the author

Jeffe Kennedy is an award winning author. Her most recent works the fantasty series Twelve Kingdoms, the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns, the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and an erotic contemporary serial novel, Master of the Opera. Readers can visit her website at: JeffeKennedy.com or every Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog.