A while back I received Guardians of Dawn book 1 from an Illumicrate box, and it introduced me to S. Jae-Jones. I liked her style of writing with Guardians, so decided to have a look to see if she had written anything else.
To my delight, she had two other books previously published, and what caught my attention even more, was that they were inspired by Labyrinth! (Yes, the David Bowie film). Another intrigue that these books have, is that they are on a banned list in America (I think), or at least the first one is.
Wintersong
All her life Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They’ve enraptured her spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen, Liesl can’t help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.
But when her sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl must journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds- and the mysterious man who rules it- she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old law as working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.
To be honest the only similarity between this and the film is that a sibling is taken to the Underground because the Goblin King is in love with with the heroine.
Spoilers
In this story, the Goblin King is searching for a bride and so takes Liesl’s sister, the bride is eventually sacrificed so that the world is not plunged into eternal winter. Honestly in the part where she chases after, finds and tries to get her sister out, was substantially shorter than I was expecting. But I suppose this was my own fault for thinking it would take from the film more!
At its heart this is a dark romance. Having freed her sister, and agreed to become the Goblin Queen, Liesl slowly finds herself and falls in love with Goblin King rather than just lusting for him, and often making a fool of herself when she does. Eventually he properly falls in love with her, and does not want her to be a sacrifice. The Goblin King releases Liesl from her vows and allows her to escape from the Underground, where she returns to a semi normal life.
I think to be honest the book could have ended here nicely, but we do have a sequel, which isn’t as long and has a bit more going for it. I read Shadowsong in one day, whereas Wintersong took me a combination of 4 or 5 days of lunch hour reading and a the final 150 smashed out on a Friday night (because I know how to party obvs).
Shadowsong
Six months after the events of Wintersong, Liesl is working towards furthering both her brother’s musical career and her own. But life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef, is cold and withdrawn, whilst Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her.
When troubling signs arise that the barrier between the worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mysteries of life, death and the Goblin King. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world – or the ones Liesl loves- is in her hands?
Spoilers
Shadowsong definitely feels like it has more going on within its pages. Liesl is sent a letter by a mysterious benefactor, offering to move her family out to her brother. Liesl and her sister head off to meet Josef and Francois in Vienna, and being their new lives. Josef is clearly mad at Liesl for not writing, as he and Kathe were the only ones who still remembered her whilst Liesl was in the Underground. Instead of telling him the truth, Liesl kept quiet. Which was weird considering she wrote the entire truth in a letter and posted it, it just never arrived.
At some point in the first book, Liesl finds out Josef is actually a changeling, and spends ages in two minds over her brother. She debates telling him the truth, and when she does so, does it in the middle of an argument.
Whilst this is going on, both Josef and Liesl have been whisked away by their mysterious benefactors, a count and countess, who have informed them that they are in danger of becoming victims of The Wild Hunt- those who maintain the old laws- which Liesl has broken by leaving the underground.
The book has a fair amount of pining from Liesl and is mostly a focus on her and Josefs relationship and it’s unravelling.
I think we could have spent more time with the count and countess, we learn the countess is descended from the first Goblin Kings bride, who in a similar fashion, had fallen in love with her and let her go. The Wild Hunt have been chasing the line ever since, and the only way the countess has survived is by killing off those who believe in the Goblin King. Once this was revealed, it started to paint the count and countess as the villains of the book, however in underwhelming twist, once Liesl decides she will save both Josef and the Goblin King, the countess just lets her go. Where she heads back to becoming the Goblin Queen.
The Wild Hunt force her to pick either Josef or the Goblin King, and in a cliche that everyone could see coming, she kills herself. But Josef, the Goblin King, Twig and Thistle (her handmaidens) pull together to save her and Josef willingly becomes the new Goblin King releasing the one Liesl loves to be mortal and live the rest of his life with her.
Everyone get’s their happily ever after.
If you like a dark romantic fantasy, this set is absolutely one to pick up. However if you’re a fan of the Labyrinth film, and naively believe the reviews and the authors statement of it being based on the Labyrinth-it’s not, only loosely inspired. But still interesting if you’re a fan of fantasy!
Izzy Reads 
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