Hello all,
First, let me say I’m really late with this one. Diana let me know in early August that the new book was out, and I’ve kept it to myself all this time. Sorry
But I’m telling you all about it now! Better late than, never right?!!?? Right?
Ok so for those of you who are a bit confused right now, first let me give you some context. Diana Waters is a wonderful author who happens to enjoy anime and write delightful and appropriately steamy fantasy novels.
I’ve been lucky enough to follow the Wild Magics saga as it unfolds and I told you guys about books 1 and two previously:
And now volume 3 is out and it’s called Truth in the Wind.
Basically, the story plunges us into an intricate world of magic and valour full of dangers and intrigue. It is a classical high fantasy for all those that love to daydream about fantastic worlds just beyond our reach. However, Diana also manages to capture some heart-pounding and saucy scenes between her main characters. Her male main characters.
Let’s make it clear. I like Yaoi in general and I have no issue with depictions of homosexual romances in fiction. If you do, well, this may not be the book for you. That’s a shame.
I am happy to say that the books don’t relish in some of the more unfortunate tropes of the genre. Although there are some depictions of trauma and abuse, for the most part, relationships are consensual and healthy and just gwah. Like just really nice and fluffy and makes you want to read more and root for the boys!
Of course, these are adventures with obstacles and dangers, so obviously some situations are not quite as cute and fluffy. In fact, I would say that the present book, Truth in the Wind, is something of an exploration of grief and loss. It has some poignant and painful moments. But that makes the sweet moments even sweeter. You know?
No really, seeing the relationship between Ash and Ren finally come to fruition was just such a joy after all that happened. It was almost a relief to me as a reader. It’s just rewarding when something good happens to a character you’ve been following after they’ve gone through so much.
The books do not all follow the same characters so we do get a chance to meet a lot of different people throughout the trilogy and get more perspectives and points of view to flesh out the universe much more than a singular hero series can.
I’ll admit that I’m not a connoisseur in this specific genre. To me, the books are fairly unique, but I really haven’t read much else I can compare them to so I’m not very confident in the statement. What I can say is that I have read a lot of adventure fantasy without any romantic elements and I found the Wild Magics books to compare favourably.
You should know that these books are novellas rather than encyclopedia length novels. So they are great to devour over a rainy weekend. However, they are still very rich with lore and world-building. One of the greatest appeals of fantasy for me is the worlds themselves and although Diana uses a lot of familiar elements to create her stories, she puts them together in such a way that it ends up feeling both comfortable and fantastic at the same time.
Also, of note is that the books are all pretty much stand-alone novels. As such, if the synopsis of one book seems more like your sort of thing, you can start with that one regardless of which volume it actually is. You will get a full story with a satisfying conclusion no matter what. But when you’re ready for more, then bam! Two more books for you!
Aside from the romances, there are a lot of intrigues happening in each volume, to keep you guessing and in some instances quite a bit of tension.
Honestly, if you have been yearning for a bit of steamy fantasy you really can’t go wrong with these titles. And if you need any more incentives, Diana is now on her fourth book but she is still a new author and encouraging new talent is always a worthwhile endeavour.
Ok, I’m going to throw a wildcard here. When going through Diana’s other works, I discovered this:
Now I haven’t read Sanguineous yet, here is the short synopsis:
Niccolo, a vampire-turned-private detective, is living peacefully in New York with his lover, Felix—until, on the eve of a certain holiday, a late-night visitor from his past comes calling…
Doesn’t that sound like just the perfect story for all your upcoming Halloween reading needs? It does, right? I’m excited!
If you guys want to get your hands on these books, you can do so easily through amazon:
Wild Magics 1
Wild Magics 2
Wild Magics 3
You can even get a neat bundle of all three.
You can and should also give Diana some encouragement by dropping her a line on social media:
- https://www.facebook.com/diana.c.waters
- dianawatersromance.wordpress.com
- bookbub.com/profile/diana-waters
- goodreads.com/diana_waters
I hope you all have fun adding a bit of magic and spice to your life.
Cool post! If you don’t mind me asking, how do you make your avatar?
I’m not sure where Crow got his. I use a site called picrew
Oh okay. What do you mean by ‘Crow’?
Oh Crow is another blogger that I occasionally publish with and he has his own avatar
Oh okay
Love that you’re doing some book reviews too! And I’m always ready to add some more m/m fantasy to my reading list, thanks for the recommendation!
Hope you enjoy it!
This is the first time i’ve seen a non anime or manga review on this blog. How often do you make these kinds of posts?
-K.Anthony
Whenever an author contacts me and I like the book. So not often at all
Thats very interesting and nice to see you’re getting authors reaching out to you so you could check out their stuff and give your honest opinon on it. I’d love to get doujinshi’s from Japan showing me their works one day for my blog so i could talk about it as well.
Some steamy fantasy sounds like exactly my cup of tea! 🙂
We got similar tea tastes