I received an email one day from this random author, asking me to proofread her new book. I had never met her before and had only a passing acquaintance with her on Twitter. I absolutely love proofreading, though, so of course I said yes. Her request was for the second in a duology, but she eventually decided to have me proofread book one as well, so that the duology would be consistent when she published.
That author was Leia Talon, and her duology was The Roots and Stars. Book one is titled Falling Through the Weaving. Holy Heavens Tumergatroyd! Yes, that’s a word. Don’t ask me what it means, though, because I don’t know.
I could not be more thrilled that Leia contacted me! Not only did I get to proofread (one of my favorite activities), but I got to read two truly amazing stories.
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Synopsis
In true indie fashion, Leia Talon has taken a well-known trope, The Chosen One, and turned it on its head. Shelta, the main character, has spent most of her life accidentally “falling through time.” Since she was young, she would randomly touch a tree, and suddenly find herself anywhere from 3 years to 15 years into the future.
Shelta has no idea why it happens, or how to stop it. All she knows is that every time it does, she loses more and more people that are dear to her.
When book one starts, Shelta has reached a time in her life when she refuses to get attached to anyone, because they are only going to be heartbroken when she inevitably falls through time again. The walls she has erected around her heart and her soul are as impenetrable as she can make them.
Until she falls again, into Scotland.
This Scotland is not the one she knows about though. Curiously, she has fallen into a past, alternate form of Scotland. When she meets Killian, at the roots of the tree she just fell through, he takes her under his wing and shows her around.
EXCERPT FROM FALLING THROUGH THE WEAVING
“Where did ye come from, lass?”
Scotland. I was in Scotland. But unless swords were back in fashion, something had gone terribly wrong. Backwards in time didn’t appeal to me in the least. I’d only ever gone forward before. My mind stuttered. I put my hands to my head and suppressed a groan, glad the pool of water separated us for the time being. I had no idea how to explain myself.
Attempting to regain cognitive ability gave me a chance to look him over. Solid build. Sharp gaze. Unmistakably wearing a kilt. His boots were taller than mine, with buckles up the sides, their leather not quite as black as his coat. Black, blue, and white stripes crossed the forest green of his tartan, and a sword hung at his left hip, mirrored by a dagger on his right. A scar on his left temple peeked out from bits of dark hair that fell to his jaw, where another scar shot a streak of silver through a rough beard.
“Ye appeared out of thin air a moment ago.” He tried again. “Singing, if I’m not mistaken.”
“Singing. Yeah, I tend to do that.” My gaze dropped to the flow of water between us as circuits connected in my brain. “I was walking through a forest in Canada. There was a really big tree. I touched it, and now I’m here.” I didn’t know what else to say, considering he’d seen me materialize. I’d never had a witness before.
“Ye travel between worlds?” His voice was little more than a whisper.
I lifted my eyes. “I guess so.” Would he think me a witch?
He stayed silent, but I didn’t pick up any sense of alarm, so I summoned my courage and asked an absurd question that need sorting in order for my brain to deal. “Am I correct in thinking I’m in Scotland?”
“Aye. Ye’re a long way from the New World, if that is indeed where ye came from.”
“British Columbia.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Oh.” It was a small sound. Distant. “I’m sorry I interrupted whatever you were doing here.” My apology floated slack over the water. How far back had I gone? I turned around to touch the tree, the oak’s bark bumpy while the cedar’s had been smooth, but the portal was closed. Like always. There was no way out.
I forced my gaze back to the man across the spring.
“Ye haven’t interrupted.” His words were as lacking in conviction as mine.
I had interrupted something. I knew it with the same certainty that warned me I was an outrageously long way from anything familiar. “Would you be so kind as to tell me the year?”
“1753,” he replied evenly. “What year was it where ye came from?”
“2035,” I whispered.
His eyebrows shot up. Was that fear in his gaze? I needed him to trust me or my odds of survival would drop fast.
“I know it’s hard to believe.” I lifted my fingers to trace the dragon on my necklace.
He narrowed his eyes when he saw the pendant, something like recognition in his the crinkle of his face. “Aye. That’s a mighty long jump.”
Wait. Was he accepting my freakish time-hopping thing? I held his gaze in a tense stretch of silence. His eyes were dark, with enough depth to hold the night sky. And there was something else – a sense of familiarity.
“You believe me?” My words came out entirely too vulnerable. No way did he believe me, unless he knew something I didn’t.
“I’ve got no reason not to believe ye. That oak behind you is the World Tree. These woods are full of magic.” The depths of his eyes spoke of enchantment. Of mysteries lost in time. It made me shiver as he went on. “There was nay but myself here one moment, and ye came from the tree the next. I dinna ken how ye’d come up with a story like that if it weren’t true.”
“Thank you,” I stammered. The World Tree had come up again and again in my research, but I’d never heard someone refer to it in the context of an actual tree, like common knowledge. I accepted his outstretched hand and stepped over the narrow part of the stream, which flowed serenely through the forest.
“What’s yer name, lass?”
“Shelta.” I cleared my throat. “Shelta Raine.”
“Ye have pretty green eyes, Shelta Raine. My name is Killian Maclean.” He dipped into a regal bow, took my hand, and kissed it.
So much happens from this point on that I’m not going to mention, because I really feel like it would spoil the book. I refuse to do that. In fact, I’m going to ask you to not even read the blurb before reading the book. In a second, I’ll tell you why. Before I get to that, I really want to mention Leia’s writing style.
My Thoughts
Leia has such a lyrical, flowing way of writing that even without the amazing story the words just suck you right into the page. I forgot on several occasions that I was supposed to be fixing grammar issues, because I would fall into her words and get stuck there. Shelta had been through so much in her life, and her character was so relatable, that along with the writing style, I felt like I really wanted to travel to this world and just hug her.
Shelta has an amazing ability that is apparent pretty early on in the story. When she touches a musical instrument, it almost feels like the instrument is teaching her how to play. If I had this ability, I would own every single musical instrument, and become a one-woman band. That would be so fun!
Now, back to the blurb…
If you’ve already read the blurb, I’m sorry. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about that. If you haven’t yet, let me tell you why you shouldn’t just yet. Things happen in the book that, while I can’t tell you what they are, they are sudden enough, and heart wrenching enough, that I emailed Leia on several occasions to ask her why she was breaking my heart. I’m pretty sure one of the emails contained simply: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
Now, does that pique your curiosity? It should. That’s the point.
Before I get to the rest of my review, I need you to do me a favor. If you’ve read the book without having read the blurb first, please let me know in the comments whether not knowing anything ahead of time affected your experience of the book.
Now, onto the rest of my review….
Seriously, I could wax poetic about the writing style of this book for months. It was so pretty! But I want to talk about the characters too. So, I’m gonna, darnit!
Shelta
Like I said before, I absolutely loved Shelta. I found her so relatable. Not in the “falling through time and space” bit, but I’ve been in situations before where I felt like it was better to not get attached to anyone, because I knew I was just going to lose them eventually. Honestly? It took meeting my husband to help me get past that. I know I’ve been a huge frustration to people in my life before, because I just never let them get close.
I could feel the frustration coming off the pages in waves as well, because when Shelta meets Killian, all he seems to want is to take care of her, and she continually keeps him at arm’s length. Whenever he spends money on her, such as clothes fitting with the times, she makes note of it so she can pay him back. She can’t accept any sort of kindness, because she knows it’s just going to end in heartache for everyone involved.
Killian
I did love the dynamic between Killian and Shelta. He was a super cool Scottish dude, and Shelta was wounded. I can only imagine how kind a Scottish person would be to a wounded animal, but I can imagine it would be similar. All Killian wants to do is help Shelta heal, and help her fit into his world.
Who Killian ends up being is such an amazing part of the story, as well. The Maclean family is actually a long-standing family in Scotland, and there is actually a Maclean castle. If you’re curious about the story behind why it’s in Leia’s book, I recommend you listen to my podcast episode I recorded with her. You can listen directly in this post if you so choose!
Falling Through the Weaving has a TON of amazing characters, and I could list them all for you, and ruin the story, or I could just tell you to go read the book and find out for yourself. Choice two is way more fun, trust me.
Conclusion
Ok, so I think that’s pretty much everything I can say about Falling Through the Weaving without completely ruining the story. I really want you to come back and leave a comment, especially if you read the book without reading the blurb first. I was very careful not to spoil anything for you, so please be kind to your fellow readers, and if you have something to say that isn’t in this review, please come find me on Twitter (@PickyBookworm) and DM me. I’d love to talk about this book, and if you listen to the podcast episode above, you’ll get to listen to me fangirl multiple times. I can’t remember if I mention any of the potential spoilers, so if you really want to go into the book blind, then don’t listen yet. Read the book, then listen. Just like at the movies.
Falling Through The Weaving on Amazon
If you enjoyed this book review, please check out these other fantasy book reviews
Dust of a Moth’s Wing by R. Ramey Guerrero
Crowman by David Rae
Kings and Daemons by Marcus Lee
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Until Next Time, Friends!
