Double Review: The Story Peddler & The Story Raider

[Hi guys! I actually wrote this post a couple months ago when I first contemplated starting this blog, but life (community college classes, Coronavirus, and so on) got in the way until now. Enjoy!]

Hi blogosphere!

I’m excited to present: A double review of The Story Peddler and The Story Raider, both by Lindsay A. Franklin! I read The Story Peddler about a year (?) ago, but I went to read The Story Raider recently, and could not for the life of me remember exactly what had happened in TSP, so I went back and did a reread of both. Without further ado, here is what I thought:

The Story Peddler

Tanwen doesn't just tell stories--she weaves them into crystallized sculptures that sell for more than a few bits. But the only way to escape the control of her cruel mentor and claw her way from poverty is to set her sights on something grander: becoming Royal Storyteller to the king.

During her final story peddling tour, a tale of treason spills from her hands, threatening the king himself. Tanwen goes from peddler to prey as the king's guard hunts her down...and they're not known for their mercy. As Tanwen flees for her life, she unearths long-buried secrets and discovers she's not the only outlaw in the empire. There's a rebel group of weavers...and they're after her too.

Worldbuilding

I loved the worldbuilding. The portrayal of the kingdom was, I thought, well done, but what I loved was the magic system. Because—when people tell stories, glow-y strands come out of their hands and form shapes that tell the story! And then make a crystal statue! Besides ‘Weavers’, as the storytellers are called, there are also Songspinners who have similar things happen when they sing and Colormasters, who can make paintings with their hands, and all I can say is: can I live there? Please? I also loved that a Christian-ish religion is the true/suppressed religion, espoused by the rebel weavers.

Plot/Story

Without giving too many spoilers, I enjoyed the “Oh, everything I’ve known all my life is a lie” transformation, and the trope where a character gets what they wanted once they don’t want it anymore is a fun one. I only have two problems with the plot, one of which is, it seems like the characters get what they want without much trouble. There is no part where they are completely thwarted in their plans, and everything basically turns out for the best all the time. Okay, there were obstacles, but they seemed fairly minor. I may be a little bit harsh on this one, since I just finished reading Lord of the Rings, but some parts just seemed too easy. The other problem is more minor, but one of the plot twists I saw coming a mile-ish away. Highlight for spoilers: The thing where Tanwen was the daughter of a famous and important person.  Although I did like the twist the author gave to the usual ‘s/he’s the king’s daughter/son who miraculously escaped the plague/assassination’ trope. End spoilers. This could be because I’d read the book before, but it was hinted at by several characters, and it seemed pretty obvious.

Characters

Tanwen: I liked Tanwen a lot, but initially did a double take when they said she was almost eighteen…she reads more like a fourteen or fifteen year old, although thank goodness she isn’t because that would make the romance suuuper weird. Well, weirder. Anyway. I liked her sass, her love for her friends, and I totally related to the way she cared about the stuff in her house, and wouldn’t sell it even when she was starving. As a homeschooler who started dual credit at a community college this year, I also loved watching the sheltered child go from her safe village to the Big World and get taught some of the Ways Things Work.

Brac: Is fun and goofy and a bit of a cinnamon roll. The banter between him and Tanwen reminded me of my banter with Pippin, which was fun. But his choices at the end didn’t make a ton of sense to me. Why would he go do something he never wanted to do (highlight for spoiler: Work in the capital for an evil dictator) with no reason?

Mor: Despite my gripes with Tanwen and Mor’s dynamic, explained below, I really loved Mor. Because who doesn’t love a swashbuckling pirate with softness and sadness inside?

Gryfelle: So sweet! So sad! So marginal!

Braith: I loved Braith. A princess who is strong, but compassionate and who works to better her people through diplomacy and exercising her feminine and princessy skills, and grieves because she can’t overrule her father and make everything better? Yes please!

Warmil & Aeron: I loved this duo! A crusty old captain with a slightly younger woman who had been one of his soldiers and followed him because she was in love with him, the miscommunications between them are spectacular and hilarious and slightly heartbreaking.

Yestin: Yestin’s character doesn’t get very developed in this book, but the parts that do are touching—a father who just wants to find his daughter again, and will do anything for her, even though he doesn’t know her. I love it.

Romance

This part was irritating to me. Spoilers ahead, so if you don’t want spoilers, skip down to Content. I do not like love triangles. At all. (Okay, I make occasional exceptions, but in general, they just frustrate me to pieces). And Tanwen just irritated me to pieces about this. Because, she loves Brac as a brother and maybe potentially as a husband at the beginning. But she doesn’t really want to marry him and leave adventure behind. And then she meets Mor. Who is in love with Gryfelle. And she develops a bit of a crush on him. But does she say, “Oh, he’s taken”, and move past her feelings for him? No. She frets and exacerbates them! If it’s not obvious already, falling in love more-or-less on purpose with one of your friends’ boyfriends is not a good idea. And also, she seems to think that her only choice is between Mor and Brac? And because she likes Mor better than Brac, she has to fall in love with Mor? That is not the way the world works, Tanwen! *jumps off soapbox*

Content

Discussion of assassination. Some battles, no very gory injuries. A "situation" that doesn’t go any further than a forced kiss.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5 Stars. I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t the bestest.

The Story Raider

Deceiving an empire is a treacherous game. 

Tanwen and the Corsyth weavers race to collect the strands of an ancient cure that might save Gryfelle. But Tanwen has a secret: Gryfelle isn’t the only one afflicted by the weaver's curse.  

As Queen Braith struggles to assert her rule, a new arrival throws her tenuous claim to the Tirian throne into question. Braith’s heart is turned upside down, and she’s not sure she can trust anyone—least of all herself.  

The puppet master behind Gareth’s rise to power has designs on the story weavers and will stop at nothing to reclaim the throne. A plot to incite the angry peasants of Tir takes shape, and those dearest to Tanwen will be caught in the crossfire. As the fight for Tir consumes the realm, no one can remain innocent.

Worldbuilding

I addressed a lot of this in the last review, but I still am just swooning over the magic system. In this book, we also get to see some of the countries around Tir, which I loved! It was so fun to figure out which countries were based on which real-life countries, and I think Franklin did a good job of not making it too obvious, so that the reader can have a fun “Aha!” moment.

Plot

Okay, I had a similar complaint about the last book, but why is it so easy for them? I’m going to try not to give too many spoilers here, but the characters need to collect four ‘things’ that are scattered throughout the known world. And while someone was sort-of chasing them, they got the ‘things’ super easily, and it seemed to take them almost no time to travel from one place to another. I kept expecting SOMETHING to come in the way of their getting these things, but nope, they picked them up as easily as drive-through food and went back to their interpersonal issues. Also, I ended up skipping all the chapters with Brac and Naith, because they were depressing/scary/boring/creepy (Yes, I know this is bad reading practice, but I was just.not.feeling.it). Also, why does it end in a cliffhanger for Braith??? (I think it ends in a cliffhanger for Braith…)

Characters

The characters stayed pretty similar in this book as the last one (obviously there was some growth, but I am too tired to do another half-paragraph for each character 😜). One thought, though: I feel like Tanwen gets everything from her dad way too easily—a few minutes of whining and he gives in. This is not the way parents generally work (ask me how I know!), and while I know that Yestin has been a bit out of it, it must get irritating for him at some point! But he still just does what she’s asking, and it’s both unrealistic and annoying.

Romance

Okay, the love triangle goes away in this one, which I appreciated, but I still have issues with people falling in love with their friends’ boyfriends. On the positive side, the literal sparks that the two characters in question made when they touched were hilarious and fun.

Content

Some reference to a character being raped repeatedly in her past—not explicit, but with some details that are a little disturbing. 

Overall Rating:

2 1/2 stars. I mostly enjoyed this book, but didn’t appreciate the content, the lack of problems for the characters, Brac’s scariness, or Tanwen’s whininess. I will probably read the third one when it comes out, though! [I should probably get on that...]

Thanks for reading! See you next Friday.