I like how she may be a chaos god, but she is not evil. The women start to truly fall for one another, but Aelia knows that if she confesses her true form to Orsina, things can only end tragically.Īelia is such a fun character to spend time with. When she vanquishes the mortal vessel of Aelia, the chaos god of caprice, she continues on her way with a kind, naïve stranger, who introduces herself as Elyne.īut “Elyne” is only a new human vessel for Aelia, and Aelia is stuck between her desire to travel and see the human world with Orsina and the need to find a mystical item that will help free her from a mortal body. Orsina, a travelling paladin who is on a seemingly endless quest to fulfill a prophecy, stops from village to village to help townsfolk and make sure none of the chaos gods are causing trouble. While the first book felt sweeping and lofty, with plots of dragon attacks and arranged marriages, this book leans into the minutiae of world building and gives us a deeper look at the belief system and social structures of Vesolda. I think Calvin has grown exponentially as a storyteller in under a year, which is an amazing feat. This book, the second in the series, has definitely made a more permanent mark. It was romantic and elegant, with an intriguing fantasy plot and good main characters, but I can’t say it made a huge lasting impression. But the decision might not be hers after all, because their actions have not gone unnoticed by Aelia’s siblings.Įarlier this year, I really enjoyed the first book in Calvin’s debut series, The Queen of Ieflaria. Aelia plans to use Orsina as protection as she hunts down the magical relic that will free her from her mortal body.Īs Aelia and Orsina grow closer to one another, Aelia wrestles with her own desire to tell Orsina the truth about who she is, and her fear that Orsina will turn on her if she does. So Aelia pretends to be a mortal woman who is fleeing an abusive family.

During a run-in with Orsina, she is trapped in a mortal body, rendering her unable to leave Inthya.Īelia is found by Orsina again, but this time Orsina does not recognize her in her new body. The Order of the Sun has classified her as a chaos goddess, meaning that her worship has been outlawed. But after two years of fighting monsters and demons and evil gods, she does not seem to be any closer to her goal-or ever returning home.Īelia is the Goddess of Caprice, the personification of poor decision-making. She has been ordered to leave her home and travel around Vesolda in search of a great evil she is supposedly destined to destroy. Orsina of Melidrie is a paladin of the Order of the Sun, sworn to drive out corruption and chaos wherever she finds it.

The queen of ieflaria