Intoxicated Literature Podcast
A podcast with books, alcohol, and lots of laughter. Daniella and Evelyne are sisters who have always shared book recommendations with each other. Join us while we drink and discuss books in the paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and epic fantasy genres!
Intoxicated Literature Podcast
Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson
Daniella and Evelyne discuss romantasy tropes, their preference for old timey covers, and they may have found a burn too slow for Daniella.
Speaker 1:
This is Intoxicated Literature.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay. Hello. I am Evelyne Crowe.
Daniella Drake:
And I am Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
Welcome to Intoxicated Literature. Tonight, we are talking about one of my favorite series. It is Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson.
Daniella Drake:
This has cat dragons.
Evelyne Crowe:
It has cat dragons and it used to have some of the most atrocious covers, the old-school fantasy covers.
Daniella Drake:
I'm actually sad. I saw that they were updated, and I was like, "No."
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. I got so sad, but they were so, people were like, "Ew, these covers are bad." I loved them. They were all-
Daniella Drake:
They were so great.
Evelyne Crowe:
They were-
Daniella Drake:
I loved them.
Evelyne Crowe:
Think of old romance covers.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's what they look like.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
They were amazing. I loved them, but they have recently been updated.
Daniella Drake:
To be fair, they do look really good now.
Evelyne Crowe:
They do look good.
Daniella Drake:
They look better, probably, but I loved the old ones because they were so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
These are original romantasy books.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. Yes, exactly. Okay, before we get into it, spoilers?
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
We will spoil this entire book. We will not spoil the entire series, because it's been a long time since we've read it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Honestly can't remember what happens in the series.
Daniella Drake:
Can't remember what happens. We will read the rest of them, but right now, we're only talking about the first one, so lucky you.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
We'll spoil this whole book, though, for sure.
Daniella Drake:
Yes, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
There are not actual lots of spicy times in this book.
Daniella Drake:
There are some.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's hints of spice. Lots of slow-build, heat moments.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. We do swear like sailors as well.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, and I'm on my third drink.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, if you don't like swearing, this is probably not the podcast for you.
Evelyne Crowe:
Speaking about, what am I drinking?
Daniella Drake:
What are you drinking? We're drinking. We're drinking the flaming sunrise.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, and it's basically orange juice and Fireball.
Daniella Drake:
It sure is. It's a cinnamony.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's cinnamony, and it's my husband's favorite drink, actually.
Daniella Drake:
I know.
Evelyne Crowe:
He has no taste whatsoever.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I wasn't going to say it.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, I [inaudible 00:02:21].
Daniella Drake:
Except that he has exquisite taste, because he chose you.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, thank you, but yeah, I am drinking that and it is fire because cat dragons. cat dragons.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, cat dragons.
Evelyne Crowe:
We don't see enough of them in this book, but they do exist in the series.
Daniella Drake:
No, we definitely don't. I do want to talk about, right out the gate, I want to talk about the fact that every time he changes into his Tairen form, which is the cat dragon form, I'm a 50/50 whether I picture a panther with wings and fire, because they do breathe fire or just a house cat?
Evelyne Crowe:
It's a black cat for sure.
Daniella Drake:
Yes, but sometimes it's just a little house cat in my mind, and it makes me smile so much because I love it, even though I know that's not the intention.
Evelyne Crowe:
She can ride on his back. It's definitely huge.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, no. Oh, no. It's huge. It's still a big cat, but it's a house cat, not a panther.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God, you're so funny.
Daniella Drake:
It's 50/50 what pops into my brain and I couldn't tell you why. I could not tell you why one or the other appears, but that is the way that my brain works, so you're welcome.
Evelyne Crowe:
You are hilarious. Oh my God. I'm just picturing this badass cat and you're just like, it's a house cat.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I know. I know. But he breathes fire.
Evelyne Crowe:
He does absolutely breathe fire and they have wings and they're fucking cat dragons. What is it about cat dragons?
Daniella Drake:
It's so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, these are the best books. You guys, look, y'all, you pick up these books and you start reading it and you're like, "Why am I reading this?" Then you keep reading it and you can't stop reading it.
Daniella Drake:
It's so true, though.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's exactly what happens.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're amazing. These books are amazing.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. This was romantasy before romantasy really existed.
Evelyne Crowe:
These were Fated Mates before Fated Mates was a thing.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
This is the same thing.
Daniella Drake:
I do want to talk about, there are a couple of tropes in this book that I generally am not a fan of, but I appreciated the way that she handled them in this book.
Evelyne Crowe:
We did talk about Fated Mates before, and you said you didn't like Fated Mates, because-
Daniella Drake:
I'm not a huge fan of Fated Mates because I feel like there's not a lot of agency, but what I liked about this is, there's not a lot of agency for the man, but the woman can choose to accept it or not.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know, and the main guy just has to wait. He's just like, "Please accept it, or I'm fucked."
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. That's my main gripe is, I don't like the lack of agency. That's why I don't really like Fated Mates. To be honest, I would like it. I would like for him to be able to choose, too. I don't like that he doesn't have a choice, but I like that the woman definitely has a choice to accept or not and she is not affected in a bad way if she doesn't accept.
Evelyne Crowe:
This is absolutely true. She doesn't have to.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I appreciate so much that that's how this was handled in this book.
Evelyne Crowe:
They do say, though, it's not a conscious decision. It's like her soul decides to let him in or something.
Daniella Drake:
Right. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
There's magic. I don't know. It's weird.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's still Fated Mates, but I did enjoy that there was at least some effort to give some agency to this trope that you don't see a lot of agency in.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
I also wanted to talk about the age gap a little bit, because that is also a trope that you find a lot in young adult for some reason.
Evelyne Crowe:
Teenage girls always like the professor.
Daniella Drake:
Right, but in this case, it's a thousand-year-old person.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. He's so old. Oh my God. He is so old.
Daniella Drake:
This is why I have the problem with it, because I'm just like, how much shared life experience do you have with, when you're thousands, thousands plural of years old, with a 24-year-old woman?
Evelyne Crowe:
I know.
Daniella Drake:
Because that's how old the main character, Elysetta is, but in this book, she at least tries to explain a little bit by having them go on their first flight together. That was one of my favorite scenes, actually, because he says, "You're reminding me of the first time that I flew on my own, and you're reminding me of these feelings that I had." It's reinvigorating this sense of life and purpose in him because everything is new and exciting to her.
Evelyne Crowe:
They have that conversation a couple of times, and they have it before that first flight, actually, because she's like, "I don't know-"
Daniella Drake:
Why you would choose me.
Evelyne Crowe:
"Why you would choose me. I am so young compared to you. You must see me as a child." He's like, "You are young." At first she's like, "Ouch," but he's like, "No, no, listen, you don't understand. I am enjoying the sense of wonder that you have."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
That you are bringing to my eyes once more, because I have seen a lot of things and everything is just the same now. To see everything through your eyes is new.
Daniella Drake:
Right. You're reminding me to enjoy the things that I've taken to be mundane. I appreciated that she took the time to interject that in because a lot of times, it just gets glossed over.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yay, she's not 18.
Daniella Drake:
Yay! I'll take 24.
Evelyne Crowe:
24, that frontal lobe is developed. I will take it.
Daniella Drake:
Mostly. She's still got one more year, but we're close enough.
Evelyne Crowe:
You know what? She can go into a fucking bar and they won't card her, so I will take it.
Daniella Drake:
Yes, yes. Absolutely agree. I was thrilled. I was thrilled with 24, so whatever.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is addressed. It is talked about, and I do appreciate that fact.
Daniella Drake:
Which I, yes, absolutely appreciated that for sure, especially because this is not a new book. This is not a new series. This has been out for a long time, so I appreciate that even in the infancy, is that the word that I'm looking for?
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
In the infancy of the genre, that she was actually taking the time to acknowledge, this might be problematic, and this is how I'm making it okay. I appreciate that so much.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, and I want to also thank Felicia Day for bringing this to our attention because we also read this during the Vaginal Fantasy Days.
Daniella Drake:
We did. We did.
Evelyne Crowe:
You guys have no idea how many books we read because of Vaginal Fantasy.
Daniella Drake:
I remember how excited they were when they found out there was a series that literally had cat dragons.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. There was cat dragons.
Daniella Drake:
It was so exciting. They're cat dragons. I wish they would reboot. Of all the reboots we need-
Evelyne Crowe:
Vaginal Fantasy. Yes, I love them.
Daniella Drake:
Vaginal Fantasy for sure. Yes, 100%.
Evelyne Crowe:
The way the cat dragons work is you have Tairens, which are cat dragons, and they are tied to the Fey in a mystical, magical way. They are tied together, and if one dies out, the other dies out. They are tied together. Then you have the Tairen soul, and he is the only one, that can change into a cat. He can literally, he's a shifter.
Daniella Drake:
He's the only one that is Fey and Tairen.
Evelyne Crowe:
He's a shifter. He's a shifter.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, basically.
Evelyne Crowe:
He's a Tairen shifter.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
This book, the series, you have no idea.
Daniella Drake:
It's so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's so good. It's got everything.
Daniella Drake:
It's got everything.
Evelyne Crowe:
He is the Tairen soul, and he rules the Fey and he's the Lord of the Fading Lands because they are dying. The Tairen are dying. That's how the series starts, because you see it. It's really sad, it's depressing, but he goes and he finds his fated mate, and the whole first book is literally him wooing his fated mate.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I will be honest, I was a little frustrated when the end of the book came and they were not yet fully-
Evelyne Crowe:
You are the queen of the slow burns.
Daniella Drake:
This is the thing, though, is that because there is the trope of fated mates, that's inherently not a slow burn.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, but she has to agree.
Daniella Drake:
Yes, and that is something that I do appreciate. That is a twist that I appreciate for sure, but this book is really just about the courtship. Not a lot actually happens, but this is the other thing is that this is billed as a romantasy, this whole series. I would argue that it's more epic fantasy than romantasy.
Evelyne Crowe:
I would tend to agree.
Daniella Drake:
As the series progresses, it does become more epic. There's a lot more magic. There's a lot more politicking.
Evelyne Crowe:
Progressions. There's politicking all the way through this book.
Daniella Drake:
It's also like the world is going to end stuff. It becomes a lot bigger than you think it's going to be with this first book. You feel like this series is just about them because this first book is so heavily invested in just them.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's true.
Daniella Drake:
It's also setting up a lot of the world rules, like the world building.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's so funny because when you read this book and it just starts with just them, it really feels like the first part of a really large book.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
It feels like the first third of a really long book. It makes me wonder if the publishers got a really long manuscript and went, "Okay, we're going to cut this book into thirds."
Daniella Drake:
We need to break this up. Yeah, exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
We're going to end it here.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I could definitely see that.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, fine. I want to read the rest of the series.
Daniella Drake:
I still enjoyed it. I don't want it to make it sound like I don't enjoy it.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, I think I gave it five stars. It's a good book.
Daniella Drake:
I loved the series, too. It made me read the entire series. I inhaled it. I read it so fast.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's one of my favorite series ever. Everyone needs to read it.
Daniella Drake:
For sure. For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
It has that introductory feel to it.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. This book is a lot of setting up the world, setting up the rules, setting up the factions. That's just a huge part of it, so you don't get a lot of forward momentum, which is fine, as long as you know that going in, as long as you're aware that that's what you're going to get. I don't want you to go in thinking that this is going to be a standard romantasy where it's like they fall in love and then by the end, they're whatever.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's definitely part of the series. It's not a standalone.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is not a standalone romantasy where you're going to be like, "Oh, now it's going to be this other couple." It is definitely just about them in part of a series. You could say now it ends on a cliffhanger, but it's just part of the series.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's what I would say. The magic in the world building is so amazing.
Daniella Drake:
It's so cool. There are so many aspects to this world that I love. The whole Fey culture is fascinating to me.
Evelyne Crowe:
It really is.
Daniella Drake:
This idea, there's a part in the book where, because the Fey men, their entire job is to protect Fey women. That's their entire-
Evelyne Crowe:
I do wish that the women were a little more martial and had a little bit more, yes.
Daniella Drake:
I agree, but they actually talk about it in the book why they don't, which I thought was really interesting, because there's a moment where she's expressing her fear of what's inside her, because she has this nightmare where the High Mage finds her. She was like, "I remember when they were exercising me because I was having these seizures and I wanted them to die and I pictured so clearly their limbs being torn apart, and literally their bodies just exploding. It was so upsetting to me, and I would never want to do that, but I think I could have." He says, "Fey women are strong, but because of their empathy, they're incapable of killing." This is what she does, I feel like, is she sets up these rules, but she explains it. It's like, Fey women are strong, and if given the chance, they would kill someone, except that they have such a deep empathy and compassion that they literally can't.
Evelyne Crowe:
There was a part of it that really bugged me. I wish, again, I do like the series, but I felt so sorry for the men who had not had a physical touch by another person because of all of the fighting they'd done and then carried with them, and then women wouldn't touch them any more because of what they carried with them. I'm like, "Jesus."
Daniella Drake:
That's horrifying. I had the same reaction. It was depressing.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
That's partly what makes Elysetta or Ellie, I'm going to call her Ellie, because it's just easier, but that's what makes her a big deal. They don't even know what she is in this book. They don't know why she is this fated mate, the first fated mate ever.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's true. Tairen souls were not supposed to have fated mates ever. When they become a Tairen soul, they just know, I will never have a fated mate ever.
Daniella Drake:
They're not going to have a fated mate. Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
To have one-
Daniella Drake:
This is a huge deal.
Evelyne Crowe:
Huge.
Daniella Drake:
It's huge.
Evelyne Crowe:
He's so funny about it, too, because it's such a tumultuous process, and he's so, "Rar."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it makes him really unpredictable. He can't control his emotions.
Evelyne Crowe:
He's such a growly, alpha guy during the whole book. It's so funny.
Daniella Drake:
It's so funny. Yes, yes, but this is what makes Ellie a big deal is, even in the first few meetings with her new Fey contingent, basically, they have these quintets, this set of four warriors that are assigned to her.
Evelyne Crowe:
Five, right?
Daniella Drake:
Are now going to be her protectors.
Evelyne Crowe:
Quintet?
Daniella Drake:
Was it five? I thought it was four. Oh, quintet is five. I can't count.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, Latin.
Daniella Drake:
I don't know Latin.
Evelyne Crowe:
Math is fine.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. None of that. I think you're right because quartet would be four, obviously. Yes. Anyway, there are these five Fey warriors. Thank you for clarifying. That would've been embarrassing, but she heals one almost immediately, the oldest Fey who has killed unknown. It's so many that at this point even he doesn't know. He's carrying with him these souls of these people that he's killed, and he can't laugh. He is unable to feel joy, basically. All she does is put hands on him and just wishes him well. Suddenly, he's cleansed, basically, of all these past deeds. Now he's like, "I will do whatever you want. I don't care what it is. I am yours forever and always."
Evelyne Crowe:
Immediately, immediately pledges his life to her.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Exactly. Everyone sees that, though, and they're like, what is her deal? Because it's so out of the ordinary. It's so unheard of.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's the thing. That's the other trope that is here, is that she's not like other girls, but at the same time, she's not like other girls. She's adopted because they found her as a foundling on the side of the road, her parents did and took her in, and I think they really did do the best they could for her.
Daniella Drake:
I absolutely think they did the best they could.
Evelyne Crowe:
They loved her and they raised her as their own.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. They see her as their daughter. There's no difference between her and the twins that they had later.
Evelyne Crowe:
That is absolutely correct, but she is different. She doesn't look like everyone around her. She doesn't really act like everyone around her and she possesses this really subtle magic that she doesn't even know she's using and the Fey barely know she's using.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. It's so subtle. They talk about, it made me think of Wheel of Time, the way they talk about weaves and stuff, but they can see her weaving these super, super fine threads, but at the same time, she's so overpowered that the power she's putting behind these super, super tiny threads, it's crazy. Even Rain, her mate, is like, "I don't know how you're doing this. I don't think I could do that. That's so fine a weave and you're being so subtle, no one even knows that you're doing it. You don't even know you're doing it."
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's interesting the way that she handles, C.L. Wilson handles the magic system because the way that the Fey, I love everything about the Fey.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, they're Fey.
Daniella Drake:
I love everything about the Fey.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're Fey.
Daniella Drake:
At the same time, yes, but I love that they are wildly overpowered, but there's a balance. Every time they kill someone, they take on their soul. They took on their darkness or whatever, they feel it and they carry it with them forever. There's a balance there, which you don't get in a lot of series. It's like they can just do what they want with impunity, basically.
Evelyne Crowe:
Also, they can't use magic just willy-nilly.
Daniella Drake:
Willy-nilly.
Evelyne Crowe:
They have a limit to it. They can't just use it unlimitedly.
Daniella Drake:
Right. There are rules. Then of course, there are the Dalreisen, which are outside of the rules or whatever, but it's a smaller piece and it's what happens when they go rogue.
Evelyne Crowe:
Even then, I think they still have to abide by, I'm strong in spirit, but I still can't use spirit unlimitedly.
Daniella Drake:
Right. Yes, yes, yes. They're still limited.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're not like the Mages. The Mages are the bad guys.
Daniella Drake:
I do want to talk about the Mages a little bit, because-
Evelyne Crowe:
The Mages are the bad guys, and they apparently trap and use spirits or demons or the bad essence that shall not be used, as the Feys say, to use magic.
Daniella Drake:
I just feel like I really like a story where the bad guys have some redeeming quality.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh yeah. They have none whatsoever.
Daniella Drake:
No, they're just bad.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're just bad.
Daniella Drake:
They're just bad.
Evelyne Crowe:
You just know they're bad and they will always be bad and they will always be bad forever.
Daniella Drake:
Yep, forever.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're just bad.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that's definitely true.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're just really bad.
Daniella Drake:
It's so true.
Evelyne Crowe:
Even the Fey are like, "You can't trust the Elds. They're evil." You're like, but are they? Forever?
Daniella Drake:
I did like that, though. Again, I think she was really smart about the way she approached this, because this huge war happens thousands of years ago. To the Fey, they're like, "I lived this. It was terrible. The Mages are awful. There's no redeeming quality for them. They're just bad. They're manipulative. They're awful. They're going to do whatever they're going to do. You can't stop them. We need to do what we can to keep them in check, whatever." Then you have the mortals who have very short lifespans in comparison. It's been thousands of years since this huge war, and they're starting to go, but did it really happen the way the history book said, or maybe there was some confusion? The Fey are going, "No, no, there was no confusion. I was literally there when it happened," but the humans are going, "Ah, tomato, tomato."
It's like, I don't know. It feels a little too real for me in these times that we're living in where it's so easy to forget something that happened 80 years ago.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know.
Daniella Drake:
Hasn't even been 100 years.
Evelyne Crowe:
It struck a chord this time reading it again. When I read it before, it didn't feel so real.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
Now it does a little bit. I agree.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I was just like, "Damn, that hit. That landed in a way that it did not the first time around."
Evelyne Crowe:
It really did. I was reading and I was just going, "Ooh."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Maybe we lived through it the first time.
Daniella Drake:
I liked it because it makes you stop and go, "Oh, shit." This is something that happens. This is something that is plausible. It makes it feel even more real, even though this is a completely made up world and it's got cat dragons.
Evelyne Crowe:
Fantasy books have been used forever to-
Daniella Drake:
For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
People always say, "Oh, you read fantasy." I'm like, "but have you read fantasy? Have you really read fantasy?"
Daniella Drake:
Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because fantasy is used so often to reflect the political environment that is in our world right now. It is amazing what a good job it does, actually, to reflect that. If people would read more fantasy, I think it would just be beneficial. People just should read more fantasy.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
There is my opinion.
Daniella Drake:
I'm with you 100%.
Evelyne Crowe:
There you go. I actually really liked the Fey, too, because they would all communicate via mindly and they would make fun of Rainier. His name is Rainier?
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
Endlessly.
Daniella Drake:
I loved it. They kept him grounded. It was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. Every time he did anything to woo his fated mate, it was like, "Ah, you're playing with children now. The king of the Fey is playing with children."
Daniella Drake:
It was so good for him, too, though, because he took himself so seriously.
Evelyne Crowe:
He was such a, God-
Daniella Drake:
Stick in the mud.
Evelyne Crowe:
He was.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah,
Evelyne Crowe:
He was so bleh.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
He needed some fun and he needed to relax.
Daniella Drake:
He did. It was great, too, because the one that was making fun of him the most was the oldest one that had all of these scars on his soul, basically. Then he gets healed. Now he's like, "Ha, ha, point and laugh at you. Look at what you're doing." It was actually really cathartic in a way because you're like, this guy's poking fun at you.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know.
Daniella Drake:
You need to get on the same page.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. So true. Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
What did we think of Rain as a male protagonist?
Evelyne Crowe:
He was a little too alpha male for me.
Daniella Drake:
It's really funny to me because the first time I read this series, I loved him.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh God. Me too.
Daniella Drake:
That was 20 years ago, I want to say.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't think it was that long ago. I think it was-
Daniella Drake:
I'm pretty sure it was.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't think so.
Daniella Drake:
I think I was early 20s when I read this, I'm pretty sure. When Vaginal Fantasy was happening, pretty sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
That was 20 years ago?
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I hate to point it out to you, but we are old.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, you shut up.
Daniella Drake:
I think I was just out of college.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, you will stop talking right now.
Daniella Drake:
I can look it up if you want me to.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. No. It was 2014, right?
Daniella Drake:
I don't think so.
Evelyne Crowe:
Jesus Christ. Okay, we are just going to pretend.
Daniella Drake:
Was it? Wait, let me look it up, because now I'll feel bad if I was wrong, so let's see. Let's see. We're going to go with 10 years. How about that?
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to go with 10 years.
Daniella Drake:
Okay, fair. Okay, 10 years ago.
Evelyne Crowe:
10 years ago.
Daniella Drake:
When we read this series the first time, I was all about Rain. I thought he was hot stuff.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
This time around, not so much.
Evelyne Crowe:
I thought he was not so great.
Daniella Drake:
He was too overbearing, and I wanted to be like, "My dude, you need to just back the fuck off."
Evelyne Crowe:
My perimenopausal self was like, "Dude, I'm over that."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah. I was not having it this time around.
Evelyne Crowe:
My younger self-
Daniella Drake:
I'm not saying he wasn't attractive, but yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. Agreed.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Okay.
Evelyne Crowe:
My younger self was definitely like, "I love you." My older self was like, "No, you need to sit your ass down."
Daniella Drake:
Pretty much. Pretty much. It definitely changes your perception of things. Yeah. You know what? I'm not complaining.
Evelyne Crowe:
I was not complaining. He's still very hot.
Daniella Drake:
Very hot.
Evelyne Crowe:
He does do things that even now I'm going, "Okay, I like that. I like that a lot."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
I like how he treated, was it Calisandra?
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
I was all over that.
Daniella Drake:
Yes, but then she gets jealous and I'm just like, "Girl."
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, but to be fair, she always felt-
Daniella Drake:
No, I'm not going to be fair.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to be fair. I'm going to be completely fair.
Daniella Drake:
I don't want to be fair.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to be. She always felt like the outsider, always felt like she didn't look up to snuff.
Daniella Drake:
Everyone was always telling her that she wasn't pretty, she wasn't good enough.
Evelyne Crowe:
Exactly, and Calisandra was the epitome of beauty to everyone else. She had no reason to think that Rain would be anything other than everybody else, would be fawning over her. She had no reason.
Daniella Drake:
I know, except that they're fated mates.
Evelyne Crowe:
She doesn't understand what that means.
Daniella Drake:
That's because she's 24.
Evelyne Crowe:
She's 24. Yeah. He also got to enjoy her jealousy a little bit.
Daniella Drake:
That's true. He did enjoy that. That's true, but I did like the way that he handled Calisandra. He was just like, "You're going to stop now, because if you don't, it's going to go really badly."
Evelyne Crowe:
All of the Fey were like, "Fuck you."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. They did not for a second entertain that she was attractive.
Evelyne Crowe:
I was like, "I love you guys."
Daniella Drake:
It was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
I love you guys so much.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was amazing.
Daniella Drake:
Love it. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
I actually really liked the court scene when her previous fiance, her fiance, her previous one.
Daniella Drake:
Oh my God.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. He was the worst.
Daniella Drake:
That guy was gross.
Evelyne Crowe:
He was so gross. There is a little bit of SA, slight SA.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I would say yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
There's no trigger warnings in this. It was published a long time ago,
Daniella Drake:
A long time ago, but in this culture, there's this idea where if a man puts his "mark" on-
Evelyne Crowe:
Mark, he gives you a hickey.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, on his intended or on his girl or whatever, then you are now his property, which everything about that, gross. Everything about that is gross. I did not enjoy any aspect of that.
Evelyne Crowe:
It does not have to be wanted, apparently. He could just put it on you anywhere.
Daniella Drake:
No. She tried so hard to get him to go away and he would not back off. She wanted no part of him.
Evelyne Crowe:
That whole court scene was amazing.
Daniella Drake:
It was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was just watching him get his comeuppance and even his parents being like, "Shut up and sit down. We got our money," was just chef's kiss, and I loved it so much even though I knew, I knew he would become a problem later, I still was like, "You suck, and you sit there and stew in it."
Daniella Drake:
It was satisfying to see the king be like, "I'm done with you now, and you better be done, too." Even he is like, Okay. Yeah, fair enough."
Evelyne Crowe:
You're a part of this. Your parents have already accepted this and you are not a part of this any more.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Yep. Yep, yep, yep.
Evelyne Crowe:
I was pissed at her parents for just letting her be in that room with him.
Daniella Drake:
I know, that seemed so naive.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, her mom did it on purpose.
Daniella Drake:
I know, but gross. Why would you want your daughter to be in a relationship with someone that you know is going to assault her?
Evelyne Crowe:
I think she hoped it would be consensual eventually. I will add the eventually.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. That's an important qualifier.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes. I will add that word. It definitely was not initially. I don't think it ever would've been, because obviously, fated mates.
Daniella Drake:
Also, from the jump, she was not into it.
Evelyne Crowe:
No.
Daniella Drake:
She didn't like him. She didn't trust him. She had that magical sense, shidelin or whatever, where she could truth-see, and she knew what his character was, and she didn't like him. She didn't know that that's what it was at the time, obviously, but she didn't like him.
Evelyne Crowe:
I also think she's definitely, it would've definitely have been the kind of marriage where, I don't know, he just didn't wake up one morning.
Daniella Drake:
It's so true.
Evelyne Crowe:
She just honestly wouldn't have known why.
Daniella Drake:
No, it would've been plausible deniability, because she would not have known why. It would've been literal self-preservation, and she would've been clueless. She didn't even know she had magic until 50% through the book.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. Oh, God. It's like, "I don't know, man." She just would've dreamed that she killed him and then she woke up and he was dead next to her. She's like, "I don't know, man. He just died in his sleep. How did that happen?"
Daniella Drake:
I don't know. I was asleep. Someone must have broken in. I don't know.
Evelyne Crowe:
He died. I don't know. Thank God, though, because I hated that guy.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I loved his parents just being like, "Yeah, we're good. We're good. Break the betrothal. This is plenty. This is good. No problem. We're selling the butcher shop. We're fine."
Evelyne Crowe:
We are retiring. We're going on vacation. We're excellent.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
God.
Daniella Drake:
Oh my God, but you know he's going to come back, because he knows she has magic.
Evelyne Crowe:
He definitely is a fucking weasel. He knows that she has magic and he knows that she can do things that would bring him wealth and goodness, because when Rain starts listing off all the things that were good luck that happened to her family after she was found, you start going, "Oh, shit."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. It was all these coincidences that, when you don't really list them off all together, seem pretty lucky. Then all of a sudden, you go through the list and you're like, "Wait a minute."
Evelyne Crowe:
No one's really been sick, and when you needed to get a job, you got a job and then this happened, and this happened, and this.
Daniella Drake:
Her mom was barren and then suddenly has twins?
Evelyne Crowe:
Right when she wants to have them.
Daniella Drake:
Her dad's hands are crippled.
Evelyne Crowe:
Miraculously healed.
Daniella Drake:
Magically heal.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's like, "Whoa."
Daniella Drake:
He gets a commission from the king right when he needs it the most. It's just like, all together, you can't ignore the fact that it's more than coincidence. Even though she doesn't want to acknowledge it, even she's like, "Uh."
Evelyne Crowe:
That might be a little weird.
Daniella Drake:
That's a lot.
Evelyne Crowe:
That might be a little more than coincidence. You might be right.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
You know that, because it's mentioned several times, that a child with her likeness was stolen from the High Mage.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
Around the same time that she was found, so you know that she's connected to the Mages somehow.
Daniella Drake:
In some way.
Evelyne Crowe:
You don't know how. She has one real weakness, and that is her friend who is from Eld, which is connected to the Mages.
Daniella Drake:
There is an aspect, if you're born and Eld, they do some ritual or something when you're an infant that makes you impressionable and able to be controlled by the Mages, which honestly sounds gross and problematic, and I don't like it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because the eld are evil and unredeemable.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Exactly. Her friend's mom was born an Eld, so any Mage could show up and take control of her.
Evelyne Crowe:
Which happens.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, so it's problematic, but cat dragons.
Evelyne Crowe:
What we're saying is that it's complicated.
Daniella Drake:
It is complicated. That's what makes it so cool is that there's so much going on and you do dive in a little bit into the politics. You start to see who believes the Fey and who doesn't, who is greedy and is willing to open trade with the Mages, just because it's been long enough, they're probably not a problem anymore, and we could make money. They're not really thinking that there might still be any danger. Even the queen is manipulated into being jealous of Ellie.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Even that whole thing at the end when she makes her drunk and then gives her that special coffee blend or whatever.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's a whole orgy in the throne room. It's so funny.
Daniella Drake:
It just backfires so spectacularly.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
You can't just set someone up. It's going to come back to you. Anything that you put onto the universe is going to come back to you, and that's exactly what happens, and it's instantaneous, basically.
Evelyne Crowe:
This is definitely really good. They aren't even married at the end of this book.
Daniella Drake:
Nope.
Evelyne Crowe:
This is the slowest burn in the universe.
Daniella Drake:
For instamates, especially. I was like, "This is instalove," so I thought I was going to get.
Evelyne Crowe:
The thought is not instalove.
Daniella Drake:
No, it's not. It's instalust. That's true.
Evelyne Crowe:
There's definitely a lot of, I yearn for you and I burn for you.
Daniella Drake:
That is true. Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
They don't consummate anything for a while.
Daniella Drake:
They do have that one spirit-spirit consummation, which I feel like is cheating, but whatever.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay. It's not real. I don't count that.
Daniella Drake:
It's not real.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's not real.
Daniella Drake:
It was still hot to read, but it's not real.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was. It's not real.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it is the slowest burn.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's so slow. It's not even in the first book. You have to read the next book.
Daniella Drake:
They do kiss. They do kiss multiple times in this book.
Evelyne Crowe:
They do kiss. Yes. If you like slow burns, this is for you.
Daniella Drake:
This is for you for sure. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is slow.
Daniella Drake:
Even I, I like slow burns. Even I was like, they're not married yet? I got to the end of the book and it just ended and I was like, "Wait, really?"
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh God. I'm rereading and I'm going, "Jesus, just get a fucking in room or something and just do it."
Daniella Drake:
Also, you know what? She's 24. He's thousands of years old. I don't mind them taking a little time to get to know each other.
Evelyne Crowe:
My God. It's the slowest burn in history.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, for fated mates especially, I felt like it was a very slow burn, but the rest of the series definitely picks up.
Evelyne Crowe:
He's very respectful of her innocence and her-
Daniella Drake:
He absolutely is, which I appreciate.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, so I will say that. He is very, "Okay, we will take it slow," and they do, which is nice.
Daniella Drake:
They do, so slow.
Evelyne Crowe:
So slow.
Daniella Drake:
So slow.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. Even after she's drugged with an aphrodisiac, he's still like, "Oh, you are incapacitated, so we will-"
Daniella Drake:
He literally flies himself to the beach. He's like, "I can't be here."
Evelyne Crowe:
He's like, "This is not good. I can't do this," and then leaves and you're just like, "Mother fucker."
Daniella Drake:
That's what she was thinking. She was like, "God dammit, what does a girl have to do?"
Evelyne Crowe:
I can't even have drugged sex with my fated mate.
Daniella Drake:
He gave a vow to her dad that he wouldn't before they were married, so can't do it, can't do it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm telling you, though, these are really good books.
Daniella Drake:
They're so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Really good books. I am not exaggerating.
Daniella Drake:
I hope more people read them.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're so good.
Daniella Drake:
They're so good. I can't wait to reread the rest of the series.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, my God.
Daniella Drake:
Honestly, it's been so long that I can't remember what happens.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's the thing is I'm rereading it and going, "God dammit, I'm going to have to read the rest of the fucking series again."
Daniella Drake:
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to have to, because I read the first one and I'm like, "God."
Daniella Drake:
I need to know what happens.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's so good. I have to read the rest.
Daniella Drake:
It's so true.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't know what she puts in them, but whatever she does, I need more of it, so thank you, C.L. Wilson. I am hooked officially on your books, so I appreciate you.
Daniella Drake:
Again.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, what are we reading next?
Daniella Drake:
Gideon The Knife.
Evelyne Crowe:
Gideon The Knife. It's so good.
Daniella Drake:
This is a change of pace, because it is different from any other book you will ever read.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
It's so, so incredibly good, so until next time, I am Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm Evelyne Crowe.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.
