The Ninth Rain (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy 1): shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award 2018

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The three of them set out on a trek through the Wilds, studying the landscape and narrowly avoiding the clutches of the Winnowry agent sent to recapture Noon. Meanwhile, in Ebora, Tormalin's sister, Hestillion, senses an ancient presence within the corpse of Ygseril, and hatches a plot to revive the long-dead root-mother no matter the cost...

The Reveal: At least one in every book - each one with massive ramifications for the setting and the events to come: Better to Die than Be Killed: Mother Cressin of the Winnowry cuts her own throat rather than be destroyed by Noon's winnowfire. The first book in the award-winning Winnowing Flame trilogy . Epic fantasy for fans of Robin Hobb and Jay Kristoff.Beta Couple: Bern and Aldasair, while not without their difficulties, have a much more successful and stable relationship than the series' primary pairing: Tormalin and Noon. Hive Mind: The hive mind of the Jure'lia is explicitly compared to a spider's web, with the queen at the centre, and anyone connected to that web can experience the thoughts and feelings of anyone else also connected. Hestillion and Celaphon are willingly joined to the hive mind, while Bern is joined by force.

likable characters: while I can't say I loved/fully connected with them, I enjoyed reading from their perspectives. We have three main characters and we mostly follow their stories but secondary characters also had a few POVs.

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THE NINTH RAIN introduces readers to the world of Sarn and all of its many peoples. Our main characters are Lady Vincenza "Vintage" de Grazon, a scholar traversing Sarn to investigate the remains of the Jure'lia in an attempt to solve the mystery of who these "worm-people" are and where exactly they come from when they invaded Sarn in years past. Then there is Tormalin the Oathless, an Eboran who left the ruins of the Eboran Empire to live out his final years amongst the living while also serving as Vintage's bodyguard in her travels. The two stumble upon a Fell witch named Noon on the run after her escape from the Winnowry, a horrible institution which imprisons women who had the misfortune of being born with certain destructive abilities. Dark Fantasy: Subverted, as one might be forgiven at a first glance for thinking that The Winnowing Flame is a dark fantasy series, given the setting of a poisoned world still recovering from centuries of war - first against alien invaders and then later against a race of blood-drinking warriors - haunted by ghosts that turn people inside out, and where vast areas of land are too dangerous to travel through without getting mauled by twisted monsters. But ultimately, the story is one of how love and the bonds people share can overcome even the greatest foe. The heroes are heroic with a few shades of grey, and all but the most out-and-out Eldritch Abomination villains are capable of redemption, and even the Jure'lia ultimately only want to continue the survival of their race - they only truly turn omnicidal once their eggs are destroyed and any chance of a future for their race is obliterated. Ultimately, the optimistic tone of the series renders it closer to Heroic Fantasy. To me, this book is all of those things – all of those comparisons. To me ‘the Ninth Rain is the 21st century Lord of the Rings’. There is, it seems to me, a certain type of man who is terrified of the idea of a woman wielding power, of any sort; the type of man who is willing to dress up his terror in any sort of trappings to legitimise it.” The Jure’lia were defeated, but through the ages all knowledge of what exactly happened was lost. What is known is that the Jure’lia all died at once, their giant ships plummeted from the sky and crashed all over Sarn.

Our Vampires Are Different: The Eborans are a race of red-eyed, ethereally beautiful humanoid beings who gain nourishment (and agelessness) by drinking the blood of humans. However, they originally drank the sap of their tree-father, Ygseril - the source of their long lives, and the discovery that human blood produced a similar effect only came about by accident after the great tree died. The discovery did, however, lead to a savage massacre of humans by the Eborans in their desperation to hold onto their youth. These "Carrion Wars" only ended once the Eborans realised that consuming too much human blood caused a terminal disease called the crimson flux to ravage their bodies, wiping out most of their race. While a huge victory for humans and Eborans, the fallout from the battle was disastrous. Wherever the ships of the Jure’lia violently met their end, some device or other machination of the defeated force caused a sort of infection or disease that corrupted the very place these vessels found their final resting place in. This ever-spreading corruption not only tainted vegetation, but also animals, resulting in monstrous abominations. Playing with Fire: The ability of all fell-witches of Sarn - sapping a living being's energy, taking it into themselves, and releasing it as a magical fire. This is such a hard book to describe because it’s many different genres in one. It is a fantasy first, but it also combines elements of horror, sci-fi, and mystery. The world that Williams has crafted is so interesting. There are so many parts of the world we get to see due to the characters being in different places. The Jure'lia themselves seem straight out of a horror novel and their habits and the way they take over communities, while terrifying, was also extremely interesting and innovative.Let's Keep It In The Crustacean Family Father-Daughter Buddy Read (LKIITNFFDBR™) with My Little One 🦀 This was a story that I was engaged with the entire time while reading. The writing is so easy to get into and it flowed really well. I also think Williams did a great job with the multiple POVs, which is not always easy to do. I was equally invested in them all. I also felt that the pacing was pretty good. It does start off a little slow, but in no way would I say it was boring. The ending was especially paced well. It didn’t feel like Williams was rushing to get the ending out. Tormalin the Oathless is an Eboran(a nonhuman race) warrior and Vintage’s guard/companion. He is extremely vain and selfish. He wants to drink good wine, wear fashionable clothes and enjoy life. Eborans are on the verge of extinction following the death of their tree-like god Ysegril but Hestillion is doing all she can to keep him alive. In fact she'll go to any lengths to save him… any lengths at all. Hest's brother Tormalin can't sit around and wait for the end. So he's engaged by Lady Vincenza (Vintage) de Grazon to be her factotum and hired sword during her quest for knowledge. It's turning into more of an adventure than they'd planned, even before Fell witch and fugitive Noon joins them. Now the trio must work together, putting prejudices and passions aside (others' as well as their own). The Ninth Rain is coming and more than Ebora is in danger. smooth writing: it was easy to follow and to read (not heavy). The letters at the beginning of each chapter helped give a better sense of the world ans in a way of the character writing them. Hence, there was no excessive info dump. We discover the history of the world as we go along. Jen Williams is a talented writer for sure. I'm looking forward to her future work.