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    Heartstone
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    Heartstone
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    Heartstone
    Ebook380 pages5 hours

    Heartstone

    By Elle Katharine White

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.

    They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters.

    Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.

    Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers . . . something far more sinister than gryphons.

    It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart.

    Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy that conjures a familiar yet wondrously unique new world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 17, 2017
    ISBN9780062451958
    Author

    Elle Katharine White

    A textbook introvert who likes to throw out the (metaphorical) textbook every once in a while just to see what happens, Elle Katharine White grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she learned valuable life skills such as how to clear a snowy driveway in under twenty minutes and how to cheer for the perennial underdog. When she’s not writing, she spends her time drinking tea, loitering in libraries and secondhand bookshops, and dreaming of world travel. Heartstone is her first novel.

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    Reviews for Heartstone

    4/5

    105 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Pros: fun characters, great romanceCons: minor issuesAliza Bentaine’s life at Merybourne Manor changes when gryphons invade the nearby wood and kill her youngest sister. It changes again when the Riders they hired to hunt the gryphons show up and include the handsome but arrogant Alastair Daired. But more than gryphons stalk the land, and other mysteries darken Aliza’s world.This is a close retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in a world where monsters roam and dragons fly. There’s no recycled dialogue and the motivations for why characters act as they do have been adjusted to fit the realities of this world. I found that Aliza’s reasons for disliking Daired were more substantial here, making their eventual reconciliation a bit harder to accept. The ending has several major deviations from the source material, which I enjoyed. I especially liked that Gwyn (Charlotte in the original)’s marriage is for different, more mysterious reasons and that their marriage seems better matched. I did wish the mystery regarding her father had received more of a resolution though.The addition of a wide variety of monsters was fabulous. I didn’t always know what creatures were, but it was fun seeing new and lesser used beings intermixed with the more familiar gnomes, wyverns, and dragons. The use of monster heartstones as engagement/wedding tokens was interesting. I also liked that different creatures spoke different languages, and not all humans understood all languages. If you like Jane Austen and fantasy, it’s a fun retelling.
    • 4/5
      It's a [Pride and Prejudice] retelling with dragons! Now before that single sentence makes you say, "Umm, no thanks, I don't do dragon books," let me just point out that normally neither do I but this one charmed me enough to put a Staff Picks sticker on it before I returned it to the library where I work. In this version, Aliza Bentaine lives in a small community being threatened by gryphons. When the lord of the manor calls in a group of Riders to rid the neighbourhood of the plight, amongst them is Alastair Daired and his dragon Akarra. Translating the classic plot of P&P to a fantasy setting is a unique approach and it's as much fun to see how White renames characters, reinterprets them mildly in some cases to better fit the setting, and adds in a ripping climax to the novel without moving so far from the source material to bother this die hard Janeite. Recommended if you enjoy a P&P retelling, regardless of your general fondness for dragon books.
    • 4/5
      This has the the sort of worldbuilding I’d be unsurprised to find in a fairytale retelling - but instead of retelling a fairytale, it sets Pride and Prejudice in a world with dragons, gryphons and hobgoblins.When Lord Merybourne hires a group of Riders to deal with the gryphons who are threatening Hart’s Run, Aliza’s mother sees an opportunity for her daughters to marry someone who would take them to live somewhere safer.“Surely you see what an opportunity this is!” Mama said. “Yes, I do.” Papa’s voice was stern. “It’s a chance to get rid of these accursed gryphons once and for all. Of all people, I’d think you’d appreciate that most.” “Of course, of course, but I’m talking about our daughters.” “Oh? Were they planning to slay some of the beasts themselves?” “Robart!” “If these Riders are apprenticing, I’ll give my hearty consent to whichever girl wishes to take up the blade. You and I will both sleep easier if they know how to defend themselves. [...] I was joking, my dear.” “Well, I’m not! And anyway, a husband lasts longer than an apprenticeship.”I enjoyed Aliza’s lively first person narration and the way Heartstone translates Pride and Prejudice to a different context. It would be easy for a fantasy P&P to keep the context of the main developments much the same as P&P, but Heartstone roots these developments in its fantasy world. So certain events - such as the arrival of new people in the community - occur, but for different reasons. This all meant that, in spite of knowing P&P so well, I had so many questions I wanted answered: What was the history between Daired and Wydrick? What was going to happen to Leyda?There are also a few ways, both big and small, in which Heartstone diverges from P&P. It surprised me more than once. I was initially wary when I heard of this book’s existence, but it is fun! Pride and Prejudice is still superior, of course, but Heartstone has dragons - dragons! - and does a good job of being its own story. 
    • 3/5
      I was disappointed by the ending, but only because the middle was so good.

      There are a lot of clever modern updates used--for example, the Bennet mother isn't just a hysterical matchmaker. She's determined to marry her daughters off because it's the fastest and most effective way to get them to move somewhere safer. I also really liked Lydia's modern update, which was along the same vein.
    • 5/5
      Aliza Bentaine lives at Merybourne Manor with her parents and sisters Anjey, Mari, and Leyda. Her other sister Rina was killed in a gryphon attack, so now the Riders and their warrior beasts have come to clean out the gryphon nest. Aliza's first encounter with a Rider is with their leader, Lord Alastair Daired in the middle of a hobgoblin fight where he's getting pelted with mud by Tobble who lives in the garden with his relatives and friends. Daired stepped on Tobble's toes, and they return fire with mud and Gnomic curses. As a result, Aliza and Daired take an instant dislike to each other though Anjey and another rider, Brysney, hit it off right away. Still, Aliza keeps running into Daired and his dragon Akarra; he still riles her though she's pretty friendly with Akarra. All differences are set aside when the Greater Lindworm awakens from its centuries-long sleep and begins to ravage the countryside. As a fantasy, this book is very good. The worldbuilding is wonderful with all sorts of beasts including dragons, centaurs, wyverns, lamias, direwolves, and banshees, different classes (Aliza is a lowly nakla while Daired is a lord), different languages, and some religion. The battle scenes are crisply drawn, the herblore fits in well, and the characters fit their roles well. There's whimsy; one passage: "The roads to Dragonsmoor were hard and rocky, and four days bouncing around a cramped carriage had given us all an unlooked-for empathy with churned butter."However, this is more than a fantasy novel; it is also Jane Austen fan fiction. I love Austen and I've read quite a bit of Austen fan-fiction as well as the original novels. Some are successful, but most falls flat (I'm looking at that vampire book especially). I really worried that this one would be a mess, but I loved it. If you haven't read Pride and Prejudice, you'll enjoy this anyway, but knowing the story is based on that book just enhances this book. The author was very smart to stick to some basic outlines and characters. Daired (Darcy) is still arrogant, snobbish, handsome, and with a heart of gold. Aliza (Lizzie) is a bit more undefined; the book is told in her first person POV and reflects her confusion over her feelings for Daired, first her dislike, then her realization that she was wrong and her burgeoning admiration for him that grows to love. What the author did that I really like was to change some of the characters to reflect the genre. While Austen used caricature for Mrs. Bennett, Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and others to display some of the social strictures of her time, Ms. White has softened most of them and made them much more likable which is what you want in a fantasy. They may still have faults - Wydrick (Wickham) is particularly unlikeable but in a way that fits the fantasy aspect. I really liked Lady Catriona who was very pleasant and let her dragon take on the characteristics of the original Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Charis (Caroline Bingley) also receives much better treatment in this version.There's some romance (it is based on Pride and Prejudice after all) though only about as much as one would expect in a fantasy book. But it's not too mushy for fantasy readers, but enough for the Janeites: "He leaned close, his forehead almost touching mine. "I wrote it once, and I mean it still. Whatever happens in the next few days, I want you to know that I wish you every happiness the gods can bestow. If I don't-""No." I brushed four fingers against his temple. "May Odei give you strength, Janna give you courage, Mikla keep you safe, and Threll take your enemies. You're coming back."The author has a sequel coming at the end of the year, and I can't wait. Meanwhile, Heartstone is a book that's going on my reread list. It's that good.
    • 5/5
      This was an excellent fantasy with lots of romance. When Merybourne manor is invaded by gryphons, the local lord gathers together enough money to hire a group of Riders to clear them out. While Aliza Bentaine is grateful to the riders, one of them, Alistair Daired, just rubs her the wrong way. She first meets him when he kicks her hobgoblin friend Tobble and calls him vermin. Daired is rude, arrogant and haughty. A romance does bloom between one of the other Riders and Aliza's sister Anjey though which delights Aliza and Anjey's social climbing mother who wants nothing more than to marry her daughters off to Riders.After the gryphons have been defeated, most of the Riders leave and when the king calls, the rest leave too. Anjey and her Rider promise to write to each other every day but no letters arrive. Aliza is angry and sad for her sister. Time passes and Aliza travels to visit her best friend who has married and is living near a Daired family home. There she meets Alistair again whom she blames for sabotaging her sister's relationship by intercepting the letters. He denies it and confesses his love for her in a somewhat tactless manner. She rebuffs him but can't seem to get him out of her thoughts.When a terrible lindworm surfaces endangering Aliza's home and all the Riders, she learns what her true feelings are for Alistair Daired. I loved the slow building romance. I loved all the various creatures especially Tobble and Alistair's dragon partner Akarra. I liked the world building. I liked Aliza's adventure to save her love.I haven't read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and can't compare this story to the original. However, I do recommend this one to anyone who likes fantasy and romance.
    • 5/5
      This was book was described to me as “Pride and Prejudice, where Darcy is a Dragon rider” and I was like, uh, say no more. I’m in. I’ve read my share of P&P adaptions, some good (Bride and Prejudice) and some hideous (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) – but this, this one is my favorite. “Elizabeth” called Aliza in this, lives in a world were monsters are real. Her father works for the Lord Merybourne, who, when faced with Gryphon attacks, hires Riders to free his land. Darcy, one of the great dragon lords, arrives, and as expected, is appalled at the backwater hillbilly-invested land he’s been hired to protect. The story faithfully follows the P&P narrative, with enough fresh twists (and dragons) to make it a stay-up-late-too-see-what-happens sort of read. Yes, we know Aliza and Darcy get together in the end – but how? That’s what matters – that and, does she ever get to rid the Dragon?If you enjoy fantasy worlds and/or P&P, this is the book for you!
    • 4/5
      What more can one person ask for? There’s dragons, adventure, and sword play.This a beautiful blending of world building, things that might make a slight bump in the night and smidgen (might be a bit more) of pride and prejudice. The written word in this story flows from one to the the next. Just remember anyone can improve themselves if they want to.
    • 4/5
      Pride and Prejudice and Dragons!AU. Sometimes clever, sometimes wanted it to break a bit more from the source material. Includes humans, dragons, and dragonriders.
    • 4/5
      Take Jane Austen's classic tale and translate it to a fantasy setting and you get this dragon filled adventure. Aliza and Alastair follow the traditional Austen formula, but there are dragons and magical creatures and a war to be won. The Austen inspired characters are just enough different that the story holds surprises and Aliza and Alastair aren't just Elizabeth and Darcy plopped down in a fantasy setting.
    • 5/5
      A truly lovely and innovative adaptation that brings Austen to life in a totally different world. Highly recommended.