Uptown Oracle Reads… The Falconer

Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameronhas everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty. But she’s leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense the sìthíchean and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.

Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother. The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity.

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The Falconer
Elizabeth May

The Falconer was one of those books I’d seen a lot, and adored the artwork, but had never really looked into what it was about. But, whilst at YALC, I made the impulse purchase. And I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the story. The plotline is mainly vengeance based, and watching Aileana kick ass is written extremely well. It then evolves into a much bigger ‘save the world’ story which keeps you on your toes.

The setting is in an alternate reality Scotland which is set in a Victorian-like era but with steampunk elements. I always adore books that are set in the UK and that incorporate some regional lore! Especially when it comes to the fae that were included in The Falconer. They were truly evil, but because they lacked humanness, not because of any true motivation.

Aileana as a character was okay. She was strong female character, but sometimes I felt that her strength lay too much with her willingness to kill and be violent. She’s clearly gone through a lot with the murder of her mother, but her grief wasn’t explored too much outside of her seeking revenge. Maybe later in the series we see more of this?

We also have her two closest fae ‘friends’. Her mentor, Kiaran, was your typical bad boy who doesn’t display any feelings but is set up as a love interest. Obviously, I didn’t much for him. We only really learn more about Kiaran at the end of the book, but he’s clearly set up as a main player for the series. I’m sure he’ll be focused on more in later instalments. Then there’s Derrick, our comic relief fae who is there to give Aileana bits of information. He does seem to be around as a needed character, but there’s not really any depth there either.

The writing itself is wonderful, and keeps the pace fast and intriguing. I especially loved the build up to the final battle as it really ramps up the book. The world building of a steampunk Scotland was a welcome addition, especially with the lore woven into it. May is also great at being descriptive with Aileana’s inventions and you can imagine them clearly when reading. I also both loved and hated the cliff-hanger as now I just want to read the next book.

Positives

+ Scotland based fantasy with lore

+ Build up to the final battle

+ Cliffhanger

Negatives

– Character depth