Here’s the deal, Curious One. I have a series of 6 books and two novellas which all deserve their own discussions. I am chomping at the bit with curiosity here, so we will do something a bit different. The next 8 discussions I post about will all be pertaining to the same series the Elemental Origins Series. And later on, I will discuss the curiosities I found and how much I liked…or didn’t like…the books.
The Elemental Origins Series is written by A.L Knorr. Born of Water, Born of Fire, Born of Earth, Born of Aether, Born of Air and The Elementals. The collection I got also includes two companion novellas, The Wreck of the Sybellen and Pyro; which I will also discuss later after the first six books.
Skip down to the Release Schedule!
I want to make sure that you stay with me the whole time, so I hope you are currently or planning on getting your own copy or copies of these books to read along with me. They are totally worth it and I would suggest them to anyone who is a fan of YA Fantasy or magic and myth related stories.
The Writing of the Elemental Origins Series
I connected to each girl involved enough to fall in love with them, cry with them, get furious with them, and feel their fear. I understand how, being curious yourself, you may want to only glance at the description and make your decision from that, but I assure you that if you love to feel and connect with the characters in the worlds you read, you will if not love, at least enjoy checking the Elemental Series out.
A.L. Knorr knocked me out with her amazing writing. Typically, as you know, with a series of books you are reading the same style or point of view from beginning to end. This series though, was written as though the girls were telling their individual stories. It was amazing and extremely refreshing. Especially in a collection of 8 novels.
After book 4 or 5 it would be easy to grow bored and end up not reading them all in a row, taking a break with a different category of book. The way these were put together though, I was ready to start the next book the moment I read the last word of the previous one.
I loved the Style
The style of writing in general also has less dialogue between characters than normal. It was interesting and I absolutely loved it after I got used to the rhythm. It helped immensely that the friendship and relationship between not only the friends and peers, but the family members as well was very realistic. You were reading the stories about 17-19 year old girls, but you were not dealing with the usual whiney drama that, let’s face it, comes hand-in-hand with many YA novels of any genre. These girls had their drama, sure, but it was so naturally written and expressed that it doesn’t make you roll your eyes and break out of the immersion when reading. I mentioned so many times in my discussions that these were realistic and natural problems that could occur with the story that you yourself may roll your eyes at me!
Each girl evolved and matured both mentally and physically and it was beautiful to witness. There may have been a time or two when I chewed a fingernail off in anticipation of how they would evolve. The curiosity literally caged me with the Elemental Series. I’m definitely not trying to sell you on it, I will be the first to say if you don’t like heroines, long reading, or the YA genre, then don’t check these out. But I never wanted to put them down. Not until I found out where the story line was going to go.
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There was more time spent on each individual girl than usual. Typically you always have a good guy and a bad guy and the time in the novel is split in some percentage between the two perspectives. With these though, it focused entirely on the girl and what she went through. Of course, each one had a bad guy they were trying to get away from or working around, but they were present just enough to make the story believable and in the right moments. Not a single word was wasted on the telling of these stories. I was so hooked I spent most of my time wondering how they would finally all connect in the end!
I was hoping that because of the way she was writing these books that there would be less repetition than usual when starting the next book. I was pleased until the last book, when they all came together. It felt like it was set up to be a final movie instead of a final book and I was slightly perturbed by that; not enough to wipe out my curiosity, of course, that could not have happened with this series at any point, but I was a little disappointed that we went through some things twice. They were nowhere near bad enough to take you away from the story though, so you should be good.
All Good Things Come to an End
I will say I was sorely sad by the final book. It just ended and didn’t really give you any sort of the adventure that you assume would have happened. I was expecting a great final showdown with a monster of immense proportions and what you get is a dirty corporation working for a monster that showed up for the last 15 minutes of reading and then was defeated. I feel the final book definitely should have been at least twice as long as it was. Maybe that is just me wanting more for these characters, but hopefully I’m not the only one.
Pay attention to the back stories and transformations of the girls too! If you are a fan of mythology and mystical creatures, you can liken them each to one or more mythological being. I mean, who can turn down a series that connects mermaids, phoenix, dryads, spirits and the euroclydon all in one setting!?
Truly Remarkable.
Curiosity Release Schedule for Elemental Origins Series
Book 1: Born of Water – August 30th, 2020
Novella 1: The Wreck of Sybellen – September 1st, 2020
Book 2: Born of Fire – September 4th, 2020
Novella 2: Pyro: A Fire Novella – September 6th, 2020
Book 3: Born of Earth – September 9th, 2020
Book 4: Born of Aether – September 12th, 2020
Book 5: Born of Air – September 15th, 2020
Book 6: The Elementals – September 18th, 2020
I really hope you follow me along my journey of curiosity with the Elemental Series by A.L Knorr. I loved it and I hope to see some other curious faces visit my thoughts.
Make sure to visit A.L. Knorr’s website, where she makes sure you are aware she is not a dude!
My next discussion will begin with book one of the Elemental Series, Born of Water. I’d love to see you there, Curious One! Subscribe to my blog to get an email when a new Curiosity posts!
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