Nightingale by David Farland

The multi-award winning novel, Nightingale by best-selling author, David Farland is available in hardback, ebook, and now in a special iPad enhanced version. This young-adult fantasy novel has already been turning heads.

 

Grand Prize Winner of the Hollywood Book Festival, placed first in all genres, all categories.

Winner of the 2012 International Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel of the Year!

Finalist in the Global Ebook Awards.

 

Some people sing at night to drive back the darkness. Others sing to summon it. . . .

Bron Jones was abandoned at birth. Thrown into foster care, he was rejected by one family after another, until he met Olivia, a gifted and devoted high-school teacher who recognized him for what he really was--what her people call a "nightingale."

But Bron isn't ready to learn the truth. There are secrets that have been hidden from mankind for hundreds of thousands of years, secrets that should remain hidden. Some things are too dangerous to know. Bron's secret may be the most dangerous of all.

In his remarkable young adult fantasy debut, David Farland shows why critics have called his work "compelling," "engrossing," "powerful," "profound," and "ultimately life-changing."

 

As part of the blog tour I was able to read an ARC, so here's my review of Nightingale:

 

There’s something different about Bron Jones. He’s been raised in foster home after foster home after being abandoned as a baby. When he’s sixteen he goes to live with Olivia, a high school teacher who recognizes right away just what it is that’s different about Bron.

Nightingale follows Bron’s journey of discovery with Olivia as he learns not only who he really is but what he really is. And what he is is not quite human.

I have to say I really liked Bron. He’s learned to close himself off from affection because of his lack of it in his life, and at the same time he yearns for it. Because of the glimpses into Bron’s past, and his emotional fragility I quickly began rooting for the kid.

Once Bron moves in with Olivia and her husband Mike, the story begins moving very quickly. While I liked the compassion Olivia immediately had for him, at times it verged just a little towards the ick factor as it hinted at some sexual attraction between the two. Every time the story veered that way I almost had to close my eyes and look away. Luckily, it’s a rare occasion that happens, and Farland eventually gives us an understanding as to why that happens (though it doesn’t completely make it okay). It does not detract from the story in any way, so please don’t read into this that there was anything inappropriate happening between them.

There was a bit of information dump at the beginning and at a few points throughout that made it a little confusing keeping straight who was who in this strange species, and who were the good guys and who were the bad, with just a hair too much history for me. But again, those things didn’t detract from the story for me. There was enough action and angst occurring to completely hold my attention. It was impossible to not care about what happened to Bron, which kept me quickly turning pages.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good paranormal or fantasy story. Or even anyone who just plain enjoys a good, well-told story. I look forward to the sequel to Nightingale. Farland has done an excellent job in creating a world that I want to know more about, and where I want to know how Bron turns out.

 

 

"Superb worldbuilding, strong characters, and Dave's characteristic excellent prose. --Brandon Sanderson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

 

"A wonderful tale of a young man trying to find his humanity, even though he's not quite human. One of Farland's very best!"--#1 International Bestseller Kevin J. Anderson

The enhanced version creates an amazing reading experience complete with illustrations from several talented artists and a sample of a soundtrack that coincides with the story. Published by East India Press a publishing company that takes e-books in a whole new direction with enhanced multimedia--soundtracks, movie clips, author interviews and more. From the site: "East India embraces emerging technologies and new distribution methods, producing every novel in three forms: as an enhanced multimedia experience, as a standard e-book, and as a limited edition hardcover."
Farland has plans for three more books in the series: Dream Assassin, Draghoul, and Shadow Lord.

About the author: 

David Farland has written and edited fifty published books. These include novels for adults, young adults, anthologies, middle-grade readers, and picture books. He often teaches writing workshops, and has trained a number of people who went on to become international bestselling authors—people like Brandon Sanderson in fantasy, Brandon Mull in middle-grade fiction, and Stephenie Meyer in young adult fiction.

As part of his dedication to helping other writers, David writes the David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants, an email bulletin for writers or those who would be writers. Many authors rave about how it has helped them. Out of devotion, he provides the Daily Kick free. You can register to receive it at http://www.davidfarland.com/.

You can learn more about Dave and his books/writing seminars here:
FB:

http://www.facebook.com/david.farland1

Twitter handle @DavidFarland

Websites:

 

Nightingale

 

Blog

 

Goodreads

David Farland Amazon Page