Hello friends! I hope that you are all having a beautiful spring and that life is amazing. I am so excited to be writing this post today. If you are a follower of this blog you may know that I am a longtime fan and follower of incredible fantasy author: Charlie N. Holmberg. I have posted about her before, but today I am here to talk about her newest series, Star Mother. If you are a fan of fantasy, romance, and immersive storytelling, Holmberg's writing is for you.
I am a lover of mythology. Especially beautiful stories that attempt to explain something mundane and natural. For example: Echo and Narcissus, as the name tells you this myth explains the origin of echoes and the Narcissus flower. Another example: Persephone and Hades, this myth explains the creation of seasons, with Demeter grieving her daughter and refusing to allow plants to grow during her time in the underworld (Fall and Winter). The books I am talking about today do much of the same. They take place on Earth hundreds of years ago. (To be more specific, it's probably not our earth. The locations are purely fictional and Gods and Demigods are pretty prevalent, but it looks like our earth and has much of the same lifestyle that would have been seen here hundreds of years ago). The people worship the Sun, with temples and shrines built to him in most every town. With that very basic backstory, let's dive in to book one!
Star Mother by Charlie N. Holmberg
Star Mother follows a young woman named Ceris, who is soon to be married. The marriage is arranged, but Ceris cares for the young man and hopes that he will learn to love her as well. One night she sneaks out of her home to go to him, but instead finds him hidden away in the woods with another woman. They whisper of their love to each other and their desires to be together. Ceris goes home broken-hearted, knowing that her betrothed will never love her back. Shortly after this discovery the Sun temple in town is lit by an other-worldly flame. The Sun God has chosen her town to provide the woman who will be the next Star Mother. Star Mothers are exactly what they sound like: they bear and birth new stars. When a star dies a mortal woman goes to the kingdom of the Sun God and they make a new star. The Star Mother bears the child for nine months before giving birth and dying. No woman has ever survived the birth of a star. Ceris decides to accept the task. If she becomes the next Star Mother she can break her engagement without any questions or rumors. Her betrothed will be free to marry the one he loves and Ceris will live on in fame and renown. Ceris meets the Sun God, spends her nine months in his kingdom, and gives birth to her star. Days later, she awakes. She has survived. I won't spoil the rest of the story for you, but I can honestly say that it is one of my favorite books I have ever read. The rest of the book is full of adventure and romance and everything you could wish for in a fantasy novel. It links the story to worldly things, like myths often do, which is my favorite part. It makes the story seem more real to me. I look out at the stars and I remember this story and it makes the real world seem a little more... romantic, I guess.
Star Father by Charlie N. Holmberg
While Star Mother could easily have been a standalone novel, I will be forever grateful to Holmberg for not leaving it there. I had to know what came of the Sun God after the previous story ends. This book takes place years after the first, during a war between the Sun and Moon. This fight leads to the Sun being knocked out of the sky and landing on Earth. While the world is confused and frightened by the loss of the sun, Ai and her family are also attempting to care for a strange man that just showed up on their property one day. Hmm... who could that be? Anyways, his secret gets out, the Moon sends soldiers to try to take him out on Earth, they do not succeed, and the Sun is reinstated to his place of glory in the sky. Yay! All done, right? Nope! He managed to fall in love with Ai (a mortal) during his time on earth and she is not willing to give him up so easily. The rest of the book follows her and her eclectic group of friends at they traipse around the world attempting to reunite her with her lost love. It is beautiful and romantic and crazy immersive. We meet godlings and demons and the Moon and it's just really gorgeous. It definitely made me cry. In a good way though.
That is my review of the Star Mother series by Charlie N. Holmberg! I highly suggest that you check it out and after you fall in love with it make sure you check out the rest of Holmberg's books as well. Thanks for stopping by to read this post, make sure you comment and let me know what you thought! Also feel free to comment or message me if you have ideas for future posts or are looking for recommendations. See you all soon!
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