#dragonoak: the complete history of kastelir

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Rowan Northwood from Dragonoak is asexual!

[rorafa]

Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir – a review

Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir – a review

As my writing begins to touch on diversity and minority rights issues, I knew that I should expand my reading. This novel is my first fantasy that I’ve read that is willing to move beyond the narrow taboos of modern society.

Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir (Dragonoak #1)

by Sam Farren

After being exiled to the farmland around her village, Rowan Northwood takes the only chance at…

[caduceator]

My copy of The Complete History of Kastelir arrived in the mail yesterday, and the handwritten trivia was a joy to read! Here it is for any other curious Dragonoak fans. Transcript is under the cut.

PLEASE NOTE this trivia contains spoilers for the ending of the Dragonoak trilogy, not just the first book!

For reference, my request was this: “Could I have trivia about the dramatic or mushy romantic stuff Rowan and Claire did for each other over the years? What was their wedding like? (did anyone cry?)”

Claire and Rowan actively put off getting married for longer than they’d like. General outrage and indignation around the castle turns from “You’re the Queen! You can’t be with a necromancer!” to “If you’re going to be with a necromancer, you absolutely have to marry her ASAP!” It’s the closest the court and self-important officials will ever get to tradition and proper royal conduct. (Besides, they’re both busy people—helping restore Felheim and the former territories, dealing with Agados, flying to Canth all the time.)

Rowan comes home exhausted after a stint in Agados, falls into bed with Claire, and when Claire asks her to marry her is like “haha ok.” She promptly falls asleep. The next morning, she can’t work out whether it was a dream or not.

Alex goes overboard with wedding planning. Michael acts like he approved of his sister going after a knight-slash-Princess all along.

Rowan asks Kouris if it’s okay that she’s marrying Claire and. You know. Not her. To which Kouris insists it’s okay, because technically she’s still married to Kidira. (Everyone agrees this is weird!)

Kouris designs and handstitches Rowan and Claire’s wedding outfits.

Yes, Rowan agrees it’s crazy she’s marrying a Queen, but more importantly she’s marrying CLAIRE. Holy shit!

Everyone comes to the wedding. Everyone! Whether they’re in the former Kastelir or Canth, everyone comes. Oh, except Aren. She isn’t invited.

You wanna know who cries at the wedding? Varn Ironsi sobs like a baby.

They go to Mahon, for the honeymoon. The local pirates dub Claire a “poor pirate’s Reis” and enjoying nobody knowing who she is, Claire plays into it.

Claire has a new, beautiful stable built on the castle grounds...for Charley.

Their relationship is often long-distance, with Rowan flying around on Oak, helping people, and Claire having to stay in Thule. While Rowan is away, Claire writes her dozens of letters. When Rowan gets home, they lie in bed together, and Claire reads them all to Rowan.

Claire and Rowan have no children, but are aunts to Reis and Eden’s three kids.

The best fact of all is that Claire and Rowan spend hundreds of years together, never any less in love! Once their rule in Thule is over, they travel the world together (with Kouris!), and there’s always so much more good than there is bad.

I love them all, tho I think my favorites are 1) Varn crying at the wedding 2) Kouris making their wedding outfits!! and 3) Claire finally getting a chance to chill in Canth. Thanks again to Sam Farren for this cool bonus!

[caedin-22]

I absolutely adore all the free books on kindle from little known authors. One who slays monsters, stray cat strut, and now Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir. Such good hidden gems. Is like exploring a second hand shop or decrepit library for the books no one else wanted. But they're good. Really good stories that I hope they get the chance to write more of.

[dolphelecat]

Music For A Necromancer // A playlist for Rowan Northwood from the Dragonoak Trilogy

8tracks | Playmoss

1. The Song of the Shepherd - Johnny Boshoff  2. Healing Incantation - Mandy Moore  3. She Keeps Me Warm - Mary Lambert  4. Themes from Pirates of the Caribbean - The Piano Guys  5. Graveyard - Mitch Grassi  6. Gravity - Sara Bareilles  7. Navigating Home - Mark Mancina  8. Test Drive - Gavin Greenaway & John Powell  9. Breath of Life - Howard Shore  10. Know Who You Are - Auli’i Cravalho  11. For Guinevere - Heather Dale  12. Orchestral Suite from the Inner Light - Jay Chattaway

[mautadite]

december book roundup

happy old year’s day! 13 books this month, and a grand total of 158 books this year! i did it! still feeling as surreal and proud as i did when i met my goal early in july. i’ve always loved reading, could never get enough of it, but the past few years have seen a significant decrease in the number of books i read for enjoyment, because of work, school, depression, obligations, blah blah... so i’m really glad i had such a productive year! AND that i managed to keep up these monthly updates, which i started on a whim back in february. it’s been a good deal of fun for me, and hopefully is something that i’ll keep up with in years to come.

anyway... books!

southern reach trilogy - jeff vandermeer  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in my review of the second book for this series i said “i still don’t know what’s going on, but i’m having a good time”. and... yeah. i enjoyed this! i enjoyed the creepiness, the unsettling feeling that pervaded through the nature, the environmental horror (which is my fave new genre). the characters and setting were amazing. the writing was haunting. the plot was ?_?. i liked it very much.

minority report - philip k. dick  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ just read this to get background info on the movie and tv show, which i wanted to watch. it was neat.

santa daddy - keira andrews  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ tropey, substance-less romance novella. being a novella it went from 0 to 100 in fourteen minutes, but once you accept that as an inevitable side effect of a shorter work... this was okay. cute!

the woman in the window - a. j. finn ⭐️⭐️⭐️ further forays into reading the normie books that everyone else was reading this year. this was pretty good, pretty suspenseful, and i really liked the main character. but i figured out like two of the major twists way ahead of time, which was a bummer. i wanted to be mystified!!!!

christmas eve 1914 - charles olivier  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ christmas in wartime, wwi. pretty decently performed narrative. did not get as weirdly pro-war as i’d feared.

a christmas carol - charles dickens ⭐️⭐️⭐️ i realised that as many adaptations of this as i’ve seen, i’ve never actually read the book. so i did it! on christmas day! was good. there’s a gay milkman who fucks a cook’s brother somewhere in there, charles dickens said gay rights.

dragonoak: the complete history of kastelir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ LOVED IT, CAN’T WAIT TO READ MORE OF THE SERIES. sated my hunger for fantasy, interesting worlds/world-building, lady knights, lady necromancers, lady monster people with horns, lesbians, and slow burn romance. 

compound a felony - elinor gray ⭐️⭐️⭐️ gotta love a good gay holmes pastiche. kinda wish this had more plot but it was a fun time.

affinity - sarah waters ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ooof. the first sarah waters book i’ve read that i did not adore. clearly every historical lesbian book can’t end in blissful happily ever afters, but this was so bleak and left me so cold and unsatisfied. maybe i would have liked it better if we were sure that selina was happy? but we don’t even have that. :/

i still remember - harper bliss ⭐️⭐️ confession: i only read this book because six hours before midnight, as i was reading the book below this, i realised that when i was done and was doing this post, two of the southern reach trilogy books would be on one line, and the last book on the other. so i looked for a short novelette that i’d already bought so i could read it quickly and push ‘acceptance’ down onto the next line lol. and i mean it was fine, cute friends to lovers after 20 years type deal.

a study in honour - claire o’dell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ as you can probably tell from how much i reread the books: I LOVE ACD HOLMES. so like, an adaptation where they’re both queer black women??? in a futuristic america ravaged by civil war??? elmo.gif. this was really good, amazing watson voice, great character moments, textual queerness, neat plot. other than one holmes character decision that made me ?_? i adored this and really want to read the rest of the series!

and that’s it for december, and 2018!!! it’s been grand. see you all next year for new goals and new books. yearly roundups to follow!!!! also i started writing this post before midnight and now it’s after midnight so: happy new year!! :)

[gayspacerockblog]

Questions for the Writer

1. If you had to live in one book/series, which would it be? Why?

I’d live in the His Dark Materials series. The concept of daemons is one that had a strong impact on me from a young age. The world that Philip Pullman has created mirrors our own, playing off very human concepts in a semi-human universe. The magic that exists in his world is very nearly a science, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Plus, who doesn’t want to ride an armored polar bear? I have Iorek Byrnison forever inked onto my skin beneath some beautiful northern lights. 

2. How do others describe your writing style?

My writing was once compared to Ursula K LeGuin, and I couldn’t have been more honored by the comparison. I have many books of hers still on my to-read list, but her grasp on fantasy is really impressive. I’m especially interested to read The Left Hand of Darkness where she blurs the concept of gender with a very interesting take on human morality. 

3. Who do you first share your ideas and writing to?

My fiance is usually first to hear of my newest ideas, often resulting in ideas for collaboration since she is a talented artist across many mediums. I allow only a couple of people open access to my Google Docs for leaving feedback. 

4. What is your favorite movie based off a book?

This is hard, because almost always I end up being the person to say “Eh, the book was better.” or “Can you believe they left that part of the book out of the movie?! They ruined everything!” Anyway, one film adaptation I was especially happy with was Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. I felt like John Cusack played into his role perfectly. However, I also loved Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and was not disappointed by the movie at all. No complaints.   

5. Is there a book that turned you to writing? If so, which one?

Harry Potter may have done the trick. I was 7 years old when the first book came out, and my mom had pre-ordered my copy. Every time the next book would get released, I would re-read all the previous books and then read the new one (often in the span of a single day). Those books shaped my expectations for literature at a young age and I credit JK Rowling with my ambition to become a published author myself. Her personal story is equally impressive, as I learned when I got older, and she is more formidable than the entire Harry Potter franchise. 

6. When did you begin writing?

I began writing quite young, but got serious about it in 3rd grade. My teacher for that year had seen my potential, taken me under her wing, assigned advanced reading and writing tasks for me, and encouraged me to pursue my writing outside of school. Reading had always been a passion up to that point, but I was never given the hope that I could write my own book someday. 

7. Favorite genres to fantasize about? I love unconventional fantasy; unexpected narrators, unexpected perspective, unexpected personalities from characters you’d thought you had pegged. One book that recently impressed me (a random free e-book that I ended up falling in love with) was Sam Farren’s Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir. In addition, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked series made me shed my love of Wizard of Oz because his re-telling was so much more compelling and I cared so much more about the characters through his interpretation of my childhood favorite. 

8. Describe your current WIP in a haiku?

How dare you make me write poetry.

Love ruins all plans. Why are we even fighting? Are all dragons bad?

9.  How many WIPs do you have?

I’m currently writing a YA fantasy novel, while planning for a sequel. I have finished a rough draft of a children’s book and have been harassing my fiance to start the artwork for it. I have another YA sci-fi novel that has been sitting on the back burner for several months, but I still love it. Yet another in-progress novel based in my hometown of Portland, but with heavy fantasy and steampunk elements. Two other graphic novel projects that are coming along slowly but surely, with artists who may or may not be working on their commissions. Did I forget anything? Perhaps. 

10. Which story is your baby?

Burying Dragons is my biggest daily comfort and headache. I am always adding notes, revising, connecting my endless stream of excerpts with an actual story line, doodling my characters and my world. I feel that I am raising a child and have no idea how it will turn out, but it’s mine so I love it anyway. 

[angry-ace]

Uhm I hope I'm not a bother, but do you happen to know of any novels or series with a canonical asexual protagonist? Or any of someone's own works on like wattpad or something? I tried looking for some but couldn't find any :(

Okay this took me a little while because I’ve been busy but yes I know of many. Sorry that I haven’t read them all, I don’t have time. If you’d like to find more than what I’ve reccomended then here are some links to find them. You’re not bothering me btw, I’m happy to reccomend ace books. I remember sitting at my laptop in despair because I was having a rough time finding books with ace and or aro protagonists. I really hope this helps you out. 😊

Books I’ve Read:

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

The character Zoe Nightshade as well as the other hunters are asexual via word of god. This one means a lot to me because it’s the first book I ever read with an aexual character. This is not the first book in the series but it’s a part of The Lighting Thief series.

The Clinic by Charlie Care

This one’s alright but it was far from perfect and problematic in a lot of ways. I actually reviewed it here.

Books I own but haven’t read but own:

Chameleon Moon by RoAnna Sylver

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir

Books I Recently Ordered but Didn’t Get Yet

Unburied Fables 

This is an anthology type so it has many authors. Half the profit goes to the Trevor Project. Here’s a link

Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson 

This has a sequel called Quicksilver that I haven’t ordered yet

Books on my Amazon List that I Haven’t Read

A Word and A Bullet by Rachel Sharp

This is the sequel to The Big Book of Post-Collapse Fun

The Second Mango by Shira Glassman

The Last Chronomancer by Reilyn J. Hardy

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

How to Be a Normal Person by TJ Klune

Fourth World by Lyssa Chiavari

Deadly Sweet Lies by Erica Cameron

Tash Hearts Tolstoy by Katherine Ormsbee

From Under the Mountain by Cait Spivey

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield

I haven’t read this book but I like some of this author’s work

Sheepfarmer’s Daughter by Elizabeth Moon

Torque by Charli Coty

Interface by Lucy Mihajlich

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

Clariel by Garth Nix

[problemsofabooknerd]

Hi, I don't know if you take book suggestions but I just read an incredible book and can't stop myself from gushing about it. It's called Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir by Sam Farren. It's full of LGBTQIA+ characters, the main romance is between women, it has necromancy and dragons, and I just love everything. Maybe check out the summary to see if you'd be interested?

Ohhhh this sounds very up my alley. Thank you for the recommendation! I'll definitely have to go look up the full summary.

[applejee]

jamagotchi replied to your post: “my new life goal of getting everyone i know to read dragonoak and...”:

what's dragonoak/why should i read it

oh MAN be prepared for an infodump

ok so: dragonoak is the name of a trilogy written by sam farren, the first book of which is called the complete history of kastelir. it’s fantasy but it’s so much better than that, for so many reasons!!! firstly, most of the characters are women; i can name the men on ten fingers, counting the ones who die. secondly, the main relationships are wlw, there’s polyamory, normalised gay relationships and marriages, plenty of nonbinary folk, all of whom are incredibly varied and diverse and so so cool! plus there’s dragons and knights and necromancers and all that kinda cool shit. also a cool as dragonborn race called the pane? like. i can’t praise this series enough, i only read it last week but i already wanna read it again i love it so muchhhhh

and one of the most telling things i found was that yknow how in media even if the main cast seems relatively equal all the soldiers and armies are still entirely composed of men? definitely not the case with dragonoak, plenty of those soldiers are women. theres so many women!!!!! it’s so wonderful and i wholy recommend reading it so much...... the ebooks are up on amazon and other places (there are links at the tumblr page here) and as far as i know there are paperback issues coming soon???? i just adore these characters and the series so much.. it’s definitely worth a read!!!!!

[dragonoak-blog]

“Book is not for the heterosexual traditionalist. Plot is good, but book is ruined with the homosexual idealism.” — verified Amazon review

Centuries ago, the necromancer Kondo-Kana left a scar half a continent wide. Now Rowan is paying for the damage done. Exiled from her home for what she is, she takes the only chance at freedom she might ever get and runs away with a wandering Knight.

Dragonoak is a character-driven fantasy trilogy that spans years and continents alike. The final book in the series, Gall and Wormwood is out on the 23rd of February and available to pre-order now! To celebrate the end of the series finally coming out, books one and two, The Complete History of Kastelir and The Sky Beneath the Sun are currently FREE from February 3rd through 7th. Grab a free copy today!

More information can be found on Instagram at farren.books!

[goblinsnacks]

i’m nearing the end of Dragonoak: The Complete History Of Kastelir and just wanted to sketch out this scene cos shit is hitting multiple fans and is about to hit some more

[aroaessidhe]

I don’t usually post these (though I have lists of the last four years or so..) but I figured I might as well?? all the books I read this year:

Breaking Sky 

The Scorpion Rules 

Sons of Thestian 

Court of Fives 

From The Ashes 

The Force Awakens Novelisation 

Fourth World

Empress of the World 

Six of Crows 

Bone Diggers 

Shadow Scale 

The Porcupine of Truth 

Hostage 

Howl's Moving Castle 

The Crossing 

Never Fade 

Juno of Taris 

Fierce September 

Heart of Danger 

Angel Radio 

This Is Where it Ends

The Choice 

Santa Olivia 

The Deadly Nightshade 

 Dragonoak: The Complete History of Kastelir 

Symptoms of Being Human 

How To Be A Normal Person 

We Are The Ants

Sing Sweet Nightingale 

Deadly Sweet Lies 

From Under The Mountain 

The Iron Warrior 

Written in the Stars 

Lies My Girlfriend Told Me 

Lady Midnight 

On The Edge of Gone 

A Darker Shade of Magic 

A Gathering of Shadows 

The Abyss Surrounds Us 

The Magicians 

What We Left Behind 

These Vicious Masks 

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces 

Every Heart a Doorway 

Salvage 

Sound 

Bleeding Earth 

The Chimes 

The Golden Yarn 

Otherbound 

The Scorpion Rules 

Mechanica 

The Darkest Part of the Forest 

A History of Glitter and Blood 

Tell The Wind and Fire 

The Spire of Frozen Fire 

Hot Spots 

The Hidden Oracle 

Spy Stuff 

The Sea-Stone Sword 

The Silent Helm 

Seven Tears at High Tide 

The Faerie Godmother's Apprentice Wore Green 

The Blue Lawn 

Dare, Truth or Promise 

Sorrow's Knot 

Fat Angie 

Annie On My Mind 

The Great American Whatever 

Seven Ways We Lie 

Seven Black Diamonds 

To Terminator With Love 

This Song is (Not) For You 

If I Was Your Girl 

Unicorn Tracks 

How to Repair A Mechanical Heart 

Silhouette of a Sparrow 

The Warrior's Path 

37 Things I Love

Afterworlds 

Shallow Graves 

Love in the Time of Global Warming 

Tides 

The Summer Prince 

The Shattering 

The Bane Chronicles 

Welcome To Night Vale 

The Foxhole Court 

The Secret Hour 

Touching Darkness 

Blue Noon 

Radio Silence 

You Know Me Well 

Salt 

Gool 

The Limping Man 

Mister Monday 

Grim Tuesday 

Drowned Wednesday 

Sir Thursday 

False Hearts 

Lady Friday 

Superior Saturday 

Terminal 

Lord Sunday 

Solitaire 

Nick and Charlie 

The Accident Season 

Railhead 

Fever Crumb 

A Web Of Air 

Scrivener's Moon 

The Raven King 

The King's Men 

We Awaken 

Gena/Finn 

Mortal Engines 

The Olive Conspiracy 

Predator's Gold 

Infernal Devices 

A Darkling Plain 

Tricks 

Traffick 

The Girl From Everywhere 

The Circle 

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet 

The Powers of Callaire 

Juliet Takes A Breath 

And I Darken 

Black Iris 

Fire (Engelsfors)

How To Say Goodbye In Robot 

Dreams of Shreds and Tatters 

The Key

 At The Edge 

Colourblind 

Gone, Gone, Gone 

The New World 

The Knife Of Never Letting Go 

The Ask and the Answer 

Monsters of Men 

Chameleon Moon 

This Savage Song 

Run 

As Autumn Leaves 

Wildthorn 

The First Twenty 

Highly Illogical Behavior 

Wilful Machines 

Being Emily 

The Impostor Queen 

Assassins: Discord 

Different Worlds 

A Word and a Bullet 

The Sky Slayer 

Daybreak Rising 

The Golem and the Jinni 

The Swan Riders 

Runtime 

Chameleon Moon 

The Lifeline Signal 

Shield 

Away We Go 

Everything Everything 

Drag Teen 

Goldenhand 

Mostly Stars, Partially Void 

Radio Silence 

The Cybernetic Tea Shop 

Crooked Kingdom 

Not Your Sidekick

Labyrinth Lost 

The Hammer of Thor 

Unburied Fables 

Capricious Issue 5 

 3 

Life Within Parole 

Out on Good Behaviour 

Looking For Group 

Faerie Queen 

Overexposed 

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit 

Love Beyond Body Space and Time 

The Gay Teen's Guide to Defeating A Siren 

Girl Mans Up 

Binti 

Style 

The Reader 

Complementary and Acute 

Eitan's Chord 

Roller Girl 

Ascension 

The Melody of You and Me 

Superior 

Swarm 

Northern Lights 

The Subtle Knife 

The Amber Spyglass 

Cam Girl 

We Are The Ants 

Angel Radio 

More Happy Than Not 

Every Heart A Doorway 

Far From You 

Turn Of The Story 

Howl's Moving Castle 

Castle In the Air 

House Of Many Ways 

Daybreak Rising 

Clockwork Angel 

Clockwork Prince 

Clockwork Princess 

The Bone People 

Of Fire and Stars 

The Midnight Star 

Black Light Express 

The White Renegade 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 

As I Descended 

When The Moon Was Ours 

The Next Together 

Phaethon

[dolphelecat]

Music For A Knight // A playlist for Claire Ightham from the Dragonoak Trilogy

Picture by Philip Pryke (x)

8tracks | Playmoss

1. “Princess, Sophia” - Dolce Triade  2. Butterflies & Hurricanes - Muse  3. You’ll Be In My Heart - Celtic Woman  4. Yuubae no Sora - Yuki Kajiura  5. I See Fire - Celtic Woman  6. I Dreamed A Dream [feat. Idina Menzel] - Glee Cast  7. The Phoenix - Lindsey Stirling  8. Coming Home, Pt II - Skylar Grey  9. The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand  10. Stay - Sam Tsui  11. War - James Horner  12. Take Me Home - Pentatonix  13. Chevaliers de Sangreal - Hans Zimmer

[theninthnoah]

I don’t think it’s possible to overstate how important dragonoak is to me. It was the first book series where I didn’t have to settle. There were lesbians! Even nb lesbians like me!! And they were interesting, amazing people, who loved each other, as friends, and family and lovers! There were moments where I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe, and moments i sobbed my eyes out, all delivered in stunningly beautiful prose

If you even have the slightest intrest in fantasy and lesbian romances you have to at least give dragonoak a try

[dolphelecat]

Re-reading The Complete History of Kastelir after finishing The Sky Beneath the Sun is a very different experience from when I read it the first time. It involves a lot more screaming.