Orphan’s Song Book Review

By Kate Flournoy

Orphan’s Song was given to me as a gift. It was the first time I’d heard of the book or the author, but I wasn’t about to turn down a free book. After all, worst-case scenario it could only be another Lord of the Rings quest-type ripoff, right?

So I read it, not knowing quite what to expect… and I loved it.

In many ways, it is the classic quest story. Birdie, a young orphaned girl with a loveless and difficult life, finds herself hunted down by the dark soldiers of the Takhran because of her song– a magical song that marks her as the next Songkeeper, and a very real threat to the Takhran’s all-powerful rule. Her only protector is Amos, a traveling peddler who doesn’t want her to reveal her song and won’t tell her why.

The book has two storylines and also follows the story of Ky, a young street thief who struggles between trying to live up to the expectations of his superiors and just trying to take care of the people he loves.

Though the story was built on a very common plot structure, I still found it delightfully unique. Gillian took that common plot and made it hers by writing relatable, humanly endearing characters in a genre where ‘epic’ usually trumps human. The characters are the definite highlight, and writers can learn a lot by studying them. Their struggles, relationships and clashing goals move the story at a well-paced clip and work beautifully together to weave a strong theme of perseverance and hope, even in the darkest times.

I loved this book and can’t wait for more.

Kate Flournoy is a die-hard country girl raised on Tolkien, Dickens, and Lewis, and determined to change the world. Shy drama queen, timid idealist, hopeful cynic, melodramatic logician, and intellectual poet who believes that simplicity is best and everything is possible… except her ever coming to like cheese-cake. Let’s not get too wild here.