Never go into the forest alone. There are things that dwell within the woods. Things that came with the mist even as forests expanded or appeared where none before had been. Things that terrorize humanity and worse if rumor was to be accounted…people disappeared into the woods.Humanity has done its best to limp along after the world went to hell. They hunted and tended the fields as they … attempted to live the best lives with what they had. They wanted to pretend that everything was fine while avoiding the terror of the forest. Diana lived in a state of uneasy peace with the woods near her home until the same forest betrayed her and shifted her between worlds. There something hunts and devours men. And worse, it has intruded into the mortal world. Caught in a web of fate, Diana has no escape from the terror of her destiny awaiting her.
Silvas is the lucumo silvani and high king of the Eternal Forest. When he is alerted to the rise of a dangerous monster, one of the Tainted Ones half remembered in ancient myths, he is forced to take up the burden of harnessing death itself to protect both worlds of humanity and the denizens of the Eternal Forest. Betrayed once by the promise of love, he has no interest in forming a permanent bond with a human whose life-thread is woven into the upcoming events by the Fates. A role that is unclear even to the oracle. Yet as they face the darkness together, will he forge an alliance of flesh, blood and love with the one being who could destroy him?
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If you are looking for intrigue and romance within an enchanted forest, this is your ticket!
Take one immortal King, a forest with a mind of its own, all the characters you expect to find in a fantasy, and throw in one strong human female…. Then watch the fireworks.
Facing a deadly threat to his enchanted forest, Silvas is gearing up for war. Diana is a huntress trying to stay alive on a post apocalyptic Earth. Unknowingly crossing the boundary into Silvas’ world, Diana is faced with an angry immortal who decides to take her for his own pleasure.
Then he finds out Diana is the key to defeating the deadly threat.
Let the director call “Action!”
First and foremost, this story was truly awesome. I honest to goodness devoured it. It deals with a lot of ancient mythology (Etruscan; how cool is that?!) and just a whole lot of magic and who doesn’t love that? Also, this has to be one of the best covers. They did a great job capturing the character, but also it’s just neat looking. And to note: I did not read book 1. I do not feel like I was left confused despite that, even though I wish I had read it first.
There is so much to this book that it’s really hard to give you much to go on without ruining something for you. There are a lot of twists and turns, plenty of heart wrenching moments, darkness in spades, and sensual people coming out of the woodwork (literally, tehe). Silvas is the god of the eternal woods playing at being a mere immortal king after a rather bad war and is as arrogant and assuming as that implies. His mother is the goddess of love, Turan (most would know her as Aphrodite) who has decided enough is enough and it’s time for him to take a mate after several millennia of avoiding it (no spoilers, this is the plot from the prologue). I actually really liked Turan in this.
Diana, a simple human huntress living alone along the edge of the woods after the great ravaging, is the hapless soul who is tasked with the legendary fate to tame the beast. And boy is he a beast, that poor girl. She’s a strong female lead, with heaps of independence and plenty of spunk. She works for her HEA but wonderful woman that she is, she makes Silvas work for it, too, after he does a number of stupid things to her.
As with most reviewers, I really liked Raskyuil the troll quite a bit. Also, Dorinda was pretty awesome. The missing star is because holy cow did this need another proof read. Nothing that ruined the story, but enough to jar me out of my flow way too often. Story-wise, it’s totally five stars in my book. If you’re looking for a great fantasy ride with some re-imagined gods/creatures/magic, lots of steam and sensual characters, action filled adventures, an epic battle, and some humbling of stupendous proportions, you should definitely give this a go.
This book reads like a saga. Get comfy because it will take you on quite a journey. Silvas is the king of the Eternal Forest. And when Diana wanders into his forest she will never return home as the same person. Cacus, and ancient evil, is destroying everything and Silvas’ fate is entwined with Diana’s. Along the way they journey to recover the sword of Nocis which they need to conquer Cacus. You’ll meet my favorite troll, Raskyuil, and get a ride on some awesome crocotta. Diana doesn’t expect to come to love her captor, but that’s just what happens along the way. I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that there’s so much more to this story than I imagined at the beginning. Very enjoyable read. Sanders has fashioned a fabulous tale in Forest of Spirits! 4 stars!
A fascinating story!
Although it is dark, with hard-to-imagine terrors, the story contains a delicious, divine tale of attraction and love eternal. It seems to me that gods must endure more difficulties than other beings to reach their HEA. But then, “with great power, there is also great responsibility.” It is never wise to ignore that responsibility. Vastly entertaining!