Many are called… She alone can save the world and become Death’s bride.
(Cobweb Bride Trilogy, Book One) is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death’s ultimatum to the world.
What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them?
In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary “pocket” of Europe called the Kingdom of … somewhere in an imaginary “pocket” of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill….
Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness… Her skin is cold as snow… Her eyes, frozen… Her gaze, fiercely alive…
While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war… A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father… Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court…. Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living…
Look closer — through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars…
And one small village girl, Percy — an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter — is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.
As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death’s own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North…
And everyone is trying to stop her.
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It is a very involved fantasy, and there are a few more in the series to tie it all up. I found them to be entertaining. I enjoyed the entire series.
I really wanted to like this book. It seemed like an interesting concept, and unique characters. It started off okay, but just gradually got more and more disappointing. There’s a serious over-use of ellipses which increases the further you get in the book. The resolution makes sense, but the narrative is weak.
It was really hard to follow the plot. Way too many details that didn’t matter. I gave up after 100 pages. It just wasn’t worth my time.
Fun fantasy story
Can’t wait to start reading the next book.
COBWEB BRIDE is the first book in the trilogy of the same name. It is old-school fantasy with a touch of mythology thrown in for good measure. Some parts of it are quite graphic but then, that’s what happens when you describe a battle with swords and arrows!
One of the things I really enjoyed about it is that Percy, the plain, unordinary, middle child, is the one who comes into her own. She makes no false images, she is what she is and she’s okay with that. She is supported by a great cast of characters – some of whom may be just for this part but others, I hope, will be seen in the later two books.
There was one thing that jarred me though, and that was halfway through the book, Spain and France were mentioned. Up until that point, I had falsely assumed that this was a completely imaginary fantasy world. I guess next time I really should look at the map provided!
I found this to be a great story that has plenty of hooks for the next book. It doesn’t go the way you imagine and that is perfectly fine by me. I love fantasy and being surprised raises it to a whole new level for me.
Absolutely recommended!
I love this book!
An exceptionally good read presenting a new mythos for Death. Initially thought it was a typical YA with the Cobweb Bride being obvious – it wasn’t – not typical, YA or obvious – not ever. The deeper I went into the story, the better it got … it was pretty darn good right from the beginning. A rich world covering soldiers to servants; farmers to emperors; every character seems to start as a one dimensional, just meeting and filling in the typical fantasy slot – but no one stays there.
On the technical writing side – the descriptions were beautiful or intense (fighting scenes and the murder are far from beautiful). A good balance between dialogue and information narrative. The characters are multidimensional. Loved the fact the dead also had personalities and went in different directions. The group of Cobweb Brides were both a group of women travelers and individuals each shining with their own personalities.
Best of all, the understated worldbuilding. Ms. Nazarian took the obvious “Death stops collecting” and added a layer when it happens in the middle of a battle (witchcraft! rises the cry when the dismembered keep fighting) … and then added the layer of when you can’t slaughter animals … and then another layer to the food, and illnesses, and peoples reactions to death not being a consequence of risky action, and … and… Every time I think the final layer is revealed, Ms. Nazarian peals off the next. That is what worldbuilding is about.
I simply must find more of her books!
Great book!
I am giving this book five stars.
As whole, this is a refreshing, unique novel, taking the reader into a universe unlike any other about which I have read. The genesis for the story is when Death stops taking lives until his “Cobweb Bride” is brought to him. No death might seem like a boon, but when suffering people cannot get the release of death, when meat and vegetables cannot be eaten as they are not “dead,” this situation becomes a living hell. The novel follows a number of characters as they attempt to get things back to normal.
The plot of the novel is absolutely delicious. I loved it. It was fresh and compelling. It drew me in and kept me up at night as I didn’t want to put it down. Simply put, it is a gem.
Characterization was superb. The four major characters of Percy, the Infanta, the Black Night, and the Marquis were exquisitely developed, not by simple exposition, but by what they said or did. I cared for each and every one of them. Even the more minor characters were very well fleshed-out.
Copy editing was invisible–exactly as it should be. There were no glaring typos or incorrect word usage. Events generally could have happened as they unfolded. The Infanta might not have been able to place a crown on her two-foot tall wig while she was wearing it, but that was about the only glitch I noted.
This is really an excellent effort, and I am eager to jump into the second volume. I enthusiastically recommend this book.
Great writing. Wonderful story-telling. Really interesting take on Roman mythology and element personification, with a lot of very human angst, love and integrity thrown in.
I read this entire series. It kept me entertained with it’s themes and whimsy.
It was not what I was expecting. I generally like more action.