Review: The Lord of Stariel

• Title: The Lord of Stariel

• Author: AJ Lancaster

• Series: Stariel #1

• Genre: Adult Fantasy / Gaslamp Fantasy / Fantasy of Manners

• Rating: ☆☆☆☆.5

“Hetta had eventually pointed out that if they were relying on her to frighten away fae monsters with her pyromancy, it would be the height of hypocrisy not to allow her to face one mortal man by herself.”

This is an absolutely delightful and whimsical read. It’s unlike any other fantasy novel I’ve read that has Fae in it, and no, it’s not because these Fae come with wings and horns (though, quite the imaginative touch). The reason I found The Lord of Stariel so different from what I usually come to expect from a story like this, is the fact there was a whole lot of the mundane involved that lightens the heavy element of Faerie differences that normally occurs. I really enjoyed this change! This isn’t just a world focused purely on Fae and magic, though there is a substantial amount of both, rather, it’s about a failing estate home, and family line set in a historical, very English sounding, world. The book follows the life of Hetta Valstar, and her close family and inhabitants of Stariel House, which has seen better days. With the disarray from the death of the last Lord of Stariel, Hetta steps into a position that’s not only about magic and ruling a land that’s been in her family for generations, but something that has been deeply riddled with crumbling finances, a great lack of modernity for its time, and secrets on top of secrets. It was nice to see how Hetta was reintegrated back into the life at Stariel, and how she processed all that she discovered the longer she remained back home. I liked the main quartet a great deal, and the family aspect makes this more wholesome than I expected when I started. The writing is not only witty and excitingly sardonic but well detailed in the world-building that I felt as if I had stepped into Stariel House myself. I enjoyed the historical aspect once I got over the initial jarring nature of it, and found myself giggling a great deal at Hetta’s personality. She is a fantastic main character, both bold and pragmatic enough to be a great lord and heroine. Wyn makes for a great love interest, and their connection is written well without being too romantically heavy. I also loved Marius and Jack, as mentioned above about the quartet, and liked how all their personalities differed enough, but with the same goal, they worked excellently together. Whilst some parts in the story were rather predictable and I guessed early on about some characters and their roles played in this world, I still enjoyed the journey enough to be eager to pick up the second book in this series very soon.

---

Reviews of this series: The Prince of Secrets | The Court of Mortals (coming soon) | The King of Faerie (coming soon) | A Rake of His Own (coming soon)