Elske (The Kingdom Series #4) by Cynthia Voigt

image from LibraryThing

The last book in the series.  And like the last one - this starts completely differently.  This book begins with Elske, a child of the Wolfers.  She has been raised by her grandmother, a woman stolen by the Wolfers, and freed by the sacrifice of her grandmother to the big unknown world.

Elske has a worldview that matches no one. She is without most of the angst and neurosis of main characters. Instead, she simply lives her life as it unfolds - without guile and remorse.  And because of that she finds herself in unexpected situations.

As she wanders from her grandma she is taken in by a father and two sons as they make their way to the large northern city of Tradstad.  They find her a place as a maid and she eventually becomes the maidservant for a headstrong out-of-control princess from a far away land.  And her life changes again.

Elske is caught up in the politically intrigue of the Kingdom - and her unique past become very important.

I liked this book. Elske is an interesting main character.  Her attitude and her presence change those around her without her even knowing.  In the world of YA main characters - that is something unusual!

The WIng's of a Falcon (The Kingdom Series #3) by Cynthia Voigt

image from LibraryThing

This time it starts with a boy, a no-name boy on a no-name island run by a horrible man.  This boy has a friend, sort of, named Griff.  And the two of them figure out how to escape in a boat with some of the leaders gold and jewels.  And as they flee they end up on a rocky island over night. And on this island the boy finds names carved in to the rock - ORIEL and BIRLE and so a new Oriel continues this story.

Oriel and Griff know nothing of the world outside of their island - they don't know about the people or the Kingdom. They only know pain and loss and suffering.  They are captured by Wolfers - a primitive tribe of warriors who kill for treasure to please their king.  They experience the horrors of a new kind of slavery.

And then they are freed by an avalanche and stumble through a pass into an amazing world of the Kingdom.  They are saved by a young girl - Beryl, the puppeteer's granddaughter (the original Oriel) who teaches them the ways of the people.  But there is a contest - a fight to the death for those who want to become an Earl - and that is Oriel.

After all the pain and anguish of this path - they aren't finished yet.

This was my least favorite of the 4 books.  The characters were clearly drawn and I was invested in each of them...but I just didn't like the story path.  It was so full of pain and so full of the dark side of the Kingdom, all the things that the romantic in my doesn't really want to focus on.

So - I was happy this wasn't the last of the series.