Blog Tour: Sela

Sela (LeLand Dragons, 2) by Jackie Gamber, 2012. 284 pages. Published by Seventh Star Press. Source: Publisher for review.

Peace was fleeting. Vorham Riddess, Venur of Esra Province, covets the crystal ore buried deep in Leland's mountains. His latest device to obtain it: land by marriage to a Leland maiden. But that's not all.
Among Dragonkind, old threats haunt Mount Gore, and shadows loom in the thoughts of the Red who restored life to land and love. A dragon hunter, scarred from countless battles, discovers he can yet suffer more wounds.
In the midst of it all, Sela Redheart is lost, driven from her home with only her old uncle to watch over her. As the dragon-born child of Kallon, the leader of Leland's Dragon Council, she is trapped in human form with no understanding of how she transformed, or how to turn back.
Wanderers seek a home, schemes begin to unfurl, and all is at risk as magic and murder, marriage and mystery strangle the heart of Esra. A struggle for power far older and deeper than anyone realizes will leave no human or dragon unaffected.
In a world where magic is born of feeling, where the love between a girl and a dragon was once transformative, what power dwells in the heart of young Sela.

First Sentence:
Sela's art was dead inside, just like her hope.
The first page of the book can make or break a story for me. So, I was quite excited when I sampled the first three pages of Sela and found myself not wanting to put it down (definitely a sign that the book is going to be good).
While Sela is not about Riza and Kallon, her parents, I still found myself enjoying this read because there was more intrigue than there was in Redheart.
I liked the parallel between the Riza and Sela's stories and how they were both strong characters, even if at times they both seemed a little lost when it came to what they wanted and where they belonged. I thought it was interesting to see how they were both running away from their troubles, while still trying to find their...destiny.

I think have liked Sela more than Riza. Why, because I found her to be a fascinating character and was intrigued by the mystyer of how she transformed into a human, and why she couldn't change back into her natural form. I also liked her because she was plucky and was willing  she felt was the right thing (even if she may have been wrong about what).
Out of all the new characters introduced in Sela, I think my favorite would have to be Drell. His story was one of the most interesting because of his heritage and why he was living with the dragons of the desert. I also found him interesting because of how he acted when presented with the option of killing a certain character that the Venur wanted dead.
The one character that surprised me the most in this book would have to be Jastin Armitage. I thought it was quite interesting to see the full story behind why he despised dragons so much. I would say more about it, but I won't since it's a pretty big part of the story and would be a major spoiler.

What really pulled me into the story was not the characters, which were most excellent, but the way that Ms Gamber explored the history of certain characters. I especially liked learning more about Jastin and the change that book two brought upon his character (you'll definitely see him in a different light). I thought it was interesting how there were all these little things from the first book that were cleared up and more thoroughly explained in the second book. My suggestion is, if you like books that have story lines that can carry over and be expanded upon from one book to the next, then this is definitely a series for you.

The only flaw I could find while reading Sela was that of my memory. It took me a couple of pages to recall the connections of some of the various cast members that made reappearances from Redheart, the first book in the series. So, all in all one excellent read.

Final Verdict: Sela delivers a rich cast of characters and an outstanding plot that will blow you away.  

Sela earns 5 out of 5 pineapples