Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Star of the Morning
    Star of the Morning
    Star of the Morning
    Audiobook11 hours

    Star of the Morning

    Written by Lynn Kurland

    Narrated by Laura Jennings

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Darkness covers the north, since the black mage has begun his assault on the kingdom of Neroche. Legend has it that only the two magical swords held by Neroche's king can defeat the mage. Now the fate of the Nine Kingdoms rests in the hands of a woman destined to wield one of those blades . .
    .

    In this land of dragons and mages, warrior maids, and magical swords, nothing is as it seems. And Morgan will find that the magic in her blood brings her troubles she cannot face with a sword-and a love more powerful than she has ever imagined.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateAug 8, 2017
    ISBN9781541481169
    Star of the Morning

    Related to Star of the Morning

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Jay Kristoff

      Sep 8, 2021

      MOST NOVELISTS HAVE AT LEAST ONE book in a drawer that represents an early effort, a text that will never be offered up to a wider readership. In the case of Jay Kristoff, this book was a tale of bloodsuckers he wrote in 2008. “It was right at the ta

      3 min read

    • Article

      Reissues

      Oct 9, 2019

      Pick of the paperbacks this time: Adrian Tchaikovsky’s CAGE OF SOULS ( , out now, Head Of Zeus). Set when the sun is dying and less than 100,000 humans survive in the last city, it centres on a rebel confined on an island prison in a predator-filled

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Dragon’s Perspective

      Jun 10, 2022

      There once lived a dragon named Deathwing. Well, at least that’s what they called him. Deathwing was growing old, far too old for his liking. The joints of his claws ached and groaned under his ever-growing weight and his scales were beginning to los

      18 min read

    • Article

      FALSE IMPRESSIONS Part 3

      Apr 1, 2020

      FALSE IMPRESSIONS Part 3
      10 min read

    • Article

      'Dunbar' Is A Moving, Brutal And Apt Update Of 'King Lear'

      Oct 5, 2017

      For centuries, Shakespeare's tragedy was too painful for audiences; it was performed with an altered happy ending. But Edward St. Aubyn has never flinched at inflicting pain on his readers.

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Symmetry Of Ruby Margot

      Feb 6, 2020

      The Symmetry Of Ruby Margot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Quotients

      May 7, 2020

      Quotients
      8 min read

    • Article

      Ursula K. Le Guin

      Jun 15, 2018

      He was thinking of Lookfar, abandoned long ago, beached on the sands of Selidor. Little of her would be left by now, a plank or two down in the sand maybe, a bit of driftwood on the western sea. As he drifted near sleep he began to remember sailing t

      15 min read

    • Article

      Forfeit

      Jan 1, 2021

      Forfeit
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hook, Line And Sinker

      Oct 18, 2018

      Hook, Line And Sinker
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Dragon’s Teeth

      Feb 2, 2022

      The Dragon’s Teeth
      4 min read

    • Article

      Major Long Talks to His Horse

      Feb 20, 2019

      Major Long Talks to His Horse
      6 min read

    • Article

      Skein Is land

      Nov 6, 2019

      Skein Is land
      6 min read

    • Article

      Magnets: Carried through time, lovers seek their purpose.

      Feb 6, 2014

      Moon Colony B, 2213 Former Ponzi-schemer Mary Pillar digs through a trashcan. It smells like rotten eggs and milk. She is elderly and homeless, living in an alley between two eco-efficient skyscrapers. Dust particles dance around her. She has lost ev

      11 min read

    • Article

      An Occurrence at sierra Mojada

      Jul 6, 2021

      An Occurrence at sierra Mojada
      16 min read

    • Article

      Perfect Prose II

      May 15, 2020

      Perfect Prose II
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Star of the Morning

    4/5

    139 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 2/5
      Great book but I'm not a big fan of the way this was read.
    • 2/5
      Never came through on any of the interesting ideas.
    • 2/5
      Don't be fooled by the description. This book is actually a romance hidden under a flimsy fantasy-book disguise. I was lured in by the promise of adventure and a fantasy plot, but instead I just got endless pages of slow-building romance. Which is not a bad thing, but definitely not what I expected.

      I can't say that I like this book though. It hits a lot of the usual notes for a female-lead fantasy book, but it missed the mark for me, overall. I had problems with main characters, the side characters, the romance, the plot... I guess I had a lot of problems with this book.

      To start off, Morgan is supposed to absolutely kick-ass what with her amazing sword skills and no-nonsense personality. She takes it like a man and can throw down harder than one in a swordfight. But even though she is supposed to be the strong female character (and I love those in my books!), I don't like her. I think the reason is because I haven't seen her "earn" her strength. She just comes into the book already the strongest shieldmaiden that can take down any man and a pretty little backstory of being trained by one of the greatest fighters. But I don't care about that. I haven't seen her sweat tears and blood for that strength so it bores me. It's like a cheap way of making her a strong character. She's a "strong female character" because she's physically strong. That's not strength to me.

      Morgan also really annoyed me whenever she spoke. She complains about Adhemar bragging about himself, but her words are so freaking arrogant and casually dismissive. And then she would pry for Miach's secrets with the parting words that she'll figure him out, and then be obstinately closed-mouth about herself, her goals, and her past. Until, of course, y'know, they start falling in love. Then they're open books. Blahh..

      Other major problem I have: freaking perfect main characters. Not only are Morgan and Miach powerful and magical and the strongest of all, they are also beautiful. Insta-fall-in-love beautiful. I don't do perfect characters and I don't do beauty without a major flaw. I think having characters moon over someone's beauty cheapens any romance that develops.
      Riddle me this: what character flaw do they have?
      ... right. Thought so. And that makes them boring.

      The side characters were useless. Why were they even there?

      I am just annoyed because this entire book was a romance. The plot is a flimsy reason for these characters to meet. Honestly, in the whole book nothing happened but the romance. In the long journey, only a romance was achieved. At the end of the book, we find out that Morgan is indeed the swordbearer. Which we knew from the beginning since they introduced her!! So what excitement is there for the reader? Uhhhhh no plot (since the big plot purpose was figured out from meeting Morgan), not world building (we just see trees and horses). What's left? Oh right. Romance. Whoop-de-doo.

      If you think about it, Adhemar and Miach don't even have a method to figure out who is the swordbearer. Did they think they were just going to waltz around the country randomly and find her? Well, I guess they did, and I think that's ridiculously stupid. Honestly, they met her and if they didn't travel with her and she didn't accidentally touch the sword, they would never have known. What kind of idiots are they? Did they even have a solid plan? No wonder their country is going to be invaded if the rulers just up and leave their throne to go on a wild goose chase with no plan. Their meeting was too contrived. Too happenstance for it to have happened.

      What more can I say about this book? It was empty of magic. Oh there are shapeshifters and spells, but it's the same old, same old you see in any fantasy book. There are monster. Yep, scary things that you fight. There are... horses? Pretty horses. It's just such an empty world besides Morgan and Miach. And I don't like them nearly enough to like this book.

      I was going to give it 2 stars because it was okay, but after writing all of my annoyances out, it's more like a 1.5 stars. But I'll round up to 2 because I'm generous and I did manage to finish without ever angrily tossing the book at my window.
      I don't think I would recommend it to any of my friends though. I can't recommend it to people who like fantasy, because I think it's more of a romance novel. I can't recommend it as a romance because the pacing is a little too slow. I can't recommend it for people who like strong female characters, because I don't think she is one (besides her physical strength). I just don't know who I could recommend this to, even though it's really not a horrible book. Maybe nobody.

      Note: I do not think I will pick up the second book unless I run out of things to read. I was just not convinced. And running out of things to read? Haha, highly unlikely.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining fantasy novel for adults full of romance, adventure and magic. Set in a land of dragons and mages, warrior women and magical swords, nothing is as it seems. Female warrior, Morgan of Melksham, can't stand magic but whilst on a quest finds it stirring within her. As a favor to her mentor, she has agreeed to deliver a magical blade to the King of Neroche (one of the nine kingdoms) who has lost his magical abilities. Joining her along the way is a stranger, Adhemar, also three old friends, and later Miach, who claims to be Adhemar's brother. Adhemar (who is the king of Neroche in disguise), and Miach (actually the archmage of Neroche), are searching for a person that the sword of Neroche will chose to weild it against the tide of black magic threatening their kingdom.
    • 4/5
      Ok, I have to admit, I am actually a little afraid to review this book. This is, right now, one of my favorite series and Kurland is currently my favorite author. I could list the reasons why I love Kurland's work, but for now, suffice to say, two books a year published reliably? Can't complain about that! :) I have loved authors in the past who have waited so long between new books, I no longer long for new books, I just long for the series to end so I can get it off my "Things I want to Read" list. But Kurland is reliable and the wait, though it may seem endless to wait a year, is still very reasonable and with two series going simultaneously, there are two new books a year. I just like it. 'Nuff said. :)Now, Star of the Morning is part of Kurland's Fantasy Trilogy series - The Nine Kingdoms. It is the first book in the trilogy. This is the story of Morgan, a warrior with a murky past and a very tough cookie. She is capable of beating the fiercest warrior in a sword fight. Clearly, not your typical romance story heroine. It is also the story of Miach, the archmage of Neroche, brother of the king. He is on a quest to save the kingdom from an evil mage named Lothar. In order to do that, he will have to find the one capable of weilding a magical sword. Little does he know, that finding that person will lead him to the love of a lifetime.Now, since this is the first part of a three book series, there is a lot left hanging at the end of the book. In addition, this is the first book in a new series and so the beginning of the book is a lot of introduction to characters, the world, and concepts of "how this world works". By the end of this book, you have a good grasp of how magic works in this world - what can be done and what can't - so that you aren't surprised when things are done or not done throughout the rest of the series. Though I absolutely love this series, I will admit this was my least favorite book for those two reasons. One it is hard to get into at first because of the long time to develop the world. Two is it leaves you hanging quite a bit at the end. But both are necessary for the story. I struggled until about half way through the book, then flew through the rest and ordered the next book on my Kindle within minutes of finishing this one. It was that good. I couldn't imagine having to wait a year to get to the second book in this series and I am glad I didn't have to.Although they say that the books can stand on their own, I can't say from personal experience if they do. Personally, I wouldn't want to skip this book even if it is hard to get started. It is necessary for understanding all that comes in the books that follow. it is worth every penny and I strongly recommend the Nine Kingdoms series. :)
    • 3/5
      This story begins with Adhémar, King of Neroche, and his magic sword. His magical powers - the ones that help keep the evil lurking in the Northern borders at bay - have left him and his sword. In an effort to save the kingdom and find an answer to why his powers have left him, he goes in search of someone who can wield the Sword of Angesand and use its magic powers for the good of the Kingdom.Enter Morgan; a highly trained mercenary who hates magic in all forms and sees no purpose for it. When she is sent on a mission, carrying and protecting the one thing she despises most, she encounters people and situations that will change her life.--There is so much more to the story, but I don't want to give too much away. I really liked the book. I think it was very well put together, and it captured my attention completely. I gave it only three stars, because I fell as if the book lacked a proper ending. It had a beginning, and middle. Unfortunately, it seemed to me as if the book ended in the middle. Fortunately, there are two more books to read, so I cannot wait to get to those!
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The quote on the back cover that says, "Kurland out-writes romance fiction's top authors by a mile" is a truth I have witnessed. The story is not overly romantic, and bland but pure and refreshing.The novel allows the readers to learn about Morgan, the lead female character, and consider what an interesting character she is--and how unlikely it would be for her to fall in love. She is tougher than the company she travels with, and is quicker to anger. Not to mention she hates anything to do with magic and yet is entrusted on a journey to deliver a magical sword. This delivery keeps her up at night and plagues her with nightmares.Miach soon joins the company under a false disguise. He is a mage whose reliance is on magic and does not necessarily care for a sword. Already the pair seems unlikely. However, there is no bickering or "I'm going to be mean to you and end the end love you" which readers fall victim to in many romances.Instead, the circumstances cause confusion in the two and obscures their priorities--such as their tasks, duties, and in Miach's case, saving the kingdom. But no, love is more important and that is what keeps them up at night.The two main characters travel with a host of men which are Morgan's friends and Miach's brother. This makes the story much more interesting and humorous. There are also serious tasks they must attend that drives at them constantly. This causes the story to be constantly in motion, not for a single second is there anything that isn't happening! It's constant action, action, suspense and more action. It's was a surprising fast read, and although Kurland's writing took a couple of chapters to get used to I thoroughly enjoyed it because it made the story progressive and seamless.The best part of the story? The love the two main character share is pure, and the two characters are noble and above anyone else in the world deserve to be loved...but can they survive all that deters them from achieving their dreams with one another?