Daughter of Smoke and Bone (trilogy)

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

First edition United States cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Daughter of Smoke and Bone Days of Blood and Starlight Dreams of Gods and Monsters
Author	Laini Taylor
Cover artist	Alison Impey
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Young-adult, fantasy, romance
Publisher	Hachette Book Group
Published	27 September 2011–present
Media type	Print
No. of books	3

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a young-adult fantasy book series written by Laini Taylor and published by Hachette Book Group, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. It is a planned trilogy,^[1] and the first two books have already been published: Daughter of Smoke and Bone was published on 27 September 2011 in the United States, and the sequel Days of Blood and Starlight was published on 6 November 2012 in the United States. The third book was published on April 8, 2014.^[2][3] The title has been revealed as Dreams of Gods and Monsters.^[4] The books have been published in a variety of different languages.

The trilogy follows Karou, a seventeen-year-old Prague art student who was raised by creatures called chimaera that she has to go on tasks for: namely, collecting teeth for her foster father Brimstone. Karou has no idea what the teeth are used for. Furthermore, a man with fiery eyes and wings who has spent his time scorching handprints on doors across the world is about to kill Karou until she turns around and he sees something in her that causes him to falter.

While Daughter of Smoke and Bone has garnered many positive reviews for its pacing, characters, and style, the reviews for Days of Blood and Starlight have been much more mixed. Most of the negativity about Days of Blood and Starlight has been about the plot, and how it was darker and more brutal than its predecessor. The series has gotten an array of nominations and awards, and a movie adaptation of Daughter of Smoke and Bone is being produced by Universal Pictures and Joe Roth.

Plot

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

A seventeen-year-old Prague art student named Karou leads an interesting life: she has blue hair that grows from her head, speaks a variety of languages, has three bullets in her stomach, and has been raised by creatures with human and animal features called chimaera. These are Brimstone, with lion legs and ram horns; Issa, with a snake's lower body, hood, and fangs; Twiga, with a giraffe neck; and Yasri, with a parrot beak. Kishmish, a crow with bat wings, acts as a messenger from Brimstone to Karou. Karou is often sent on missions to gather teeth for Brimstone, although she does not know what they are used for and why there are certain rules such as "no baby teeth" and "no rotting". In return she gets wishes; the higher the price, the greater the wish.

When Karou and her best friend Zuzana are at a restaurant, Kishmish flies in bearing a letter from Brimstone saying to come immediately. Karou is sent off to Paris via a magical door to get a seven-foot-long matching pair of elephant tusks. When she finds another portal back to Brimstone's shop, she notices a scorched black handprint on the door, but fortunately she is able to get back home. Similar handprints are appearing across the world. When Karou returns to Brimstone's shop, a violent thud strikes the second door to the shop that Karou is forbidden from investigating.

When Karou is on a mission in Marrakesh, a man with fiery eyes and wings notices her and chases after her to kill, but as Karou turns around, the man notices something about her that's familiar and stops himself just in time for her to escape. The man's name is Akiva, an angel.

Days of Blood and Starlight

Karou left Earth for the land of the chimaera and seraphim, Eretz, where the chimaera have been defeated by the seraphim. She has begun the job taken up by her adopted father Brimstone: the art of resurrection, which will bring the dead members of the broken chimaera army back to life to defeat the seraphim. She blames Akiva for everything, while the angel himself thinks her dead and begins training with his half-siblings Hazael and Liraz to keep his feelings from overwhelming him. Karou's best friend Zuzana and her boyfriend Mik begin looking for her after a mysterious e-mail and reports that a phantom girl has been stealing teeth.

The son of the Warlord and new commander of the chimaera army, Thiago, has been courting Karou during her resurrection process and has offered up his own pain for the tithing process multiple times. He has specific resurrection instructions for her: make everyone larger, stronger, faster, and winged. Through this repeated process, the chimaera finally begin to win against the seraphim. Thiago has also brought a wolf chimaera named Ten to help Karou with the resurrection process and to serve as a sort of babysitter when Karou goes on her tooth missions. While she dislikes it, she is afraid to offend Thiago.

Meanwhile, two deer-like centaurs called Dama by the names of Sveva and Sarazal have escaped from slavery and are on the run. Sarazal has an infection from her manacles chafing her while she was enslaved. A boy named Rath of the Dashnag, with sabertoothed tiger heads, comes and helps them by carrying Sarazal to a Caprine village. The Caprine had a poultice to help Sarazal. When the seraphim, including Akiva, are looking for the Caprine, Sarazal wakes up to see Rath and screams. Akiva pretends that it was just a bird and leads the other seraphim away.

Zuzana and Mik decoded the "puzzle" of Karou's e-mail and found where the chimaera were hiding. She was forced to tell them about her life as Madrigal and her job as a resurrectionist. This thrills Zuzana, who demands to help. Karou refuses to let her and says that they need to get out as soon as possible. While they were told to leave, they amused the chimaera and enjoyed it in their presence.

Thiago sent out an army including Ziri, Madrigal's "little Kirin shadow", to what he said was the Hintermost to help other chimaera, but in reality was an attack mission. The chimaera actually went to the Hintermost to help, and all died except for Ziri, who managed to glean the souls of the dead before attacking angels, who attacked him in return. Karou said that she could try to heal him. After he is healed, Ziri tells Karou everything, including how Akiva summoned birds to let the Kirin escape.

Razgut, the fallen angel who held onto Izîl's back, found his way to Eretz and told the seraphim that Karou was with the chimaera and practicing the art of resurrection. Among the seraphim, Akiva, Hazael, and Liraz plan on how to kill the emperor Joram and his brother Jael in the hope of ending the war and leading to a more peaceful world. Akiva seeks out Karou and gives her a thurible with Issa's soul in it. While Thiago is not pleased with Issa's return, he allows her to stay when Karou points out that the Naja will be able to help with resurrection work.

When Akiva is summoned to a council with Joram, he has his opportunity to kill the emperor. He uses the glamour to disguise his sword and, upon hearing the news that Joram killed his mother Festival, kills the emperor. Jael then stepped in and killed Japheth, the crown prince, so that he would be the new emperor. Jael then commands that white robes and harps be given to everyone in an attempt to invade the human world and make the chimaera look evil for trying to fight the holy angels. Jael's army then attacks Akiva, Liraz, and Hazael, and they end up killing Hazael. Akiva says to take his body to Karou.

Ten comes in to talk to Karou and Karou aggravates the wolf, so she threatens the resurrectionist with killing off Zuzana and Mik. Karou then teaches the two to become invisible, and they sneak away to a hotel in Morocco. Karou then gets a memory of Brimstone sealing the souls of a thousand dead women and children in a cathedral after the fall of Loramendi, and they could be gleaned and given bodies again. While some stand with Karou, Thiago refuses. Later, Bast comes to Karou's door and says that three of those who stood with her: Amzallag and the Shadows That Live, were taken to the pit to be killed. When Karou goes to see it, Thiago is waiting for her and attempts to rape her. She uses a knife in her boot to slit his throat and gleans the souls of the three who were killed.

When Akiva and Liraz reach Karou, she says that because they don't have a thurible of his soul she can't resurrect him. Meanwhile, Thiago and Ten come and attack Akiva. Afterwards, they reveal that after killing Thiago and Ten, Karou peacefully killed her friends Ziri and Haxaya and placed their souls in the bodies of the former two so that they could sneak out. Akiva, when he wakes up, says that he is going to burn the portals so that he can prevent Jael from invading the human world. However, as he begins it has already begun, and he is too late.

Dreams of Gods and Monsters

The third book was released on April 8, 2014, and Taylor has said that it picks up immediately where Days of Blood and Starlight leaves off, with "seraphim in the human world...scientific excavation of "the pit", enemy armies trying to fight side by side, the possibility of love rekindling, and...new threats that make Jael seem but a minor nuisance."^[4]

Inspirations and origin

The inspiration for the setting of Daughter and Smoke and Bone, Prague, came from a graphic novel that Taylor wrote with her husband.^[5] They were looking for settings when her best friend suggested Prague, so the two went to the city to get an idea of the setting.^[5] When Taylor was thinking of writing Daughter of Smoke and Bone, she decided to work with Prague again because of its "moody Gothic atmosphere", "stunning beauty", "mazy ways", the history and art of the setting, the marionettes, and because it gave her an excuse to go back to Prague.^[5] In addition, she chose the secondary setting of Marrakesh because she became "fascinated" with the city after reading Tahir Shah's books and My Marrakesh.^[5]

Publication history

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was first published in the United States on 27 September 2011 and was released in paperback on 11 October 2011.^[6] The novel was released in the United Kingdom in hardcover on 29 September 2011 and was published in paperback on 5 November 2011.^[6] It was released in Spanish on 9 October 2011, German on 23 October 2011, Italian on 4 November 2011, French on 18 October 2011, Russian on 28 November 2011, and Slovak on 8 November 2011.^[6]

Critical reception

Daughter of Smoke and Bone has garnered a positive reception from critics, with The New York Times saying that though they were disappointed in the fact that it was the first in a series, the descriptions and language made up for it, and they would read the next in the series.^[7] Kirkus Reviews said that the novel "hinged on major contrivances", but was as well impressed by the language.^[8] Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review, saying that it is "exquisitely written and beautifully paced".^[9] Booklist said that Taylor's crafting of words, time frames, and characters added a sense of plausibility to the fantasy.^[10] Entertainment Weekly gave the book an "A-", saying that it was "smartly plotted, surprising, and fiercely compelling".^[11] The Los Angeles Times had similar things to say about Taylor's pacing and style.^[12]

Days of Blood and Starlight still had positive reviews, but they were a little more mixed. Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review, praising the world that it was set in, Taylor's writing, and the suspense.^[13] Kirkus Reviews said that while the characters were a high point of the novel, they were left unimpressed by the plot.^[14] Booklist called the novel's plot "dark and brutal", as well as "bitter" and "violent".^[15] Entertainment Weekly was more positive, giving Days of Blood and Starlight an "A" and saying that the novel is "richly imagined and compelling".^[16]

Awards and nominations

Daughter of Smoke and Bone was named one of Amazon.com's Best Books of the Month for September 2011.^[17] At the end of the year, it ranked #1 for Amazon.com's list of the Best Teen Books of 2011.^[18] The novel was on the YALSA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012 list^[19] as well as landing on the Reader's Choice Booklist for Sci-Fi/Fantasy.^[20] It also won the 2012 Audie Award for Best Fantasy Audiobook.^[21] Daughter of Smoke and Bone was placed on "Best Books of 2011" lists for Publishers Weekly,^[22] School Library Journal,^[23] Kirkus Reviews (Best Teen Books),^[24] and the Los Angeles Public Library,^[25] as well as a Best of the Best award from the Chicago Public Library for 2012.^[26] The book was a finalist for both the Andre Norton Award^[27] and the Children's Choice Book Awards Teen Book of the Year.^[28] It was also a winner of the Oregon Spirit Book Award,^[29] something that Taylor previously won for Lips Touch: Three Times in 2009.^[30] Daughter of Smoke and Bone was also a New York Times Notable Children's Book of 2011,^[31] the Barnes & Noble Review Best YA Fiction of 2011,^[32] a selection for the ABC Best Children's Book Catalog for 2011,^[33] and on the LOCUS Recommended Reading List for 2011.^[34]

Days of Blood and Starlight was named one of Amazon.com's Best Books of the Month for November 2012.^[35] At the end of the year, it ranked #10 for Amazon.com's list of the Best Teen Books of 2012.^[36]

Adaptations

Universal Pictures has acquired the rights for a film adaption of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.^[1][37][38] The producer for the movie was announced on 18 December 2012 to be Joe Roth,^[39] and the screenwriter is Stuart Beattie.^[40]

References

External links

• US official website
• UK official website

Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor Books Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011) Days of Blood and Starlight (2012) Dreams of Gods and Monsters (2014) Other Characters