Fantasy Friday: Wilding and Bound by L. A. Smith
Welcome back to Fantasy Friday with a treat – a double review!
A young man’s shadowed destiny leads him to the past…and could change our world forever.
On Halloween eve, a frightening encounter with mysterious creatures transports twenty-year old Thomas McCadden to an unknown and ancient world—7th century Britain. How did he get there? What does he do now? The answers to these questions change his life forever, revealing secrets that have long been hidden, and a truth that he would rather not know. As he tries to survive this long-ago time, Thomas encounters the unknown and the otherworldly; an exiled warrior, holy men, tribal kings, and something far more sinister shadowing them all.
Is he a tool for the dark forces of this land? Or the liberator sent to save them all? His strange journey forces these and even more important questions: Can he make it back home? Does he even want to return?
Wilding is the first book of The Traveller’s Path, a meticulously researched historical fantasy series set in Northumbria, AD 642. It introduces a long-ago world, and a young man whose choices could have disastrous ramifications for it—and ours.
Why I love these books: This historical fantasy tale is set in Saxon England when a Canadian young man from our time is sent back and begins to discover his true heritage and destiny as a Wilding, someone with human and fey blood in his ancestry but who is not trained in the use of his fey powers and so considered a danger. Wilding is the beginning of a wonderful trilogy that just keeps getting better. True historical characters make appearances alongside those from Celtic mythology. Bound is the sequel (5 stars!) and Choice is forthcoming (hopefully fall 2022). I had the honor to be a beta reader for Choice and it is just wow! (5+ stars!). L. A. Smith grows as a tale-spinner just as the hero grows into his role. Bravo!
Get Wilding and Bound now! Also get a free book set in this same world by joining L.A.’s email list.
Follow me on BookBub for more recommendations! And don’t forget the group promo going on through 8/15/22 to grab more books including my own (though not these mentioned here).
Have you read these books? What did you think?