The breathtaking conclusion to the Allaigna’s Song Trilogy
The Allaigna’s Song trilogy is a love story, a family saga, and a coming-of-age novel that braids together the stories of daughter, mother, and grandmother.
In return home with the ashes of her cousin to prevent yet another war, or worse, an arcane catastrophe to rival that of the legendary Cataclysm.the six years since Allaigna left home, killed her betrothed, and joined the Brandishear Rangers, she has hidden her family name and her ability to sing music into magic. Confronted with the dire implications of her grandfather’s exploration into long-forbidden arcana, Allaigna must swallow her pride and summon her courage to
About the Author
In addition to her work as a writer, editor, artist, and publisher, JM Landels teaches swordplay and horseback riding — sometimes both at the same time — in Langley, BC. She drew on this experience, as well as her time as a rock musician and childbirth educator, to inform her fantasy trilogy, Allaigna’s Song. She is currently working on a new series, La Bergère, featuring a shepherdess-turned-spy in seventeenth-century France. Her debut novel, Allaigna’s Song: Overture was an Amazon bestseller, and the sequel Aria was published in 2020.
Her novels are:
Allaigna’s Song: Overture (Pulp Literature Press, 2017);
Allaigna’s Song: Aria (Pulp Literature Press, 2020);
Allaigna’s Song: Chorale (Pulp Literature Press, 2022).
Other works from Pulp Literature Press include:
‘Masquerade’ Pulp Literature Issue 12 (Pulp Literature Press, Autumn 2016);
‘Treason’s Fulcrum’ Pulp Literature Issue 25 (Pulp Literature Press, Winter 2020);
‘The Shepherdess’ Pulp Literature Issues 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, & 34 (Pulp Literature Press, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021 & Spring 2022);
‘Allaigna’s Song: Oburakor’ Pulp Literature Issues 27, 29, & 31 (Pulp Literature Press, Summer 2020, Winter 2021 & Summer 2021).
‘Gwannyn’s Song’ Pulp Literature Issue 35 (Pulp Literature Press, Summer 2022)
‘Zara’s Song’ Pulp Literature Issue 37 (Pulp Literature Press, Winter 2023)
In addition to her work as a writer, editor, artist, and publisher, JM Landels teaches swordplay and horseback riding — sometimes both at the same time — in Langley, BC. She drew on this experience, as well as her time as a rock musician and childbirth educator, to inform her fantasy trilogy, Allaigna’s Song. She is currently working on a new series, La Bergère, featuring a shepherdess-turned-spy in seventeenth-century France.
Her web page is at http://jmlandels.stiffbunnies.com/.
Reviews of Allaigna’s Song: Overture
CC Humphreys, award-winning author of Plague and Shakespeare’s Rebel
Magically unputdownable! JM Landels not only knows her magic, music, and swords, she knows how to weave all these elements into an exciting, enchanting, and uplifting tale. More please!
Grady Harp, San Francisco Review of Books
An immensely satisfying epic. Landels delivers her richly woven story with both grace and ardor as befits the realm of her tale. Yes, the story includes magic, even beyond the quality of the prose, and the loom is elaborated with line drawing illustrations. This is a fine launch for a promised series – one that seems destined to become a standard! Recommended.
Brandon Crilly, BlackGate.com
Elegantly constructed, boasting a subtle and well-thought out magic system based on music, on top of everything else. I’d highly recommend checking it out.
Myst de Vana, Netgalley.com
A compelling coming-of-age story that launches a fantasy trilogy to watch for. JM Landels writes with exquisite effect in this emotionally taut, action-imbued book set in a land that battles to come to terms with different forms of magic. Three intriguing women chart their own paths, creating a weave of intersecting consequences for the heroine. There is no shortage of surprises for the reader, in no small part because the characters in this tale refuse to fit into boxes. Good luck putting Allaigna’s Song: Overture down – I read it in a single sitting.
Sylvia Stopforth, author of Dragon Rock
Author Landels knows her stuff. Whether it’s horses, sword-fighting, or midwifery, the details and descriptions are well-chosen and convincing. And she makes magic out of music … or music out of magic. Either way, it works.
Mel Anastasiou, author of Stella Ryman and the Fairmount Manor Mysteries
From the very first page, JM Landels draws me into Allaigna’s brilliantly observed world, a land rich in conflict and magic. Landels is gifted with storytelling abilities and gives her readers those greatest of rewards, surprise turns and great character growth and transformation. Subtle and powerful, her writing always pleases.
Susan Pieters
Allaigna by JM Landels is satisfying fantasy with the emotional grit and depth that could only be written by a mother of girls. It’s part romance, part step-family dynamics, part magical coming-of age story, braided together in narratives that have distinct yet overlapping points of view.
Amanda Bidnall, author of The West Indian Generation
The fantastic detail of Allaigna’s adventures would’ve been enough to keep me hooked. But it is her spirit, and the emotional history tying her family together, that really makes this an epic.
Alana Krider
For everybody out there who hasn’t been reading it in serialized form in Pulp Literature, do yourself a favour and buy it! Heck, buy it even if you read the serialized version already! It’s that good.
Reviews of Allaigna’s Song: Aria
Alana K, 5-star Goodreads review
As most fantasy fans know, the second novel in a trilogy is often weaker than the first. This book is that rare and happy case of a second novel that’s even better than the first. JM Landels hits the ground running in Aria and never slows down. She draws us in, making us care deeply about her complex and flawed characters, and steeps us in the reality of her world through wonderfully rich and well-chosen details.
Landels’s deft handling of non-linear storytelling from the points of view of Allaigna, her mother Lauresa, and her grandmother Irdaign gives readers the thrill of putting together the pieces of the past to discover the true shape of the present. We’re treated to jaw-dropping moments of understanding, shifting our perceptions of characters and world-changing events, even as we continue to follow Allaigna’s adventures in the present. And for once, we’re treated to a high fantasy tale that’s about three generations of women. Aria doesn’t just pass the Bechdel test; it casually stomps it into the ground and strides forward to set a new bar.
Allaigna’s Song: Aria is simply a joy to read; the words seem to flow off the page, making it very difficult to put down. I can’t wait for the final instalment of the trilogy. I need to know what Allaigna does next, and what happens not only to her family and friends, but to the fragile peace in the land of the Ilmar.
Lyz, 5-star Goodreads review
I so enjoyed the first novel in this series, Overture, and have been eagerly waiting for this one to come out. I was not disappointed at all. I was quite the fantasy series buff once upon a time but this is the first saga to grab and keep my attention on a long while. I was a bit worried that I’d have lost many of the threads established in the first book but I jumped right in to this one without any issues. The short recap at the beginning was all I needed to catch up on the plot. Last book I needed to flip back to the Dramatis Personae several times but this round I sailed through. There’s no sophomore novel slump here, Aria keeps you turning pages from beginning to end. Now to find the patience to wait for the last book in the series to be written.
Victoria Lee, Goodreads
I was hooked reading Allaigna’s Song: Aria, the second in a trilogy. I enjoyed the interweaving of the lives and stories of Allaigna, her mother, and her grandmother. Allaigna’s journey is a coming of age tale as she discovers more about her magical singing and the deceptions that exist everywhere in her life. I am looking forward to reading the conclusion to Allaigna’s Song. I highly recommend it!
Short quotes for Allaigna’s Song: Overture
“Magically unputdownable,” CC Humphreys
“The compelling plot kept me hooked for hours! It was addictive,” Nabila Fairuz, author of The Chronicles of Captain Shelly Manhar
“Loved, no, LOVED it. Superb,” Donna J Saunders
“I love the characters and their stories. I want to read them again and again,” Cathy Levinson
“Beautiful writing and gripping storytelling throughout.”
“Allaigna, Lauresa, and Irdaign are tough, flawed, and appealing heroines”
“Superb writing, a gripping tale.”
“Great tension, big world, perfect pacing, intriguing politics [and] lovely magic.”
Praise for JM Landels
“Author Landels knows her stuff,” Sylvia Stopforth
“Landels is gifted with storytelling abilities,” Mel Anastasiou
“JM Landels not only knows her magic, music, and swords, she knows how to weave all these elements into an exciting, enchanting, and uplifting tale,” CC Humphreys
To request additional review copies or an interview with Jennifer Landels, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
