True Teryn

By: Madeline Erb

Dealing with gods is never easy. In the book True Teryn, Guardian Goddess Laoise’s condition for bestowing her blessing is for Lilla to bring her the mysterious Heart Amulet. Now Lilla is trapped in a strange place with no way out, no idea where to go or how to find the amulet. The only way for Lilla to complete her mission is to uncover the biggest secret of all Teryns. Will she survive discovering the secret of what it means to be a “true Teryn?”

True Teryn, the second book in The Last Lumenian series by S.G. Blaise, is a YA combination of fantasy and sci-fi that should have been right up my alley. I adore reading about strong heroines and I love this genre, but I have mixed feelings about the book – though it’s definitely an improvement from the first in the series. I did eventually enjoy that first book, but I had a hard time getting into it.

I will say that there was a lot to like about this book. The romance, which is a large aspect of the novel, was well-written and the pacing was tight. The magic system also felt more fleshed out than it was in The Last Lumenian. There’s so much that this book does right – but somehow it didn’t all come together for me. Although the characters were interesting and I enjoyed their dynamics, I didn’t feel like they grew. The way the book runs headfirst into storytelling without much exposition didn’t quite work for me either. I felt like I needed more explanations for how this world works.

Additionally, I very much enjoyed the depiction of the various Gods in this book. They were the highpoint for me, especially The Lady, the Goddess of Light. It would have been easy to make this character one-dimensional and entirely good, but the book makes her fairly nuanced and, though we don’t see a great deal of her, she’s always an engaging presence. The worldbuilding in other areas is also very good. However, it’s not always easy to grasp this world due to the lack of exposition.

My biggest issue with True Teryn lies with the protagonist, Lilla. I don’t have any problems with her characterization – she’s likable and three dimensional. However, the chosen one narrative Blaise created didn’t work for me. She has a great deal of power which she masters fairly easily and then she gains even more. I usually don’t bring up realism in regard to sci-fi/fantasy novels, but whenever a character is presented as the most special person in the galaxy with the most special powers it takes me out of the story.

True Teryn is a good book, but it’s also flawed. Some of its flaws may bug others less than they bothered me. I’d recommend it to someone looking for a fun combination of fantasy/sci-fi who wouldn’t be too concerned by minimal exposition and Lilla’s abundance of magical powers. There’s some great worldbuilding in here and many interesting side-characters. It just didn’t quite grab me in the way I wanted it to.