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IA Mullin grew up on a farm in rural Colorado. She helped raise crops, cattle, and goats. She learned the value of hard work and fostered a love of animals, especially birds. She went to Colorado State University to further her interests in animals and science. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Zoology. Next, she attended Front Range Community College and attained the status of Certified Veterinary Technician with an Associate's degree in Veterinary Technology. She has worked as a cleaner, assistant, and technician, with various veterinary offices, the Larimer Humane Society, and volunteered with the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, a rehabilitation center. She loves all kinds of pets as well as nature and the outdoors.
In 2010, she chose to leave the veterinary field in order to raise her family. She had started her first manuscript as a freshman in high school, but had only written in her spare time as a hobby. As a mother of two active boys, she devoted her life to her writing ambitions. She founded Avio Publishing and published her anthropomorphic series Redsands. She is excited to continue writing and publishing so that others may enjoy her fantastic worlds.
"It's been a long journey to this point, but I don't regret any step of it. It has led me to understand that imagination is the substance of creation. If I can imagine it I can create it, at least on paper." ~IA Mullin
Reviewed by Liz Konkel for Readers' Favorite
Mystillion by IA Mullin is the first book in the Redsands series. Marilana is a lioness who lives as an outcast with her role as a servant and her job as a bandit hunter to keep people safe. A new lion, Marquiese, arrives at her school and she isn't sure he can be trusted or if he'll be like the other nobles looking to mistreat those of a lower status. Marquiese is immediately curious about her and as their paths cross, the two form a surprising bond. Their friendship could cost Marquiese everything when his secret is revealed and his presence in Mystillion could be discovered. Marilana must confront her past when the threat of the bandits grows and she turns to her new friends for help.
The setting is a high fantasy society with the characters facing bad situations in a caste system favoring the upper class, which allows them to freely abuse anyone below them. One of the most poignant themes of the story is an abuse of power which is constant, thanks to this system that keeps the characters in a constant state of fear as they're powerless to stop anything that happens to them. The other big threat against the characters is the bandits which are violent and sadistic men who Marilana risks everything to stop. Mullin incorporates serious topics like abuse and rape which is never explicit with details but do play a serious part in the poignancy and meaning of the plot and also in the lives of each of the characters.
IA Mullin has created stunning characters, all of which are anthropomorphic animals, to bring to life an epic world full of dangerous bandits and caste systems. Despite the seriousness of the story, Mullin weaves in some humor and lighter moments between Marilana and her friends. She carries the weight of everyone's lives and safety on her shoulders with anyone she fails to save haunting her to the point where she blames herself. Mystillion is a unique adventure with poignant themes of power, pain, healing, and friendship that are seen through the lives and struggles of various characters who face dangerous threats and pain from the past.
