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L.E. Harrison is the author of the contemporary fantasy trilogy the Children Of Corvus, as well as a collection of previously published poems and short stories. She decided she wanted to be an author in the fourth grade, when she began writing poetry, plays, and stories. A lifelong avid reader and lover of genre fiction—from science fiction to paranormal romance, and everything in between—she’s inspired by books that blur the boundaries, and by the authors who manage to do it exceptionally well. She lives in an hundred-sixty-year-old farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, where she is busy working on the next chapter in the universe of Soluna’s children.
Reviewed by Maureen Dangarembizi for Readers' Favorite
The Blackbirds by L.E. Harrison is a three-book The Children Of Corvus omnibus. The first title, Blackbird, introduces a tribe of shapeshifters. The children of Corvus stay in an alternate dimension whose entrance is near the Blackwater hills in Maine. Jonathan Lance is an ordinary human author who takes the trip into the Otherworld to help his nephew, Michael Singleton, find a cure for his sickness. The priests of the Otherworld soon find out that Michael is cursed with the higher gifts of their god, Corvus. By law, Michael can’t be allowed to live. What the priests don’t account for is one of their own falling in love with Michael. From the moment Alena Andrick meets Michael, she is mesmerized and sees beyond the beast to the man underneath. In her bid to save his life, she uncovers a dangerous secret.
In Merula, years have passed since the events of Blackbird. The Otherworld priests are still perpetuating a lie to maintain their power. What is feared as a curse -- males who can shape shift into Corvus’ beast form -- is a deception. As far back as two hundred years ago those who could change ruled the tribe and made the race strong. For years, orphan Samuel Singleton has lived a fairly uneventful life until things begin to change. His body is changing and he has to hide his sickness or else face the fires of ritual sacrifice, just like his father. In Corvus, Samuel must prove that this is not an anomaly to be feared but one to be revered as it was so long ago. With the help of friends and family he must bring change to the Otherworld and save the condemned from the Shadowlands, the Otherworld's version of hell.
I really enjoyed reading this three-book series. Wonderful mythological twist. This series puts a new twist on the paranormal world of werewolves and witches. Anyone who enjoys paranormal fiction will enjoy the fantasy of The Children Of Corvus world. The first book is an eye witness account of what happened in the past and gives the hero Samuel a pretty solid backstory. I loved Michael and Alena’s story and cried because it was so bittersweet. The trilogy reads like Romeo and Juliet. There is lots of forbidden love among the main characters that added depth and tension to the plot. There is a really great myth with gods and goddesses. I liked that the reader doesn’t have to wait for the next book; you get the complete story.
