Daughter of the Sun

A Mothmar Novel

By: Amanda Auler

Narrated by: Layla Fatima

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Born without a Gift, Solyana must accept being ordinary amidst the extraordinary. But when blizzards devastate her valley and endanger village life, a prophetic sign emerges, proclaiming Solyana the savior.

Fulfilling the prophecy means leaving the valley and journeying into greater Mothmar—where every previous expedition has led to death.

Unwinding the mysteries of the past and present, Solyana’s choices could spell survival or extinction for those she loves and unknowingly bind her to another….

Pallah, the object of her father’s disdain and overshadowed by her siblings, is desperate for the home she’s never had.

Accepted into a group of elusive zealots under the wrong pretenses, Pallah begins to discover she may be as dangerous to herself as she is portrayed to be to others.

On a night that changes her life forever, Pallah discovers her Gift is forbidden. Between her new group of friends and the persistent voice in her head, Pallah is pushed toward a decision that could send her into irreversible darkness.

Can Solyana find the truth to the prophecy before she is thrust into the awaiting abyss? Can Pallah discover her true purpose before her world collapses in on itself?

A story of friendship, family, and the choices that shape us. Dive into the world of Mothmar and experience magic, animal companionship, and adventure layered through time and dipped in mystery.

©2022 Amanda Auler (P)2023 Amanda Auler

Intriguing world

I stumbled across Amanda's work on Instagram, and have been super intrigued by her work and world since then, so I was super excited to sit down and read (listen to) this.

I thoroughly enjoyed her world. From beginning to end, she does a beautiful job of carving an Ice age type world and making it fun to be in. With intriguing characters, all actually in families (whatt) I was so excited to jump in.

I loved Solyana's storyline through most of the story, and it was fun to see her interacting with everyone, and she had me cheering for her throughout the story. Pallah I had a harder time with, for reasons I won't go into because, well, spoilers. But, if you are looking for a story world with Giver vibes (especially the later books, like Son and Messenger) and a little bit of Ice Age mixed with gifted people and a fair dose of darkness, this story is for you.

Wonderful start to a magic filled world/series

This was a wonderful start to a very interesting magical world! It’s magic system is unique and still being unraveled. The lore is interesting and relates to power from the celestials as well as Mother Earth. There is a ton of symbolism but it never feels like a specific point of view is crammed down your throat. The characters are interesting and each have their own tone and points of view but unlike some fantasy novels on this scale, there aren’t too many characters to keep track of. There are some hints of slow burn romance and the beginnings of a quest. All in all the only negative I can really give is I wished it hadn’t ended when it did. Things were really ramping up and definitely have me excited for the next entry to the series (which I’ve already preordered). This was definitely more of the intro to the world, Magic, lore, and characters and while it contains plenty of excitement, I can see the sequel being even more high octane while delving deeper into the secrets that have been teased but not completely answered. I’ll update this with a more complete review here and on my FunreliableNarrator socials via video but Five solid stars and I can’t wait to see where the story and characters find themselves in the future!

Loved it!

Loved this book! Such a captivating story and that twist at the ending was so exciting! I can’t wait for the second book!

My New Favorite!

This was my first audiobook and I loved it. I listened to it right after I finished reading the book, reinforcing the story for me. The narrator did a good job voicing the different characters. Mothmar has captured my interest. Amanda has written a wonderful first book and I am so excited to read and listen to the second book!

Engaging YA Adventure Fantasy

I really enjoyed this YA fantasy. It has propecies, "the chosen one" trope and powers.
Although set in a fantasy world, the dual povs follow two different girls with different family dynamics. The author did a great job in showcasing these girls' hardships although coming from very different backgrounds. I also really enjoyed reading about the different sibling connections with both povs.
I was a bit confused throughout most of the book about how these two girls connected, but eventually it makes sense.

The plot twist at the end has me super eager to get my hands on the second book of the series. I'm hoping we get an audiobook of that one as well. (^_^)

If you are a parent or a high school teacher, I would not hesitate in letting your student or child read this book. It is truly YA. There are no curse words, except for made up ones and no sexual content. I do have physical copies of this book in my own classroom.

Enjoyable Storytelling

I enjoyed the story and the way things unfurled. The narrator was great. I'm excited about the next book.

A riveting debut!

“So much resting on her frail shoulders, all from a change in weather and a few words scrawled on a page.”

A riveting debut novel from indie author, Amanda Auler! I’ve followed her self-publishing journey for a few months on now on #bookstagram and really valued the ride because I hope to publish in the next few years and I am taking notes on how she keeps her following engaged. So I came in with faith this would be good and I wasn’t let down.

Building out an original fantasy novel is a difficult and possibly impossible task. While I think this book wears the influences of YA Fantasy (a sister to be saved like Hunger Games, magic & non-magic folks like Harry Potter, or to cross into TV, Avatar the Last Airbender), it does manage to be something fresh even if it does have that comforting tint of familiarity. On the note of world building, I found the spiritual & political components of the world fascinating and timely. The reigning system is the organized religion of The Celestials — which bears a similarity to the Christian Church (you pick the branch — but I got a lot of Roman Catholic vibes). The opposing, underground threat to Celestial worship is the Takaru (also I listened to the audiobook, so please excuse typos of these fantastical names!) In contrast to the Celestial system’s bent toward trusting deference to the Divine, the Takaru value individual autonomy, trusting your own intuition, and rebelling against any semblance of rule or authority. This felt like the Secular Humanism of the West. Even down to nuance that many secular humanist in the West do want to have some sort of spirituality and lean toward deifying the natural world in doing so. Similarly, the Takaru believe in The Mother (Earth) and draw power from her. I will note I was a tad worried by what seemed like joining in on the trend of associating the “bad guys” with the Divine Feminine, because I’ve continued to see that plot lean towards misogyny at its roots. However, it’s clear that is not Amanda’s intentions as the Celestials have feminine nature as well (Mother Moon) and this book features some strong female protagonists. We all view stories through our own lens, so I may be misinterpreting or misattributing all these contemporary comparisons with the world of Mothmar! I true, I’d imagine my musings there could turn some away, and I’d say don’t let it! Amanda does a good job keeping these two opposing forces from being too black & white “good guys” & “bad “guys” and blurs the lines to bring such simplicity into doubt.

And I’d say that is closely related to themes of the book: faith and doubt. Is this Green Prophecy that is disrupting Solanya’s whole life legit or not? That is brilliantly called into question in the first pages so it keeps you wondering, well, if it’s true, how much of it is? It achieves a level dramatic irony without letting the reader in on the full sense of it.

Another question pervading the whole book is the connection between the two characters within the dual POV. Little hints are dropped along the way to keep you guessing. I had predicted it before the reveal, but that seemed mostly purposeful (Amanda allowing the reader to arrive at the ahha! if they are astute enough).

I’m not much for romance subplots in fantasy novels so I wasn’t super won over by some of the cliches that featured like two dark & brooding male love interests and an emerging love triangle. But hey, I can accept that part of the book just isn’t as much for me and let others enjoy it.

The last thing to say is this essentially functions as an extended exposition to the yet unpublished series ahead. At first the somewhat slow, plotting of exposition was a little tiresome, but this series seems to follow the five act structure well in the sense that there ended up being a complete dramatic arc within the exposition itself. So that is to say, I was very pleased with where it all landed. The final chapters have some exciting reveals and set Solanya off on that Hero’s Journey arc in a satisfying way. I look forward to the future installments.

I definitely recommend

(A note for audio: some of the character voices were a little annoying, but all in all, the narrator did a great job setting contrasting tones between the dual POV)

Welcome to Mothmar, a world of ice and snow...

This book is such a fresh breath in the YA genre. Unique and detailed worldbuilding, great characters, a fascinating dual timeline...I loved all of it!

Amanda Auler creates a gripping world. I've always loved the idea of the Ice Age and all the strange creatures associated with that period and when I saw that Mothmar is a world with snow and ice and sabretooth tigers...well the rest was history. I had to read it.

I really loved the magic system and the incredible detail of the Mothmari culture and history we see as the story unfolds. While the pacing was a little slow at first and things were still a bit confusing, I settled into the story after the first few chapters and couldn't put it down. The ending was a total surprise and I can't wait to get my hands on book two!

I really enjoyed the audiobook narration as well.

"Your eyes be upward and filled with light!"

Wonderfully crafted

I think this book would be an amazing RPG. The world of Mothmar is intriguing and felt cozy to read about, despite the book being oddly darker than one would expect. We get the blessing of a gradual plot twist (the best way I can put it), which I did predict, but appreciated all the same. I didn’t *really* start to like this book until well into the latter half.

So good! Can't wait for Children of the Earth!

Such rich characters, an exciting plot, both well-paced and beautifully written. I thought I knew where the twist at the end was going about halfway through the book, and I was just off enough to be doubly surprised by the true twist! I can't wait for Children of the Earth to be out on Audiobook, so I'm going to order the physical book like TODAY! I'm so happy I found this series 😁