The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is a novel that most fantasy readers will love. Taylor’s work includes fantasy, action, adventure, and a tiny bit of comedy. The book revolves around an art students struggle when she is caught between a war between the animal race known as the chimera and the guardians of heaven known as the seraphim while she asks herself the question she has wanted answered all her life, “Who am I, and where did I come from?”. In my personal beliefs I do believe in angels and mythological beings. This made this book a wonderful read and it made me want to recommend the novel to other readers in America. Readers will get lost in the fantastical world of men, beast, and its guardians.
Although many readers will be looking for fantasy creatures some will be looking for other factors of fiction. I’m talking about the lost language Chzek and the fantasy language of the seraphim. The book interested me when I was reminded time and time again that the characters were not speaking English. Both lingual and mythological factors play into effect with the fantastical side of this book. But what if a reader is looking for a book that addresses certain issues of our society today? Taylor does a fantastic job integrating the issue of religious belief in the 21st century society. In society today all over the world many people argue if angels and God exist because a majority of people in America’s society are atheist or have lost their faith, while
few people go to church and worship the gospel. In Kauro’s own society many people laugh at Kauro’s stories on how she collects teeth for the chimera, because individuals in her own world do not believe in angels and demons. However, when people see Kauro wishing for the ability to fly to battle the books main antagonist Akiva, they believe in angels and broadcast the battle on live television for the whole world to see. Soon after that many people stop Kauro on the streets and say things like “Wow! You’re that girl that was flying!” or “Haven’t I seen you on TV?”, in Czech of course.However, overall this book deserves an 8 out of 10 for its mythical and theological fantasy as well as addressing world issues. Any fantasy reader will be pleased to read a book like Taylor’s to escape from everyday life.