Welcome to the next stop on the blog tour for Days of Blood & Starlight by the incredible Laini Taylor. I am thrilled, and I mean THRILLED to be a part of this tour. Book one, Daughter of Smoke & Bone was one of my top three reads last year. I was lucky enough to meet Laini at a pre-pub event and get to hear all about the writing of book one. She is one of the coolest and kindest people you could ever want to meet!
So enough from me… let’s get to the good stuff! For this tour the tour hosts were asked to pick a page number. Laini picked something from that page to tell us about. Oh man. Just wait until you read this! You’re going to want to rush out and get Days of Blood & Starlight! It’s out today!!! (Those !!! are not excessive. I’m really that excited!!!!!!!!!)
I picked page 115. Here’s what Laini had to say:
Okay, I’m sorry, but I have to cheat! I couldn’t find anything on page 115 to talk about with giving away spoilers about Karou’s situation that I’d prefer readers to discover chapter by chapter, so how about page 116?
“Nearer, nearer, and then she saw him: tall and straight, his horns like a pair of pikes. Ziri. A knot loosened in [Karou’s] chest that she hadn’t known was there. Ziri was okay.”
Oh, Ziri. Ziri is one of the new characters readers will meet in DAYS, who has a crucial role to play, as well as a strong connection with Karou. I have a bit of a crush on Ziri, and I’m anxious to see how he will be received.
He’s a chimaera, a potential ally for Karou, and more importantly, he’s a Kirin — the last surviving member of her own tribe, and they have a history of sorts. He’s a good guy in a poisonous environment where Karou doesn’t know who to trust. Also, he’s, um, cute.
“He was grown now, and tall even before the antelope horns that added several more feet. His legs were human tapering to antelope, as her own had once been, and, coupled with his vast bat wings, gave him the same buoyant gait all the Kirin had possessed—a lightness as if the earth underfoot were incidental and he might at any instant go airborne and rise leagues above it all.”
And … oh. He’s been in love with her pretty much all his life, so there’s that.
Is this a love triangle then? Heh heh heh. Have you ever seen the uncomfortable silence interview format wherein the interviewer purposefully says nothing, to see how long the interviewee will just talk to fill the awkward gap? This is like that. I’m just talking away, telling you secret things. But I’m just going to go ahead and say: no. Don’t worry. It is not a love triangle. Not that I don’t find love triangles alluring. I just don’t think Karou’s going to be fit for love of any geometric configuration for a long time.
One last thing: I hope this book gets made into a movie because I want to see Ziri brought to life. Others too, but for some reason, especially Ziri. When I’ve been asked what kind of chimaera I would be, the answer is so easy: Kirin. Totally Kirin. Bat wings and horns and sproingy antelope legs, and yet still all the main bits and bobs conveniently human? (By bits and bobs, of course, I mean the head and hands. What were you thinking?)
Oh. One last-last thing. I chose the name Ziri from a list of names I’d made in my notebook early on in writing DAUGHTER. It’s an Amazigh name, which is one of the languages of the Berber people of Morocco (like Izil, the graverobber). Ziri means “moonlight”.
See?!?!?!? What did I tell you? Doesn’t that make you want to read Days of Blood and Starlight? Even if it’s just to meet Ziri!
Laini, I can’t thank you enough for giving us a glimpse in to DOB&S.
Everyone who hasn’t read Daughter of Smoke & Bone, what are you waiting for?!? It is so beautiful. So, so beautiful. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Everyone who has read DOS&B, I don’t need to tell you any more. You’re already dying to read DOB&S 🙂
Tour Stops:
So, not only am I fangirling about Laini and DOB&S but also about the other bloggers on this tour! Check out the rest of the stops:
11/5: Forever Young Adult
I totally feel out of my league but man am I glad to be here!
Giveaway:
Little, Brown is wonderful and they are offering up one copy of Days of Blood & Starlight! Enter using the rafflecopter below. US only. Must be 13 or older.
Leave a Reply