Faith Hunter’s Nell Ingram series continues to get better with the newest edition, Circle of the Moon.
You can read various summaries of the book in other blogs. What I want to discuss here is why I love Nell.
What Hunter has done with this series is create a character who is not human but reminds of us of our humanity. She’s created a relatable character out of someone who does things we simply cannot do and whose powers are at the very least, mythological, if not super-heroic. Hunter does what the very best original Star Trek episodes did, examine our humanity through alien species and culture, force us to look at the monsters inside of us, and the best we can be, through beings that aren’t like us at all. We understand Nell. We sympathize with her and believe in her choices, even though none of us are turning into trees. (At least, I don’t believe so…please PM on this if I am wrong.)
One of the things that makes Nell so human is her past abuse in the Church, where she also experienced love and protection. I asked Hunter about it, particularly the accent the church members use. This is what she said:
“People think I made it up, but the accent is real. It is common in the country areas all across Middle and Eastern Tennessee, and in the western side of the Smoky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. You can hear it anywhere there, where some people call it a hillbilly accent, and others call it a country accent. Other people make fun of the locals, which is sad. We shouldn’t lose our cultural dialects, but they are disappearing quickly.
The God’s Cloud of Glory Church : There are hidden cults everywhere, often in plain sight, often in fenced compounds with survivalist attitudes. Polygamous cults and the multi wife (sister wife) lifestyle are not uncommon. I wanted to explore that and the way the escapees live and enter in to modern society.”
I recommend this series whole-heartedly, but as always, suggest that you take the time to read the books in order.
Faith Hunter is the New York Times and USAToday bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock series, the Soulwood series, and the Rogue Mage series, as well as the author of 16 thrillers under pen the names Gary Hunter and Gwen Hunter. She has 40+ books in print.
Faith collects orchids and animal skulls, loves thunder storms, and writes. She likes to cook soup, bake homemade bread, garden, and run Class III whitewater rivers. She edits the occasional anthology and drinks a lot of tea. Some days she’s a lady. Some days she ain’t.For more, see www.faithhunter.net
To keep up with her, like her fan page at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter
Great review! I’m spent years of my early life in Western North Carolina then South Carolina and Tennessee, and definitely, the accent and dialect are real. Reading Nell’s story always makes me feel at home. I’ve just started listening to “Circle of the Moon,” and, while it might be different elsewhere, Muscadine wine in my part of WNC has always been pronounced Musk-uh-DINE rather than Musk-uh-DEEN…of course DINE sounds more like DAHN. 8) While the earlier Jane Yellowrock series stand alone almost as well as being read in sequence, all of the Soulwood series are definitely fuller when reading from the first to the most recent. So much detail, so many undercurrents. Love them all. Thank you for asking Faith that question.
Thank you for your comment and for reading. I’ll let Faith know about the pronunciation for the audiobook.
Yes! Thank you articulating why this series is so captivating! And Bonus Points for Star Trek analogy.
Live long and prosper, Larisa.