Immortal

I started reading this book at ten this morning. Now, it's not quite four in the afternoon. I swear I have been crying since about noon. This is an amazing story. I wasn't sure what to expect from the blurb, but I definitely got more than I ever imagined. This story is filled with loss, love, heartbreak, family, horror, unity, and so much more. I've ugly cried more today than I have in probably ten years. It was not all sad either. I highly recommend this book. It has made its way to the top of my favorite books of all time list.

I've read Amy Lane's version of a \"fairy tale\" before, in a wondrous book titled 'Hammer & Air', and rest assured 'Immortal' is as much a fairy tale as that book was. It's Amy's version of fantasy, I suppose, beautifully written, with a love story that brought me to my knees, dark angst intertwined with the light of hope and joy, in a world where those things seem impossible. The writing is lyrical, descriptive, and all too quick to drag me into the story and not let me go until every part of me has been shredded into bits and put back together by the genius of Amy Lane.
Teyth, whose name means “silent”, has a yearning in his soul for more. Once he thought if he could just get enough food and be warm that was all he needed. But when he has that, he discovers the need within to create art, to fashion and forge the likes of which no one has ever seen, and then to do more.
\"I had a way, I thought, a purpose, a spirit that would keep my heart beating even when my body failed.
I could be immortal.\"
Diarmuid is a gentle soul, even as a blacksmith who specializes in swords. He's kind, and sweet, and in love with Teyth. He also has a background shrouded in mystery, magic, and the forest nearby. Teyth has always loved Diarmuid, but Teyth isn't nice, and sweet. He's got a lot of violence in his soul, built from a childhood of neglect and abuse. And Teyth is going to have to come to terms with what roils within him in order to not lose the most important person in his life.
“Nay!” he said, standing in front o’ me with defiance and a tinge o’ anger. “Nay! I’m not enow, Teyth. I can live with it, though it hurts me, but ye canna lie ter me, yeah-yeah?”
'Immortal' is filled with magic and wonder, with blood, pain, and death, with good and evil, and with the blackness of despair and the light of hope and joy. It left me breathless and silent, with no words coming to the fore, only awe at another work of pure mastery by an author I so admire.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

Silence. Well, that is all I felt a good fifteen minutes after reading this story. I am not a fan of angst, and let me tell you, these guys suffer. Profoundly. But, they came to life off the pages, I felt their grief and joy and frustration. I related to Teyth more than anyone as we share in common the skill of few words unless they are warranted. Diarmuid--even though I'm quite sure I am saying his name wrong in my head--was the perfect counterpart to Teyth. I think Ms. Lane came as close to the perfection of a couple as any two I have ever read. The cast of characters were as big as the heart of the book and just as enjoyable.
And while it was bleak in places I knew that it would be so going in and that did not detract from the moments of joy. This is just a superbly written story pockmarked by tragedy and cruelty. I loathed the Prince as much as the two main characters did and my anticipation of his death was living thing.
SPOILER: The ending was a complete surprise but shouldn't have been. It was the final tragedy and I was a wee bit glad that Diarmuid and Teyth would suffer no more. Immortal is certainly a keeper. I'd urge caution for those expecting a light romance here. It certainly took blood and tears to make these two immortal and to enjoy this story you'll have to be willing to walk in the darkness.