Selamat datang di salah satu feature terbaru blog Ren's Little Corner, yang saya harap sih bisa ajeg untuk diposting kedepannya nanti :P. Kali ini feature terbaru itu adalah :
Seperti yang tertera di banner di atas, Series Spotlight adalah postingan dimana saya berbagi sebuah serial yang sudah selesai (atau belum) yang menurut saya sangat sayang kalau dilewatkan. Oh ya, saya juga belum pernah mereview serial ini sama sekali, jadi Series Spotlight ini tujuannya adalah ngenalin sebuah serial pada pembaca Ren's Little Corner. Kenapa serial? Karena nama featurenya aja "Series", masa saya ngenalin buku - buku yang standalone aka satu buku langsung tamat? :P #abaikanini
Untuk edisi perdana Series Spotlight, ini adalah serial yang baru saja saya tamatkan dan juga karya dari salah satu pengarang favorit saya, Ilona Andrews! :D . Let's me introduce you to :
The Edge
Sebagai team penulis (karena Ilona Andrews adalah pasangan suami istri), mereka sudah terkenal sebelumnya dengan seri Kate Daniels yang sudah pernah saya review buku 1-3 nya di blog :). Nah, mereka ini cukup produktif, dan sudah banyak buku yang dikeluarkan, salah satunya serial The Edge ini. Saya sering direkomen buat baca Kate Daniels, tapi dasarnya saya pesimis nan sinis, saya agak ragu :P. Akhirnya malah nyobain baca On The Edge, buku pertama di seri The Edge, untuk coba - coba. Dan, wow, Ilona Andrews memang juara dalam menulis novel fantasy dan bikin dunia baru.
Dunia di The Edge terbagi jadi 3, yaitu The Broken dimana manusia biasa hidup, belanja di Wal-Mart dan sihir cuma mitos. Lalu ada dunia kembaran The Broken, yaitu The Weird dimana orang dinilai dari kemampuannya mengeluarkan magic (atau flash) dan dipimpin oleh para bangsawan. Sounds familiar yah? Kayak dunia Harry Potter dengan Hogwarts dan para muggle. Tapi tentu saja ada yang bikin unik, karena di antara The Weird dan The Broken terdapat dunia bernama The Edge. Di The Edge inilah cerita dimulai, dimana orang - orang yang tinggal di The Edge biasanya adalah pelarian dari The Weird dan sihirnya ga akan bisa jalan maksimal. Nantinya sejalan dengan cerita, akan dikenalkan tempat bernama The Mire, yang merupakan rawa - rawa. Oh ya, setting dunianya sendiri ada di Amerika Serikat, dan nama negara - negaranya jadi berubah kalau di The Weird, dimana negara besarnya bernama Adrianglian dan Dukedom of Louissiana
Oke, saya akan langsung ngenalin buku - buku yang ada di serial ini beserta sinopsisnya :) :
#1 On The Edge
Rose Drayton lives on the Edge, between the world of the Broken (where people drive cars, shop at Wal-Mart, and magic is a fairy tale) and the Weird (where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny). Only Edgers like Rose can easily travel from one world to the next, but they never truly belong in either.
Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).
But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.
Rose thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didn’t turn out how she planned, and now she works a minimum wage, off the books job in the Broken just to survive. Then Declan Camarine, a blueblood noble straight out of the deepest part of the Weird, comes into her life, determined to have her (and her power).
But when a terrible danger invades the Edge from the Weird, a flood of creatures hungry for magic, Declan and Rose must work together to destroy them—or they’ll devour the Edge and everyone in it.
#2 Bayou Moon
The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Walmart and magic is a fairytale–and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.
Cerise Mar and her unruly clan are cash poor but land rich, claiming a large swathe of the Mire, the Edge swamplands between the state of Louisiana and the Weird. When her parents vanish, her clan’s long-time rivals are suspect number one.
But all is not as it seems. Two nations of the Weird are waging a cold war fought by feint and espionage, and their conflict is about to spill over into the Edge—and Cerise’s life . William, a changeling soldier who left behind the politics of the Weird, has been forced back into service to track down a rival nation’s spymaster.
When William’s and Cerise’s missions lead them to cross paths, sparks fly—but they’ll have to work together if they want to succeed…and survive.
#3 Fate's Edge
The Edge lies between
worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart
and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats
rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your
destiny…
Born to a family of conmen, Audrey Callahan left behind her life in
the Edge for an unmagical existence in the Broken. Audrey is determined
to stay on the straight and narrow, but when her brother gets into hot
water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself
matching wits with a jack of all trades.
Kaldar Mar is a gambler, a lawyer, a thief, and a spy with some
unusual talents that guarantee him lucrative work. When his latest
assignment has him tracking down a stolen item, Kaldar doesn’t expect
much of a challenge—until Audrey turns up to give him a run for his
money.
But when the missing item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal,
Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job and survive, he’s going
to need Audrey’s help…
#4 Steel's Edge
The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy tale—and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny…
Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.
Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...
Charlotte de Ney is as noble as they come, a blueblood straight out of the Weird. But even though she possesses rare magical healing abilities, her life has brought her nothing but pain. After her marriage crumbles, she flees to the Edge to build a new home for herself. Until Richard Mar is brought to her for treatment, and Charlotte’s life is turned upside down once again.
Richard is a swordsman without peer, future head of his large and rambunctious Edger clan—and he’s on a clandestine quest to wipe out slavers trafficking humans in the Weird. So when his presence leads his very dangerous enemies to Charlotte, she vows to help Richard destroy them. The slavers’ operation, however, goes deeper than Richard knows, and even working together, Charlotte and Richard may not survive...
Baiklah, kalau ada yang nanya ke saya ini genrenya apa, saya akan bilang ini Urban Fantasy Romance. Loh, bukan Paranormal Romance nih? Dikarenakan makhluk supernaturalnya saja cuma ada changeling alias pengubah wujud, dan settingnya itu sangat kental fantasynya tapi waktu kejadiannya di masa sekarang, jadi saya masukin ini ke kategori urban fantasy :D. Lalu, pembaca memang harus baca dari awal, biar tahu dunia di The Edge ini kayak apa, dan karena banyak karakter - karakter lama yang muncul di sepanjang serial ini. Yang menjadi character spotlight disini adalah Keluarga Mar yang dikenalkan di buku ke-2 dan adik Rose Drayton, tokoh utama buku #1, Jack dan George Drayton (sebelum akhirnya jadi Camarine, setelah Rose nikah). Kenapa kok cuma mereka aja yang saya bahas? Karena tiga buku di seri The Edge fokusnya ke Keluarga Mar (Cerise, Kaldar dan Richard, yang dua cowo terakhir ini favorit saya X))), sementara Jack dan George ini semacam karakter pendukung tapi punya peran besar di keseluruhan cerita.
Oh ya, The Edge ini berakhir di buku #4, Steel's Edge, jadi serial ini cocok buat pembaca yang ngga suka baca buku banyak - banyak dalam satu serial (iya, saya tahu kalau banyak yang keder mau mulai serial In Death XD). Ramuan yang dipakai di serial ini juga sangat pas. Fantasynya ada, actionnya pun banyak. Lalu, kalau kamu suka romance? Bakalan suka juga kok :D, dan porsi romancenya sendiri sangat pas dimana pembaca non romance masih bisa menikmati serial ini. Apalagi kalau penyuka genre historical romance, bakalan terkagum - kagum dengan sistem bangsawan yang ada di dunia The Edge. Adanya tokoh remaja yaitu Jack dan George juga bikin ceritanya makin kaya. Paket komplit deh pokoknya serial ini :).
Ada hal yang lucu sih, dimana saya baca semua buku di serial ini dalam jangka waktu 4 tahun! Saya baca On The Edge di tahun 2011, lalu Bayou Moon di tahun 2012, kemudian lanjut Fate's Edge di tahun 2013, dan saya mengakhiri perjalanan saya bersama Steel's Edge di awal 2014 ini. Jujur sih, saya sempat sedih pas tahu serial ini selesai. Soalnya menurut saya serial The Edge sangatlah unik dan lain daripada yang lain. Apalagi masih banyak yang bisa dibahas dari dunia The Edge, cuma mungkin sang pengarang Ilona Andrews ingin fokus ke serial Kate Daniels, jadilah ditinggal dulu.
Penasaran? Yuk mulai baca buku pertamanya, On The Edge :D.Denger - denger sih, bakalan diterjemahkan dan diterbitkan disini lho. Jadi, nanti kalau edisi terjemahannya sudah keluar, jangan ragu buat beli, baca dan bebaskan imaginasimu untuk berpetualang di dunia The Edge :).
About the writers:
Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona
is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant
in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an
intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the
mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English
Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore
about that.)
Gordon and Ilona currently reside in
Texas with their two children, and many dogs and cats. They have
co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.
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Terimakasih sudah meninggalkan komen di Ren's Little Corner. Silakan untuk setuju/tidak setuju dengan review/opini saya tapi mohon disampaikan dengan sopan ya :)
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Komen untuk postingan yang berusia lebih dari 1 bulan otomatis akan dimoderasi.
Terimakasih sudah mau berkunjung! :D