Grove of Falling Stars

I finished the excerpt with my cheeks wet and a stupid smile on my face — in the best way. The grove itself is the star here: the way lights 'ripen' on silverleaf and the music of vows running along bone is so tactile I could almost feel the bark under my palms. Rowan and Edda are wonderfully drawn in just a few scenes; their morning routine, the way Edda listens with her skin, gave me chills. The moment the star-fruit falls early and becomes Astra? Utterly magical and heartbreaking at once. You get immediate stakes (the decree, the hunter), but more importantly you get tenderness and the suggestion of found family, which hooks me every time. This feels like a slow-burning epic with heart — I want to follow them to that mountain forge.

Lovely sentences, but the setup leaned towards cliché for me. Star-fruits turning into a child, a protective grove, a draconian decree and a looming hunter — it's a roll call of familiar fantasy signposts, and the excerpt doesn't yet twist them into something surprising. The 'vows hum like weather' line is gorgeous, though, and the keepercraft scenes are the high points; they suggest depth that the later plot threatens to flatten if it's not handled carefully. If you're here for atmosphere and quiet character work, this will likely reward you. If you want subversion or tight plotting, I'm not convinced yet.

I came for the fantasy politics and stayed for the feelings. This excerpt nails atmosphere: the grove's music, that purple bruise on the horizon, the startling intimacy of a star-fruit becoming a kid called Astra — all vivid. Rowan’s 'ear' and Edda’s tactile reverence make the keepers feel like a living tradition rather than exposition fodder. There’s also a nice sense of looming urgency (decree + hunter) that promises a push-pull between gentle magic and violent outside forces. Style is lyrical but not precious, pacing measured — would happily follow this crew up the mythic mountain forge. Also, I laughed at the line about 'promises kept' literally humming; it's the kind of worldbuilding detail that sticks.

Okay, this hit different. The image of fruits as small suns, the grove humming with promises — gorgeous. Astra turning up as a child from a falling star-fruit is an idea I didn’t know I needed. Rowan’s 'ear' for vows is such a neat hook, and Edda is already my favorite grumpy-nurturer type. The cliff of a bruise on the horizon and that sudden decree give just enough tension to make me want to keep reading. Also, 10/10 for atmosphere. 🌌

Beautiful, quietly epic prose. The prose’s rhythm — 'lights did not burn; they grew' — sets up an ecology of magic that feels earned rather than decorative. The worldbuilding is economical but suggestive: the grove’s vows woven into stone, keepers who read weather from music, and that bruise along the horizon signaling something wrong. I appreciated how the excerpt balances sensory clarity with mystery; the early falling of a star-fruit into a child called Astra raises interesting questions about personhood and destiny without spelling everything out. If I have one tiny reservation it’s that in a short excerpt the arrival of a decree and a hunter feels like a lot of plot is queued at once — but it's a minor quibble. Overall I’m invested in Rowan’s ear, Edda’s bedside care for the grove, and the implied journey toward the mountain forge. Very promising.

There’s a rare kind of care in this story’s voice: careful, observant, and patient in the same measure as the grove itself. The opening paragraphs teach you the rules of this place through sensations — how the grove's music distinguishes weather from omen — which is an elegant way to do exposition. The scene where Rowan stands beneath the great-spanning tree and hears every fruit sing the oath 'I will fall when the world is ready' is expertly done; it carries centuries of tradition and the pressure of expectation. The excerpt also balances small domesticity with looming politics. Edda's casual, practiced listening to trunks, the basket over her arm, and Rowan's tactile tending make their relationship feel lived-in and believable. Then the stakes tilt: a star-fruit falls early into a child named Astra, and a decree threatens the grove. That collision — intimacy versus state violence — is exactly the kind of engine I want for a fantasy about vows, grief, and hope. A minor structural note: the jump from grove-quiet to the 'hunter's arrival' and mountain forge promise a more kinetic act to follow; I hope the pacing keeps the same lyricism even as it speeds up. Either way, I’m very excited to read the rest.

Sweet, melancholic, and lush. The language is natural without being twee, and the grove feels like a character you could talk to. Rowan and Edda's keepercraft scenes — checking leaves, coaxing roots — create a strong emotional baseline so that the falling star and Astra land with true consequence. The idea of vows humming like weather is a poetic conceit that pays off. Curious to see the mountain forge and who the hunter really is.

I wanted to love this more than I did. The prose is undeniably pretty and the central image of the grove is evocative, but a few things knocked me out of it. The early fall of a star-fruit into Astra reads like a neat trope (magical-thing-becomes-child) that isn’t yet interrogated; why does the world allow this? There’s also a sense that the plot is being put into motion by convenience — a decree to seize the grove, a hunter conveniently arriving — rather than organic escalation. Pacing felt uneven: the opening is patient and immersive, but by the end several high-stakes elements are dumped at once and the excerpt loses its intimacy. I’m intrigued by the mountain forge and the found-family promise, and the emotional core between Rowan and Edda is strong. But I hope the full book spends more time explaining the rules and avoids turning those fascinating details into mere scenery for more familiar fantasy beats.