Candlewax by C Bailey Sims

Published:April 3rd, 2012

Publisher: Terabyte Press

Pages: 385

Copy: Publisher/Netgalley

Summary: Goodreads

An Ancient Prophecy. A Powerful Relic. An Insatiable Evil. When all three converge, the fate of every living thing will be in peril.

All her life Catherine had hoped to see a fairrier cat. No book, no scroll provided to her by her tutors had ever mentioned this legend, much to her frustration, and now-at the worse possible time-she was getting her wish. Only, in her wish the cat wasn't about to kill her.

A 732-year-old fairrier cat the size of a horse has killed his fair share of hunters. Driven to the brink of extinction for the supernatural powers of his coat, is he indeed the last of his kind?

Sheltered, 16-year-old Catherine is about to find out. Unwitting heir to the Ancient Onyxes, she flees an arranged marriage only to stumble upon the cat's secrets, the force of the ancient relic she wears, and the dangerous mission they must undertake.

Hidden under a desert that was once a fertile land, millions of predators are waiting to feast again. Catherine must discover the secret of the Ancient Onyxes and stop the creatures known as trodliks before they consume everything in their path. A whispered prophecy becomes her only guide and a rejected suitor just might be the one warrior she desperately needs.

I have to admit to having a little bit of trouble getting used to the writing style in Candlewax, but the intriguing story helped overcome my initial frustrations. The complex world building and well written characters were compelling and ultimately made Candlewax a great read.

Ms. Sims' world building was superb and she managed to describe 3 completely different areas in Lackanay - Crystallia, Candlewax and Cinna. Each has its own personality and becomes an integral part of the story.

Spelopokos and the farrier cats are completely new to literature and are very interesting.  I found him easy to picture in my mind - a little like a taller, skinnier and striped version of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia movies - maybe a white tiger kind of look.  I loved his obvious intelligence and soon forgot that the farrier cats aren't actually real. The human characters are well fleshed out and very real.  Catherine isn't content to just let life happen around her and makes an effort to change things.  Bessie is landed in a predicament that is pretty much out of her control and she is so pragmatic and wonderful - she just makes the best of it.  Cyril is a prince, in every possible way.  I loved him. He had such a strong, yet kind personality.  Menard, who is one of Cyril's retainers, provides a levelling adult presence. There were plenty of nasty bad guys as well.

The reasons behind the journey are two-fold - human menace and nasty, grubby insects that want to eat everything and everyone in sight.  Yugh, they gave me a major case of the heebie-jeebies. The story unwinds slowly, but with great detail and I enjoyed getting to know the characters and travelling on the journey with them.

Candlewax is an exciting, page-turning read with a believable world that was easy to fall into.  Highly recommended for fantasy lovers of any age.  I can't wait to see what happens next in the sequel Tabrek, although I couldn't find any mention of a publication date.