Why read the Green Rider series by Kristen Britain
The Green Rider series is written by Kristen Britain and it currently includes seven books: Green Rider, First Rider’s Call, The High King’s Tomb, Blackveil, Mirror Sight, Firebrand and Winterlight.
I read until book four in the series and I cannot wait to return to this world to be updated on the adventures of Karingan G’ladheon.
What attracted to me in the first place was the fact that there is a woman in fantasy writing about a female lead. At the time, I could not find many female authors writing about women - in fairness, I did not look hard enough, as there are plenty of women in fantasy.
The Green Rider series contains plenty of interesting characters. There are other Green Riders (which is the term used to describe the legendary messengers of the King), there are the members of the court, the king, Karigan’s family (with her father and her aunts).
One of the things that kept me coming back to the series is the relationship between Karigan and her father; he is an incredibly supportive parent despite the disappointment Karigan exposes him to (there are also highs and moments of absolute pride). I wonder if this relationship is realistic (as mine, while I was a teenager was very different than the one described here) and yet, I enjoy the fact that this relationship is possible and, in fairness to her father’s parenting skills, Karigan makes the right choices when push comes to shove and is able to change the destiny of Sacrodia.
In general, I love that Karigan (and in particular book one focuses on this but it is a constant driver) needs to find her purpose in life. And I truly love her journey to realizing what is her calling.
Next to the other things I love about this series above, there are three things in particular that I enjoy about this story.
First is the magic system; this is a low key magic system, quite limited to magical tools. Each Green Rider has a brooch that will allow them to have a particular magical skill, such as invisibility or ability to communicate telepathically.
The second is the message about love and appreciation for nature. This probably derives from the fact that Kristain Britain used to be a park ranger and the pages just ooze of love for nature. One of the elements that I love the most is the relationship Karigan develops with her own horse (and being messengers, Green Riders depend on them for their survival).
Last but not least, the plot. Next to the personal challenges that Karigan has to go through, there are higher stakes for the world and the Kingdom of Sacordia. There is political intrigue essential to the plot development and there are bigger issues in the background that will become essential in the installments following the first book in the series.
Some people consider this series Young Adult; I usually struggle with books in this categorization (most of the time, I have issues with the plot or the less complex world building; with that said, there are books and series in this category that I came to love). This is one of those series that work for me: the events in this story are quite traumatic, the world building is quite complex and the plot is multifaceted.
Have you read this series? What are the elements of this book that inspire you? What are the highlights of the series?
If you did not read the series, was this enough to inspire you to read this series?
Comment down below, with a horse emoji!
