This short story is a prequel in the world of "Seventeen," Starrling's ongoing saga of two races of immortals living alongside normal humans throughout our history. In thee first book, there are references to Lucas parents being killed--repeatedly, because the immortals revive back into life the first sixteen times they're killed--and Lucas himself being killed a time or two before he manages to escape into the woods.

"First Death" tells that story from the viewpoint of seven-year-old Lucas. It's well-told,with a convincing child's view of the world, and contains hints of things that are more fully developed in the novels. Worth reading for any fan of the series, and an easy "taster" introduction if you haven't found them yet.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of the audio of this story from the author in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Set in 1570 in the wooded mountains of Moldavia, Lucas and his parents have a simple cabin home in the woods. It’s winter and few travelers are about. That is, until Alexander and his men show up on their doorstep. Lucas’s simple, happy world is about to be shattered.

Alexander kills Lucas’s father first, and then his mother Katarina. To Lucas’s surprise, they rise to fight again. Alas, they are killed again. This cycle continues again and again while Lucas is forced to watch. Lucas, the poor lad, goes into some sort of shock over it all.

Then Lucas must suffer his first death. Things don’t go as planned for Alexander and his men. I really liked the crow imagery and the ashes left behind. There’s definitely something very intriguing about this story. The tale and danger doesn’t stop with Lucas’s first death. Nope. Afterwards, he has to figure out his next move, how to survive the winter, who his allies (or parent’s allies) are. I was impressed by how much was packed into this short story.

I received a free copy of this audiobook.

Narration: Michael Bower was good, especially with the accents. He also did a good job imbuing emotion into the characters. Alexander sounded villainous through and through. ( )

If you follow the blog, you will know that I discovered A.D. Starrling last year and fell in love with her brainy writing style. Normally I am not a fan of short stories or reading prequels after I have started the series... but I have enjoyed Starrling's snippets and peeks into the Seventeen world.

First Death gives us a glimpse into the origins of Lucas Soul, the hero of Soul Meaning. We finally get to meet Lucas' father and mother, and see the love they shared for each other and their son. The Soul parents were star-crossed lovers, each from a different sect of the supernatural race of immortals that is featured in this series. Their relationship and son, who is viewed as an abomination, earns them a death warrant, so they have been hiding out in the Alaskan (I think?) wilderness. Where ever it is they are hiding, its cold and there is lots of snow! Anywho, this is the story of how Lucas' family was discovered and his resulting first death.

If you are a fan of A.D. Starrling, you will enjoy this peek into Lucas' past. If you have yet to read this wonderful author, I suggest you start with this book, then move onto Soul Meaning.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from A.D. Starrling in exchange for an honest review.

Full review posted at Bambi Unbridled
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3.5 Stars

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I was looking forward a lot to the next book in the Seventeen series so I was pleased to find that the first three short stories were now available as a free download from the author's website when you subscribe for her newsletter (http://www.adstarrling.com/)

This short story follows Lucas through the terribly moments that surround his first death and that were already mentioned in one (I believe it was the first one) of the books.

While not adding anything really substantially new to the story, I did enjoy reading it and was glad to be back in one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I would certainly recommend it if you enjoyed the series, even more so since it's free.

First Death is a short story prequel to the Seventeen series. There are more short stories like Dancing Blades and The Meeting, as well as four full length novels called Soul Meaning, King's Crusade, Greene's Calling and Ashstorm. ( )