Tag Archives: Dragons

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Book Review: Tangle of Dragons, by Jane Darkspire

I picked up a copy of Jane Darkspire‘s Tangle of Dragons as an Amazon freebie.

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The city of Rendale is ruled by dragons—powerful monsters that control every drop of fame and fortune. They fear nothing, hunting without mercy and taking what they please.
And the Ruthless Dragons are the greediest of all.

I grew up believing if I worked hard my dreams would come true. Turns out that’s crap.
After two years of waiting for my life to begin, I was done sitting on my hands.
I’d have a final night of wild fun before packing my bags and saying goodbye to this wretched city.

But no one leaves Rendale once the Ruthless Dragons notice you.

Avrice, Sylt, Mortar and Rask.
The four of them masquerade as men to hide their wings and colorful scales, but they can’t wait to show me what they really are. Rumors say if they bring you to their den, you’ll be changed forever.
Warped and twisted by the time you walk out.

What happens if they never let me leave?

my review

This is one of those books—I’m sure we’ve all read them—that objectively isn’t very good. While the mechanical writing is fine, the pacing is off, there isn’t any worldbuilding or character development, it’s too heavy on the tell instead of show, the villains are cliched, the primary one is conquered too easily and anti-climactically, the men are not given equal attention, and there is no explanation for why the H is The One the men fall for and not just another toy as all the other women. Objectively this book is bad. But subjectively, it’s a lot of fun. It’s so committed to its over-the-top ridiculousness that you find yourself rolling along with it without thinking deeply enough to notice how bad it really is. I’d read another Darkspire book happily.

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Book Review: The Heretic Royal, by G.A. Aiken

It’s been two and a half years since I read the first two books in The Scarred Earth Saga. You can go here to read the reviews. While all of the series’ details weren’t immediately available in my mind, I did remember that I’d really enjoyed The Blacksmith Queen and The Princess Knight, which made winning a copy of The Heretic Royal through Goodreads especially exciting.

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Gods save the queen!

Ainsley Farmerson has always planned to break free of the family business—and the family drama. But what was once farming, smithworking, and bickering over the dinner table has turned into open warfare between sisters. Sides have been taken, lives are on the line, and Ainsley has no doubt which sister must be queen. She’ll do whatever is necessary to take down the soulless Beatrix. Even if that means joining forces with angry battle nuns, irritating monks, and overbearing centaurs.

Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan has no time for human beings. And yet . . . there is something about the uncontrollable princess that he can’t ignore. Maybe it’s the way her eldest sisters underestimate her. Or her bravery facing down dragons and mad queens from distant lands. Whatever the reason, Gruff is willing to fight by this human’s side. Not only for the entertainment value, but because she’s right. Beatrix must never be queen. So whatever he has to do, whoever he has to destroy, Gruff will battle beside Ainsley. Fast. Hard. And with absolutely no mercy . . .

my review

I don’t use star-rating here on the blog. But I often do when I cross-post to Goodreads. When I look at this series, I see that I gave The Blacksmith Queen a 5* rating, The Princess Knight a 4* rating, and I’ll give The Heretic Royal a 3* rating. I loved book one, but have liked each subsequent book less and less. The reason was especially apparent here in The Heretic Royal.

These books are fun. The characters are zany. The world is full of fantasy creatures. The writing is sharp and witty. But the series has also always been chaotic. That’s part of the fun. But as the series progresses, the balance between utter chaos and substantive plot is faltering. Here in this third book, there is almost no plot progression at all. Aiken leans very heavily on the chaotic good of the characters and brings in a whole host of new crazy characters. And here is where my main problem arises.

All these characters? They’re the characters from her Dragon Kin series. So, here, three books into a series, we suddenly have a series mash-up. These new characters from an old series took up most of this book, and, as a result, the characters from this series were cast in shadow. We the heretic royalgot little more than surface interactions with any of them.

That’s without even considering how it felt to come to this book as someone who has not read Dragon Kin (which I think is 9 books and several novellas long), didn’t know or care about the characters, and didn’t know to expect this sudden influx of new, unrelated characters.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I still like the author and am hoping the series balances out because I want to reclaim that feeling from book one.


Other Reviews:

REVIEW: The Heretic Royal by G. A. Aiken

Review: The Heretic Royal by G.A. Aiken

 

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Book Review: Sacrifice, by Vicky Walklate

I was given a free e-copy of Vicky Walklate‘s Sacrifice.

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Dragon gods rule the realm, demons lurk in the shadows and a sorcerer hides a dangerous secret. A war is brewing in Jothesia, and the gods have no idea.

Being selected as human sacrifice to the immortal dragon shifters is supposedly an honor, but rebellious Libby doesn’t see it that way. When the sacrificial ritual goes badly wrong, she finds herself in a reluctant alliance with eldest god Rhetahn. He’s grumpy, cynical and utterly exasperating …and she can’t get him out of her head.

Rhetahn knows there’s something wrong with this sacrifice, and it’s not just her infuriating stubbornness or the way she makes his jaded heart skip a beat. When misfortune befalls his brothers and renders him powerless, his only choice is to unite with Libby to seek answers.

Setting out on a dangerous quest across the realm, the compelling attraction between them is undeniable, yet doomed. To recover his magic, regain his strength and prevent the demons from seizing power, Rhetahn needs her blood. He must kill her at the end of their journey, even if it breaks his heart to do so.

But a terrible power lies hidden in Jothesia, one that could destroy everything the gods have built. Libby and Rhetahn’s forbidden relationship may be the realm’s only hope against utter ruin.

my review

Don’t judge a book by its cover, they said. It’ll be fine, they said. I said when I started this book that I didn’t care for the cover. But it has dragons in it, so I was going to give it a try. Having finished it, I can say that I didn’t like the book any more than the cover. But I will say that the cover accurately describes the heroine’s utter Mary Sue-ness to perfection.

This book was a great big fat MEH for me. It actually has an interesting world and lore. Unfortunately, what it ultimately is is a romance, and the romance FLOPPED. I mean splat, giant belly flop from the 15th floor flopped for me. Not only did I not enjoy the romantic aspect, but it also enraged me.

I understand that the author was trying to make her characters conflicted. They had a difficult thing to do. But the reality is that we had a 20-year-old virgin sacrifice being lusted over by a 3,000-year-old man who intended to kill her. And it is lust. He wants her body and the comfort a woman can offer him (and she’s the only one there). And I’m supposed to make a romance out of that skeeviness? No, it 100% did not make that leap for me.

And then, once the plot had decided they were a couple (suspension of disbelief be damned), she because such a limp-wristed Mary Sue that I just couldn’t even like her. All that backbone she sacrifice photostarted with? Gone, evaporated by his male-ness, I suppose. The plot just became more and more predictable as time went on. Then, as I was warned it would, it ended on a cliffhanger.

All in all, I’m just glad to be done with it. The writing is well-edited and mechanically fine. Those who enjoy a clean romance and a Mary Sue (which some do) will likely enjoy this. I’m just not that reader.


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Sacrifice by Vicky Walklate (The Gods of Trivium, #1) #BookReview #Fantasy #Romance @vwalklate