Tag Archives: magic

Book Review of The Unwilling Warlord, by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Leave a reply

The Unwilling War LordI assume I bought a copy of The Unwilling Warlord (by Lawrence Watt-Evans) at some point. But I could be wrong. I’m not entirely sure where this paperback copy came from. Maybe it was my husbands or a guest left it here at some point. Either way, it was on my shelf. And as I’m trying to clear some room for new books I went ahead and read it.

Description from Goodreads:
When the foreigners confronted Sterren in Ethshar of the Spices he was uneasy; when they all but abducted him, taking him to an obscure kingdom in the south, he knew he was in a terrible predicament. 

A predicament some might actually find appealing — he was by heredity the Ninth Warlord of Semma, least of the small kingdoms; he was a noble, and his rank afforded him material privileges, even in a place as insignificant and obscure as Semma. 

But the office also carried certain terrible responsibilities: he was to win the war the stupid King had stirred up by his arrogance. Two larger and stronger Kingdoms were preparing to invade Semma. 

And if the country lost, the first thing likely to be forfeit was the life of the Warlord. 

And if it won . . . if it won, the fate and shape of Ethshar would change forever. 

For deep in the south there are secrets of magic not even Sterren can imagine. 

Review:
This is one of those books that I’ve had on my shelf so long that I don’t even know where it came from. I also didn’t know it was third in a series when I picked it up to read. Maybe I was missing some things, but it seemed like I was able to follow it without problem. And it was amusing. It’s basically about a guy who finds himself in a series of ridiculous situations and finds his way out of them. The problem was that even though I chuckled regularly, I never found myself overly interested in it. It never quite reached the point of exciting. So, I basically thought it was ok.

Balanced on the Blades Edge

Book Review of Balanced on the Blade’s Edge (Dragon Blood #1), by Lindsay Buroker

Leave a reply

Balanced on the Blade's EdgeBalanced on the Blade’s Edge, by Lindsay Buroker is a perma-freebie on Amazon, which is where I got it.

Description from Goodreads:
Colonel Ridge Zirkander isn’t the model of military professionalism—he has a tendency to say exactly what’s on his mind, and his record has enough demerits to wallpaper the hull of an airship—but as the best fighter pilot in the Iskandian army, he’s used to a little leniency from his superiors. Until he punches the wrong diplomat in the nose and finds himself issued new orders: take command of a remote prison mine in the inhospitable Ice Blades Mountains. Ridge has never been in charge of anything larger than a flier squadron—what’s he supposed to do with a frozen fortress full of murderers and rapists? Not to mention the strange woman who shows up right before he arrives… 

Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and the sentient soulblade she has been bonded to since her youth is buried in the core of the mountain. Further, what remains of her home has been infested by bloodthirsty miners commanded by the descendants of the very soldiers who destroyed her people. 

Sardelle needs help to reach her soulblade—her only link to her past and her last friend in the world. Her only hope is to pretend she’s one of the prisoners while trying to gain the commander’s trust. But lying isn’t her specialty, especially when the world has changed so much in the intervening centuries, and if Colonel Zirkander figures out who she truly is, he’ll be duty-bound to sentence her to the only acceptable punishment for sorcerers: death.

Review:
Just a shorty review today, because I’m a Buroker fan and I pretty much knew I’d like this. I enjoyed it almost as much as The Emperor’s Edge series. I liked the characters (especially the fact that they were in their 30s and 40s) and thought the world an interesting one. There was humor and a little bit of romance. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it was quite as meticulously written as past books and there was a little too much he felt drawn to her but didn’t know why sort of hand waving. It made the whole thing feel a bit rushed. But despite that I’d be happy to read more of series.

The Conquering Dark

Book Review of The Conquering Dark (Crown & Key #3), by Clay & Susan Griffith

Leave a reply

The Conquering DarkI received a copy of The Conquering Dark, by Clay & Susan Griffith from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
The Crown and Key Society face their most terrifying villain yet: Gaios, a deranged demigod with the power to destroy Britain.

To avenge a centuries-old betrayal, Gaios is hell-bent on summoning the elemental forces of the earth to level London and bury Britain. The Crown and Key Society, a secret league consisting of a magician, an alchemist, and a monster-hunter, is the realm’s only hope—and to stop Gaios, they must gather their full strength and come together as a team, or the world will fall apart.

But Simon Archer, the Crown and Key’s leader and the last living magician-scribe, has lost his powers. As Gaios searches for the Stone of Scone, which will give him destructive dominion over the land, monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane, alchemist extraordinaire Kate Anstruther, gadget geek Penny Carter, and Charlotte the werewolf scramble to reconnect Simon to his magic before the world as they know it is left forever in ruins.

Review:
If I was giving this a numerical star rating I would give it a 2.5 and I’d roll up reluctantly. I’d honestly like to roll down, but mechanically the book is fine. For me, that’s just about the only thing I would say was fine.

This book is action packed. It starts on the very first page and doesn’t stop until the very last and I’m almost being literal when I say that. This book is ALL, let me repeat that, ALL running, fighting, attacking, being attacked, dismantling this mechanized beast, defeating that elemental wizard, shooting him, stabbing her, setting this baddie on fire, blowing that up, almost falling into that lava pit, narrowing avoiding being dashed on those rocks, skidding to a stop inches from this ledge, etc. It just never ever stop.

And lets be honest, a book needs a little stopping on occasion. Character need time to discuss and grow (none did here). Plot needs non-fighting moments to progress (it really didn’t here). You wouldn’t think action could get boring, but in its repetition and exclusion of ANYTHING else it really did.

Additionally, I found the villains’ motivation flimsy (both the main one and the shadowy one). But beyond that I’d really like to rage a little about how often female villains’ motivations come down to romantic rejection, as if that’s our only available motivating force. Gah! Think larger people.

The only saving grace was the occasional amusing quip and that I basically still like the characters. Though their tendency toward artificially rousing speeches and heartfelt thanks of each-other got a little saccharine and Kate’s transformation from a ballsy 20-something to a coddling ‘that’s nice Dear’ spouting mother was graceless and abrupt.

Perhaps this is just third book syndrome and the series will improve, but at this point I think I might be tapping out.