4 posts tagged “elizabeth vaughan”
unfortunately, as i was starting this, i barely remembered any details from the previous book, dagger-star--and so it was more of a new experience for me than if i had remembered more from the series. i remember liking the previous book, but had mixed feelings about the pacing of the plot, and so i didn't go into this expecting overmuch, just in case. i didn't want to condemn the book completely before having actually given it a shot. so i'll try to express immediate feelings i had for the style, pacing, etc.
this was one of the few books that i haven't managed to get as an ebook copy, so i just put it on order at the library. upon the first couple of chapters, i felt like the writing was choppy and kind of half-assed; maybe the author's heart wasn't in it, but her sentences tended to be short and choppy, with a noted lack of transition.
once the plot gets going a bit though, it runs very well, pace-wise. some of the scenes with physical interaction between evelyn and orinn weren't convincing at all, but it's to be expected; it's a romance. i feel like i got more of the perspective of orinn's attraction than evelyn's though; for her, it almost seemed like she jumped straight from being interested in him to being in love with him--barely any emotional bridging there, i felt. some of the sexual tension was written really well though, especially when she has her characters cut off specific thoughts of whatever they were thinking about. that was very effective.
however, here's another main problem; the plot dies down at about 3/4 of the way into the book, as in villain dead, call it a day. except they go on to confess their love for each other for the rest of the 1/4 of the book--and i'm sorry, i like the romance and all, but when it's carried 3/4 of the way with an actual fantasy plot and use the remaining 1/4 to tie up emotional loose ends? it screams lack of effort to me. if it was developed a little better, a huge chunk of their undying love dialogue could've been cut out, and the novel would've felt more complete. as it is, all those little side plots at the end just feel like the third lord of the rings movie, when it just wouldn't end. it's clumsy plotting, is my personal opinion.
now, a HUGE redeeming quality for this, is that we actually finally get to hear about the plains again, and in fact the next book's setting will likely be in the plains. does that mean there will be recurring characters from the warlands series? there was a LOT of reference to the world first introduced in the warlands series, and that was very satisfying, to feel that kind of tie between all these characters and their places on the board. what would be REALLY awesome, i'm thinking, is instead of building these plots successively with these different couples.. what if it was all one plot, but told through several books of the pov of these couples? if it's done well, and everything ties together by the last book and whatnot with constant cameos.. it would be beautiful. that is not to say that i'm unhappy with the series as it is currently structured, but the idea came to me that being able to read a series like that would be cool.
anyway, i can basically conclude by saying that it's overall decent to pretty good, but could've been better nonetheless. the clumsy dialogue and plotting at the end certainly knocked off a star, but it sort of makes up for it in smaller ways. it was certainly easy to read. i think, however, i would've enjoyed imagining the character of evelyn myself without that really weird-looking lady on the cover art; her hair was badly photoshopped (it looks gunmetal gray, with her eyebrows almost forgotten), and her skin is somehow an odd shade of red. not to mention her "light blue" eyes somehow came out vivid turquoise on the cover, making her look somewhat like a pretty tomato/alien. i'm just gonna assume it was because this book may have been low budget, and if that is the case then i should probably give it a little more credit.
moving on then; next up: nonfiction.
EDIT: one oddball thought i just remembered: when orinn finds out her breasts weren't scarred, he was relieved, and that annoyed the crap out of me. i guess love for our character orinn boils down to whether or not her breasts were scarred. (rolls eyes)
first off, i liked the titling of this book. appropriate when taken in context with the events that occur in this final installment, which is nice.
secondly, the cover does seem to finalize, somehow, so kudos to the coverart designer too. at first glance i'd thought it cheap and subpar, but it takes having held the book in hand for hours before realizing what effort went into the coverart. so there's that.
as for the quality of the writing and plotting itself, i'd have to say i was biased because of how the second book left me feeling, but this book did not disappoint in the slightest. it could be argued that i only emerged from this book liking it because i had low expectations thanks to the second book, but i do feel there are definite aspects of this that improved on the characters. we see lara's worth more in this, as opposed to being someone out of her element, and swept by fate however it chooses. that's how i like my protagonists, to be able to strong and actually be able to do something. we do get some minor form of closure about gils, as well as isdra. gils surprised me, but isdra was to be expected, so if she was hoping to surprise there, it failed.
lastly, i found myself strangely sad about iften's outcome. i'd really wanted him to emerge from this unscathed, despite the bastard that he was--he'd shown some shred of humanity toward lara earlier on in the book. everything leads me to think he's just misled in his way of thinking as opposed to being a bad person. i really didn't think he deserved what he got, but the characters and the author seems to feel otherwise.
there were certain passages in the text that were very repetitive, and i think only some of it is repeated in the interest of a deeper meaning behind the words. there were certain facts or notes of surroundings that keep being repeated for no other purpose, and i suspect the author isn't aware of doing it, so that could've been better. other than that, i'd say this was actually a quite decent novel, and not a bad way to finish things off. granted, keir's fate could be elaborated on a bit, maybe with an epilogue or something? the situation with the warrior priests wasn't much resolved either, since it's been acknowledged that they tend to abuse their power, but what happens of it? where's the change? the author did also keep repeating that change is slow, and will take time. but then why introduce it in such a fashion as to almost promise the change to the reader? it's a good way to lead to a letdown.
plus, we also never got to see marcus reunited with his bonded, or any sort of resolution in that area. okay...
maybe it wasn't as complete as i'd thought, but it's not a bad read. definitely better than the second book, and equal in quality to the first. i'm not sure how to compare it to dagger-star, but from what little i remember i'd say it's better. hopefully the upcoming second book in the series with dagger-star will prove to be as good, or hopefully, better.
well, the book was staring me full in the face, so i figured why not. i liked the first book, so i must like this one, right? turns out, i may have set my expectations a bit too high, and damned the book before i even started. here's how it goes:
the recapping i found to be not very useful, because the important bits weren't fully explained. kier came off as colder than i remembered him being in the first book, which struck me as strangely out of character, or was i remembering him wrong? i honestly can't tell. sometimes he was a downright bastard. marcus struck her down and he didn't even instinctively move to help her? huh, well so much for his protective nature then. lara, too, was a whiny bitch most of the time; how did anyone manage to stand her for any period of time? she was willing to do anything to get her way. obviously, she never thought the people around her might actually know what they're doing. but of course, she would do it better, and she has to argue with anyone for the sake of arguing.
did she actually outright lie? i didn't think so, but they stressed big time on her lying. well.. okay? the people around her seem to keep finding her antics "cute," but she pissed the hell out of me, acting like an 8-year-old, pouting here and there when she didn't get what she wanted. she had struck me as more mature than that in the first book. she cries a lot in this book, which in the context makes sense, but again, where was her growth as a character? i didn't see any progression really, other than that she was happier or sadder. maybe there was a lesson learned. other than that.. not really much of a significant change, and i'd say she got off way too easy considering what her actions caused. i keep feeling like the author let her off on it because of favoritism.
anyway. like i said, it could just be my damn expectations screwing it all up for me again. i haven't read what anyone else thought about this book, so i don't know what anyone thought of this. i'm not too eager to read the next one though, since neither kier or lara are among my favorite characters right now. despite what i'm saying, i know this isn't really as bad as i make it out to be. in fact, i'd rate it a 3 out of 5; but really, i was expecting something along the lines of 4.5, and therein lies my problem. maybe once i've forgotten general opinions on this book, i can start on the next.
well, i'd expected this to be good from the get-go, but i'd never expected for this to be set in the same world as her other series (warprize, of which i'd only read one book). this was generally still pretty similar to her last series in scope, but it's definitely refreshing to see her switch up roles in her characters. for example, her female lead in the last book was a healer, whereas in this book she's a mercenary. her male lead in the last was a warrior, and in here is a "goatherder" lord who can't fight for his life. i am definitely looking foward to the next book in this series, however, because i am quite curious how the tale would lead on. that is, if her next book features these characters at all.
i was a bit miffed when josiah (that's his name, but i kept thinking of white wigs and historical figures at first) actually got mad at her for killing the villain. anyone could've seen that it needed doing; i mean come on, they're fighting a war, for god's sake. if i were her, i would've gotten petty and stayed mad for a while, for doing the right thing and still taking shit for it. i kept thinking that this guy must still have feelings for the villain if he cared that she was killed at all. there is another thing that doesn't add up, which is--josiah is supposedly a magical null, but the restorative magic from ezren worked just fine on him. what the deuce? this was never explained. and the fact of the traitor was never explored, either--we never found out exactly who was betraying information to the enemy. we also never find out what exactly red's real parentage or her origin is, and there is also the niggling detail of where they're going. in the end she announces she's barren, but when asked how it came to be, only replied with "it's a long story." are these niggling details going to be resolved? i doubt the fact of the traitor will ever be touched, but those other ones still bug me. will there be recurring characters in the next book? or is there a next book?
EDIT: oh, and why does this book keep reminding me of suikoden? when they mention mail or armor, i keep thinking of suikoden, the third game especially. also, the mention of the tribes of the plains reminded me of the grassland tribes, and all the mention of the high lords and ladies reminded me of vinay del zexay. then when the pov switches back to red, i just immediately associated her with chris. although chris is infinitely more ladylike that red will ever be. and less ruthless. and more honorable. but i digress.
