1 post tagged “white star”
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)
