Catherine Asaro is an excellent romantic fantasy author. Her characters have depth, strength, and humor. However, this book (as in others by the same author) contains a lot of sex and sexual violence that would both discourage me from recommending it to anyone. Additionally, while the plot is rather formulaic, the interpersonal, political, and cultural elements contribute an additional complexity that make it an interesting (if also quick and easy) read. This book was a quick read and it was pretty over-the-top. I understand that every inhabitant of Aronsdale is an ethereally beautiful being, even the "bad" guys always have some kind of redeeming quality because they are described as good-looking, but it is now starting to get old. And fast. As much as I truly love following these characters across the generations and learning how their family trees have expanded, there were simply more descriptions about Allegra's nipples than anything else in this book. I'm not kidding. It's not the fact that there is sex and torture in this book, I can accept that; it's just that there is an overabundance of it and the plot (watered down and convoluted as it was) doesn't truly reveal itself until Chapter 14. There are 29 chapters in the book. I kind of feel compelled to hide this book on my book shelf. It was such a tacky read, even for it's genre. I appreciated the earlier books in this series and reading more about the magical aspects of Aronsdale. This one didn't have much of an emphasis on the mages and I kind of missed that. I was pretty disappointed with this book.
What do You think about The Night Bird (2008)?
fun and good character development, as usual for the author
—mostafa
Asaro can always be depended on for a good read.
—Justimagine35
