Wednesday 28 November 2012

FANTASY REVIEW: Aralorn (Compendium with Masques and Wolfsbane) - Patricia Briggs

Release Date: 04/10/12

SYNOPSIS:

After an upbringing of proper behaviour and oppressive expectations, Aralorn fled her noble birthright for a life of adventure as a mercenary spy. But her latest mission involves more peril than she ever imagined. Agents of Sianim have asked her to gather intelligence on the increasingly popular and powerful sorcerer Geoffrey ae'Magi. Soon Aralorn comes to see past the man's striking charisma - and into a soul as corrupt and black as endless night. And few have the will to resist the sinister might of the ae'Magi and his minions. So Aralorn, aided by her enigmatic companion, Wolf, joins the rebellion against the ae'Magi. But in a war against a foe armed with the power of illusion, how do you know who the true enemy is - or where he will strike next? This omnibus edition contains the two titles MASQUES and WOLFSBANE.


REVIEW:

This is a bit of a strange book for me as it started with the authors first outing (Masques) which personally I found full of flaws such as the magic system as well as being perhaps a little naïve in what it was out to achieve, yet through all this I was still charmed by one of the principle heroes of the piece, Wolf (I found Aralorn a bit weak for my liking).

That tale takes you on a traditional fantasy route and when added to the authors writing style it manages to hold your interest as it wends its merry way to its conclusion. Whilst I haven’t been a fan of all the authors writing, I do have to admit to loving her Mercy Thompson series and there were touches of that within this text, yet when you came to the second part (Wolfsbane) the author really does seem to have learned a few lessons and whilst the relationship between Wolf and Aralorn has moved on it does feel a little forced.

All in it’s a book that will appeal to fans however please be aware that it is the authors earliest work and as such won’t be as polished as you’ve come to expect.


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