Review: A nice visit with familiar characters
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 8, 2012
I was happy to see that Megan Derr had written a short story in the world of Wick, which I really enjoyed when I read it.  This story is familiar, with all the same characters making their presence and a similar storyline: a slowly working killing curse which needs to be reversed by finding the thief of a powerful ring belonging to the royal family.Starwick is a frostwick.  A wick is a magic user, and Starwick (so titled because of his abilities) has the power to manipulate water, with the specific emphasis on it's frozen states.  He's also a Shadow, a mysterious hand of the King of Lyus who carries out his duties -- however sinister they may be.  The job, as well as his past at the academy with the brothers Creawick and Tokiwick (which we met in the original book), have left him a shell of what he used to be, barely liking who he has become to survive in life.  On a job with the crown prince of Lyus, a powerful charmwick sets a curse upon the crown prince in order to steal the his ring, and Starwick takes the curse instead, saving the prince's life.  Now, he's in an even more special kind of hell, as he once again has to suffer the close proximity of the one he loves, who in turn hates him.  Tyrwick, a swordwick (magic and warrior combination) is the oldest prince to the King, but a bastard, and known well for his cold, honest, and harsh demeanor.  The two will have to venture through the winter to the kingdom of Draius to find him, hopefully before the curse kills Starwick.This is very much in line with the first group of stories, where we met the first four couples.  In fact, this could have easily been in that compilation, only my feeling of meeting old friends in the way they're introduced made it feel like a sequel.  I would recommend that readers read Wick first however, because much of the way the world and magic works is explained in that book, not to mention most of the secondary cast in this story.  If you read this without that knowledge, you'd miss most of the interpersonal relationships between all of them, many of which mean a great deal to this story, especially the past animosity between Creawick and Tokiwick, and their relationships with Starwick.The relationship here between Starwick and Tyrwick is okay, though the story is too short for more than a little bit of story and intrigue in the plot with the theif and more than a cursory bit into their relationship.  They're both rather bull-headed, and they fight constantly, which added a little fire and interesting interplay between the two.  But, like I said before, this is just skimming the surface of their relationship, and it would have been really nice to see more than that.  Of course, I knew that this was the story that I was going to read, and I still enjoyed it immensely, and not only because I like this world and was excited to step back into it.Recommended for Derr fans or anyone looking for a light fantasy.  Readers who liked Wick will enjoy stepping back into the world and seeing favorite characters again, though they should know that this is a short story, where the original book was a total of four, giving a much broader view of the world and characters.  I definitely enjoyed it :)