Review: well written
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 24, 2011
The first thing to say is that three short stories, prequels to "Inheritance", are available on Ms Kasey's website to download for free. I did it: they are useful to understand the setting and the characters and are a pleasant read in themselves.The author's biography states she has a B.A. in creative writing and I assume her former teachers must be proud of her: there is not a single shabby, ill written or useless line in her short novel (a couple of hours read). It is a M/M romance indeed but it is also very professionally done, well plotted, well written, well edited, consistent.The setting is a alternative present-day U.S. with the existence of magic as the main difference from our real word. The magic is based on the usual four elements and each magician specializes in one. Vampires and werewolves are commonplace and do the usual things; there is little new in the supernatural lore assumed by the author and I presume it is by choice. The only relative twist is that magic is a "womanly" thing, governed with an iron fist by a rather obtuse council. Male witches are not unheard of but discriminated and pushed to the magical society's margins.This context is necessary to understand the predicament of Seiran, a powerful male (girlish in appearance) witch, son to the most obtuse witch of them all. He has a foggy, traumatic past that has left him deeply scarred. I presume Ms Kasey intends to make use of this past in the future instalments to add to the suspence of her plot. Seiran has a vampire lover but their relationship is constantly strained because of the a.m. psychological scars and he faces several difficulties in his daily life.The book does not end in a cliffhanger (which is good) but clearly screams for sequels (one has already been published).Why not five star, then?Sex scenes are graphic but could have been avoided: it is not that they are bad but they are not arousing and add nothing to the plot. Sex as a theme is essential for plot and characterization as it drives a lot of the two leads' actions, but a curtain could have been lowered by the author after the foreplay. I felt no need to know "exactly" what Seiran and Gabe were doing, especially as the scenes themselves were nothing special.Another point is that, interesting as the setting is, I could never really care for the characters.The two mains and the side ones were well rounded, consistent, flawed... but they were not particularly interesting. Likeable, yes... but only vaguely.I shall buy the second book as soon as its price gets down from the rather outrageous $9 to see whether and how this serial takes off. Ms Kasey has the skill, let us hope she hits closer to (my) heart, next time.