Review: The darkest part of the serial.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 16, 2014
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.Joint review of Parts 7 & 8.With these last two installments of THE KRAKEN KING serial, Ariq and Zenobia face their greatest challenges and darkest moments. While adventure through exotic lands has permeated all installments of this story, here at the end readers must confront the titanic forces arrayed against our hero and heroine. Both their relationship and their bodies will be tested, loved ones placed in danger, and any hope of a happy future put in question.Part 7 in particular contains the “darkest before the dawn” portion of the story, making it a more difficult read regardless of personal preference. My lower appreciate, however, was due to our hero and heroine having a little more interpersonal drama and misunderstandings than I would have liked. Nothing unbelievable for their established characters, and Brook resolves the personal side of things pretty quickly, but I have enough of an aversion to “big misunderstanding” tropes that I wanted to skip some of Ariq’s and Zenobia’s scenes. Luckily, the adventure and physical danger dominates far more of Part 7 than the that one romance trope. By the end of Part 7, there were several people who I really wanted to see torn to pieces for their actions. Part 8 certainly delivers. While political realities dictate that some get off relatively scott free, others received satisfying, fist-pumping-the-air comeuppances. Ariq’s politics and maneuvering are in full effect, managing the herculean task of carving out a happily-ever-after despite geopolitical hostility.With these last two installments in the serial button up much of the adventure side of things, the end result is a satisfying, believable ending for a couple that deserves nothing less. Taken as a whole, THE KRAKEN KING will be an impressive and cohesive addition to the Iron Seas series. Read individually, these parts have made us apart of something special.Sexual Content: Sex scenes.