Review: It has potential but I really need the rest of the series to make a decision.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 25, 2011
***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***On Dark Shores: The Lady is an odd little story of the town of Scarlock and it's many battered residents trying to make their way though life. They live in a land that's apparently in the middle of some sort of war between the Shantari and the Mardon which I think are neighboring races but could be just neighboring countries. It's not really completely clarified within the text itself.The biggest issue with this story is that even though it's part of what will be a series of books it doesn't have it's own individual story arc. It is the beginning of what looks like it will be an amazing story but just that, the beginning. You have the build of getting to know each character, learning the plan of the villain and learning individual character motives which is great, but it's leading to something that even at the end you aren't sure what. Don't get me wrong, the story shows promise, but this looks like it's one of those books where it's best to wait to have all the pieces before you read it. When you reach the end it's much the case of what happens now? From what I've read it's my personal opinion that this story might have been better served as a really long book similar to the Historian in length than to have been broken up into individual pieces to what I believe is going to end up being a trilogy.The beginning is a little hard to get into because it opens jumping from dream to dream in what seems like random characters and tends to leave you a little confused. From there you get a a short introduction to the Mother of the Shantari, but it doesn't really give a full explanation of what she does, who she really is. Yes we know she protects her people and that she has some gifted abilities to do so. We learn that there's something out there called the Dark Waters that's a danger somehow to the people but it's still a bit confusing. I think this scene would have better been served with a bit more background. I realize that some explanations were provided within a glossary at the back of the book, but most readers, myself included never look at glossaries or appendages unless there's no other choice. It's too reminiscent of school. Also a part of this scene included the daughter telling her mother what she should do, and to me that was a little realistic. It was only one line and then the interlude faded back to the norm of the mother being that all-knowing and the daughter asking the questions, but it's a bit jarring. Also the narrative style voice at the beginning leaves the reader at a bit of a distance wondering if you're really going to be able to connect to the characters. That being said the opening still has an interesting flow to it. Clement's words are almost like poetry as she opens this book, and it's almost reminiscent of I'd say and Irish lilting lullaby in flow.Once you've passed the opening you start to get a real introduction the characters. You root for poor Nereia, an orphan uprooted from her home and mistreated by her awful cousin, while she struggles through dangers trying to protect her young sister Mary from the harsh truths of their life. You wish that Blakley would get a backbone and save the entire town from Copeland instead hiding in his drugs and booze while following his cruel employers orders. And you grow more and more curious about just what Mickel is doing in Scarlock because it's made very clear there's more to Mickel than meets the eye. Toward the end you even have a growing respect for the Madam. The last portion of the story introduces a few new characters, but the story doesn't have the opportunity to delve enough into those for you to really understand what role they're going to play in this book series. You have the idea it's going to be a pivotal role, but you can't be sure without having more to read.It does take a little bit to find that connection to the character but once you find that spot the characters are there, in your face and raw. You can't help but connect to them. There are a few odd scenes of skeletons and beaches in small section of the story but as of yet those don't exactly make sense. Honestly I think I'll have a much better understanding when the next section of this story is released. Hopefully it won't be something we have to wait too long for because I finished the book feeling like a little kid whose mother had just come in and taken away their book in the good part and said it's time for bed. So then the kid can't sleep tossing and turning as they wonder what happens next. It's the opening of what could really be a phenomenal series, however it doesn't have enough of it's own story arc to hold as a single title in my personal opinion. However I still appreciate the experience the author has gifted with by giving me this story to read and review.