Review: The plot got more complex but the characters less rich
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2014
The author expanded the plot and magic shyster further. What began in book 1 as a story told almost entirely from Daniel's perspective grew in this book to multiple lead characters with adventures without Daniel.But the plot growth seemed to come at the cost of rich and endearing characters. Motivations were simplified to the point of cliche ("I'm evil because I believe in the power of the evil magician as a god!" and "I'm supposed to ask him to marry me, according to my culture--how dare he ask me--even though I love him I'll reject him out of pride").And the dialogue was the worst it's been. Plus, there are many typos (ruff instead of rough, eminent instead of imminent, etc). And the author switches  from present tense to past tense all the time--a couple of times in the same sentence.So I like the expanded world and magic, but am disappointed in the loss of the characters that carried me through the simple plots of the early days.