Review: Review: The Sixth Wife, by Laura Lond
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
Without much to go by from the blurb, I didn't know exactly what I was getting into when I started this story. To go along with the vague blurb, the cover was also misleading. All in all, I was pleased with how this story worked out.This story takes place in mainly Adelia's later years (her late 50′s) as she's dealing with the fact that she's an aging human living in an ageless elf world, living with her elf husband who hasn't changed in appearance since the day they married. On the surface, this story wasn't the completely to my liking. But when I took a closer too at the themes involved, I found that there was more to it than I saw at first glance.This isn't only a strange attempt at a romance between an elf who's still hung up on his first wife, who died on him countless years ago, and a human who's grown to accept the fact that she doesn't belong in a world surrounded by elves. There's an underlying theme of what inner beauty really means, and how vanity can often get in the way of happiness. I'd like to have seen this be a little more prominent, but it was still there and in a way worked well not as an in-your-face element.This story started out a bit slow, but my enjoyment picked up more when it got closer to the big revelation. That was when the story began moving forward instead of dwelling on the characters' pasts, when it wasn't going anywhere. It made me wish there was more to the story because it set up a better, bigger picture of the world these elves, humans, and other creatures live in. In turn that brought up a conflict between some characters that could have been elaborated on for a bit more story to add.I felt that while the characters weren't terribly written, Adelia lacked much dimension and Ametar's character bordered on more complex. There was much more back story to work with for Ametar, and with his numerous wives, he was more complicated. It was this combination of characters that has me questioning just what kind of romance they have.Despite some areas where I feel this story was lacking, I did after it all, enjoy what was accomplished. If the author were to have a story, or even novel, that elaborated more on Ametar's character and his accomplishments, I would be sure to check it out. There's much to that character that could make a great companion to this short story.