Review: 3.5 - Shows Promise amidst Hazy Worldbuilding
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2013
3.5 Stars (rounded down because of confusing world-building and rushed romance)Silent Warrior is the prequel to Lindsey Piper's new paranormal series. The novella centers on two Dragon King characters - Silence and Hark. Having no idea what Dragon Kings were or what this series was about, I decided to try this out because of the good ratings. Upon completion, I'm still hazy about the details of this world.Silence, a collared Cage warrior for the Aster Cartel, vows to return honor to Clan Sath, who are referred to as "the Thiefs" by the other four Dragon King clans - Indranan ("the Heartless") Pendray ("the Reapers"), Tigony ("the Tricksters"), and Garnis ("the Lost") -- due to their covetous nature. A forseer's words hover in her mind. Hark is trying to earn money to repay his outstanding debts. The Kawashima Cartel wants their money! He's in deep poop! The action-packed beginning commences in a gladiator-style Cage match in Hong Kong. They skillfully cut, slash, and beat each other leading to an excess of energy they know how to dispel after the fight. Throw in some steamy sexy times and the Kawashimas and the game is on.I rubbed my hands with glee thinking I had found a new dark paranormal romance I could dig my teeth into. While the beginning started with a bang, the details of this world were a combination of too much and too little. The terminology use lost me a few times. I also didn't know how the pieces fit and what I was supposed to be looking for. (What does it mean to belong to a cartel? What are Dragon Kings? What is the function of the cartel in this world? Why are the Dragon Kings nearly extinct? What are their powers? Are they immortal? What's their deal? Who, what, why, when, how, where, and so on. ) More questions arose as some were answered.I'll attribute the lean story to this being a novella. If there had been a glossary explaining the Dragon King world and if the focus would have been on the protagonists building relationship - I think the novella would have been meatier. As it is, Silent Warrior encourages me to believe that Lindsey Piper's series will have loads of action, hot lovin', and a different type of romance that I am craving.[A glossary is located on Lindsey Piper's author page. It will help readers!  (It helped me.)]