Review: Not my favorite
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 25, 2012
Overall, I very much enjoyed the series, but this one just doesn't do it for me. My rating based on the main characters alone, would have been a 1.5 star. The returning characters are the only thing that got the book 3 stars. By comparison, I would rate the other books in this series 4 and 5 stars.***SPOILER ALERT***I found Lissa to be a tad annoying with her "I can't"s, which were understandable, but her decision to go with the flow and play her part came too far into the story for my taste. Throughout the book, I wanted to tell them,Lissa and Saber both, to get over themselves , but Saber especially in the last few chapters. After all the "I love you and would anything for you and/or the scrolls" stuff, you'd think he would have come to the same conclusion Merrick did before he had to get drunk and have Merrick point it out to him. He's pining for her for years, is willing to give up his role as a future leader and face the scorn of all his kind for Lissa, yet can't admit to or get over enjoying a certain act with her? I get the thought process of a big, manly warrior having an issue with certain things for the purposes of the story, but I'd like to think that in a future with cultures where D/s, m/f/m and inter-species relationships are the norm, a male can easily enjoy that kind of thing. It just seems inconsistent to me.Another thing that was disappointing was the Draven/L storyline. I found it to be too rushed. In my opinion, it would have been better to save their story for the next book, instead of or in addition to, the briefly mentioned character the author proposes. Draven and L's story warranted far more time than it got, at least a far more expanded storyline, if not a book of their own.On a positive note, this book has the same overall quality of writing as the others in this series, with old friends coming back and a very interesting twist in the old standby of planted-by-the-enemy-weapons (think "Freaky Friday") Traumatizing for Baird and Sylvan, yet amazing for Merrick and Elise. It is only my dislike of the main characters and disappointment in the Draven/L story that makes me like this book less than the others. Personal opinion more than lack of quality, you could say.