Review: Great plot, poor grammar.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 26, 2012
Lord of the Abbey (Lords of Avalon Series) had a gripping plot, far beyond the normal historical novel. It included information about Jesus' Lost Years which were possibly spent in Glastonbury, England, dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII, and metaphysical lore. However, all this information was contained in a love story that was very endearing. Lady Rowena had a tragic past and was wary of men. The hero, Harry, had to gain her trust to overcome her shadowed past. Interwoven within the love story was a treasure hunt and evil doers searching for the same treasure as well as menacing Rowena and her friends.To comment on other reviews, yes, there were a lot of characters introduced but most were well described. Other love stories were introduced which I'm sure will be treated in the rest of the series. I did find that there was too much graphic sex, but that's just my taste; others may like that. It was all joyously told, not at all prurient.I found the characters well developed. Rowena was fearful but strong enough to overcome her fears and there was no prolonged hand-wringing and heart-wrenching over her decision to marry Harry. The Lords of Avalon, a group of antiquarians, are distinguishable one from another. Harry is a considerate hero, his friends are kind and helpful, helping each other in their quests. Micah becomes Rowena's good friend and Harry is fine with that. I liked that men and women could be shown as friends without sexual overtones.Now the bad. The author really needs to consult a good grammar and syntax manual. The tense and pronoun errors are egregious and detracted from my enjoyment of the book. "Between someone and I" makes my teeth grit. There are so many dangling prepositions and split infinitives one has to duck one's head and tread carefully to wend one's way through the story. The past perfect tense was invented to describe actions that occurred in the past before other past actions. The author doesn't apparently like this tense. I really hope the next books in the series are better edited because I really want to read them but fear for the surface enamel of my teeth from all the gritting.