Review: The Best Yet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 5, 2010
Modi leads an expedition of Kindred explorers too greedily and too deep, and the denizens who live far underground have cut off their only way back. Gudrin begs Brand to mount a rescue. While trying to find a means of eluding one enemy, Modi and Brand disturb a nesting female dragon. They do what any heroes would do in their position, and in the process put all Kindred, Wee Folk, and humans in jeopardy.There are definitely echoes of The Hobbit and the mines of Moria. As with the previous books, though, it is less of a retelling or rearranging of tropes. Rather, it feels like the author asked similar "What if?" questions and came up with completely different answers. On her website, the author mentions that she has studied many of the same legends that Tolkien drew on for inspiration. "In that way, my book would be a different vision than JRRT's, but based upon the same blueprint, if you will." Based on what I've seen of the Haven Series so far, this rings true, and she's doing a pretty awesome job of it.The characters in this series have come a long way by the beginning of this book. By the end, Brand's impulsive handing out of powerful artifacts and his habit of indiscriminately slaughtering anyone who annoys him a little bit is starting to create far-reaching problems. He seems inclined to dismiss his behavior as necessary, but he's kind of becoming the monsters he fought so hard to prevent from preying on humanity. I like the direction this series seems to be going. It really feels like events are coming to a head, and I'm looking forward to reading Blood Magic.