Showing posts with label dhampir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dhampir. Show all posts

Child of a Dead God: A Novel of the Noble Dead Review

Child of a Dead God: A Novel of the Noble Dead
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Child of a Dead God: A Novel of the Noble Dead ReviewThis is supposedly the last book in the Noble Dead Series. The events in the book take place after Magiere and Leesil rescue Leesil's mother from her imprisonment in the Elven Territories. Disturbed by dreams guiding her to a mysterious castle, Magiere leads Leesil, Wynn, Chap, and their Elven protectors south. Her dreams have told her little else. On their trail is Magiere's half-brother, Welstiel, a vampire desperate to be freed from his bloodlust. For Welstiel, Magiere is the one who can guide him to this artifact.
The action was good and the description of the events was excellent. The ending was open for another adventure of Magiere and Leesil.
If you haven't read the other five books in the series, you will be confused about what is going on since the authors do not go into any real details of what happened in the previous five books. My biggest complaint about this book was that it seemed like every time you turned around there was a reminder that Welstiel was Magiere's half-brother.
Child of a Dead God: A Novel of the Noble Dead OverviewFor years, Magiere and Leesil have sought a long-forgotten artifact, even though its purpose has been shrouded in mystery. All Magiere knows is that she must keep the orb from falling into the hands of a murdering Noble Dead, her half-brother Welstiel. And now, dreams of a castle locked in ice lead her south, on a journey that has become nothing less than an obsession. Accompanying Magiere and Leesil are the sage Wynn, their canine protector Chap, and two elven assassins-turned-guardians who must fight their distrust of this sister of the dead. For forces more powerful than they are rallying around Magiere, arming her for the conflict to come. Because finding the orb may be just the beginning of the challenges that await her...

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The Doom Guardian: Chronicles of Cambrea Review

The Doom Guardian: Chronicles of Cambrea
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The Doom Guardian: Chronicles of Cambrea ReviewOn the Kindle, it's hard to judge a book by its cover. Sometimes, though, when an author is particularly attentive to detail, you can judge a book by its epigraph. Julie Ann Dawson is one of those authors, and her novel The Doom Guardian is a book packed with such detail that a re-read may be in order. But first things first-turn to the first page after the copyright and you'll find this:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living, dead, or undead is coincidental, and, truthfully, quite odd.
Now I don't mention this because it's central to the plot-if you remember that blurb I posted a really long time ago promising to get this review up a really long time ago (right...sorry about that), you'll know that this first book in the Chronicles of Cambrea series is populated by a whole host of humans, vampires, human-vampire hybrids called dhampirs, dwarves, elves, necromancers, spell-casters, capricious deities and the calculating priests who serve them. What the little disclaimer does do is hint at the author's sense of humor and exception attention to detail-two things that can never hurt in speculative fiction.
After that eerie little message to the reader, Dawson jumps right into the story: describing in gory detail a hideous birth scene in which our heroine Nadia dreams of a woman "tied down to the massive stone altar, screaming the scream of a woman about to give birth to some hell spawn from the deepest pits of the lower planes." On first read, I thought that was some sort of really elaborate simile, but I guess I didn't read the blurb closely enough myself, because our author means it literally.
Dawson doesn't mess around: her description is rich and, at times, gruesomely vivid, but with a plotline as twisted (and I mean that in every way) as The Doom Guardian`s, there's no room for extended metaphors. Step aside, English majors-we have a real storyteller in town.
What particularly interested me about the novel is its aspects of fantastical polytheism-Dawson does an excellent job drawing a society of many religions, where the gods actually answer your prayers (not often in the way you'd like-just ask the dwarf trapped in a stalagmite cage), and priests mediate between necromancers and cults of assassins. When it comes to our heroine Nadia, I get a sort of Constantine and The Lies of Locke Lamora (see Scott Lynch) vibe-some exorcisms, plus some corpses, plus some shadowy cults. And that's just fine with me.
Final Verdict:
D&D fans attention! Be not thrown off by the entrance of "chaos diamonds" into the story. In The Doom Guardian, Dawson fills a fully engaging society with an interesting cast of all the fantasy creatures of myth, legend, and nightmare. When it comes to pinning this story down to a genre, science fiction certainly isn't it (if you want your "magic" founded in quantum mechanics, look elsewhere). The Doom Guardian is closer to fantasy than anything else, with a little horror tucked in for good measure.
Reading Time: One month, for a college student between research conferences.
Availability: $4.99 in the Kindle store is, in my book (err, blog, I guess) still a little steep. I'd suggest sending yourself a sample and seeing how you like the first 500 locations before handing over your crisp green Lincolns.The Doom Guardian: Chronicles of Cambrea OverviewFor centuries, the Spirit Wall has protected the world from the terrible powers of the undead god Vagruth. But now the Spirit Wall has begun to crumble, and with it the only thing preventing the world from becoming overrun by undead hordes. Meanwhile, the demonic Felsworn seek to take advantage of the chaos and enact their own plans. In a world fractured by politics, greed, and apathy, fate will unite three unlikely heroes to save the Spirit Wall from destruction.Nadia Gareth knows all too well the evils that lurk in the hearts of the Vagruth's minions, the Necromancers. Nadia walks the land as a dhampir, a cursed thing trapped between the worlds of the living and the dead as a result of the Necromancers' vile experiments. Yet her curse also gives her the strength she needs to combat the forces that seek to turn everything around her into an undead waste. But this is one fight that may be too much for her to handle alone. Darseidon Stonecleaver survived the War of Reckoning, and now journeys to the Mouth of Chaos to retrieve the Chaos Diamond, the one thing powerful enough to save the Spirit Wall from destruction. As he enters his Twilight, the aging dwarf knows it isn't a matter of if he will die, but when. He can only hope to complete his last mission before it is too late. Nigel Stormthorn just wants to escape town with his stolen gems, but finds himself caught up in events that may determine the fate of the world. As his survival instincts wage war against his meddlesome empathy, he discovers that perhaps his gems are of less value than the secret that resides within him.

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Dhampir (Noble Dead) Review

Dhampir (Noble Dead)
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Dhampir (Noble Dead) ReviewI've read one previous novel by Barb Hendee, Blood Memories, and was impressed enough by the experience that I decided to read Dhampir. Let's begin by saying that I am not regretting that decision.
This is the first novel of a series, the next of which will not be available until January 2004. She is writing with her husband this time, J.C. Hendee, but the integration of their writing styles is seamless. If you liked the writing style of Blood Memories, you won't even notice that J.C. Hendee has come aboard. I count this as a good thing, because I liked Blood Memories quite a lot.
The story revolves around Magiere and her partner, Leesil (a half-elf), who are an awsome vampire slaying duo. Magirere is more special than she realizes; let's just say that she has some interesting ancestors. When the two decide to retire, their peaceful plans are interrupted by a trio of undead who know more about Magiere's birthright than she does herself.
This novel is set more in Tolkien's universe than in Laurell K. Hamilton's, Tanya Huff's, or P.N. Elrod's, but it should still satisfy fans of those authors. Still, it is one of the best introductory novels I've read in a long time. I hope that the rest of the series lives up to the promise.Dhampir (Noble Dead) OverviewThe launch of a major new vampire series-set in a classic fantasy universe... A con-artist who poses as a vampire slayer learns that she is, in fact, a true vampire slayer-a dhampir-whose actions have attracted the unwanted attention of a trio of powerful vampires seeking her blood.

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Thief of Lives (Noble Dead) Review

Thief of Lives (Noble Dead)
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Thief of Lives (Noble Dead) ReviewWhen I read Dhampir, I wasn't sure if it was intended for an extended run or not, but here is the next volume of what now appears to be at least a trilogy. This is good news, as the Hendee's have managed to create two strong characters and put together a plot that still maintains it's mystery and draw at the end of two volumes. Magiere is a dhampir, daughter of a vampire and a human. At the end of the previous volume (in which a vampire killing scam suddenly turns out to be serious) she discovers that dhampirs have significant and deadly powers of their own. Her companion is half-elven Leesil who also hides many mysteries. Trained as an assassin, Leesil was happily pursuing a life of crime until he met Magiere. Just for a moment, at the beginning of Thief of Lives, the couple has settled into the routine of running an inn.
Nothing lasts, of course, and in short order Magiere, Leesil, and Chap the wonder dog have been maneuvered into heading for the capital city of Bela to hunt the vampire responsible for killing the daughter of a prominent councilman. They arrive to discover that they are not particularly welcome - even less so when they announce that the killer may be one of the privileged classes. And instead of one vampire there are two, or maybe three, or ... Add a dog with unexpected skills, another elven killer, some mages, and a return visit by Welstiel Massing (who has hidden agendas of his own) and you have a good picture of what life is like for Leesil and Magiere.
Not counting their own relationship, which has become clouded by their discovery that being a dhampir is more than having a funny ethnic designation. The events of the previous volume (which include Leesil feeding Magiere his own blood to save her life) have triggered a series of psychological and physical changes in the young woman. Not feeling in control of herself, Magiere has taken to avoiding Leesil out of fear that she might hurt him. This has put their normally close alliance is under a strain and has left both of them prone to emotional mistakes.
The Hendee's manage this complex set of factors like long time writers, and the result is an active, flowing plot with a wealth of character and setting detail. While revealing a lot, they always manage to hold enough back so that there is always something new on the horizon. While this is a Gothic world, with Gothic vampires, there is a fresh newness to the plot that defies the stereotypes it works with. The book stands fairly well on its own, generally explaining what it inherits from the previous volume, but you are best of starting from the beginning - if for no other reason than the first book being equally enjoyable.Thief of Lives (Noble Dead) OverviewOn the heels of Dhampir, Barb and J. C. Hendee's acclaimed fantasy debut, comes a new novel featuring Magiere and Leesil, slayers of the undead... Magiere the dhampir and Leesil, her half-elf partner, are called out of their self-imposed retirement when vampires besiege the town of Bela-and are discovered to be in a league with the town's most prominent elders...

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