In the breathtaking tradition of Once a Warrior and The Witch and the Warrior comes Karyn Monk's passionate new tale of a distant time, a proud people--and a forbidden love.
She was an infamous thief...
When the ruthless MacTiers destroyed Melantha's clan, she vowed to do whatever was necessary to keep her people alive. It was a daring risk to disguise herself as "the Falcon," a mysterious horseman who stole food and gold from the enemy, always slipping away unscathed. But when Melantha captured the MacTier warrior who was sent to kill her, the danger she faced was the desire aroused by this enigmatic stranger....
...until one man stole her heart.
Roarke had known only battle for far too long. With his family gone, he had proved his loyalty to his laird in countless conflicts, fighting with the fearless arrogance of a man who had nothing to lose--and untold rewards to gain. But murdering the enchanting spitfire who had waged her own maddening war against his clan was unthinkable. Torn between fealty to his lord and the dictates of his conscience, Roarke would look for an answer in the emerald eyes of a woman who dared to show him the meaning of honor, the bonds of family--and the power of love.
2'5 y porque me siento generosa. La verdad que éste libro ha sido bastante rollete comparado con los dos primeros. Lo bueno de ésta serie, que a pesar de ser una trilogía basada en la Escocia medieval, se puede leer de manera independiente porque ningún libro tiene que ver con los demás, y ni siquiera mencionan a personajes de libros anteriores. Si lo leí fue por terminar la trilogía, y por curiosidad, ya que los primeros me gustaron mucho.
Pero éste libro no ha funcionado. Sí, tiene la esencia de la escritora, ésos diálogos ingeniosos y divertidos que te hacen pensar que estás ante un show de los Monty Python, por eso le doy el aprobadillo. Lo que no funciona en éste libro son: los personajes protagonistas, y el romance. No es que no me hayan gustado, es que no me han despertado nada, ni un mínimo de emoción, siento que no los he conocido, sus historias, sus tragedias, no me han llegado. Ése es el problema, que realmente no conoces a los personajes, la autora da una ligera pincelada sobre ellos, pero no tienen profundidad.
Con su argumento pintaba para ser una historia divertida, como los anteriores libros, y sí, admito que al principio del libro me eché unas risas cuando el anciano Magnus le dispara una flecha en el culo a Roarke, pero a parte de ello, el libro no ha tenido sustancia. La historia de trasfondo es más de lo mismo, tal como ocurre en los anteriores libros, la protagonista posee algún tipo de conocimiento o artefacto mágico que el malo de la historia quiere, y no descansará hasta conseguirlo. En el caso de éste libro no me ha convencido.
En cuanto al romance, no sabes cuándo ni por qué surge. Al protagonista ella le gusta, pero no entiendes cuándo se enamora de ella. La protagonista igual, además en su caso está cegada por la ira y el resentimiento, odia al protagonista por pertenecer al clan que les dejó en la miseria, y por mucho que Roarke le diga que él no estuvo ella le sigue odiando y acusando. Claro sí, le odia, pero éso no le impide dejarse llevar por la lujuria y acostarse con él... y seguir odiándole después.
No, éste libro no ha funcionado. Es una lástima, de haber sabido que me iba a gustar tan poco, y que no estaba relacionado con los anteriores, no lo habría leído. Mal broche para la serie, siempre me quedaré con "Guerrero de Leyenda". Y quizás en un futuro no muy lejano, le dé una oportunidad a la autora con su serie victoriana.
Que cosa mas bonita y mas tierna de libro. Me ha encantado todo, los personajes secundarios, los protagonistas... la paciencia que tiene Roarke con Melantha
I'm going to make one review for all the 3 novels in this series. They're good romantic novels. Really good. But most characters are just... dumb? no, not the right word. I think they were meant to be funny and stuff, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood. Some characters I liked, some others I just skipped after the first couple of things they said. An old man who threatens to fed a Viking (who's just about 400 years out of his correct time, too, just saying) to the wolves and then to grind his bones to make bread? I mean, seriously? I could have probably found this hilarious had I not been in such a foul mood, but, still... Anyway, they're nice reads, you can read them on the beach in about a day and like them. 3 stars to all of them Kisses all around!
Cuatro guerreros escoceses tienen una misión por parte de su señor: terminar con una banda de ladrones y capturar a su líder: el halcón. Pero con lo que no contaban era con que caerían en una trampa y pasarían de ser los captores a ser los capturados.
Así empieza esta historia de amor: el halcón, una mujer, junto con su banda de ladrones, al estilo Robin Hood, roba a los clanes ricos y los reparte entre su propia gente. Y alguien quiere detenerla a toda costa.
A pesar de ser un libro con un cliché, la historia, que al principio se desarrolla un poco lenta, nos transporta a Escocia y a las guerras entre clanes, con una protagonista fuerte y aguerrida; nada qué ver con las doncellas estereotipadas en este tipo de tramas.
Ente Melantha y Roarke, a pesar del abismo que los separa, surge un amor apasionado, fuerte e imposible.
Con toques de acción bien diseminados a lo largo del libro, recorremos las tierras escocesas del siglo XIII y sabremos si el amor, tanto de pareja como fraternal, es más fuerte que cualquier cosa.
Por cierto, cerca del final estás con el alma en un puño y quieres meterte al libro para estar al lado de todos los personajes entrañables que comparten esta historia.
Me compré este libro porque la portada me llamó la atención y porque estaba muy barato. Pero el libro no ha sido lo que esperaba, aunque no tenía nada que esperar de esta historia. El caso es que no he simpatizado con la protagonista, me ha caído un poco mal gran parte del libro y por ahí mal van las cosas. Otra cosa que no me ha cuadrado ha sido el uso de palabras como persianas (porque en cierto momento están poniéndole unas a un castillo escocés del siglo XIII), chaquetón (que es una prenda de vestir habitual de la época) o camarada. No lo suspendo del todo porque la parte de historia, la que tiene que ver con el clan de Melantha y la relación que se va fraguando entre los cuatro guerreros MacTier ha estado más o menos bien. La parte romántica no me ha dicho gran cosa. Roarke me ha gustado algo mas que Melantha pero no tienen química juntos ni cuando discuten y se pelean. Además, el libro está lleno de erratas de hasta cambiar el nombre de un personaje por otro. Faltan y sobran palabras y cosas varias por el estilo. En fin, que no ha sido para mí esta historia.
When I first saw the cover of this book, I thought I was getting a historical set during the Crusades. Scotland is not quite Jerusalem, but I enjoyed the setting just the same. It took me a while to get into this retelling of the Robin Hood story, with our intrepid female lead Melantha playing the part of the noble thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. She is hunted by King John's best warrior, here an nearly retired warrior named Roarke who's sent on his last mission to return with the Falcon. At first their characters seemed to me stereotypes of the usual blaise-blah - she is pure, innocent, beautiful, he is good looking, misunderstood, etc., etc. It was not nearly a third of the book that I started to feel for the characters. Part of that had to do with the author's penchant for writing long internal dialogues, paying particular attention to the male's point of view, which is unusual for a romance. Once I had a clearer understanding of the motives of the characters and felt sympathetic towards them as people and not as paper cutouts, I enjoyed the story of Melantha and Roark as they struggled to beat the superior forces that surrounded them.
Some of the most enjoyable moments of the book dealt with the secondary characters - the motley band of survivors of Melantha's clan, including the myopic archer Magnus and crazy old white-haired Thor, whose dancing on the castle wall brought to mind images of King Lear, just not as tragic. The banter among the remnants of this clan and the four warriors of Roarke's band that are sent to capture the Falcon lends some of the most memorable scenes in this book. I will look forward to reading more from Karyn Monk.
For starters, everyone in this book is an idiot; it’s not that they do stupid things, it’s just that they’re stupid and in some cases, shockingly inept. Most of the story is spent with the MacKillon clan who were practically decimated about half a year (?) before the events of this story, and I can’t figure out if they have always shared one brain cell among them or if all the intelligent members were killed in the aforementioned attack. They’re a wildly entertaining bunch, very colorful to be sure, but it’s wonder that they’ve lasted this long. None of them seem to have an ounce of self-preservation. For the first two hundred or so pages, the plot is Roarke and his men—who, btw are the MacKillon’s PRISONERS as well as being members of the MacTier clan who ransacked them—teaching the MacKillons how to fight and fortify what’s left of their crumbling castle. And you know, maybe all of their warriors were killed when they were attacked and all that’s left are wet behind the ear boys and old men far past their prime, but still. Also, the fact that they are all IMMEDIATELY chummy with men from their rival clan is hilarious. Thank God these men happen to have secret hearts of gold or else the entire clan would be screwed.
The main characters are Melantha, a young woman turned Robin Hood-esque thieving avenger, and Roarke, a weary warrior with secret man pain that is brought up at the beginning and then kind of forgotten about until the end. Neither one are very compelling—Melantha is supposed to be this infamous thief who’s reputation is so notorious that Roarke is sent to capture her, but we see her do anything of the sort twice; once at the beginning and once at the climax. Other than that, she’s either too busy being angry (which is fair enough) or fretting over her brothers. There’s just not much time spent getting to know her outside of giant info dump paragraphs that are given to us in lieu of actual character building. And Roarke isn’t much better; he’s a fierce warrior who is starting realize a) he’s not as young as he used to be and b) he’s getting a little weary of battle. Naturally, he has a heart of gold and wants to help the poor MacKillons (he was also conveniently NOT part of the raiding party that ransacked them because God forbid we have any real tension in this tale of “forbidden love”). He’s big and bland and loves going down on the heroine. That’s about it. (And pressing his face into her breasts. Roarke loves that, too.)
There’s no tension in this story, romantic or otherwise. Melantha and Roarke really don’t spend that much time together before tumbling into bed, but the narrative wants us to think this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. There’s not even a love-hate thing going on. Roarke waffles between finding her hot one minute and then thinking she’s a brat in the next, but that only happens in their first meeting and then after that he spends most of his time trying to help this gleeful band of idiots. Melantha hates Roarke and avoids him until suddenly she doesn’t because he’s big and hot and maybe not as bad she thought? Which is a fine realization to come to, just actually spend time developing that.
There’s really no plot to speak of until the last hundred or so pages when the cartoonish villain appears and suddenly there’s a subplot about a pendant—something that had only briefly been mentioned before—and then everything is resolved in a way that probably wouldn’t work and everyone lives happily ever after.
It’s all really dumb, but I can’t bring myself to hate it. Maybe it’s because I don’t expect much out a romance novel—I read them for fun and all the cheese—or maybe it’s because despite how stupid it is, it’s still entertaining. Will I ever read this again? No. Will I remember this book for years to come? Probably not (outside of Roarke and his penchant for burying his face in Melantha’s breasts). But it was a quick read and a nice way to pass the time.
One final note: Mahogany and sable are NOT the same color. Make up your mind about what color Melantha’s hair is.
Bueno le doy 2 estrellas a este libro por el personaje masculino, Roarke, que me parece magníficio, merece la pena leer la historia completa sólo por conocer a este guerrero, no he encontrado otro de este tipo en ningún otro libro de estas tierras de los que he leído, me ha sorprendido, porque en todos los libros de las Higlands los hombres no parecen humanos sino superhéroes y Roarke es un hombre de carne y hueso que sufre como tal y por eso me ha conquistado. Aunque tiene un fallo, muy grande, un escocés nunca falta a su palabra, la autora se encuentra ante un dilema que no puedo desvelar pero tendría que haber buscado otra solución. Ahora bien, por el resto del libro, el clan de Melantha parece un chiste más que un clan, hay unas normas que todo clan escocés debe respetar y la escritora los convierte en todo lo que lo que cualquier escocés despreciaría, lo que se presupone que es la trama principal de este libro nunca ocurriría en las Highlands. Veamos está bien que se escriban libros imaginativos y con distintos enfoques pero hay ciertos límites que no pueden traspasarse. Una verdadera lástima porque el personaje de femenino Melantha tiene potencial y podría haber sido un libro redondo pero le falta rigor histórico en las costumbres de la época y de sus personajes. No obstante recomiendo el libro para que descubráis a Roarke porque es digno de conocer y la historia es entretenida.
I loved this book! Roarke is an amazing man who has an epiphany after getting to know the MacKillon clan. And Melantha's an extraordinary young woman who tries to keep her clan from utter despair. The secondary characters on both sides are wonderful and all play a major part in the story.
Melantha falls in love with Roarke despite her deep hatred for his clan.
The book is filled with love, hilarity and bravery.
My only complaint was the large age discrepancy between our heroine and our hero - and both deserve those titles.
Combina exquisitamente acción, sentimientos con un sutil toque de erotismo. Realmente me gustó mucho, además que es un libro ameno, fácil de leer. Muy recomendable
This book felt so similar to the first one in the series "Once a Warrior" that I couldn't be bothered to finish it. The heroine's clan doesn't know how to fight or defend themselves, has a badly-run keep (they care more about the color of the stones than their defensive properties), the hero teaches them how to fight and defend their home--that's almost the exact same plot as in the first book in the trilogy.
The running jokes about grinding their bones to make bread got old, too. There were parts that were supposed to be funny, but after the fourth time the joke was made, it was just not funny anymore. DNF.
If you've read Monk's earlier medievals, you know pretty much what's coming. As well as solid writing, well-considered plot, well-drawn antagonists, and a memorable journey with unexpected twists, we get the securing of the castle, the untutored clan, and the caricature Elders.
So we have the unlikely pairing of Roarke and Melantha who need to teach each other about love, about acceptance, and about respect.
Esta historia me divirtio mucho, la primera mitad me hizo reir bastante, aunque la verdad el romance brilla por su ausencia. Pero la verdad ni lo extrañe. En esta parte los que se roban la historia son son los personajes secundarios, la pintoresca banda de ladrones del Halcon, los 3 prisioneros MacTier, los 3 hermanos menores de Melantha y el clan en general que tratan como invitados a sus prisioneros.
El romace aparece en la segunda parte, aunque pues para mi es uno regularcito, y por lo que voy a recordar esta historia es por sus personajes secundarios.
Había leído críticas buenas de esta novela así que tenía demasiadas expectativas sobre ella. Por eso me ha defraudado un poquito, además de que el final no llego a creérmelo del todo, No sé, poco creíble.
I pick up this book because of the author, I had read The Witch and the Warrior before and because I loved that story I decided to give it a try. But this story didn´t appeal to me that much, I don´t know; the one think I did enjoy was the second character couple, I LOVE THEM!!!!! and I wished to read more about them... but unfortunatly there wasn´t...
Im not going to say it was boring, but I'm not going to say it wasn't that great either. In of itself it was a good read. The problem with it to me was that it was too much like Robbin Hood. But over all it was an okay book.