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Noble Dead Saga: Series 1 #1
Dhampir
She hunts the realm’s most dangerous game.
Her fees are exorbitant.
She’s worth every coin she receives.
Or is she?
Magiere has earned a reputation as the most formidable vampire slayer in the land. Villagers far and wide welcome her with both awe and disdain — grateful to her for ridding their towns of the undead menace, but finding themselves made poorer for their salvation. Magiere knows she’s dealing with simple folk, who only wish to have their superstitions silenced, and sees nothing wrong with exploiting them for profit.
Now, tired of the game, Magiere and her partner, the half-elf Leesil, are ready to hang up their weapons and settle down in a place they can finally call home. But their newfound peace will not last — for Magiere has come to the attention of a trio of powerful and dangerous vampires who know her true identity — and fear the birthright that flows through her veins. And they will stop at nothing to keep Magiere from fulfilling her destiny.
Her fees are exorbitant.
She’s worth every coin she receives.
Or is she?
Magiere has earned a reputation as the most formidable vampire slayer in the land. Villagers far and wide welcome her with both awe and disdain — grateful to her for ridding their towns of the undead menace, but finding themselves made poorer for their salvation. Magiere knows she’s dealing with simple folk, who only wish to have their superstitions silenced, and sees nothing wrong with exploiting them for profit.
Now, tired of the game, Magiere and her partner, the half-elf Leesil, are ready to hang up their weapons and settle down in a place they can finally call home. But their newfound peace will not last — for Magiere has come to the attention of a trio of powerful and dangerous vampires who know her true identity — and fear the birthright that flows through her veins. And they will stop at nothing to keep Magiere from fulfilling her destiny.
376 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 7, 2003
183 people are currently reading
5534 people want to read
About the author
Barb Hendee
70 books1,162 followers[See barbhendee.org]
Like most writers, I've worked at many jobs in my life, including teaching pre-school until I completed my master's degree in Composition Theory. Between 1993 and 2006, I taught college English while writing fiction on the side, some independently and some with my husband and life-long partner J.C.
Over the years, we've lived in Washington State, Idaho, Colorado, and now moved just south of Portland, Oregon. I love the Northwest, and it's a great place to write.
We have a lovely and talented daughter, Jaclyn, who lives in Houston, Texas along with our wonderful and talented son-in-law, Paul.
J.C. and I sold Dhampir in 2001, which changed our lives considerably. It was published in January 2003, and we've published a book in the Noble Dead Saga every year since. In May of 2006, we were both able to quit our teaching jobs and move into full time writing.
Recently, I've begun writing romance/suspense novels, beginning with: Alone with a Soldier. I am so glad my books have found an audience because I love to write fiction more than anything else in the world... and I'm not really good at anything else.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 490 reviews
March 16, 2015
This isn't "great literature". It doesn't claim to be. It's pure, unadulterated, open, and proud, brain candy. I enjoyed it.
There were a few times that it got too drawn out...by the last "confrontation" I was more than ready for it to finish up. And...it hit another one of my "pet peeves", the "vampires" are somewhat twisted from traditional vamps...but not too much or badly done. At least the vamps here aren't cute, cuddly, lonely, romantic, blood suckers.(and they don't "sparkle".) Also to actually have a "Dhampir" you have to "re-write" the legend a bit. I mean after all a "vampire" is physically, a dead body.... Confession time, while I haven't used the word dhampir in my writing, I have used a version of the idea, not handled this way, or a "dhampir" in this book's sense", but a version of it. So, I've seen worse ways of handling it than was done here, and I suppose better (LOL).
Over all I enjoyed this book and plan to run the next book in the series down. For fantasy fans, for horror fans even for vampire fans, this will probably be a good read.
Recommended.
Update: I originally wrote this review in 2010, then went out and bought the rest of the series. I have yet to read them...
"So many books so little time" , is a true saying.
There were a few times that it got too drawn out...by the last "confrontation" I was more than ready for it to finish up. And...it hit another one of my "pet peeves", the "vampires" are somewhat twisted from traditional vamps...but not too much or badly done. At least the vamps here aren't cute, cuddly, lonely, romantic, blood suckers.(and they don't "sparkle".) Also to actually have a "Dhampir" you have to "re-write" the legend a bit. I mean after all a "vampire" is physically, a dead body.... Confession time, while I haven't used the word dhampir in my writing, I have used a version of the idea, not handled this way, or a "dhampir" in this book's sense", but a version of it. So, I've seen worse ways of handling it than was done here, and I suppose better (LOL).
Over all I enjoyed this book and plan to run the next book in the series down. For fantasy fans, for horror fans even for vampire fans, this will probably be a good read.
Recommended.
Update: I originally wrote this review in 2010, then went out and bought the rest of the series. I have yet to read them...
"So many books so little time" , is a true saying.
February 13, 2020
This was a regular fantasy story that read a lot like an UF in terms of feel and style. I liked the weird mixing of genres and felt it really worked for this story.
Magiere is a travelling vampire hunter. She is in high demand with the local villages as she has a fearsome reputation of always getting the job done. A job that is made a lot easier by the fact that she is actually a con artist and the "vampire" she rids the villages of is her business partner and travelling companion Leesil! Things go awry for the duo when their last job, before retiring to run a tavern, sees them run into an actual vampire.
It was a fun story. Neither Magiere or her half-elf companion Leesil believed in vampires so they took a bit of time to realize they had run up against a nest of true vampires and before they knew it they were being dragged into a war with a group of them despite the fact that they were trying to retire to the quiet life. The fantasy world was a fun one. It was a fairly average medieval European setting but mixed in a bunch of fantasy creatures like elves, vampires, ghosts, and even a magic dog!
Magiere and Leesil were not your average fantasy heroes as they started out as con artists and then after that mostly just wanted to live in peace but I did eventually warm to the duo and found them easy to root for. We got hints in this opening book that both characters had interesting and mysterious backgrounds that they had not even gotten around to sharing with each other.
The big positive for this book was the fact that we also got POV's from the vampires. I felt that added real depth to the story as the group of vampires all had their own distinct personalities and had dreams, motivations, and backstories of their own. It was so successful a ploy that I actually found myself sympathizing with the vampires at times in the various battles! It really makes a big difference to any story when the reader is invested in the characters from both sides of a conflict. That is so much more satisfying that just a simple monster squashing tale!
The writing felt weirdly stilted but that did not seem to hurt the tale any as I got sucked into the story and found this a pretty compelling read.
This was actually a reread for me as I read this way back in the day but the truth is it was a lot like a first read as it had been so long that I did not remember a thing about the story outside of the fact that Magiere was a dhampir. I had some vague memories of what this series was in general and what its strengths and weaknesses are and it seems my memories were spot on in that regard.
All in all I was quite happy with this. Not the best fantasy I've ever come across but engaging and very readable and I'll definitely be pressing onto the next book in the series to see what else Magiere and Leesil get up to on their adventures. It is worth noting that if this was an actual UF I'd rate it as one of my favourites.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: I felt like Tanya Eby did a great job with the audio.
Magiere is a travelling vampire hunter. She is in high demand with the local villages as she has a fearsome reputation of always getting the job done. A job that is made a lot easier by the fact that she is actually a con artist and the "vampire" she rids the villages of is her business partner and travelling companion Leesil! Things go awry for the duo when their last job, before retiring to run a tavern, sees them run into an actual vampire.
It was a fun story. Neither Magiere or her half-elf companion Leesil believed in vampires so they took a bit of time to realize they had run up against a nest of true vampires and before they knew it they were being dragged into a war with a group of them despite the fact that they were trying to retire to the quiet life. The fantasy world was a fun one. It was a fairly average medieval European setting but mixed in a bunch of fantasy creatures like elves, vampires, ghosts, and even a magic dog!
Magiere and Leesil were not your average fantasy heroes as they started out as con artists and then after that mostly just wanted to live in peace but I did eventually warm to the duo and found them easy to root for. We got hints in this opening book that both characters had interesting and mysterious backgrounds that they had not even gotten around to sharing with each other.
The big positive for this book was the fact that we also got POV's from the vampires. I felt that added real depth to the story as the group of vampires all had their own distinct personalities and had dreams, motivations, and backstories of their own. It was so successful a ploy that I actually found myself sympathizing with the vampires at times in the various battles! It really makes a big difference to any story when the reader is invested in the characters from both sides of a conflict. That is so much more satisfying that just a simple monster squashing tale!
The writing felt weirdly stilted but that did not seem to hurt the tale any as I got sucked into the story and found this a pretty compelling read.
This was actually a reread for me as I read this way back in the day but the truth is it was a lot like a first read as it had been so long that I did not remember a thing about the story outside of the fact that Magiere was a dhampir. I had some vague memories of what this series was in general and what its strengths and weaknesses are and it seems my memories were spot on in that regard.
All in all I was quite happy with this. Not the best fantasy I've ever come across but engaging and very readable and I'll definitely be pressing onto the next book in the series to see what else Magiere and Leesil get up to on their adventures. It is worth noting that if this was an actual UF I'd rate it as one of my favourites.
Rating: 4 stars.
Audio Note: I felt like Tanya Eby did a great job with the audio.
January 4, 2009
Two con-artists/adventurers try to settle down to life in a town, but unbeknown to it holds a lair of vampires. Oh yeah, and everybody has a mysterious past that haunts them as it forces them into confrontation.
Actually I liked this book more than I expected. The authors seem to care about the characters, including the bad guys, and that is a rare gift in fantasy writing.
On the other hand, the writers have a number of minor weaknesses. Sentences are awkward, descriptions are bumbled, a mysterious enigmatic stranger appears about 73 (exaggeration) times with mysterious enigmatic advice, both good and bad guys regularly suffer mortal wounds and miraculously recover to fight the very next day, etc.
P.S. The front cover blurb describes this as a mix of Lord of the Rings (because it has an elf?) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (because vampires are killed?) when in fact this book is nothing like either of those. This superficial thoughtlessness bugs me. Might as well call midget wrestling like Lord of the Rings because, hey, it has dwarfs and they fight in a ring.
Actually I liked this book more than I expected. The authors seem to care about the characters, including the bad guys, and that is a rare gift in fantasy writing.
On the other hand, the writers have a number of minor weaknesses. Sentences are awkward, descriptions are bumbled, a mysterious enigmatic stranger appears about 73 (exaggeration) times with mysterious enigmatic advice, both good and bad guys regularly suffer mortal wounds and miraculously recover to fight the very next day, etc.
P.S. The front cover blurb describes this as a mix of Lord of the Rings (because it has an elf?) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (because vampires are killed?) when in fact this book is nothing like either of those. This superficial thoughtlessness bugs me. Might as well call midget wrestling like Lord of the Rings because, hey, it has dwarfs and they fight in a ring.
April 12, 2012
Before I launch into my review, I just gotta ask, why do people always have to make stew in fantasy novels? How about goulash? Pasta? Chicken and dumplings? Half-elves cannot live on stew alone! Also, stew is not travel food. It's called stew because it has to STEW for a few hours before you eat it. No one would say "Gee, we've been walking all damn day, let's wait a few more hours for our stew to simmer before we can eat."
Brief recap:
Magiere (which I couldn't figure out how to pronounce, so I started calling her Maggie in my head), and Leesil (I knew a girl in high school named Leisel, and it was hard to disassociate the two at first, I kept imagining this half-elf playing trumpet in advanced jazz band) run a scam killing vampires for remote villages. Maggie is the hunter and Leesil plays the vampire, she "kills" him, absconds with the village's money and they scram. This is all going fine until they run into a real vampire, and their magic dog goes berserk on the thing. Through the power of teamwork, they kill it.
Turns out our girl Maggie's been hiding money away and bought a tavern in a seaside town called Miiska (I hate when characters and towns names are too close). Our Heroes all move there and turns out there are vampires there too. These vampires have bought the corrupt....guy who's name I can't remember, and he keeps the heat off of them while they terrorize the town and kill people.
That's the set up for the conflict.
I liked this book, enough to give it 3 stars, but I felt it could have been better done. Though there were a lot of internalized struggles and whatnot going on for both Maggie and Leesil, I don't feel like they developed. They still felt shallow, even Brendan the blacksmith...hell, *particularly* Brenden the blacksmith. There were a lot of tropes throughout; stew, tunics, the kindly old couple, the protagonist with the hidden secret, the other protagonist with the hidden secret, etc.
I wish they would have reigned in the cultural color they provided, and the world ended up being a mix of Russian elements and Standard Fantasy Medieval Europe, complete with people running taverns and making stew. The names got a little unwieldy. In what land would people named Beth-rae, Brendan, Leesil and Magiere all coexist?
You definitely learn the most about Leesil, and he was my favorite character out of the book.
On the other hand, there are inventive things present, like how the vampires operate (don't want to give too much away), Chap the dog, the character Welstiel Massing, of who's motives you can't be clear. I will read the next book, because I feel that the authors have sprinkled enough throughout the first one for some really interesting developments. The Fae were name-dropped, the two different paths for vampires, Ratboy's developments, Chap's origins, all of these can make for some interesting reading.
Overall, the good outweighed the bad for me, and I'm glad I picked it up! I'm in a surly mood this morning and that explains my complaining.
Brief recap:
Magiere (which I couldn't figure out how to pronounce, so I started calling her Maggie in my head), and Leesil (I knew a girl in high school named Leisel, and it was hard to disassociate the two at first, I kept imagining this half-elf playing trumpet in advanced jazz band) run a scam killing vampires for remote villages. Maggie is the hunter and Leesil plays the vampire, she "kills" him, absconds with the village's money and they scram. This is all going fine until they run into a real vampire, and their magic dog goes berserk on the thing. Through the power of teamwork, they kill it.
Turns out our girl Maggie's been hiding money away and bought a tavern in a seaside town called Miiska (I hate when characters and towns names are too close). Our Heroes all move there and turns out there are vampires there too. These vampires have bought the corrupt....guy who's name I can't remember, and he keeps the heat off of them while they terrorize the town and kill people.
That's the set up for the conflict.
I liked this book, enough to give it 3 stars, but I felt it could have been better done. Though there were a lot of internalized struggles and whatnot going on for both Maggie and Leesil, I don't feel like they developed. They still felt shallow, even Brendan the blacksmith...hell, *particularly* Brenden the blacksmith. There were a lot of tropes throughout; stew, tunics, the kindly old couple, the protagonist with the hidden secret, the other protagonist with the hidden secret, etc.
I wish they would have reigned in the cultural color they provided, and the world ended up being a mix of Russian elements and Standard Fantasy Medieval Europe, complete with people running taverns and making stew. The names got a little unwieldy. In what land would people named Beth-rae, Brendan, Leesil and Magiere all coexist?
You definitely learn the most about Leesil, and he was my favorite character out of the book.
On the other hand, there are inventive things present, like how the vampires operate (don't want to give too much away), Chap the dog, the character Welstiel Massing, of who's motives you can't be clear. I will read the next book, because I feel that the authors have sprinkled enough throughout the first one for some really interesting developments. The Fae were name-dropped, the two different paths for vampires, Ratboy's developments, Chap's origins, all of these can make for some interesting reading.
Overall, the good outweighed the bad for me, and I'm glad I picked it up! I'm in a surly mood this morning and that explains my complaining.
February 11, 2021
Until the last 50 pages or so, the feeling I got from this book was that it was a very long intro to a new series. I didn't dislike the intro-like story telling on the contrary it made me curious to read the rest of the series. Gave the author a long time to build the events and the setting. Even the villains got their backstories and character building. Only annoying part was seeing the same scene from two or three view points.
Writing was not superb, but promising enough. I will definitely read the next book.
Writing was not superb, but promising enough. I will definitely read the next book.
Read
April 10, 2015Ahhhh.... A little bit conflicted about this one. Overall, I liked it enough to want to read the sequels.
What I liked and didn't like:
The Plot:
(-) Basically, it's a book about one "fake" vampire hunter, one fake vampire and one magic dog who end up hunting vampires for real.
(+) Although the plot is rather predictable, there were quite a few surprises for me! I really liked the fact that the main characters start up as crooks, cheating villagers out of their money by pretending to vanquish imaginary vampires, only to save up and legally open their own tavern somewhere peaceful and quiet. It was quite refreshing to see characters who want to settle down and lead a normal and less eventful life.
(+) Second, I really enjoyed the presence of elves in the story. (Books that include different cultures and races are my favorite!) If you are afraid of getting a Dungeons and Dragons copycats, no worries.
(+) It was the first time ever that I cared equally about the villains too. We do get to experience some of the story from their point of view and I honestly didn't know who to root for even in the end. A really pleasant surprise and excellent characterization!
(+) Our main heroine is a Dhampir (half human, half vampire). That was actually the one thing that turned me off when I was considering whether to read the book a couple of years ago. I've read enough Paranormal Fantasies with Dhampirs to be repelled for life! So, once again, I was pleasantly surprised not to find any Mary Sues on sight!
(+) The ending! The final battle was definitely something you don't see in many fantasy books.
Characters:
(+) Loved the back stories! Especially Leesil's!
(-) Although the character's were pretty awesome, mysterious and skillful, I found them difficult to relate to. It took some time until they showed any true compassion and regret for all the evil they have done and by then, I was finding it hard to care. For a while I was more involved with the villains' story.
Setting:
(-) The usual - medieval western European...
(+) It's only the first book, but I am hoping we'll get to see more places and different cultures in the next ones.
The MAJOR Problem:
(-) REPETITIVE!
(-) REPETITIVE! You get to experience the same scene up to 3 times from different point of views! Seriously! It feels like you're traveling back in time every time someone's fighting! And it happens over and over and over and over....
First books are usually the weakest ones so I am not giving up on the series! But would I recommend Dhampir to anyone? Not a 100% sure. It's a quick read, plenty of action, kick-ass characters and great fighting scenes. I am also looking forward to learning more about Magiere's father, Leesil's past and the role of the Elves in this world. Don't expect some awesome character development or world-building though...At least in the first book.
What I liked and didn't like:
The Plot:
(-) Basically, it's a book about one "fake" vampire hunter, one fake vampire and one magic dog who end up hunting vampires for real.
(+) Although the plot is rather predictable, there were quite a few surprises for me! I really liked the fact that the main characters start up as crooks, cheating villagers out of their money by pretending to vanquish imaginary vampires, only to save up and legally open their own tavern somewhere peaceful and quiet. It was quite refreshing to see characters who want to settle down and lead a normal and less eventful life.
(+) Second, I really enjoyed the presence of elves in the story. (Books that include different cultures and races are my favorite!) If you are afraid of getting a Dungeons and Dragons copycats, no worries.
(+) It was the first time ever that I cared equally about the villains too. We do get to experience some of the story from their point of view and I honestly didn't know who to root for even in the end. A really pleasant surprise and excellent characterization!
(+) Our main heroine is a Dhampir (half human, half vampire). That was actually the one thing that turned me off when I was considering whether to read the book a couple of years ago. I've read enough Paranormal Fantasies with Dhampirs to be repelled for life! So, once again, I was pleasantly surprised not to find any Mary Sues on sight!
(+) The ending! The final battle was definitely something you don't see in many fantasy books.
Characters:
(+) Loved the back stories! Especially Leesil's!
(-) Although the character's were pretty awesome, mysterious and skillful, I found them difficult to relate to. It took some time until they showed any true compassion and regret for all the evil they have done and by then, I was finding it hard to care. For a while I was more involved with the villains' story.
Setting:
(-) The usual - medieval western European...
(+) It's only the first book, but I am hoping we'll get to see more places and different cultures in the next ones.
The MAJOR Problem:
(-) REPETITIVE!
(-) REPETITIVE! You get to experience the same scene up to 3 times from different point of views! Seriously! It feels like you're traveling back in time every time someone's fighting! And it happens over and over and over and over....
First books are usually the weakest ones so I am not giving up on the series! But would I recommend Dhampir to anyone? Not a 100% sure. It's a quick read, plenty of action, kick-ass characters and great fighting scenes. I am also looking forward to learning more about Magiere's father, Leesil's past and the role of the Elves in this world. Don't expect some awesome character development or world-building though...At least in the first book.
August 7, 2007
The Hendees (husband and wife team) pair up to write
this "Buffy meets Lord of the Rings" series that is very addictive!! The series is not finished yet, which is the downside, but the good news is that they have 4 books out, enough to get on a roll. The series is about a
half-vampire, half-human woman who starts out as a thief but finds out she has special talents. Pretty fun and fast read! Individual titles are:
- Dhampir
- Thief of Lives
- Sister of the Dead
- Traitor to the Blood
this "Buffy meets Lord of the Rings" series that is very addictive!! The series is not finished yet, which is the downside, but the good news is that they have 4 books out, enough to get on a roll. The series is about a
half-vampire, half-human woman who starts out as a thief but finds out she has special talents. Pretty fun and fast read! Individual titles are:
- Dhampir
- Thief of Lives
- Sister of the Dead
- Traitor to the Blood
May 11, 2022
DNF pg. 230
This isn't a bad book, but I'm not really interested in finishing. I keep getting the side characters mixed up, and I don't have any strong feelings about this.
This isn't a bad book, but I'm not really interested in finishing. I keep getting the side characters mixed up, and I don't have any strong feelings about this.
January 13, 2010
I liked the premise of this book and I liked the first few chapters until I realized it was all a scam. I kept waiting for something supernatural to happen with Magiere and Leesil. Their "adventures" are rather boring but they turned out to be interesting characters nonetheless.
The move to respectibility was a good start but the new town had real vampires and the town expected the "vampire hunter" to take care of the problem and so did I. Somewhere around page 200 the action heated up and Magiere finally, finally started to act like a hunter.
I understand that this is the first book in the series and must build the world and characters so I'll try book two and hope it has more action.
The move to respectibility was a good start but the new town had real vampires and the town expected the "vampire hunter" to take care of the problem and so did I. Somewhere around page 200 the action heated up and Magiere finally, finally started to act like a hunter.
I understand that this is the first book in the series and must build the world and characters so I'll try book two and hope it has more action.
March 11, 2008
Leesil and Magiere have a pretty good con game going on---he pretends to be a vampire, she pretends to "slay" him, and thus they bilk innocent villagers out of their hard-earned cash. But Magiere has tired of this life, and when she decides to buy an inn and retire, a mysterious old man shows up insisting that she is a dhampir, or half vampire, half human, and the perfect vampire hunter. Thus begins one of the more interesting vampire series I have read lately: Barb and J.C. Hendee's "The Noble Dead." The Hendees have created an imaginary world with a pre-modern, Eastern European feel, which only grows more complex as the series goes on. Even more impressive than their world-building, however, is the care with which they have crafted their characters, who have realistic strengths and flaws, and whose backstories are gradually revealed throughout the series. The vampires, though clearly villains, are not two dimensional caricatures, and even Chap, the dog, has a backstory of his own! There's plenty of action here, which doesn't get in the way of character development, and the first book does a nice job of balancing tied up loose ends with the hint of things to come. I recommend this book (and this whole series) for those looking for a new take on imaginary world fantasy, or a different kind of vampire tale.
July 11, 2012
I am on page 162 and I have yet to get to the part where I just can't put the book down. I have been reading this book for two weeks. I went on vacation and was on long plane rides and instead of reading (which I always do) I either slept or watched my Ipod. I am not an electronic junkie. I usually go through 3 books during a week vacation, I couldn't get through this one. I am guessing it is because I feel absolutely no attachment at all to the characters, so I really don't care what happens.
The logical question is, "Why are you still reading it?" I hate to not finish a book and I just got to the part where they explained how the bad characters became bad (page 126 - 156) and now I actually kind of like one of the bad guys. The good guys, eh, whatever. Oh, really cool dog, though. To emphasize how the book doesn't draw you in, the dog is super cool and seems to have special powers, yet by page 163 we still don't know what they are or why or if it is even a dog. Intriguing for about 50 pages, after that, lose interest.
All I can say is, "Yeah, I finished!" I am not even curious about what comes next.
The logical question is, "Why are you still reading it?" I hate to not finish a book and I just got to the part where they explained how the bad characters became bad (page 126 - 156) and now I actually kind of like one of the bad guys. The good guys, eh, whatever. Oh, really cool dog, though. To emphasize how the book doesn't draw you in, the dog is super cool and seems to have special powers, yet by page 163 we still don't know what they are or why or if it is even a dog. Intriguing for about 50 pages, after that, lose interest.
All I can say is, "Yeah, I finished!" I am not even curious about what comes next.
January 27, 2016
I enjoy this book in the same way that my mother-in-law enjoys action movies. At no point during my reading am I putting on my critical theory glasses; I'm simply enjoying the plot on a purely surface level. The fantasy setting and the relationship between Leesil and Magiere (which hits the Dave-and-Maddie, will-they-or-won't-they notes in just the right way to draw out my inner romantic) create some kind of gestalt that I'm powerless to resist.
I'll be honest. I'm not qualified to tell you whether this book or this series is any good because I spend all my time eating metaphorical popcorn and thinking "Neat! Vampires and elves!"
I'll be honest. I'm not qualified to tell you whether this book or this series is any good because I spend all my time eating metaphorical popcorn and thinking "Neat! Vampires and elves!"
October 23, 2014
A pretty good new series. A bit of a downer. Sword & sorcery setting with a half vamp as a hero. Kind of an interesting world. Certainly not a 'must read' but if you come across a copy, you won't be wasting your time. The other books in the series are even a little better. Her writing improves, I think.
March 17, 2020
3.5 rounded up. I'm interested enough to read the next.
March 29, 2023
this is my 2nd time reading this but i had forgotten about parts and want to read the last of the books in the series so starting them over again, love the main characters and all. easy read.
July 2, 2010
Die Halbvampirin Magiere und der Halbelf Leesil ziehen durch die Dörfer umd den Bürgern ihr Geld abzuknöpfen. Um dies zu bewerkstelligen täuscht Magiere von eine Vampirjägerin zu sein. Da die Menschen sehr abergläubisch sind und an das Übernatürliche glauben, überlassen sie dem Gaunerpärchen bereitwillig ihr gespartes Geld. Doch Magiere möchte vortan ein normales Leben führen und beschließt mit Leesil in einem kleinen Hafenstädtchen eine Tarverne zu eröffnen.
Auf dem Weg in ihr neues Leben begegnen sie im Wald einem richtigen Vampir und töten ihn. Vortan sind eine Gemeinschaft von Vampiren hinter Magiere und Leesil hinterher und trachten besonders der Jägerin nach dem Leben…
"Halbblut" ist der erste Teil von Barb und J. C. Hendees High Fantasy Reihe "Dhampir". Wie schon der Titel besagt dreht sich die Geschichte um ein Halbblut, in diesem Fall die junge Frau Magiere die zu Beginn noch keine Ahnung über ihre wahre Herkunft hat.
Die spannende Story beginnt ohne lange Einleitung und Umschweife. In den ersten Kapiteln bekommt der Leser eine Vorstellung über das Gaunerleben von Magiere und Leesil die zusammen durch die Dörfer streifen. Als Leesils Hund das erste mal einen Vampir wittert und Magiere den Kampf aufnimmt kommt die Geschichte ins Rollen…
Eigentlich wollte Magiere mit Leesil vortan ein ruhigeres Leben in dem Hafenstädtchen Miska führen, doch gerade hier erwartet sie ein Bund von Vampiren die nach ihrem Leben trachten. Zuerst möchte Magiere nichts mit den ungewöhnlichen Todesfällen zu tun haben und streitet den Veracht eine Vampirjägerin zu sein konsequent ab. Als dann direkt in ihrer Tarverne eingebrochen und ihre Köchin getötet wird nimmt Magiere gemeinsam mit Leesil und einigen Dorfbewohnern den Kampf gegen die übersinnlichen Wesen auf.
Zu Beginn des Buches tat ich mich etwas schwer in die Geschehnisse von "Halbblut" einzutauchen, doch nachdem dem Leser immer mehr über die handelnden Charaktere preisgegeben wird und der Handlungsverlauf an Spannung gewinnt, konnte ich den Roman einfach nicht mehr aus den Händen legen. Besonders gut haben mir die bis zuletzt verschleierten Hintergründe über Magieres Herkunft gefallen. Aber auch Leesil mit seiner schweren Vergangenheit und seiner Flucht vor diesem Leben fesselten mich. Ich möchte jetzt nicht zuviel verraten, und empfehle euch selbst einmal in der Dhampir-Reihe zu schmöckern.
Mein Fazit:
Eine spannender Auftakt der High-Fantasy-Reihe "Dhampir"!
Auf dem Weg in ihr neues Leben begegnen sie im Wald einem richtigen Vampir und töten ihn. Vortan sind eine Gemeinschaft von Vampiren hinter Magiere und Leesil hinterher und trachten besonders der Jägerin nach dem Leben…
"Halbblut" ist der erste Teil von Barb und J. C. Hendees High Fantasy Reihe "Dhampir". Wie schon der Titel besagt dreht sich die Geschichte um ein Halbblut, in diesem Fall die junge Frau Magiere die zu Beginn noch keine Ahnung über ihre wahre Herkunft hat.
Die spannende Story beginnt ohne lange Einleitung und Umschweife. In den ersten Kapiteln bekommt der Leser eine Vorstellung über das Gaunerleben von Magiere und Leesil die zusammen durch die Dörfer streifen. Als Leesils Hund das erste mal einen Vampir wittert und Magiere den Kampf aufnimmt kommt die Geschichte ins Rollen…
Eigentlich wollte Magiere mit Leesil vortan ein ruhigeres Leben in dem Hafenstädtchen Miska führen, doch gerade hier erwartet sie ein Bund von Vampiren die nach ihrem Leben trachten. Zuerst möchte Magiere nichts mit den ungewöhnlichen Todesfällen zu tun haben und streitet den Veracht eine Vampirjägerin zu sein konsequent ab. Als dann direkt in ihrer Tarverne eingebrochen und ihre Köchin getötet wird nimmt Magiere gemeinsam mit Leesil und einigen Dorfbewohnern den Kampf gegen die übersinnlichen Wesen auf.
Zu Beginn des Buches tat ich mich etwas schwer in die Geschehnisse von "Halbblut" einzutauchen, doch nachdem dem Leser immer mehr über die handelnden Charaktere preisgegeben wird und der Handlungsverlauf an Spannung gewinnt, konnte ich den Roman einfach nicht mehr aus den Händen legen. Besonders gut haben mir die bis zuletzt verschleierten Hintergründe über Magieres Herkunft gefallen. Aber auch Leesil mit seiner schweren Vergangenheit und seiner Flucht vor diesem Leben fesselten mich. Ich möchte jetzt nicht zuviel verraten, und empfehle euch selbst einmal in der Dhampir-Reihe zu schmöckern.
Mein Fazit:
Eine spannender Auftakt der High-Fantasy-Reihe "Dhampir"!
November 8, 2010
This is the first book in the Noble Dead series. Magiere and her half-elf partner, Leesil, have the cleverest scam in the land going. Magiere pretends to be a vampire hunter, while Leesil impersonates a vampire who is always killed in the end. They end up sucking up all the villagers money and leaving. However, after the last scam, Magiere decides to quit. She has already saved alot of money up and intends on opening up a tavern and retiring for good.
Magiere eventually meets a mysterious man named Welstiel who tells her that she's actually the daughter of a recently turned vampire father and a human mother. She grew up ostracized from her own village because of the fact that her mother died, and her father left her behind. I like Magiere, in that she's truly a reluctant heroine. She doesn't believe in the nonsense that she's a Dhampire, until they go after the vampires, and she survives thanks to Leesil and the mysterious Welsteil.
Her sword and necklace were specially created by her father to kill vampires. We learnd that Leesil's Husky Chap, is also a vampire killer and can damage a vampire just by biting them. Chap is a truly amazing dog, and loyal to the end.
Leesil and Magiere are far from perfect, and they have lots and lots of flaws, especially the awful scams they have played to rip off villages. However, I love dark books like this with the characters who aren't goody goody and do nothing wrong. I want my vampire evil, and I want them to not live in the daylight. I want them to feed off human blood, and not drink cocktails, or out of blood bags.
Another positive? No wasteful sex scenes! Yayayayayayayay!
Magiere eventually meets a mysterious man named Welstiel who tells her that she's actually the daughter of a recently turned vampire father and a human mother. She grew up ostracized from her own village because of the fact that her mother died, and her father left her behind. I like Magiere, in that she's truly a reluctant heroine. She doesn't believe in the nonsense that she's a Dhampire, until they go after the vampires, and she survives thanks to Leesil and the mysterious Welsteil.
Her sword and necklace were specially created by her father to kill vampires. We learnd that Leesil's Husky Chap, is also a vampire killer and can damage a vampire just by biting them. Chap is a truly amazing dog, and loyal to the end.
Leesil and Magiere are far from perfect, and they have lots and lots of flaws, especially the awful scams they have played to rip off villages. However, I love dark books like this with the characters who aren't goody goody and do nothing wrong. I want my vampire evil, and I want them to not live in the daylight. I want them to feed off human blood, and not drink cocktails, or out of blood bags.
Another positive? No wasteful sex scenes! Yayayayayayayay!
April 25, 2008
I recommend this book, and the three-star rating I'm giving it feels a little harsh. (Three and one half stars, anyone?) Barb and J.C. Hendee have created an appealing protagonist, essentially a vampire slayer a la Buffy, but not a carbon copy of Whedon's creation at all. Her personality, background and hang-ups are certainly her own, not stuck somewhere in Sunnydale. Her companion, Leesil, has an interesting backstory himself, and such a thoughtfully conceived character earns his share of the narrative!
I also appreciate the fact that the authors have made the vampires three-dimensional characters, earning some empathy even as they wreak havoc.
The plot is a strong point here, which is unusual, as vampire novels often collapse into a soapy mess of blood-red roses and heaving bodices. Instead, the story is subtler and more interesting: the orbits of vampire and vampire hunter creep ever closer, a process born more of gravity and inevitability (dare I say fate?) than of any desire to fight.
So, all that and only three stars? I'm on the edge of four here. But one thing this book didn't do -- it didn't hook me. It didn't make me stay up way past my bedtime just to find out what happens. I think that some of the "in between" passages felt too static, the rhythm perhaps a bit unsettled as action and intrigue give way to exposition and backstory without keeping the blood pumping.
Before I spout another blood analogy, I think I'd better stop here and sink my teeth into the sequel!
I also appreciate the fact that the authors have made the vampires three-dimensional characters, earning some empathy even as they wreak havoc.
The plot is a strong point here, which is unusual, as vampire novels often collapse into a soapy mess of blood-red roses and heaving bodices. Instead, the story is subtler and more interesting: the orbits of vampire and vampire hunter creep ever closer, a process born more of gravity and inevitability (dare I say fate?) than of any desire to fight.
So, all that and only three stars? I'm on the edge of four here. But one thing this book didn't do -- it didn't hook me. It didn't make me stay up way past my bedtime just to find out what happens. I think that some of the "in between" passages felt too static, the rhythm perhaps a bit unsettled as action and intrigue give way to exposition and backstory without keeping the blood pumping.
Before I spout another blood analogy, I think I'd better stop here and sink my teeth into the sequel!
August 21, 2012
Let's write a fantasy. Let's populate the fantasy with lots of places. Let's act vague about where those places are in the grand scheme of things, well, some are to the north, some are to the south, some have names that sound Slavic, and well, who cares, this is a fantasy.
Wrong. World building fail.
Characters, well, let's see, the half Elf is easily dismissed until toward the end when you want him to turn around and bitch-slap the so-called heroine. The serious, brooding female slayer/heroine is just a freaking sullen pain in the ass who refuses to listen to anyone. She broods, she sulks, she deserved the half-elf's sock in the jaw. The vampires are, well, annoying.
Character fail.
Do I need to go on? The premise intrigued me, but the book almost defeated my patience. Here's another fail; it seemed when any character aside from the sullen pain in the ass heroine sat down to think, the reader was treated to a ten page or longer backstory. Damned too much tell and not show here. Lazy.
The only reason I'm giving this book two stars is that the action scenes were well done. Aside from those times, the characters act stupidly merely to move along the plot.
Plus there's the "dog" Chap who seems to be, hmmm, 15 years old, but still spry as ever but, when the owner is told that the dog is "special", no one addresses the fascinating problem.
In truth this book is like a chair that someone built but forgot to screw together. Messy details leads to a fail.
Wrong. World building fail.
Characters, well, let's see, the half Elf is easily dismissed until toward the end when you want him to turn around and bitch-slap the so-called heroine. The serious, brooding female slayer/heroine is just a freaking sullen pain in the ass who refuses to listen to anyone. She broods, she sulks, she deserved the half-elf's sock in the jaw. The vampires are, well, annoying.
Character fail.
Do I need to go on? The premise intrigued me, but the book almost defeated my patience. Here's another fail; it seemed when any character aside from the sullen pain in the ass heroine sat down to think, the reader was treated to a ten page or longer backstory. Damned too much tell and not show here. Lazy.
The only reason I'm giving this book two stars is that the action scenes were well done. Aside from those times, the characters act stupidly merely to move along the plot.
Plus there's the "dog" Chap who seems to be, hmmm, 15 years old, but still spry as ever but, when the owner is told that the dog is "special", no one addresses the fascinating problem.
In truth this book is like a chair that someone built but forgot to screw together. Messy details leads to a fail.
January 24, 2011
I'm back! I'm no longer a PKD judge so I can write about what I'm reading. So, I grabbed this two weeks ago when I was in L.A. Even though I have the IPad for flights (download books, read _and_ listen to music all at the same time), I need a paperback book when the plane is taking off and landing, and I can't use electronic devices. A really nice sales person at the Bookstar in Studio City recommend this and another book.
I enjoyed this book, enough so that I want to continue reading the series. It isn't the heroine so much as her half-elf sidekick that won my heart. Maybe that's because I'm playing a lot of Dragon Age, and I really like the elf Zevran, but whatever the source Lessil is still a good character.
The authors did something interesting in that they have the vampires as POV characters in the book so you have a sense of their doomed lives, their pasts, etc, and you feel sorry for them and interested in them. It's nice to have this kind of ambivalence and greyness. You're cheering for the vampire hunter, but she has flaws as well, and both groups are being manipulated by a mysterious third party which is always fun.
I enjoyed this and I will read more in the series.
I enjoyed this book, enough so that I want to continue reading the series. It isn't the heroine so much as her half-elf sidekick that won my heart. Maybe that's because I'm playing a lot of Dragon Age, and I really like the elf Zevran, but whatever the source Lessil is still a good character.
The authors did something interesting in that they have the vampires as POV characters in the book so you have a sense of their doomed lives, their pasts, etc, and you feel sorry for them and interested in them. It's nice to have this kind of ambivalence and greyness. You're cheering for the vampire hunter, but she has flaws as well, and both groups are being manipulated by a mysterious third party which is always fun.
I enjoyed this and I will read more in the series.
August 12, 2013
Three and a half stars.
I picked up this book at a Half Price Bookstore this past weekend on a whim and, cheesy cover aside, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. So much so that I read it in less than 24 hours and promptly returned to the store to pick up the next three books in the series. The story is somewhat of a return to traditional fantasy and is told in third person from the points of view of multiple characters. While I like and enjoy first person POV, third person allows the luxury of getting important insight into all the characters, including the "villains." I use quotation marks here because by the halfway point in this book I was torn as to who to root for. I didn't want anyone to lose and, as a result, I knew that no matter how the book ended I was going to feel sad about it.
I enjoyed getting to know all the different characters. There was a main focus on four, including Magiere and Leesil who are depicted on the cover. They don't start as very heroic or noble characers, far from it in fact. Having worked together for four years, they have a well established partnership but events soon start to test that bond and it'll either strengthen or fall. I know which one I'm rooting for.
I picked up this book at a Half Price Bookstore this past weekend on a whim and, cheesy cover aside, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. So much so that I read it in less than 24 hours and promptly returned to the store to pick up the next three books in the series. The story is somewhat of a return to traditional fantasy and is told in third person from the points of view of multiple characters. While I like and enjoy first person POV, third person allows the luxury of getting important insight into all the characters, including the "villains." I use quotation marks here because by the halfway point in this book I was torn as to who to root for. I didn't want anyone to lose and, as a result, I knew that no matter how the book ended I was going to feel sad about it.
I enjoyed getting to know all the different characters. There was a main focus on four, including Magiere and Leesil who are depicted on the cover. They don't start as very heroic or noble characers, far from it in fact. Having worked together for four years, they have a well established partnership but events soon start to test that bond and it'll either strengthen or fall. I know which one I'm rooting for.
January 12, 2011
I enjoyed the set up of this book. The main characters go around robbing poor peasants of their money by pretending to be vampire and hunter. It turns out that thievery is in one of the character's blood as hunting is in the other. The hunter decided to settle down and manage an inn, and her partner goes along for the ride. On the way there the duo meet a few real vampires. The hunter denies what is right in front of her face. All of that was pretty interesting, and that was the front part of the book. Unfortunately the characters decide to go on a 50 page hunt of the vampires through a tunnel. It takes another 50 pages for the main character to learn about what she is and accept it. The novel was too drawn out. I couldn't stomach the 50 page long chase scene, it is entirely too much. I was very let down with the second half of this novel. It started out so well, I really wanted to like it. The characters were decent, though the back story of the vampires was more interesting than our main characters. Robbing peasants for years didn't help us relate to the characters. Just a mediocre effort at best. I wouldn't recommend this.
July 17, 2016
3.5 stars
After recovering from my initial horror that the protagonists made a living fleecing poor villagers with their fake vampire hunting, I started to really enjoy this book. Karma is a bitch, because Magiere and Leesil find themselves meeting real vampires on the way to their ill-gained retirement. Mariere's complete denial that the undead really exist did wear on my nerves, but accepting their existence would have meant that her scorn at the ignorant villagers she has been cheating for the past few years was completely misplaced.
The fighting scenes were phenomenal; exciting, fast-paced, and impossible to stop reading in the middle of. The story clicked briskly along until after the battle at the warehouse, then I thought it dragged needlessly - at least until the final battle. I'm curious to see what's in store for our redeemed heroes.
After recovering from my initial horror that the protagonists made a living fleecing poor villagers with their fake vampire hunting, I started to really enjoy this book. Karma is a bitch, because Magiere and Leesil find themselves meeting real vampires on the way to their ill-gained retirement. Mariere's complete denial that the undead really exist did wear on my nerves, but accepting their existence would have meant that her scorn at the ignorant villagers she has been cheating for the past few years was completely misplaced.
The fighting scenes were phenomenal; exciting, fast-paced, and impossible to stop reading in the middle of. The story clicked briskly along until after the battle at the warehouse, then I thought it dragged needlessly - at least until the final battle. I'm curious to see what's in store for our redeemed heroes.
July 21, 2015
yeah I'm not gonna finish this. I don't mind the idea of the basis of the book centering around a vamp hunter in fact I think its awesome and a fresh take on the normal vamp series. and anyone who reads my reviews knows I love a badass heroine. I don't however like heroines who take advantage of poor people and use their fears to wring them out of all their money. I just dont see how the character could redeem herself enough to make the rest of the book worth reading which is a bummer because from what I could tell the writing was actually really good.
Read
November 15, 2016These books are surprisingly entertaining. Nothing earth-shatteringly deep, but really nice mix of horror and fantasy about a vampire hunter in a classic medieval fantasy setting. I'm enjoying them quite a bit because they are quick and fun reads and I needed something to scratch my Halloween reading season itch.
January 10, 2010
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I loved the characters!
September 1, 2020
I won't lie, I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed this.
One review back in the day ( 2003) called it a mix of lord of the rings and buffy the vampire slayer. I get why, lord of the rings was fresh on everyone's mind and so was buffy a tv icon. Yet I would not pick these ingredients to describe this book. A much better comparison would be Blade meets witcher.
Like Blade, the main character, Magiere, is a half vampire having the strength but not the weakness of the vampire. Like blade she did not know her parents and was shunned during her youth. Then like Geralt of Rivia she is a hunter for hire trekking across a vaguely Baltic/slavic countryside uncomfortable in human presence accompanied by a smoothtalking companion, the half elf Leesil and his dog Chap. Even though I should point out that the slavic/baltic feel to it, was very shallow as compared to the Witcher, cultural backgrounds of writers does affect their work after all. What separates Magiere from both Blade and Gerald, is that she doesn't want to live on the road anymore. She wants to settle down, a quiet life with the two beings she can stand in her presence. Unfortunatly for her, trouble finds her in her chose resting spot as vampires have made their home in the seaside town she decided she would hang up her sword.
The book isn't great on surprise and sticks to classic tropes but it does so more then adequately and I never got bored or rolled my eyes or sighed. Perhaps the only thing I found not that well thought out, was the size and importance of the port town. At the one had it is portrayed as a small place and as out of the way, yet at the same time ships come and leave the docks almost daily? The number of people seems relatively small as we have the baker, the blacksmith and so on but yet it can have several taverns and one fancy Inn? I feel like halfway through they found that they had made the town a bit too small for their setting and had tried to enlarge it a bit, but did not quite manage to pull it off.
What perplexed me the most however, is how little time we spent with Magiere. Yeah she is the main character, her face is on the cover yet I feel as if we spent quite a bit of time more with Leesil and the vampires. Not that I am complaining per se, because all of them were well thought out characters. I was genuinely surprised about the depth of the vampires motivations and emotions. They felt more like the vampires from True blood then they did Dracula. They felt as individuals who want to live their (undead) lives on their terms, who have doubts and concerns. On some level, it does not quite feel as if they are the villains, yes they killed but every time they did it was circumstances or their emotions that had forced them to do so. They did not see themselves as villains or as inhuman monsters, on the contrary even. It made the confrontation a lot more impactful as if it had not needed to happen or could have played out in a different way.
So what is next? Will I pick up the sequel? Hmm not sure. The thing is near the end of the book elements of destiny and overarching evil plans are trickling in and that always makes me weary. To me destiny in fantasy books is way to easy go to formula for plot device and kinda puts me off. In particular because Magiere still is a rather bland persona and I fear that destiny and such will take place of actual character development. I mean yeah I guess that the entire premise of the Dhampir, a much more fancy title then Blade's daywalker but functionally the same thing, has this aura of legend and thus destiny to it.....
Then again blade was presented as unique, while Magiere is special but not unique. Perhaps that will be expanded upon in the sequal? Or will it take a turn for the witcher with a "you scare us almost as much as the things you fight" theme? I am actually a bit curious.... The second book is taking place in a much bigger setting and seems as more of a murder mystery then this one was..... Ok I'll admit, if I ever come across the second book like I did the first, I might just give it a shot. Perhaps if only to get more time with Leesil who was my favorite character.
One review back in the day ( 2003) called it a mix of lord of the rings and buffy the vampire slayer. I get why, lord of the rings was fresh on everyone's mind and so was buffy a tv icon. Yet I would not pick these ingredients to describe this book. A much better comparison would be Blade meets witcher.
Like Blade, the main character, Magiere, is a half vampire having the strength but not the weakness of the vampire. Like blade she did not know her parents and was shunned during her youth. Then like Geralt of Rivia she is a hunter for hire trekking across a vaguely Baltic/slavic countryside uncomfortable in human presence accompanied by a smoothtalking companion, the half elf Leesil and his dog Chap. Even though I should point out that the slavic/baltic feel to it, was very shallow as compared to the Witcher, cultural backgrounds of writers does affect their work after all. What separates Magiere from both Blade and Gerald, is that she doesn't want to live on the road anymore. She wants to settle down, a quiet life with the two beings she can stand in her presence. Unfortunatly for her, trouble finds her in her chose resting spot as vampires have made their home in the seaside town she decided she would hang up her sword.
The book isn't great on surprise and sticks to classic tropes but it does so more then adequately and I never got bored or rolled my eyes or sighed. Perhaps the only thing I found not that well thought out, was the size and importance of the port town. At the one had it is portrayed as a small place and as out of the way, yet at the same time ships come and leave the docks almost daily? The number of people seems relatively small as we have the baker, the blacksmith and so on but yet it can have several taverns and one fancy Inn? I feel like halfway through they found that they had made the town a bit too small for their setting and had tried to enlarge it a bit, but did not quite manage to pull it off.
What perplexed me the most however, is how little time we spent with Magiere. Yeah she is the main character, her face is on the cover yet I feel as if we spent quite a bit of time more with Leesil and the vampires. Not that I am complaining per se, because all of them were well thought out characters. I was genuinely surprised about the depth of the vampires motivations and emotions. They felt more like the vampires from True blood then they did Dracula. They felt as individuals who want to live their (undead) lives on their terms, who have doubts and concerns. On some level, it does not quite feel as if they are the villains, yes they killed but every time they did it was circumstances or their emotions that had forced them to do so. They did not see themselves as villains or as inhuman monsters, on the contrary even. It made the confrontation a lot more impactful as if it had not needed to happen or could have played out in a different way.
So what is next? Will I pick up the sequel? Hmm not sure. The thing is near the end of the book elements of destiny and overarching evil plans are trickling in and that always makes me weary. To me destiny in fantasy books is way to easy go to formula for plot device and kinda puts me off. In particular because Magiere still is a rather bland persona and I fear that destiny and such will take place of actual character development. I mean yeah I guess that the entire premise of the Dhampir, a much more fancy title then Blade's daywalker but functionally the same thing, has this aura of legend and thus destiny to it.....
Then again blade was presented as unique, while Magiere is special but not unique. Perhaps that will be expanded upon in the sequal? Or will it take a turn for the witcher with a "you scare us almost as much as the things you fight" theme? I am actually a bit curious.... The second book is taking place in a much bigger setting and seems as more of a murder mystery then this one was..... Ok I'll admit, if I ever come across the second book like I did the first, I might just give it a shot. Perhaps if only to get more time with Leesil who was my favorite character.
July 30, 2018
I liked it well enough, especially the main characters, Magiere and Leesil. They are both strong in their own way, closed and hard to connect with, but they do try to find something with each other, a kind of a safe place.
The writing is a bit awkward, but detailed and I didn't have a lot of problems with it. The plot though, dragged and grew repetitive after a while, as I felt it could all be done with a lot faster. Anyway, I'm going to continue with the series for now, both for the Magiere's self discovery path and for her story with Leesil.
The writing is a bit awkward, but detailed and I didn't have a lot of problems with it. The plot though, dragged and grew repetitive after a while, as I felt it could all be done with a lot faster. Anyway, I'm going to continue with the series for now, both for the Magiere's self discovery path and for her story with Leesil.
January 23, 2019
This one took me a while to get through, now the story was amazing, it kept me entertained until the last page but I had a couple of issues with the editing and certain decisions that were made. They decided to go over the same scenes from the perspective of different characters and that just kept backtracking the story rather than adding to it. So while this story was cheesy at times and lacked a couple of edits, I still had a blast, I do have to admit that the story also felt a little jumbled, like they were going one way but thought this other idea sounded cool so they just shove it into the existing plot line instead of easing into it, throwing me off more than once.
I am not one to read a lot of fantasy but the way this book was done made it easier to do so, I loved the characters, the setting and the overall feel of the book. So while it was no masterpiece, it is still a book worth checking out.
I am not one to read a lot of fantasy but the way this book was done made it easier to do so, I loved the characters, the setting and the overall feel of the book. So while it was no masterpiece, it is still a book worth checking out.
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