Title: Dance of the Gods
Series: Circle Trilogy
Author: Nora Roberts
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: October 3, 2006
Publisher: Berkley
ASIN: B000O76N9G
He saw where the earth was scorched, where it was trampled. He saw his own hoofprints left in the sodden earth when he’d galloped through the battle in the form of a horse. And he saw the woman who’d ridden him, slashing destruction with a flaming sword...
Blair Murphy has always worked alone. Destined to be a demon hunter in a world that doesn’t believe in such things, she lives for the kill. But now, she finds herself the warrior in a circle of six, chosen by the goddess Morrigan to defeat the vampire Lilith and her minions.
Learning to trust the others has been hard, for Blair has never allowed herself such a luxury. But she finds herself drawn to Larkin, a man of many shapes. As a horse, he is proud and graceful; as a dragon, beautifully fierce; and as a man...well, Blair has never seen one quite so ruggedly handsome and playfully charming as this nobleman from the past.
In two months’ time, the circle of six will face Lilith and her army in Geall. To complete preparations and round up forces to fight, the circle travels through time to Larkin’s world, where Blair must choose between battling her overwhelming attraction to him—or risking everything for a love that can never be...
My rating:
Blair Murphy, the last in the long line of demon hunters, is used to work alone. But when she joins the circle of six, tasked by the goddess Morrigan to save the worlds from Lilith and her hordes of vampires and demons, she has no choice but to go against the grain and become a team player.
Which isn't such a chore considering the team she's working with. A future-queen who's also a mean archer, a shape-shifter that also pretty easy on the eyes, a witch and a sorcerer and a vampire who just happen to be her who-knows-how-many-great-uncles.
Now the time has come for their group to travel to the mystical land of Geall to do battle and their little team of misfits find themselves training an army...
While the first book set the stage, presented the characters and expertly built the world and mythos, this second ones brings the characters and the reader closer to war. There's no more squabbling and infighting (if you don't count sexual frustration, of course), the team is well-established, developing a nice and steady rapport, trust has been built, connections have been made...
While that created conflict before, the conflict, the leading force of the narrative, now comes from the coming battle and the preparations for it...And from the heroine and her issues and past experiences. While I appreciated the first, the latter annoyed me beyond measures. While Blair might've been considered a typical NR female lead—sharp around the edges, gun shy, not letting people get too close—she was a bit too cold and callous for my taste. And rather whiny, if you think of it. Sure, two guys left, but that doesn't mean everybody else will, yet that was her mentality for the better part of the book. And it pisses me off the luck of the draw gave her the picture-perfect hero that was Larkin. Honestly, he deserved better.
My dislike for Blair probably colored my perspective of the romance, I guess. Or maybe the main romance simply wasn't as interesting and intriguing as the one happening on the sidelines since the moment Larkin and his cousin Moira traveled to Ireland in the first book.
"If I were still in the habit of it, I'd bite you in a heartbeat."
She lowered the tea cup to fron at him. "Is that, in some strange way, a kind of flattery?"
"Take it as you like."
"Well. Thank you...I suppose."
So, with the romance (at least the one "driving" this particular story) out of the way, the overall trilogy arc took center stage. The narrative sharpened and tightened, creating a literary equivalent of scooting forward in your seat at the movies. The perils looked more real, more imminent, the sense of danger and urgency was augmented, and the little sprinkles of levity and peace thrown in, just heightened the anticipation, the darkness lurking, waiting to pounce.
I can't wait for the next book. For the battle...and for...
"For God's sake, stop me."
When his mouth crushed down on hers, she felt everything. Too much. It was dark and it was bright, it was hard, and unbearably soft. All that was inside her rushed toward it, reckless and crazed.
Then he was standing aside, a foot away from her, and it seemed all the breath had left her body.
"That's not the way he'd have tasted you."
"I found Moira arguing with Cian at the edge of the courtyard."
"Not a big surprise."
"It was when he finished the argument with his lips."
"Come again?"
"He kissed her. Hard, steamy, passionate."
"Ho boy."
"She was pretty shaken." Glenna glanced over her shoulder. "And not, in my opinion, due to insult and outrage."
"I repeat: Ho boy."
And the resolution to the big problem...
The shadows will fall, dark upon dark, and demons rise from it. A sword flames through it, and a crown shines. Magic beats like a heart, and what was lost can be regained if that heart is willing.
Please, be willing. I know I am to read about it.
4 stars, bitchslappable heroine/hero, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, paranormal, paranormal romance, shape-shifters, time-travel, vampires
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment