2016 modern fantasy. Dina Demille's magical inn will be the site of
another meeting: a dying species has hired a group mind to work out
where to find their new home world. But there's another species out
there which regards slaughtering the first one as a religious
obligation. Oh, and Dina's sister has just sent a message, asking for
help.
I'm not entirely happy about a sister being suddenly brought in
like this. Yes, she's mentioned in the first book, though not by name;
while her characterisation here isn't inconsistent with the brief
mention there, it's certainly not what one would expect. Still, her
presence does help to resolve some situations which were veering into
cliché, and to set up some more interesting ones; and her daughter, a
Killer Moppet, is written with tolerable levels of cute. So that's
good.
And he'd lost none of his flair for the dramatic. "Are you going to
war, Lord Marshal?" Please don't be going to war.
"No, I was attending a formal dinner." He grimaced. "They make us
wear armor to these things so we don't stab ourselves out of sheer
boredom."
This is a more straightforward story than the second book: the inn
comes under siege, but for plot convenience Dina also has to go out
and retrieve the members of the group mind as they suddenly appear in
inconvenient places at short notice.
True Love abounds, perhaps a bit too much of it. But there's also
post-traumatic stress and major depression… and while they're very
well portrayed, the latter seems out of character, as well as removing
agency and significance from the nominal protagonist. Perhaps it's the
authors' intention to make Dina aware that she's part of a team now,
not a solo player, but it tastes a little off; and while that's still
lingering, the solution to the warring alien species seems just a
shade pat.
But in spite of the minor problems, it's good. The people here are
still basically grown-ups, and they resolve their relationship
problems like grown-ups rather than just jumping into bed and hoping
everything will work out. That's worth a hell of a lot in any book,
and especially in one that's got sexy werewolves and vampires in it.
To be followed by Sweep of the Blade, a side story which is still in
progress at the authors' site.
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