2024 paranormal fantasy, sixth of a nine-book series. Not only does
Lorelei have an unwelcome house guest, the Wild Hunt is on the way.
I didn't really notice book three as being the end of the first
part of the story, but this definitely feels like the end of the
second. Several plot elements are significantly advanced, including
what was special about Lorelei's parents and what specifically
happened to them. We now have a fairly solid answer to the question of
what sort of supernatural entity Lorelei is, even if it's one that
only really makes sense in terms of the series' own cosmology.
I am getting less impressed with Lorelei as a character. Yes, she had
a traumatic upbringing that impressed on her the need to be secret and
self-sufficient, but we're six books in to her only getting out of
situations thanks to working with her friends, and you'd think she'd
have started to get the hang of it by now, and maybe even stop blaming
herself for everything. But no. There are some bridges which I'm
glad to see mended, but there's clearly a long way to go. Well, three
more books, I suppose.
I admit I stumbled rather over
Ancient Greeks even used the term ‘sub rosa,' which meant under the
roses. Hidden. Secret.
Well, no, obviously they didn't. But neither as far as I can tell did
the Romans; it appears to show up in 1654, as a new way of expressing
the existing English term "under the rose" (derivation thoroughly
argued).
And you can tell this is a significant plot progression because n
anzrq tbbq thl punenpgre qvrf. Naq vs, xabjvat gung, lbh pnaabg thrff
juvpu punenpgre vg'f tbvat gb or, lbh'ir arire ernq bar bs gurfr obbxf
orsber. V jnf abg vasbezrq va nqinapr, ohg gur ivpgvz'f orunivbhe
nybar znqr vg pyrne gung gurl jrera'g ybat sbe guvf jbeyq; vg'f abg
dhvgr orvat va lbhe ynfg jrrx orsber ergverzrag naq gnyxvat nobhg lbhe
jvsr naq xvqf jnvgvat onpx ubzr naq gur arj onol ba gur jnl, ohg zl
jbeq vg'f pybfr.
As with the others in the series this is a fairly short book by modern
novel standards, but it took me a while to get through, and mostly
that's because I didn't feel enthused to pick it up rather than spend
the time I had doing something else. Once it gets going, about half
way through, it's rather more fun, but until then it feels like wading
through porridge.
At this point I'll probably finish the series unless the quality drops
off appallingly, but this wasn't one of the books I enjoyed.