Thursday, December 27, 2012

"Lord's Fall" By: Thea Harrison Review

Lord's Fall (Elder Races, #5)
Lord's Fall
By: Thea Harrison

Synopsis from Goodreads
In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them… Before she met Dragos, half-human/half-Wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now she’s mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyrs’ frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners—in more places than just the bedroom. In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the Games heat up, Pia’s negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear…
My Thoughts
     I almost took a day off of work to read the sequel to Dragos’ and Pia’s love story, following Dragon Bound, but I’m sad to say it would have been a wasted day. Normally Thea’s books take me mere hours to go through as I devour each word. Unfortunately I felt this book was so mired in conflict that the original spark simply diminished.
     First off, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to people who have not read Dragon Bound or any of the others in the Elder Races series. I’ve read all of them and there were still parts where I had to go back to another book to find out exactly what was happening or who so and so was. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it was enough of one to become a bit distracting.
     Lord’s Fall begins as Pia is leaving New York and heading down south to where the Fae have their headquarters. She is going to try to negotiate a peace between the warring cultures. Pia is venturing out on her own, without her mate Dragos, due to the ongoing hostilities and because coincidentally the Sentinel games area also occurring at the same time.
     I’m ashamed to say it, but I almost didn’t finish this book because it was so boring for me. In Dragon Bound, I loved Dragos. He was so naughty, quick witted, and self-assured. Pia was smart and wasn’t about to let anyone boss her. In this title everything seemed to different. Very little of that spark was there since most of the time the couple spent time apart. Much of the novel dealt with internal squabbling between royals of the different species and I frankly lost interest.
     That’s not to say though, when Pia and Dragos finally reunite after what seemed like forever, it wasn’t explosive. I heaved a sigh of relief when they finally were reunited, because hey, that’s what I came to the party for.

As soon as her skin didn’t throb from the heat, she ran forward. She barely felt her feet touch the ground. As she approached him, Dragos shifted into his human form and raced toward her, his bronzed, machete hewn features thrown into dark shadow by the intense glow in his eyes.
When she was still a few yards away, she leaped. He snatched her out of the air and clenched her to him as she wrapped arms and legs around him. He went to his knees, holding her so tightly she couldn’t breathe, and his Power enveloped her. One tremendous hand cupped the back of her head. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder as he put his face in her neck.
Neither one said anything. Their bruising hold on each other said it all.

     I feel somewhat bad for not enjoying the book as other reviewers have and at times it almost seemed like I wasn’t even reading the same book they had read. I did finish, after several days of faltering through and skimming much of the battling. Thea Harrison is normally a wonderful and dynamic author who is usually an autobuy for me, but for some reason Pia and Dragos’ followup fell flat. If you are a fan of the series I’d suggest reading this one, but otherwise please check out Dragon Bound. It’s sooooo much better!

Book Details
Publisher: Berkley
# of Pages: 281
Date of Publication: November 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-0425251065

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this review--I almost picked this one up the other day, and now I'm glad I didn't. I think I'll read the first one and stop there.

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  2. One of these days I have to give this author a try. Too bad it was only a three star read. Great review though.
    -Kimberly @ Turning the Pages

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