Sunday, June 24, 2012

Review: Delver Magic Book II: Throne of Vengeance

Title: Delver Magic Book II: Throne of Vengeance
Author: Jeff Inlo
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
ISBN: N/A      ASIN: B0030ZRWY4

The epic of Ryson Acumen continues! The world is newly flush with magic and monsters and everyone is struggling to adapt. In the midst of this turmoil, the King of the dwarves abdicates, and the Queen Mother with the aid of anti-monarchy rebels usurps the throne. She then begins a war of retribution, seeking to avenge the death of her son, who died in the previous book helping to save the world. Ryson learns of her intentions and tries to warn her victims but is too late, but his actions cause the war to escalate bringing other nations. Soon it is the dwarves versus everyone, and it is up to Ryson and his friends to prevent genocide and war.

My opinion of this book is much the same as that of the last: the story suffers.

The characters are romantic by nature. Their perfection, especially that of Ryson, robs the story of much of its potential and even serves as a consistent deus ex machina. This is especially true of Ryson and his preternatural speed: no one can touch him in combat, or escape him, his sense keep people from hiding from or surprising him, and his unfailing moral compass accepts no challenge.

Then comes the tendency of  characters to lecture and preach only to follow it up in "do you understand?" If the author wishes to explore a moral problem or an idea, show the reader through the story, guide them. To preach and lecture only serves to detract from the story and rob the reader of interest.

There are some persistent edit errors: using "then" instead of "than" and vice versa, among others.

This story was a good time killer, not bad but not excellent either. If it hadn't been free, I most likely would never have ventured to try it. In a book store or library I would have put it back on the shelf, as I could have perused it first. (I obtained the first three books in the series at the same time and price, and read them all.)

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