gilda_elise

Times are troubled in the lands of Taratamia and Karenia (the Opal Kingdom and the Pearl Realm). Old enmities surface and mighty battles are in the offing. Brave Captain Tallis escorts a royal bride to her wedding, but will the groom be present? Will he, too, find undying love along the way? And what of the feisty tomboy Barbel, who will stop at nothing to join the army and follow her Captain? All the while lustful young men meet their fates at the hands of the evil, power-hungry Queen Malkar, their life and youth stoking the very soul of evil... something dark, shape-shifting and drawn from the depths.

I wanted to read this book because I’d so enjoyed the author’s historical novels, especially We Speak No Treason, a book about Richard III. But I think she should have stuck with what she knew. The book is readable…just. The characters never make much of an impression. Unlike in historical novels, the reader has no preconceived ideas about the characters, so more “fill” is needed in order to make those characters come alive. That wasn’t done here. It was only toward the end of the novel that I finally started really being interested in Captain Tallis. But Lilene, the love of his life–though why she’s the love of his life is never really explained– is almost one-dimensional. Even her mother, the evil Malkar, isn’t very interesting. She constantly does terrible, wicked things, but you never get a look beneath the evil.

There’s a sequel, which appears to be only available as an ebook. But even at such a low price, I’m not sure I’ll buy it. I’d hate to be as disappointed in it as I was with this one.