Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Book Babblings

Mortal Heart By Robin LaFevers

The Nitty Gritty: The thrilling conclusion to His Fair Assassins' series. Annith has watched as sister after sister has been sent out to met out the death that Mortain has handed down. When the abbess sees fit to lock Annith away as the convent's seer she has had enough. She steals away under the cover of darkness to seek out Mortain's will for her life and just maybe become a true handmaiden of death.

Breton is on the edge of a precipice. The French are at their door and they are leave a trail of bodies in their wake. France is intent on having Breton under their banner. When trickery, backstabbing and politically manoeuvring don't work they move up to full scale invasion and occupation. The young duchess is going to have to rely on the old gods and their servants if she is to hold on to her duchy and save her people from certain annihilation.  

Opening Line: "For most, the bleak dark months when the black storms come howling out of the north is a tome of grimness and sorrow as people await the arrival of winter, which brings death, hunger bitter cold in its wake." 

The Good: Death has a heart. Mortain was the knockout highlight of this book. A god walking among mortals is always a hit for me. He was the tall, dark and lurking type but that is sort of a turn on. He wasn't a bad boy like his hellequinn which made him all the more appealing.

Each of the three heroines has suffered in her own unique way. They are broken toys and Death helps put them back together again. Its a background story for the ages frankly. We never get to see female characters with pasts like these. Well we do if they are utterly insane like Poison Ivy or Harley Quinn, but high functioning women who become the heroes in their own tales are few and far in between.

I really like the mythos that LaFevers creates with her gods in this historical fantasy. Its original enough that she won't be lumped in with Rick Riodan but its close enough to the Greek or Roman mythos thats is familiar to her audience.

The Bad:  The novel wandered through the countryside of Brittany like a drunken mercenary on a binge, and it was not a good time to be frank. This book is 553 pages long and it did not have to be. It really didn't We could have lost 200 pages of this book and still be satisfied. Annith blunders from one storyline to the next and LaFevers is really heavy handed with the plot in the beginning. As subtle as the Beast in a suit as it were.

I mean I'm not sure with anyone else but I called out her lineage before the 100th page. It was as clear as the nose on my face so I'm not sure why we had to wait nearly 300 pages till we got to the true. The reveal wasn't as grand as the previous 300 pages lead us to believe. There was little fanfare except Annith's completely overblown reaction. Then her very quick turn around once she has the information. She is like a revolving door of a emotions simply for the sake of tension. There were other ways for tension to be squeezed from this book than that. Annith could have gone into the French court. She had the blonde hair and the cloistering from the outside world to have pulled it off. It was only until the last 50 pages that her purpose became clear. For she was just taking up space for the fist 450 pages. And then it was almost like Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The book would have ended the same without Annith in it. Her big win could have been won but any other highly skilled archer. There was nothing in this book that she accomplished that couldn't have been done by another. Unlike Dark Triumph.
It takes a 100 pages before she even leaves the convent. Frankly I wanted to strangle her and get the hell on with it.

And frankly we never did learn what really happened to Matelaine. Sure Annith goes in search of the truth, but she never gets it and then it just doesn't matter. After all her blustering and emotional turmoil over her death she sure gets over it fairly quickly without much ado.

The insta-love while not totally sugary sweet was apparent when Balthazar ambushed her in the forest. There was no back and forth. The impossible dance between the could and should. The will they or won't they. They meet on page 116 and instantly you know he is the love interest. LaFevers tries to make him mysterious and I sort of fell for it. Maybe for 10 pages. Then is just became grating. They denied themselves just because.

All these things were used in the place of real tension. Its like Robin had energy for only one book but she had already committed to writing a trilogy. Most authors get it right with the first or the last book, but she got it with the middle book.

Overall Thoughts on the Series: Dark Triumph is the stronger book of the series. The love affair seemed more natural and free flowing than Mortal Heart and Grave Mercy. I feel this three books could be condensed into one book, and it would have been a hit out of the park.


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