Nov 15 2012

REVIEW: Lord’s Fall by Thea Harrison

By Kati • B+ Reviews • • Tags: , • • • Author:

Dear Ms. Harrison:

I am a huge fan of your Elder Races series. The fact that your fifth installment revisits Pia and Dragos, easily my favorite couple in the series (I’ve re-read Dragon Bound more than 10 times), made requesting the book a no brainer. Our visit with Pia and Dragos comes at a delicate time in their relationship. Even though he is the unquestioned leader of the Wyr race, Dragos’ Sentinels (his closest advisors and protectors) keep falling in love and leaving him. He’s also got to find time to smooth over the tensions between the Elves and himself – a situation of his own making. On top of that, his beloved mate, Pia is pregnant. Given that Pia’s Wyr form is extremely rare, as is Dragos’, not a lot is known about Pia’s pregnancy – how long she’ll be pregnant, what her labor will be like, what exactly their child will look like. All of these situations have Dragos’ protective instincts in overdrive.

Dragos has agreed (reluctantly) to send Pia, who is about seven months pregnant, to visit the Elves. Her mother was beloved by the Elves and enjoyed a very close relationship with them. His hope is that Pia might be able to smooth the tensions with the Elves over and make that particular situation go away. Dragos must stay in New York to oversee the competition amongst other Wyr to become part of his core Sentinels group. The Games are the largest and most expensive event that Dragos has hosted in a long time, and it’s important that he be there to oversee and judge the competition. But he is loathe to have Pia out of his sight, and knows that he’ll miss her desperately.

When Pia arrives in Elven demesne, she finds herself navigating a sticky situation. She senses tension between the Lord and Lady of the Elves, and quickly discovers that a powerful object is being used to manipulate the tide of power. Dragos must rush to Pia (breaking treaties again) so that they may bind their powers together to overcome a deep and pervasive evil that is threatening the world and all they hold dear.

I’ll be honest; I blew through this book in about a day and half, reading it to the exclusion of almost everything else. Your writing style is smooth, and your comfort level with the world you’ve built is readily apparent to the reader. As I said, Dragos and Pia are easily my favorite couple, mostly because Dragos is the most powerful being in the world, but he is constantly challenged and confounded by Pia, who isn’t remotely intimidated by him. Even so, their deep and abiding love for each other is readily apparent and truly lovely to read. We also have the opportunity to revisit subsequent couples to Dragos and Pia and for a few loose ends to be tied up. The book ends with new mysteries to conquer and big developments for several of the couples.

If I had any complaint about the book it’s that I felt that you missed an opportunity to wholly focus on the Games. As I was reading the beginning of the book, I was far more interested in the Games, and the dynamics being built and the new and intriguing characters being introduced than I was with the Elves. I think you could have focused an entire book on the Games and made it just as entertaining a read. That being said, I’m always satisfied with a visit with Dragos and Pia and hope that you’ll continue to focus books on them when appropriate – they’re just so much fun to read. Overall this is a worthy entry in your superb Elder Races series, and one that I enjoyed reading thoroughly. The series remains one of the best in paranormal romance, but I’m not sure how well this book stands alone – readers would be better served to start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.  That being said, I’m already looking forward to the next entry. Lord’s Fall gets a B+ from me.

Kind regards,

Kati

 

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