Cast in Secret by Michelle Sagara
After her adventures in court in Cast in Courtlight Kaylin Neya is happy to settle back into her patrols and more mundane crimes, and is almost thrilled when her latest assignment is investigating what seems to be a rather average theft. This, however, leads her to discovering a possible missing child, something that strikes very close to home for her, which, in turn, leads to Kaylin and her partner, Severn, agreeing to look for another missing child of the Tha’alani, an empathic race Kaylin is uncomfortable with. And then the oracles tell her the city will be destroyed in about two weeks.
This book was a bit uneven for me, I think mostly because it seems that Kaylin should have matured some, and received most pressure from her superiors, after her experiences in CiC. However, I did like the plot and the look into the city’s history, and I especially liked learning at least part of the story behind the magic tattoos on Kaylin’s arms.
One thing I was thinking about while I was reading that it was nice to be reading what’s effectively an urban fantasy series (even if it’s set in a high fantasy city, instead of a modern or pseudo-modern city) without being bogged down by the heroine having an over-complicated lovelife involving sexy others. Which is why I was amused to read Amazon reviews after finishing it criticizing the book for not focusing more on Kaylin’s love life
Though I think Kaylin and I both went “uhm…what?” when Nightshade kissed her. Also, I’ve been reading far too much shoujo lately, because shoujo has such a big thing about only the “right guy” kissing the heroine first, and as near as I can tell, Severn hasn’t gotten around to that yet, which causes me concern! If we’re going to do the romance thing, I much prefer “childhood friend turned adult partner with very different experiences and outlooks” to “sexy mysterious immortal other inordinately interested in young mortal.” One suits my preferences quite well, while the other is rather antithetical to them. Plus, I get the feeling that Nightshade is far more interested in Kaylin’s powers than in Kaylin herself, even if he doesn’t really see a difference between the two, whereas Severn doesn’t have an interest in her powers aside from how they affect her.
This book was a bit uneven for me, I think mostly because it seems that Kaylin should have matured some, and received most pressure from her superiors, after her experiences in CiC. However, I did like the plot and the look into the city’s history, and I especially liked learning at least part of the story behind the magic tattoos on Kaylin’s arms.
One thing I was thinking about while I was reading that it was nice to be reading what’s effectively an urban fantasy series (even if it’s set in a high fantasy city, instead of a modern or pseudo-modern city) without being bogged down by the heroine having an over-complicated lovelife involving sexy others. Which is why I was amused to read Amazon reviews after finishing it criticizing the book for not focusing more on Kaylin’s love life
Though I think Kaylin and I both went “uhm…what?” when Nightshade kissed her. Also, I’ve been reading far too much shoujo lately, because shoujo has such a big thing about only the “right guy” kissing the heroine first, and as near as I can tell, Severn hasn’t gotten around to that yet, which causes me concern! If we’re going to do the romance thing, I much prefer “childhood friend turned adult partner with very different experiences and outlooks” to “sexy mysterious immortal other inordinately interested in young mortal.” One suits my preferences quite well, while the other is rather antithetical to them. Plus, I get the feeling that Nightshade is far more interested in Kaylin’s powers than in Kaylin herself, even if he doesn’t really see a difference between the two, whereas Severn doesn’t have an interest in her powers aside from how they affect her.