The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon
Title: The Darkling Thrush
Author: Josh Lanyon
Type: MM slash, fantasy, magic, suspense, drama, mystery, thriller
Length: 216 pages
Rating: Good
Blurb: Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword's Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches' grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries' old murder.
It should be nothing more than an academic exercise, so why is dour -- and unreasonably sexy -- Magister Septimus Marx doing his best to keep Colin from accepting this mission -- even going so far as to seduce Colin on their train journey north?
Septimus is not the only problem. Who is the strange fairy woman that keeps appearing at inconvenient times? And who is working behind the scenes with the sinister adventuress Irania Briggs? And why do Colin's employers at the Museum of the Literary Occult keep accusing Colin of betraying them?
As Colin digs deeper and deeper into the Long Island's mysterious past, he begins to understand why Septimus is willing to stop him at any price -- but by then, it's too late to turn back.
Good morning all, or good evening I suppose.
My first thought on this book is that I wish the blurb hadn't given so much away. There were a number of scenes in this work that were mentioned in the blurb that I wouldn't have seen coming otherwise. I would have enjoyed the meeting and development of things with Septimus Marx more if they weren't spoiled by the summary of the book. Because I don't think I would have suspected that otherwise.
Beyond that, I liked this book. Though I did wish that there was more. There is a lot in this world that we don't really know, that isn't really explained because it's such a short work. There is a rich variety of possibilities in the book, it's world and the characters that I think isn't really utilized well. Or more rightly, I think it is used well but I think that there are a lot of other possibilities to really explore this world for both reader and author.
The characters are fun, I would have liked to learn more about Septimus Marx, he's kinda just there. All we really know about him is what he looks like and what he does. That fact makes him rather flat and his declarations don't hold as much weight as they would if we really knew more about him or cared about him. However, I think that Colin is flushed out quite a bit better. We don't really know a lot about his past, or his life in the America's but for the length of the work I'm okay with that.
The ending was somewhat abrupt, but I guess I kinda feel that way about the whole work. I think that it really could have been flushed out a lot more. The tension between the characters, played up more all around. However, in the end I did like the work as it is but I hate to see such a rich world that seems well thought out, executed and planned sold short.
Author: Josh Lanyon
Type: MM slash, fantasy, magic, suspense, drama, mystery, thriller
Length: 216 pages
Rating: Good
Blurb: Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword's Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches' grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries' old murder.
It should be nothing more than an academic exercise, so why is dour -- and unreasonably sexy -- Magister Septimus Marx doing his best to keep Colin from accepting this mission -- even going so far as to seduce Colin on their train journey north?
Septimus is not the only problem. Who is the strange fairy woman that keeps appearing at inconvenient times? And who is working behind the scenes with the sinister adventuress Irania Briggs? And why do Colin's employers at the Museum of the Literary Occult keep accusing Colin of betraying them?
As Colin digs deeper and deeper into the Long Island's mysterious past, he begins to understand why Septimus is willing to stop him at any price -- but by then, it's too late to turn back.
Good morning all, or good evening I suppose.
My first thought on this book is that I wish the blurb hadn't given so much away. There were a number of scenes in this work that were mentioned in the blurb that I wouldn't have seen coming otherwise. I would have enjoyed the meeting and development of things with Septimus Marx more if they weren't spoiled by the summary of the book. Because I don't think I would have suspected that otherwise.
Beyond that, I liked this book. Though I did wish that there was more. There is a lot in this world that we don't really know, that isn't really explained because it's such a short work. There is a rich variety of possibilities in the book, it's world and the characters that I think isn't really utilized well. Or more rightly, I think it is used well but I think that there are a lot of other possibilities to really explore this world for both reader and author.
The characters are fun, I would have liked to learn more about Septimus Marx, he's kinda just there. All we really know about him is what he looks like and what he does. That fact makes him rather flat and his declarations don't hold as much weight as they would if we really knew more about him or cared about him. However, I think that Colin is flushed out quite a bit better. We don't really know a lot about his past, or his life in the America's but for the length of the work I'm okay with that.
The ending was somewhat abrupt, but I guess I kinda feel that way about the whole work. I think that it really could have been flushed out a lot more. The tension between the characters, played up more all around. However, in the end I did like the work as it is but I hate to see such a rich world that seems well thought out, executed and planned sold short.