#73 The White Road by Lynn Flewelling
This review contains spoilers for previous books in The Nightrunner Series (primarily Shadows Return). There are no real spoilers for The
White Road.
In Shadow's Return, a cruel alchemist worked magic to create a creature called Sebrahn from Alec's Aurenfaie blood. Although he resembles a human child, Sebrahn is a dangerous being with the ability to kill with a song, and bring someone back from death with his blood. Alec and Seregil, now free from their enslavement, must determine what they will do with this creature that Alec has grown to see as his son. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who know of Sebrahn's existence, and there are others that will do anything to capture him.
As you might expect from the plot summary, The White Road mainly deals with the consequences of the events that occurred in Shadow's Return. It was interesting to see how the presence of Sebrahn strained Alec and Seregil's relationship at first. While Alec focuses on how much Sebrahn resembled a child, Seregil saw the dangers that such a creature may cause. One thing I really enjoyed about this book, and all Lynn Flewelling's novels, is how interesting and well developed all the characters are, especially the “evil” characters. I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Illar, an old enemy and lover of Seregil's who has been completely changed by his life in Plenimar. I'm really interested to see what directions Flewelling will take his character in future books.
Although The White Road can be said to be a companion book to Shadow's Return, there are many differences between the two books. Much of the darkness that permeated the story in Shadow's Return is not present here. Instead the story reads more like a character driven adventure story, more similar to the earlier books in the series. The White Road reads very quickly and even has a few nice romantic moments between the two leads. Admittedly, the book is a little bit predictable. Once all of the players have shown up in the book, it's easy to see the direction that the plot is going in, and it doesn't take too long to realize what's going to happen to Sebrahn in the end. Still, this is really a minor quibble as I did find myself enjoying this novel consistently from beginning to end.
The White Road is the fifth Nightrunner novel written by Lynn Flewelling, and it's obvious that the series still has it's magic. I really enjoyed the strong characters, the fast pace, and the romantic elements. One thing I would recommend to readers is to not start the series with The White Road. The book jumps into the storyline right away, and new readers will easily be confused with the multitude of existing plots and unfamiliar vocabulary. I would highly recommend any new reader to start off with the first book, Luck in the Shadows.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 385 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenge: this book is not part of any challenges
Similar Books: Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy or Jim Butcher's Codex Alera
Other books I've read by this author: Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness, Traitor’s Moon, Shadow's Return ( my review), The Bone Doll’s Twin, Hidden Warrior, The Oracle’s Queen
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish and goodreads
White Road.
In Shadow's Return, a cruel alchemist worked magic to create a creature called Sebrahn from Alec's Aurenfaie blood. Although he resembles a human child, Sebrahn is a dangerous being with the ability to kill with a song, and bring someone back from death with his blood. Alec and Seregil, now free from their enslavement, must determine what they will do with this creature that Alec has grown to see as his son. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who know of Sebrahn's existence, and there are others that will do anything to capture him.
As you might expect from the plot summary, The White Road mainly deals with the consequences of the events that occurred in Shadow's Return. It was interesting to see how the presence of Sebrahn strained Alec and Seregil's relationship at first. While Alec focuses on how much Sebrahn resembled a child, Seregil saw the dangers that such a creature may cause. One thing I really enjoyed about this book, and all Lynn Flewelling's novels, is how interesting and well developed all the characters are, especially the “evil” characters. I particularly enjoyed the scenes involving Illar, an old enemy and lover of Seregil's who has been completely changed by his life in Plenimar. I'm really interested to see what directions Flewelling will take his character in future books.
Although The White Road can be said to be a companion book to Shadow's Return, there are many differences between the two books. Much of the darkness that permeated the story in Shadow's Return is not present here. Instead the story reads more like a character driven adventure story, more similar to the earlier books in the series. The White Road reads very quickly and even has a few nice romantic moments between the two leads. Admittedly, the book is a little bit predictable. Once all of the players have shown up in the book, it's easy to see the direction that the plot is going in, and it doesn't take too long to realize what's going to happen to Sebrahn in the end. Still, this is really a minor quibble as I did find myself enjoying this novel consistently from beginning to end.
The White Road is the fifth Nightrunner novel written by Lynn Flewelling, and it's obvious that the series still has it's magic. I really enjoyed the strong characters, the fast pace, and the romantic elements. One thing I would recommend to readers is to not start the series with The White Road. The book jumps into the storyline right away, and new readers will easily be confused with the multitude of existing plots and unfamiliar vocabulary. I would highly recommend any new reader to start off with the first book, Luck in the Shadows.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 385 pages
Source: Lewiston Public Library
Challenge: this book is not part of any challenges
Similar Books: Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy or Jim Butcher's Codex Alera
Other books I've read by this author: Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness, Traitor’s Moon, Shadow's Return ( my review), The Bone Doll’s Twin, Hidden Warrior, The Oracle’s Queen
xposted to temporaryworlds , bookish and goodreads