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Lädt ... Guardian of the Promise (2003)von Irene Radford
![]() Keine Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. A continuation of the earlier volume [Guardian of the Vision], with the nearly-grown children from that earlier time who set off on adventures of their own. There are a lot of children, and while this works well at the beginning it does leave some strands caught waving in an English gale. The book starts well, with the main/narrated character, Deirdre, taking the action with "I". She is the daughter of Father Griffin and Roanna of Scotland, and is fostered by her uncle, Donovan. Donovan is father to three children: Beth (by his first wife) and twins Hal and Griffin. So, keeping all these characters straight and with their own story arcs is one of the challenges this book faces. What Radford does well is concentrate on the most central characters and on Queens Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as introducing a new evil element: werewolves. She's able as an author to see where a storyline might go stale and resolves that conundrum with something other than demons or (the obvious) vampires. And the werewolves here have their own social structure and a mad master, El Lobison, who controls them through their priestess, Yassimine. Another thing I liked about this book was that Radford does not shy away from making central characters dis-likeable, while still weaving a story around them. Donovan is pretty wishy-washy and not as capable with his magic to throw off his spell-cast love for Mary. And Yassimine, who in her captivity longs to kill El Lobison, she instead realizes after many years that he has made all decisions for her and she does not wish to do so for herself. As with others in this series, this book goes to many different locales in key moments in Western European history, such as the aftermath of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (orchestrated by El Lobison) and brings in the tensions and friction of the time (Protestant vs. Catholic). And while there are sections with fast-paced action at the beginning, introducing the key plot elements, the last third slows down to a number of years, when Deirdre and Michael are married and running their pub that helps gather information for Sir Francis Walsingham on Queen Elizabeth's behalf. ![]() Many of the characters from “Guardian of the Vision” return in this book, so it was nice to know the backstory, although I suppose maybe if I hadn’t read the earlier novels this one wouldn’t have seemed so tedious. This book took me 2 tries and 4 months to read, I was just unable to focus on the story and had to take copious notes to not forget what happened from one chapter to the next. I think Radford made the same mistake in this book as she did in “Guardian of the Vision,” instead of focusing on and developing one character she spread herself to thin developing multiple characters. Radford had Dees storyline, Hal’s storyline, Betsy’s storyline, Donavan’s Storyline and Yassmine’s storyline. It was too much. I was unable to connect to any of the characters, they were all too shallow. What I really liked about the first two books in the series (which focused on a single protagonist) was that Radford went deeply into the characters, I connected to them. These last two books the characters are like shadows, an outline of what they could be with not enough detail to really see them. Also Radford dwelled too much on the history and not enough on the story. I like having historical facts being part of the story, but if I want to read only historical events and details I’ll pick up a history book. Overall I give this book a 1 star. I have also received the fifth installment in this series through the LibraryThing early reviewer program, but I am not looking forward to reading it. I’m hoping Radford goes back to her writing style of the first two books, but I wouldn’t place money on it. For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com ![]() I finished this book yesterday, during the Read-a-Thon. It was good. Better than the last one in the series. Again, I'm not sure whether this is because I prefer reading about a female protagonist (in this case, Deirdre, Griffin Kirkwood's illegitimate daughter who was born at the end of the last novel), or because there was more magic in this book. And werewolves. There were werewolves in this book, which I kind of enjoyed. I hadn't yet read any novels that deal with werewolves, so it was an interesting introduction to the trope. Deirdre and Hal (one of Donovan Kirkwood's twins - the other is Griffin) are best friends from childhood. Donovan is raising Deirdre after her father's death, covered in the previous entry in the series. No one knows who will become the next Pendragon - Raven predicted that it would be Donovan's son, but the family wolfhound has bestowed her female puppy on Deirdre, and she certainly seems to have the aptitude for it. Hal has magic, too, but not as strong as Deirdre's. And Betsy, Donovan's elder daughter by his first wife, seems to think she is to be the next Pendragon. To complicate matters, a Spaniard known as El Lobison is building a werewolf army to assist in Spain's invasion of England (through the Spanish Armada, for you history buffs out there). Hal and Deirdre seek to stop him, but major obstacles stand in their way. Will El Lobison succeed in turning one of them into part of his werewolf army? Can they work together to stop the coming Spanish invasion of England? Who is the REAL Pendragon of England? Again, I enjoyed this entry in the series much more than the last. I'd give it four and a half out of five Whatevers. Definitely read the series from the beginning - it's not a series that will make much sense if you don't. Specifically recommended for those with an interest in Elizabethan England, werewolves, or a good, solid fantasy series. ![]() keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
Now in paperback, the fourth novel in Irene Radford's acclaimed saga of Merlin and his descendants follows the children of twin brothers Donovan and Griffin, in a magic-fueled struggle to protect Elizabethan England from enemies-both mortal and demonic. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers-AutorIrene Radfords Buch Guardian of the Promise wurde im Frührezensenten-Programm LibraryThing Early Reviewers angeboten. Aktuelle DiskussionenKeineBeliebte Umschlagbilder
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:![]()
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Fourth in the series, this picks up 13 years after the previous book. Griffin's daughter has grown up with her cousins and her Uncle Donovan. Elizabeth is still on the throne, and Donovan still has a passing love for Mary, Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth is being threatened by the Pope, and Philip of Spain. Closer to home, both she and the Pendragons are being threatened by Werewolves, with one of their own being turned.
Didnt enjoy this quite as much as the previous books that I've read in this series. There's a slight change in pace and format, where years go by in between chapters, people are doing things you werent quite expecting in places you werent expecting it (e.g. Hal running around half of Europe and popping up in Paris and other places - did make me wonder whether I'd missed something or chapters had been cut from either the ebook or the original). Hal's relationship with Henri III was overplayed or his friendship with Henri IV was underplayed - I haven't decided which.
On the whole an enjoyable book, though I'm not sure it's the strongest in the series (