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Lord of the Isles

by David Drake

Reviewed by Coral


Garric and his royal fleet have arrived in Carcosa. There he plans to sort out the political mess and deal with the Count and the temples whose members are little more than thugs. Once there, rumours of winged demons attacking ships unless their captains pay for protection force Ilna and Chalcus out to sea to investigate. Meanwhile, gifts accepted from the temples in Carcosa have disastrous consequences for Sharina and Cashel, who are each transported to very different worlds.

Another book in this series and it is just more of the same. At this point it is like I am counting down the pages before each of the four main characters is separated and sent off into their own subplot. And they are still mostly useless!

I think the series would have been served better if, instead of getting sent to the future, past, or some alternate reality, all of the characters stayed in their own world and time for own book and really concentrated on the political upheaval happening there. The concept is so interesting, a weak kingdom finally rebuilding after centuries of corrupt rulers and the new prince's struggle to make his world right again. But with so much time spent elsewhere, the political plot gets lost.

Considering Cashel once killed an innocent man, because he mistook his grumpiness and brusque manner as the demeanour of a villain - to save a demon pretending to be a damsel in distress, you think he would be slower to act. You know, wait to get more information before hitting things. I kind of hate that about him. And his sister.

I have been meaning to mention this, but I am also very angry at the map at the beginning of the book, which is mostly useless.

I can't give this book an F, because I still found some parts of it interesting.

Grade: D