Saturday, October 28, 2017

The Servant by Mary Calmes

I liked he idea behind this one, but I gotta say, like the previous book I've read by Mary it was all over the place where POVs were concerned. Each paragraph could be right around anyone's POV and it kept changing. I don't like this style of narration though it wasn't that difficult to understand who was "talking". The world building was all over the place as well, though I don't fault Mary for it, there was a lot to build in very few pages.. I've read the synopsis a while back so actually I wasn't sure what is going to happen or rather who our "cat in a hat" is going to chose. That was fun!



Valian "Daemon" Shar is one of three brothers. Two are constantly fighting over the thrown of Emperor in their land. Loving both of his brothers he has "no other choice" but stay in the middle and try to keep them from each other's throats.. Yet when he is cursed by a witch he shamefully decided to take his leave and find a life somewhere else. Covering his whole body not to show anything of his hideous cat-like appearance. He finds himself in the service of Ehron. After he saved his life and gave him purpose (though he did also a lot of saving and find his true propose on his own) he decided to make Ehron's life perfect offering him and his family everything they could ask for with his special powers and mostly his wisdom. 

When the war is finally over, 10 years has passed since he ran from home, leaving his best friend and companion and his quarreling brothers. He is home sick already but he isn't sure how and when to return. Now he is a free man and he needs to decide his path but it's so difficult with Ehron's brother Gareth is so alluring! He wants him like he hasn't wanted anyone in a long while but he can't offer him anything when he is half human and half cat.. Yet that's not their only problem. There is another war brewing - one with his own country and since they have significantly larger land and armies he is afraid of the consequences. Being so far from home for such a long time he isn't even sure what's the dynamic and if he can make any difference. He is tired of war, he wants a home, preferably with Gareth so a solution must be found.. 


I liked the characters and the way they were portrayed, we had many POVs so we got glimpses of each person from different angles yet what we mostly got was how damn PERFECT  Daemon is. That was my main argument in the previous book I've read by Mary and it's my main issue in this book as well. It's not that I need a significantly flawed character, I just need one I can relate to, which feels genuine. Daemon didn't and it wasn't because he was half cat half human.. the story flowed, it was quite short and yet a lot was going on with many characters (mainly because Daemon was constantly plotting..) and so it was fun seeing everything unfold. The world building was a bit too much for me though, I was confused and at a loss at many situations not remembering characters, cities and lands. It's A LOT to take in when all you got are 158 pages.. but it also means we got a WHOLE story. A very complex one. So even if I WAS frustrated I also appreciated the effort that was put into making this world "real". The romance was a bit clumsy at times but it was also terribly sweet. It's more of a rounded up 4 star rating I guess. Yet it was a fun short read. 



Rating:
E-Book
Edition
158
pages
Read on:
27 October 2017
     

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