false 3 0 false false Thu Jan 15 09:37:07 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 18:53:04 -0800 2009
Nicholas's personality wasn't strong enough and Lara although intriguing in her childhood traumas and current problems wasnt as strong as it could have been if the years in between had been better described.

I don't know, I just felt like the strength of characters like Gregori and Mikhail were diminished in this story. It felt off. I'm not sure how to describe it.

Anyway, if you have read the series it is certainly worth purchasing to add to your collection and it has some moments that feel written in Feehan's more familiar style where as other parts I stopped cold and wondered who wrote it. I know CF wrote it all it was just a departure from the previous books. I did not mind the larger quantity of the Carpathian language at all. It paints a broader more vivid picture of the people. I think it is the direction of adding lycantrhopes, dragonseekers, mage etc as necessary to survival that is diluting what I liked most about the series. The Carpathians . Strong men guided by a strong Prince and the women who they want to protect and the men having to adapt with the changing times of women who want a bigger part of keeping the race safe. That is addressed in this book but the fact that it's taking all the other species working together weakens the Carpathian mythology and world that Feehan has so skillfully built.

So, overall a disappointment but still has it's place on my shelf. I'm still looking forward to Skylar's story]]>