Book Review: Saved by the Trickster
Saved by the Trickster by Shona Husk
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella size. I read this as included in the Here be Magic anthology.
Summary: Lysanna is an immortal being called a Trickster, who performs tricks as a magician to make people believe in magic and goodness, bringing them to the Light. She works in opposition to the Speakers who preach and turn people to the Darkness. When she sets up in a new town and asks for someone to work as her new assistant, Zander volunteers. Zander is a newly fallen celestial warrior, a being made entirely of Light, who fights the beasts of darkness in the heavens. He got kicked out of the heavens by the Dragon god because of his addiction to ambrosia. Zander volunteered to be her assistant because he smelled ambrosia in her caravan, and confesses his addiction to her. Lysanna finds herself growing attached to Zander, but she knows she will eventually have to give him back to the heavens since it would work on her guilt to cost the heavens a warrior in their battle on the front lines of their war against the darkness. But Zander finds in Lysanna’s arms the joys of being human, and he sees how important and dangerous her battle with the darkness is as she wrestles back control of villages from the clutches of Darkness.
Comments: For fans of fantasy stories of angels, because that is essentially what Zander is along with a whole lot of religion being spun here. In this case, the term “Trickster” isn’t being used to refer to someone who tricks people. There are technically two gods: the God of All who’s followers spread Darkness and only believe in order and work and the Dragon god who commands the angels and spreads the Light. Lysanna was created when the Dragon god shed a scale. Basically, Lysanna, is an immortal being called a Trickster, who works as a traveling magician, bringing to people a belief in magic and with it, the warmth of the Light, battling back the Dark. Where I had trouble with this were the sex scenes. This was more sex than plot, but there was enough plot for me to overlook that. The sex scenes were more of struggles for control with her constantly tying her lovers to her bed (she apparently does this to all of her assistants with the idea of if they can’t touch her, she won’t get attached to them) or pinning them down. And that struggle for control was used to show her of her falling for Zander by when she started allowing him to hold her down, giving him an illusionary of being in control (though she was still in control and manipulating the situation) and even reached a point where neither of them were tied down and they both were able to be equal in bed, rather than a battle for who gets to be dominant. That whole struggle dims the passion that I ought to be feeling between two characters. The battle with the Darkness felt rushed, and was done in one chapter. I had found myself online when I hit the chapter before hunting through Shona’s books to see if there were more books set after this one since I couldn’t imagine her wrapping up everything in just one chapter. But she did and it does have a satisfying ending and there aren’t further books. I did love the scene where she turned her previous assistant temporarily into a skunk, which is what I expected of a Trickster. If you get the chance, I recommend checking out Shona Husk’s Goblin King prequel.
4 stars
Category: Adult
Note: Novella size. I read this as included in the Here be Magic anthology.
Summary: Lysanna is an immortal being called a Trickster, who performs tricks as a magician to make people believe in magic and goodness, bringing them to the Light. She works in opposition to the Speakers who preach and turn people to the Darkness. When she sets up in a new town and asks for someone to work as her new assistant, Zander volunteers. Zander is a newly fallen celestial warrior, a being made entirely of Light, who fights the beasts of darkness in the heavens. He got kicked out of the heavens by the Dragon god because of his addiction to ambrosia. Zander volunteered to be her assistant because he smelled ambrosia in her caravan, and confesses his addiction to her. Lysanna finds herself growing attached to Zander, but she knows she will eventually have to give him back to the heavens since it would work on her guilt to cost the heavens a warrior in their battle on the front lines of their war against the darkness. But Zander finds in Lysanna’s arms the joys of being human, and he sees how important and dangerous her battle with the darkness is as she wrestles back control of villages from the clutches of Darkness.
Comments: For fans of fantasy stories of angels, because that is essentially what Zander is along with a whole lot of religion being spun here. In this case, the term “Trickster” isn’t being used to refer to someone who tricks people. There are technically two gods: the God of All who’s followers spread Darkness and only believe in order and work and the Dragon god who commands the angels and spreads the Light. Lysanna was created when the Dragon god shed a scale. Basically, Lysanna, is an immortal being called a Trickster, who works as a traveling magician, bringing to people a belief in magic and with it, the warmth of the Light, battling back the Dark. Where I had trouble with this were the sex scenes. This was more sex than plot, but there was enough plot for me to overlook that. The sex scenes were more of struggles for control with her constantly tying her lovers to her bed (she apparently does this to all of her assistants with the idea of if they can’t touch her, she won’t get attached to them) or pinning them down. And that struggle for control was used to show her of her falling for Zander by when she started allowing him to hold her down, giving him an illusionary of being in control (though she was still in control and manipulating the situation) and even reached a point where neither of them were tied down and they both were able to be equal in bed, rather than a battle for who gets to be dominant. That whole struggle dims the passion that I ought to be feeling between two characters. The battle with the Darkness felt rushed, and was done in one chapter. I had found myself online when I hit the chapter before hunting through Shona’s books to see if there were more books set after this one since I couldn’t imagine her wrapping up everything in just one chapter. But she did and it does have a satisfying ending and there aren’t further books. I did love the scene where she turned her previous assistant temporarily into a skunk, which is what I expected of a Trickster. If you get the chance, I recommend checking out Shona Husk’s Goblin King prequel.
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