Review of Shifter Born by A.T Weaver

A. T. Weaver (Alix the Weaver) is the pen name of a senior citizen and great-grandmother who started writing gay love stories at the age of 60. She has published three novels which are also available on Amazon.  She also reviews books for this site.

Shifter Born opens in eighteenth century France and I found myself pulled into the world of Marrok, a shifter who sets out to avenge the slaughter of his family.  Whilst I myself have drawn heavily upon Loki, the mythological Norse shifter in my own novel I will admit that this is my first real foray into the world of shifters that are entirely the product of an author’s imagination and whilst prior to reading I was a little uncertain as to what to expect, I was certainly not disappointed!

I love it when I can actually sit back and “watch” a story as it unfolds.  The imagery in the opening scenes of this book is brilliant and there is an air of authenticity about it that is sometimes lacking in stories set in a historical time frame.  I certainly had no difficulty in buying into the concept that I had been transported back to eighteenth century France.  I also quite liked the fact that the setting was historical as opposed to futuristic or fantasy.

I loved the intermittent bursts of French in the dialogue as I felt this once again added authenticity to the plot.  I would however have preferred it if the author had stuck to universally understood French as occasionally whilst I got the general gist, I was a little confused.

Because Marrok is a shifter and therefore immortal, the story starts during the French Revolution and ends in 2012.  The changes in time period are clearly sign posted, however if I am being totally honest then I would have preferred it if the author had confined herself to a much shorter space in time as I felt that the time frame was too vast for the story and because of that at times I felt that it lacked depth.  I definitely wanted a lot more when Marrok finally confronted his nemesis and I also think that an opportunity for a series of books has been lost as a result of covering such a broad time frame in one novel.

I found the character of Marrok to be extremely honourable and likeable and the relationships that he forms with various men throughout the course of two centuries all seem genuine and sincere. The sex scenes are surprisingly graphic but not at all disproportionate or gratuitous.   I am not sure that it was the author’s intention but rather my macabre streak kicking in however I found myself thinking that for all he was likeable, anyone considering getting involved with Marrok would be best advised to run for the hills seeing as all but his final love interest met some pretty nasty ends.

All in all this is a well written and grammatically correct novel.  It was enjoyable and “good” however it could have been “exceptional” if limited to a shorter time frame with more depth.

http://www.twitter.com/alixtheweaver

http://alixtheweaver.wordpress.com/

.