Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, Book One (The Cadeleonian Series, #3) in A Shot of Ginn

Dec 22, 2013 Xing rated it really liked it

Shelves: biob

Reread 2019

How does this book hold up after five years and coming right after the Lord of the White Hell rereads? Actually, a lot better than I originally thought. If anything, I feel like I enjoyed it even more. While I will forever love Lord of the White Hell, there was definitely a juvenile aspect of it all; it's to be expected given that the characters are all still 17ish. But Champion of the Scarlet Wolf takes off the kid gloves, and we are dealt with something more refined. I love Elezar t ...more

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Jan 29, 2020 D rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: series, fantasy, main-characters-are-queer

It's been a while since I tore through a book so quickly as I did Champion of Scarlet Wolf. It's about 500 pages, which would have given me pause (considering I barely finished 20 books for last year's challenge), but this reminded me that I do love reading and why I can read so fast.

Spoiler: It's because the story is damn interesting.

So we have Elezar Grunito--we know him from Lord of the White Hell, and yes I was kind of reluctant at first. Do I really care about Elezar? Did he not treat Kir It's been a while since I tore through a book so quickly as I did Champion of Scarlet Wolf. It's about 500 pages, which would have given me pause (considering I barely finished 20 books for last year's challenge), but this reminded me that I do love reading and why I can read so fast.

Spoiler: It's because the story is damn interesting.

So we have Elezar Grunito--we know him from Lord of the White Hell, and yes I was kind of reluctant at first. Do I really care about Elezar? Did he not treat Kiram rather badly in the 2nd book of LotWH? But do I have to deal with pages of him pining for Javier?

Yes, yes but he regretted it, and no. This duo of books focus more on Elezar and his stint in Labara--particularly Milmuraille City where Cadeleonian priests and soldiers take up a huge chunk of the city grounds. Elezar is sent with Atreau by Fedeles to Labara as a secret envoy to the Sumar grimma, but he ends up with more than diplomatic responsibilities when he rescues a dog from the city guard. This dog turns out to be a shape-shifter called Skellan, and he's on the run after witnessing the Labaran grimma get engulfed in violet flames.

What! What's happening, D?

A lot! There's so many things happening here, there's magic and intrigue and long-lost sons, and shape-shifters, and Atreau's bawdy memoirs. Did you ever wonder about the Mirogoths after hearing Nestor wax lyrical about that shape-shifting wolfman in LotWH? Well, this is where we find out more about them and their politics with Cadeleon and how different their magics are even from the Bahiim. (Skellan pretty much saying the Bahiim are arrogant daredevils made me laugh so hard though, like, at least Javier fits right in.) I love how different this all is from what we already know of this world: Cadeleon is different from the Haldiim, and all is different again in Labara.

I love all the characters and even formed quite a soft spot for Oesir, the Labaran grimma. Man, I wish we found out more about him, but what we do know is enough to draw me in tbh.

But also, I noticed that my Ginn Hale novels are getting thicker and thicker on my shelves. Has anything changed?

Yes. I don't know if I can explain this in a way that makes sense but I think for her earlier novels the pacing and the worldbuilding are fine--I have zero complaints and I think they serve their purpose well. But I think as time goes on and Ginn Hale is honing her craft, she's become more comfortable with the worlds she's creating and she takes the time to give us a longer set-up to the plot points.

For example, we know about the shajdi in LotWH, we know about the Bahiim and what they sacrificed so their knowledge won't be used for evil, and we sort of know how it works--except that we never get Javier's POV so we see the magic system only from what Kiram sees. But we also get Skellan's POV in CotSW, and in it we see how his magic works and how it feels and a little bit more about Bahiim ways and magics. It's not completely necessary to the plot but they are very good details for world building and I really appreciate and love it. ...more

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Jan 09, 2014 KC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-sf-paranormal, lgbtq

Awesome adventure in the world of Lord of the White Hell, with a favorite new character - Skellan, who's adorable and sweet and courageous. I enjoyed getting to know Elezar better and meeting old friends - Kiram and Xavier. As always, Ginn Hale weaves a magical, exhilarating tale. Highly recommended! ...more

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