Status Updates From King's Dragon (Crown of Sta...

When Liath's father kept saying that Liath was 'deaf to magic', I just assumed that she is unable to do magic herself, but instead it appears that she is immune to magic, being able to look through illusions and shrug off magical influence. Besides, Liath is not as uncapable of magic as she had thought – except that even she doesn't know her full power and abilities...

I adored Elliott's "Cold Magic" series. The Court of Fives was decently entertaining. I admired the sprawling epic of the Crossroads series.

So I REALLY wanted to like this. But I just can't. The graphic abuse Liath goes through turns me off. I'm at least a third of the way in and I still feel like the story hasn't started. I'll keep going, 'cause I ain't no quitter, but so far it's fallen short of what I expected.

Sanglant is described as a womanizer of sorts, or at least the one who really enjoys the company of women, but yet he was shown to be honest and respectful with Liath, and with any other woman he interacted with. I like that this particular character trait doesn’t overshadow the rest of his personality.

I like the relationship between Liath and Sanglant, even if there is no much of it so far. The tension between them is so real. There is undeniable attraction between them, though it’s clear that Liath is attracted to his looks and charisma. It’s not love or lust that Liath feels yet, but what the book aptly calls desire, and she is clearly scared and troubled by her own feelings because of her experience with Hugh.

I love Hathui so much! She is such a strong and powerful character that makes an excellent mentor to Hanna, and she is extremely easy to like and relate to. It’s good to have more down-to-earth female characters as Liath and Hanna, but we all need a tough warrior lady like Hathui, too. But I swear, if the city of Gent falls because that dastard Sabella decided to play the queen! It’s truly a tough decision for Henry.

I really wanted to love this, because Kate Elliott's other books absolutely wowed me. But this one's got a bit of a slow start and I'm having a hard time getting hooked.

Agius is such a tragic character. All his life, he tried to avoid worldly disputes altogether only to be dragged back into them, and he is forced to choose between his family and his moral principles – but the catch is that whatever he chooses, he ends up betraying both.

Whoever came up with such a monster a guivr, they sure had one wild imagination. Like, whoah! o_O And while Agius had stated himself that he were of noble birth, I had no idea that he was that high in the noble’s hierarchy. Another thing – while Alain is almost foolishly idealistic and naïve, it doesn’t annoys me at all. There are too many hypocritical and cruel people out there, let Alain be a ray of sunshine.

Yes, Sanglant finally appears! Even though we haven’t seen much of him yet, I like that he is very down-to-business type of person and takes no crap from anyone. And why was he looking at Liath the way he did? Did her know her? Did her know her parents? He and Wolfhere spoke as old friends rather than just two commanders. Was Wolfhere that old soldier who attended to the babe Sanglant in the prologue?

Please excuse me while I claw my face about how good this is.

This is SO GOOD.

Getting Hanna's PoV was a surprise, but I liked seeing what this girl is made of, as she is as tough as Liath, even if she lacks her talents. And we even get to see Rosvita, Ivar's sister! I like how different threads of the book are connected together through characters or locations.

I like the contrast between Hugh and Agius, especially since they are both men of church. Hugh is a bastard, and I thought that Agius will be an antagonist as well, since he is so harsh and unforgiving. But it turns out there is more to Agius than that, and harsh he may be, he is not a hypocrite – and while it seems he may use Alain and his supposed origin, at least he has good intentions.

esto es como volver a estudiar las cosas de historia y de inglés antiguo de la carrera! Muy recomendao si eres filólogo inglés este libro :3

No sé qué me esperaba, pero esto no lo es en absoluto! Es una historia alternativa en una especie de Europa del... siglo X? A veces es novela histórica y a veces hay elfos y no sé por qué me esperaba sandersonismo y pipipíu magia rayitos y NO.
Está MU bien escrito esto.
#Filologo #Rigor

Liath and Hanna's friendship is something I live for. After Ivar is sent away, Hanna is the only one Liath has left and the only one Liath trusts, and Hanna always supported her and helped her in whatever means she could. In fact, Hanna had a crush/lusted after Liath's abuser, Hugh, but she never betrayed Liath to him even though she could, saying she were Liath's friend first and foremost.

I'm so relieved that something good finally happened to Liath – I like her a lot, and her story is engaging, but it's very emotionally taxing to read about her being mentally and physically abused throughout her whole plotline. Also, I believe I mentioned that Hugh is among the most hated villains in my list – well, he is the most hated one now. I wish the bastard to die a long and painful death.