Anna’s Reviews > King's Dragon > Status Update

Alright, it appears now that Bloodheart is going to be the main villain of the series instead of Sabella as I initially thought. But the only thing that upsets me is that Biscop Antonia may avoid punishment, since the worst that may happen to her is loss of the title and confinement in some distant convent. But otherwise, with compelling characters, extensive worldbuilding and measured pacing, it's definitely 5*.

I never really considered the possibility of Alain being Count Lavastine’s illegitimate son even though Agius voiced that possibility. Alain being Lavastine’s son would explain his ability to command the hounds, but not his vision of the elfish ghost in the old ruins, so I leaned to the theory of him having elfish blood. However, if Alain’s mother had elfish blood, that would make the whole story feasible!

What did Agius want to achieve, charging the guivre single-handedly and weaponless? Did he want to distract the monster and thus aid King Henry’s army in their battle, or did he just want to end his life, seeing no other way out? I guess we will never know…

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...

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.

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?