All right, today was supposed to be a guest review, but we still haven't received any except for Stephanie's which I already posted. Need I remind you our contest? LOL :) Anyway, as a result, you guys will have to content with a review of mine... which was supposed to be posted on Friday... what can I say? I was a bit busy, reading other books ^^; Anyway, here we go...
I've discovered Margaret Weis through her fabulous Dragonlance Saga co-written with Tracy Hickam (just read their books, you can skip all the rest which are spin-off written by other authors based on her world and characters). It is really an awesome saga - a bit similar to Lord of the Ring. In any case, I think she's a great author... So when I saw Warrior Angel at the bookstore, I didn't hesitate to purchase it, even though I wasn't aware she had this book coming out. You'll find Warrior Angel in the romance section - her first attempt away from fantasy- but I mean, there's angels and demons so it fits this blog :P By the way, just in case you're wondering, Lizz is her daughter.
published by Avon in February 2007
Dereck de Molay was a knight of the Knight of Templar and was tortured to death by the Inquisition. Angered at God for abandoning him, Dereck refused to ascend to Heaven and instead, became a reputated general Warrior Angel, defending Heaven against Hell. Centuries later, Dereck is given an important mission which requires him to become human again.
Rachel Duncan is a commodities trader with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and loves working at the pit, making trades and money. Everything is going wonderful at the moment and she believes to have met the man of her life, Andreas Zanus. He's rich, romantic and the dream, perfect man every woman dreams about. Her only problems: he's a client and although he's a dream man, she is unsure of her feelings for him. Instead, she's attracted to the new doorman with a very old vocabulary and manners.
Genre: paranormal romance, angels, Hell
Series: none
Review: What can I say about this book that the grade didn't say? Seriously, I was really disappointed by this book. I was expecting something much better, given what I've already read by Ms. Weis Mother. Even the romance in her fantasy saga was better than in this book ^^; I guess she tried too hard to write something "romantic" and so missed her shot.
The Characters - BORING! Really, I dislike Rachel, I thought she was a bit superficial and she didn't know herself either, what she wanted and what she needed. She just went out with Zanus because he was supposedly the dream/perfect man. You get emotions from her, but I thought it was shallow. Dereck is not as bad, but still... I thought he adapted himself too quickly to this new era... remember, he lived centuries ago! and poof, suddenly, he's a doorman in Chicago and doesn't ask too much questions... didn't fly with me. There was lack of developement for the characters and worst, no chemistry between them. I can't really understand why Dereck fell in love with Rachel... There were other characters, most of them superfluous in my opinion, but they don't appear much.
The Story & Writing - the writing style was okay, but the story? Not enough world-building and the plot wasn't interesting. I think that Ms. Weis (mother and daughter) didn't know what to focus about... the romance or the story, and it showed, unfortunately. All in all, you are told facts and things without details or how it happened. When I read a book, it's for the journey, the adventure. But there was none here - the reader wasn't brought along, didn't witness anything. Even the ending... why did Dereck come back?
The Cover - interestingly enough, that's the best part of the book I think ^^;
Am I keeping this book? Don't think so...
Anything else? Really disappointed. Hope that Ms. Weis' next venture in romance goes better. I mean, if she wants to write romance, she doesn't have to change much her writing style. Still write a good adventures with good characters and just emphasizes a little more on the romance... In the worse case, her books will still be shelved in the fantasy section. Better write a good fantasy book than get bad reviews.
Posted by
nath
4 comments:
Damn, your review is the second negative one I've read - and I've this book on order!
I loved Margaret Weis's Star of the Guardian series and so was hoping this new series would be good. It sounds as though she's fallen into the trap of changing her style to fit the romance audience.
That's too bad that this pair couldn't make the switch over from fantasy to romance. I think I have to agree with Li, about switching audiences.
Li - this was definitively not her best book... far from it. sorry you've already ordered it... perhaps you'll like it? Yeah, and as you say, it's sad that she changed her style to fit the audience... i think that she didn't have a very good idea of what direction she should take.
Ames - Yeah... well hopefully, her next attempt will be better.
Hey Zeek :D Take your time! I hope you enjoy your book tho :D
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