Intrigues: Book Review

Summary:

Mags is still enjoying attending the collegium when a dark vision predicts that he may be an assassin to the king and suddenly he is the object of suspicion.

Overview:

I enjoyed the first part of this book. It was like returning home after a long hard day to be in Valdemar again. For many years, I've loved this world of companion horses and valiant heralds. It's a simpler world with easier moral absolutes, but the characters are always complex enough to make up for it. Lackey knows how to make day to day life interesting. She also makes characters that are very sympathetic. Mag's fears of all these good things being taken away from him are easy to relate to.

However, I wish there had been more of Mags dealing with Lena's father, spying for Nikolas, or spending time with his friends. I also wish there'd been more about Lydia just to help my memory because I didn't remember her from the previous book. Even characters I did remember, I could have used a charcter glossary to remind me of pertinent points. This isn't to say there are too many characters, just that it's been a long time since I read the last book, and I don't think I should have to reread the other one to get this one. She did a good job rehashing the previous plot. It was just the characters that missed out, which was disappointing since they're normally Lackey's greatest strength.

Then there was the magical sport of Kirball that was completely uninteresting to me. Whether or not it was a rip-off of Quidditch doesn't concern me as much as how much I felt it took away from the actual story. Maybe it's just my impatience with sports, but I feel most of the games could have been portrayed just as well in half the pages.

I also personally dislike ostracization plots. They make me uncomfortable. But more importantly, I feel some of the characters acted outside their usual nature to serve the plot. Also, while I get that there's going to be another book, this one was far too unresolved for my tastes.

5 / 10 stars * * * * *

Spoilers:

It was Mag's friends in particular that I felt acted outside their normal characters when they yelled at Mags to make him leave. I think they had been portrayed as better friends before this. It didn't make sense to me that they would care more about Dallen than Mags or not even try to understand how the accident happened. Also, once they realized their mistake, it didn't feel like they did enough to atone for it, considering its gravity. Particularly Lena ,who doesn't seem to have learned anything at all about what a cad her father is. If I was Mags, I wouldn't have forgiven them. It's simply a trust thing. How can one trust a friend who could do that to you and not appear to learn anything from it? What's to prevent them from renouncing you again?