Closer to Home
Mercedes Lackey
Despite having a somewhat unorthodox upbringing and a shiny life respectively, Mags and Amiliy have gone though a variety of challenging situations together. Upon their return to Haven and their Whites, they have to balance their private and public selves to provide a stable face for the kingdom.
Ok, so the summary I just gave you is probably a little too rosy. To confirm your dismay, once again this novel has Mags at its centre. If only this Lackey novel could have had a different hero. There’s plenty of minor meaty bits to work with, but Mags eats them all up with his low-levelview of life and his expectations.
Mag’s terrible speech continues as an ongoing annoyance. I know it’s part of his street persona, but he doesn’t need it to make him stand out from the other characters at all. The other characters seemed defined by their words, rather than their actions, even though a new mind-power mean that more actions could have been described with a hint of emotion.
It took me a little while to get around to writing a review for this novel, simply because I was searching around for other things to read that might be more compelling! I did make a note to jump start my mind for the review though – Another lackluster Lackey offering.
I’ve seen other reviewers complaining that Lackey is simply coming up with ideas for novels from things that have worked previously. In this case, it’s a Romeo and Juliet-esk drama, seen through the eyes of a small dog. Nothing against the small furry dog, just a lot against idiotic noblewomen.
I borrowed this novel from the library. Unless it’s super on sale, I wouldn’t even buy it as a mass-market paperback – nothing new to read here. 2 to 3 stars from me – a bare pass.
I believe I have heard of the author but not the book. Too bad you didn’t enjoy this one more, the “seen through a small dog” aspect sounds somewhat interesting though. I really like your rating system graphics, by the way!
Thanks! The eggs are new last week – I’m loving the work of the designer!
A better example of animal mindsight would be those in the Darien set of novels or The Silver Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey as well. They can commune with their birds.