Steadfast

Mercedes Lackey

Katie is trying to escape from her abusive husband. With Travaeler blood in her veins, yet being a cross-breed, she is unlikely to be welcome anywhere. When she finds a dream job in a music hall of Brighton, she thinks she might be safe for a while. But throw magic into the mix, and who knows what might happen?

This novel started out with so much promise. Once again, it failed to deliver. It smacked of another title in the series, even including rogue fires! I guess she’s run out of unique endings?

This book suited its title so badly, that I didn’t even realise it was based on the story of ‘The Steadfast Tin Soldier’. The majority of books in this series aren’t really based on any fables, so I wasn’t expecting it. Having now refreshed my memory of this tale, I can see remnants of it, but nothing major.

For several days after completing the novel, I found myself thinking I hadn’t finished it. The ending was too satisfactory and abrupt. Plus it was exactly what I expected, the minute I found out about the cellar.

Maybe my problem was that I didn’t like Katie. She was just so malleable. It didn’t seem right for her to have a special thing like magic. Although I guess she’s just a layman and so the point of his novel was that they could have powers. Her character felt inconsistent to me. She was afraid of all men, yet her acceptance was pretty good of her new friends, perceptive as they were to what she needed.

There was so much scope for learning more about how to train a fire mages. But instead the book dwelled on the accommodations and food of the characters.

A disappointment. I thought I’d enjoy it more than Bastion, but I was disappointed. Maybe Lackey is moving away from being my favourite current author. Other writers, such as Juliet Marellia, have published books that I’m longing to read – and perhaps I’d better give their works a closer eye in the future.