wednesday (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wednesday_10_00) wrote2008-06-28 02:46 pm
wednesday_10_00) wrote2008-06-28 02:46 pm
re: Shadow's Return
Finished it late last night. (Like, 3:00 AM late. -_-) Before I get into the spoilers, I'd just like to say that I find it mildly annoying that the cover doesn't match the other three books, or even say that it's part of the Nightrunner series. Am I the only one who cares about stuff like this?
First: Seregil and Alec are still so adorable with each other, D'awwww! I luff them, even when they're being tortured and tormented. (I'm such a sucker for all that "Oh noes, can't die because I have to get out of here and find my boyfriend" stuff.)
Speaking of torture...there was a lot of that, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE the Nightrunner books, but once in a while I kind of roll my eyes and go, "Okay, stop channeling Mercades Lackey already, Lynn." Still, I forgive Lynn because while there might be a lot of angst and torment, her characters aren't self-pitying, which is what I really hate about Mercades Lackey's characters. (In that respect, though, Ilar was like, straight out of a Valdemar book, LOL.) Also, if Mercades Lackey had written this book, the torture totally would've also included lots of rape. I really cannot thank Lynn enough for sparing us that. >.<
And, speaking of Ilar: HOLY SHIT DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING. I mean, I knew he was going to be in this book and everything, but I really did not expect him to have been a slave all these years. (When Seregil first sees him, I really freaked out. ["OMG, THAT'S ILAR???"] And then continued to freak out for the next couple chapters. ["GAH, ALEC GET AWAY FROM HIM."]) And, actually, Ilar himself was completely different from how I pictured him. I figured he would be sneaky and evil and kind of bad-ass, not, well, a wuss. And how much did I love Alec's reaction when he found out? For that matter, how much do I love Alec, period? (SO MUCH.) I think I loved Alec a little more every time he hated on Ilar. And then Seregil, not understanding why Alec hated him so much...I wanted to kick him and go, "It's because of what Ilar did to YOU, stupid!"
To be honest, I didn't know much about the book, going in, except that I remembered Lynn saying in her LJ, when she finished the rough draft, that we were going to hate her when we got to the end of the book. So I'm thinking that it's going to leave off on some horrible cliffhanger, that Alec and Seregil won't find each other before the end of the book (every time Alec so much as thought about breaking out, I was screaming, "AAAGH, don't leave Seregil behind!!" D:), that one or both of them would be presumed dead (even though I know she would never really kill either of them...Okay, I was a little worried about Alec for a second there) etc. And then I got to the end and was like, "...Huh? What do we hate her for now?" I mean, sure there are some loose ends and I want to read the next one, but I'm not writhing in agony or anything. There was a pretty satisfying conclusion to their adventures.
Um, okay, maybe I lied about the agony. I want the next book now. *sulk*
First: Seregil and Alec are still so adorable with each other, D'awwww! I luff them, even when they're being tortured and tormented. (I'm such a sucker for all that "Oh noes, can't die because I have to get out of here and find my boyfriend" stuff.)
Speaking of torture...there was a lot of that, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE the Nightrunner books, but once in a while I kind of roll my eyes and go, "Okay, stop channeling Mercades Lackey already, Lynn." Still, I forgive Lynn because while there might be a lot of angst and torment, her characters aren't self-pitying, which is what I really hate about Mercades Lackey's characters. (In that respect, though, Ilar was like, straight out of a Valdemar book, LOL.) Also, if Mercades Lackey had written this book, the torture totally would've also included lots of rape. I really cannot thank Lynn enough for sparing us that. >.<
And, speaking of Ilar: HOLY SHIT DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING. I mean, I knew he was going to be in this book and everything, but I really did not expect him to have been a slave all these years. (When Seregil first sees him, I really freaked out. ["OMG, THAT'S ILAR???"] And then continued to freak out for the next couple chapters. ["GAH, ALEC GET AWAY FROM HIM."]) And, actually, Ilar himself was completely different from how I pictured him. I figured he would be sneaky and evil and kind of bad-ass, not, well, a wuss. And how much did I love Alec's reaction when he found out? For that matter, how much do I love Alec, period? (SO MUCH.) I think I loved Alec a little more every time he hated on Ilar. And then Seregil, not understanding why Alec hated him so much...I wanted to kick him and go, "It's because of what Ilar did to YOU, stupid!"
To be honest, I didn't know much about the book, going in, except that I remembered Lynn saying in her LJ, when she finished the rough draft, that we were going to hate her when we got to the end of the book. So I'm thinking that it's going to leave off on some horrible cliffhanger, that Alec and Seregil won't find each other before the end of the book (every time Alec so much as thought about breaking out, I was screaming, "AAAGH, don't leave Seregil behind!!" D:), that one or both of them would be presumed dead (even though I know she would never really kill either of them...Okay, I was a little worried about Alec for a second there) etc. And then I got to the end and was like, "...Huh? What do we hate her for now?" I mean, sure there are some loose ends and I want to read the next one, but I'm not writhing in agony or anything. There was a pretty satisfying conclusion to their adventures.
Um, okay, maybe I lied about the agony. I want the next book now. *sulk*