smartflutist661's reviews
1350 reviews

A solid noir urban fantasy. I liked that the noir tone was driven by the same thing that it was in the 20s, a meat-grinder of a war + plague. It didn't do anything particularly special—the "twist" was that

the childhood friend/almost-lover he hadn't seen for years was the evil mastermind all along!

. The big clues that

the evil wizard was a red herring (a torn page of names)

and that

it was Celia (the obvious "give me a few days to set this guy up" ploy)

I don't think could have been more cliché, but this didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.

Very much in the spirit of Hitchhiker's Guide, though with a bit more emotional backing: amusingly absurd, with a nice reflection on the "road not taken". For related watching, see the anime Legend of Black Heaven. 

I loved Tsira and Jeckran, but thought Onna's chapters never quite got anywhere. Also the ending was a bit anticlimactic. An enjoyable enough read still. Also it took me a surprisingly long time to realize that troll society was just

healthy dom/sub relationships

.

Book 14 of one of the most consistent series I think I've ever read. Lightly twisty plot, realistic relationships, shapeshifting, a bit of violence, some intrigue. Doesn't fall into the power-creep trap, which is impressive in a series of this length and kind. Really, you know what you're getting at this point.