I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Lord's Fall
by
Thea Harrison
paranormal romance, urban fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Berkley on November 6, 2012 and has 281 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dragon Bound, Storm's Heart, Serpent's Kiss, Oracle's Moon, Rising Darkness, Kinked, Pia Saves the Day, Falling Light, Night's Honor, "Dragos Meets Stinkpot", "Planet Dragos", The Unseen
Fifth in the Elder Races and the sequel to Dragon Bound! Yeah!!
This story felt as though it might end the series, but it seems that Harrison intends to continue with it. I hope she puts more effort into the next one.
My Take
Whoa…Harrison really wants to get some ground covered in this story! I had expected to spend more time in the elves’ territory….well, I guess, we did. Spend a lot of time in various elves’ territory. It certainly didn’t go where I expected, and it was disappointing in that respect. Perhaps I just need to re-read it now that I know the gist of it? Or, maybe, Harrison is anxious to get on with her new series and doesn’t want to put the time into this one.
Ooh, man, that Evie is such a pain and I just adore how Pia takes her down! Oh, yeah… Mmmm, I love the dream casting. What a great way to keep in touch, mmm-hmmm.
Graydon — turned into a gryphon, and then he just sat down and looked at his opponent, who forfeited.
If Dragos is such a terrifying dragon dude, why are Pia’s bodyguards so flippant about protecting her? Not knowing exactly what her Wyr-side is shouldn’t have them being so mean and nasty to her. I can understand them not wanting to hang with her when they think she’s keeping secrets, but they should at least respect Dragos’ choice!
I do love Dragos’ reaction to Pia’s telling him they don’t need the whole tray of rings!
“Are you sure?”
Whoa, talk about rude! Although, I suppose there is reason when it’s Amras Gaeleval. What an army Dragos pulls together! Then we meet up with Amras’ army and I can understand why Dragos is so disgusted with the Elves. If this is how the Deus Machinae affect people, they should be destroyed. And, in spite of all the death and destruction, Lord’s Fall has too much going on that is too shallowly developed and it’s over too soon and too easy.
I love this…
She smiled and decided she would start her own collection of priceless jewels, only hers would be memories of everything he had ever said to her.”
Ooh, Quentin hates and despises Aryal with a passion. Whaddya wanna bet they’ll be one of the upcoming love stories!?
The Story
It’s a quadruple whammy against Dragos and Cuelebre Enterprises: the elven embargo against Dragos for his breaking those treaties, the world economy plunging, losing two of his Sentinels, and what Pia refers to as the Freaky Deaky about which Grace Andreas has had a vision.
Pia has argued Dragos into allowing her to meet with the Charleston Elves — but he’s okay with it only if she has some major backup in the form of six very reluctant Special Forces shifters who feel as though they’ve been relegated to a back bench. Sure, Pia claims to be pregnant, but no one has seen any evidence of it. But, after all this effort, when Pia gets there, Calondir is reluctant to even speak with her.
Dragos, meanwhile, intends to distract himself with the games he’s spent the last six months preparing to hold to find Sentinel replacements.
There isn’t much they can do about the something that Grace has seen. She’s already given them all the advice she can.
Only, it’s a bad time as Pia feels a black ice inside the Wood. An insidious power that takes over the mind. And there’s an emissary from Numenlaur coming to America, disrupting everyone’s plans to the point of hostage-taking. Friends battling friends, the Wood burning.
The Characters
Pia Giovanni is a unicorn Wyr, but they’re keeping it secret because she happens to be very rare and coveted. With Pia pregnant, Dragos has even more reason to want to protect her, keep her safe. She refers to her baby as “the peanut”. A very useful Peanut when Pia is attacked psychically!
Dragos Cuelebre is a dragonshifter, the Great Beast. THE dragon. One who arrived when the world was born with a spark of creation’s first fire. Pia and Dragos live at Cuelebre Tower, the center of Dragos’ business empire and the government for his Wyr. Liam is the baby dragonshifter. Talia Aguilar, a selkie/seal Wyr, is the new head of PR, taking Niniane’s place, although she’s terrified of Dragos. The ursine Kristoff is one of his assistants and he thrives on aggressive corporate maneuvering.
Pia’s Charleston bodyguards include:
Miguel; Hugh Monroe is a gargoyle; Andrea is Pia’s from-a-distance double; James; Johnny loves his handheld games, and it appears he’s good with make-up and has designs on some of Pia’s clothes; and, Eva is the alpha bitch, the captain of this sextet. Each is part of the Wyr’s Special Forces.
Dragos’ five remaining sentinels include:
Not all of the sentinels know what Pia is, except the gryphons: Graydon and Bayne. Pia has an uneasy truce with Aryal, the harpy sentinel with whom she trains. Grym is a gargoyle sentinel. Constantine.
Niniane is the Dark Fae queen mated to Tiago, Dragos’ former warlord sentinel. (The Light Fae and the Dark Fae are children of the Elves.) Soren is the Djinn Councillor.
Participants in the games include:
Quentin Caeravorn is Pia’s fae friend and the owner of Elfie’s, the bar where Pia used to work; Aryal is furious that he’ll be allowed to compete. Alexander Elysias is a pegasus.
Attendees at the games include:
Jaggar, the kraken who represents the Wyr on the Elder tribunal; Archer Harrow is the human witch Councillor; Sidhiel, the Elven Councillor who hates Dragos; and, Rune, Dragos’ former first sentinel with his mate Carling Severan. Rune is consulting with the Miami PD; he and Carling are setting up a consulting agency. Grace and her family have moved down to Miami. And the other races are getting nervous about what Rune and Carling are doing down there.
Lirithriel House in Charleston sits next to Lirithriel Wood
Beluviel is the consort to the High Lord Calondir. Both are ancient with a luminous, ageless light. Beluviel had known Pia’s mother, Silme, first meeting her when “humans had not yet begun to walk the Earth”. Linwe is an Elven girl. Ferion is one of the Elven warriors and Calondir’s heir.
Amras Gaeleval is one of the Guardians who closed the Numenlaur passageway after the war and is an adept at persuasion, beguilement, and fire.
The Deus Machinae, the God Machines, are items of power sent to Earth at the time of creation by the seven gods of the Elder Races. They were not what they seemed in any shape or form. After the destruction, a plan was formed that each of the seven elvish tribes would take a God Machine, travel into exile, and destroy it. That was the original plan;
it seems elves are just like humans and it takes all kinds. And possibly it’s the Freaky Deaky of which Grace spoke.
The Cover and Title
The cover is…different. An old-style, iron-strapped-and-studded door is between us and the guy covered by the ornately cut shield which showcases the author’s name, title, a tagline, and the series name.
The title covers half the problems in this installment as it is more than one Lord’s Fall.
