Nocturnal Book Reviews

I've been praising Elizabeth's writing since I was introduced to her Elemental Mysteries series in 2011. If you look at my reviews of A Hidden Fire, This Same Earth and The Force of Wind you would see why I'm so enamoured with her work.

First of all, she writes vampires like Anne Rice would have written them - cunning, cautious, extremely political, clever and very, very dangerous. They might act like spoiled children sometimes but there are always multiple layers and reasons to their motivation.

Secondly, the world-building is exquisite. The research which must have gone into this series is enormous - from ancient Persia and Italian Renaissance to the power of elements and Asian mythology. The main characters travel all over the world in search of answers, and each location is carefully represented.

At last, the characters themselves, be that the main couple Giovanni Vecchio and Beatrice De Novo, or the cast of multiple secondary characters, Tenzin, Ben, Carwyn, Lorenzo, Matt and Dez, Baojia, etc. and many others are not just figureheads. They are complex, warm, and alive.

The conclusion of Elemental Mysteries was phenomenal. Not only I received the answers to my questions, I was forced to reevaluate the main villain, Lorenzo, in lieu of new revelations about his and Gio's past, and I actually felt for him. I felt for Lorenzo, and I haven't thought it would ever be possible.

The ending is deep, revenge is bitter and heart-wrenching, and it's all very philosophical.

Both Gio and Beatrice absolutely kick-ass in this book, B with her shit-kickers and hooked swords and Gio with his fire starter powers. Tenzin is wickedly scary and fun, and Carwyn stays true to his element with Hawaiian shirts, beer and wrestling.

Ben grows up considerably, and dare I guess that there will be something between him and Tenzin in a future spin-off, perhaps?

All in all, it was an amazing experience, and I really hope Elizabeth will write more books be that in the same world or anything else for that matter. To me she proved how talented she really is.