Nocturnal Book Reviews

You know I love Lili's writing, right? This year she managed to round up nicely two of her series - Jill Kismet and Strange Angels, so I'm eagerly awaiting what she'll come up with next.

I loved The Hedgewitch Queen for two reasons - it's a fantasy very much akin to Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder - dark enough, brutal enough with a strong female protagonist who presses all the right buttons for me :) Second reason is that despite being fantasy it's not too long, I've read it in few hours and was really shocked by how abruptly it ended. I want MORE and I want it NOW!

What did I like about Vianne? She is a medicine woman, a healer, so self-sacrificing is a must. She comes off as pretty weak in the beginning, but there are good reasons for it. She fight her destiny because she doesn't want people to die for her, and she cries and faints a lot because her body is totally wrecked with fever induced by enemy's sorcery.

As soon as our lady comes to terms with what she is and what needs to be done, she turns to be pragmatic, ruthless and Machiavellian enough so it's an absolute pleasure to read about her. She doesn't let men dictate her what to do and she goes with her instincts no matter what. You go, girl!

Tristan on the other hand is classic Valek, assassin of the previous King with his own agenda, he is dark, cold-blooded and pretty bloodthirsty. Vianne as far as I can see is his only weakness. That man will do anything for the girl, in fact he had a crash on her for years, but was too afraid to openly show his feelings.

Funnily enough despite all the men in Vianne's life she is the one who ends up saving everyone's ass over and over again. Classy. She really doesn't need all the knights in shining armour, and it filled me with glee to no end.

So yeah, not going into the plot itself so I won't give you any spoilers. All you need to know, - it's fast, pretty straightforward and quite realistic. This is no fairy tale.